Posts Tagged ‘birding’

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European Starling

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Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

European Starling by Lisa Densmore

Location: Red Lodge, MT

They sat like a line of loiters on a very long bench in a city park. Except they were in Montana, 30 feet up in the air on a telephone wire. They could have been in Florida (where I took this photo), Kansas or Oregon. European Starlings (Stumus vulgaris) are common wherever people live in North America. When they’re not hanging out on a high wire, tree or rooftop, they fly around in large noisy flocks, descending onto fields and parking lots alike, eating everything from bugs to berries, grains to garbage.

If birds are judged by the company they keep, European Starlings are the street gangs of the bird world, hanging out with aggressive birds such as Grackles and Crows and chasing other cavity nesters, even birds that are much larger such as Wood Ducks, from their abodes. Sometimes a European Starling will lay an egg in the nest of another starling or a different species of bird, leaving the childrearing to a stranger. No wonder European Starlings were dubbed “vulgaris”, though they weren’t always considered so lowbrow.

Wood Duck, adult male © Glenn Bartley/VIREO

In the 1890’s, a group of Shakespeare lovers brought every species of bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays to New York City, including 100 European Starlings, and released them in Central Park. Those 100 birds have now grown to 200 million. The fact that they can fly fast, up to 48 miles per hour, and live long, the oldest recorded wild starling lived almost 16 years, has helped them proliferate so profusely.

European Starlings can be rather attractive in the right light, with their winter spots and glossy iridescent feathers. Interestingly, they lose their spots in the spring through a process called “wear molting”. Their feathers don’t fall out. The white wears off. Each fall, the new feathers that grow in have white tips giving the bird spots again. European Starlings resemble stocky blackbirds with short tails. They are easier to identify by sight rather than by sound as they can mimic up to 20 different species of birds. Have you ever heard a starling and thought it was something else?

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Posted in Entries by Lisa Densmore | 2 Comments »

Mysterious Migration

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Thursday, April 19th, 2012

Cooper's Hawk, adult © Rick and Nora Bowers/VIREO

Raptors usually start to return to Manitoba in February and continue to arrive in waves right through April. I was in Ecuador for much of this period; so, when I returned I couldn’t wait to get out and enjoy the show. When a clear, sunny day with south winds arrived, I dropped everything and headed for the St. Adolphe Bridge. At this site south of Winnipeg I can often see as many as a thousand or more hawks and eagles on a good day. This day was almost a complete bust. Six Bald Eagles, a Cooper’s Hawk, and a couple of Sharpies and Kestrels. Big whoop!

This, I discovered, was not unusual. The entire 2012 raptor migration season has been a bust in Manitoba. Far fewer Red-tailed Hawks, for instance, have passed over the St. Adolphe Bridge than ever before. At Windygates, in the Pembina River valley south of Morden and near the American border, the situation is more carefully monitored. Rigorous daily tallies from February through April indicate that 9,000 fewer raptors passed the observation points this year than in 2011.

Red-tailed Hawk adult, Western, dark morph © Greg Lasley/VIREO

These diminished figures have led to all sorts of speculation.

An unusually mild winter, with almost no snow accumulation, and an early onset of spring probably minimized the thermals that raptors rely on. Perhaps higher winds blew much of the straw and chaff off farm fields, resulting in fewer places for rodents to hide and a dearth of the usual stopover, refueling points for the raptors. Drought in the southern US, especially Texas, could also have affected migration.

American Kestrel adult female © Richard Crossley/VIREO

Whatever the causes, our raptors may have been hit by a triple whammy — displaced on their wintering grounds, contending with troublesome weather systems on their routes north, and spread out because of the lack of snow cover here, they may have altered their migratory routes or patterns or styles. They may be here and gone, having used non-traditional ways of getting into the province and farther north.

Or they may not be here yet. Or their numbers may have been dramatically reduced.

Only time will tell. What’s happened to the raptors in your area?

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Posted in Entries by Gene Walz | 2 Comments »

The Bluebird Bully

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Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

Mountain Bluebird by Jack Ballard

In late October I moved out of the condo I’d been renting and into a house. Situated next to a couple of vacant lots with the backyard adjacent to a golf course, I was happy to find a nest box hung on a post near the fairway. Much of the winter was spent in speculation regarding what occupants (if any) might claim the box. Yesterday I found out.

While sitting in a favorite chair writing, I glanced outside to see a flutter of blue. The flutterer hovered over the nest box, then perched on its roof. As blue as the big blue-sky overhead, this male Mountain Bluebird was as pretty and energetic as any I’ve seen previously. He ducked inside the box, and then poked his head out the hole, like a prospective homebuyer appraising the front yard from the entryway of a house. He dropped to the ground to snatch a bug, and then winged up to perch happily on the top of the post to which the nest box is attached. How wonderful, I thought, to have such a beautiful bird for a neighbor.

Pine Siskin, adult male © Rob Curtis/VIREO

It turns out the other birds don’t like him. This bluebird is a bully. After a day of watching him harass Pine Siskins, Chickadees and House Finches from my feeders, I moved them to a tree further from the nest box. That’s spared the little guys, but the bully also shoves bigger boys around. A male Robin hunting for worms beneath the bluebird’s perch was promptly attacked and driven away. Ravens occasionally visit my neighborhood. Will he take them on as well?

Chances are he will. Bluebirds are highly territorial. Male Mountain Bluebirds can be exceptionally aggressive. With such a pugnacious personality, I’m wondering how well he’ll attract a mate.

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Birding Ain’t for Wusses!

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Thursday, April 12th, 2012

Summer Tanager adult male, Western © Joe Fuhrman/VIREO

I wasn’t the least bit afraid of heights when I was young. I remember standing on the third step from the top of a 30-foot extension ladder to paint the peak of a house one summer. No problem.

I guess I’ve gotten smarter. Heights now make me very nervous.

When I decided to go to Ecuador, I knew I was going to have to deal with this. Getting up into the canopy of trees or above them via birding towers is crucial.

At the Sani Lodge on the Napo River in Ecuadorian Amazonia I got my chance to test my resolve. Early one morning we hiked out to a green, steel tower about ten or twelve stories high; I deliberately didn’t calculate the height or even look up to see how tall it was.

Scarlet Tanager adult male, breeding © Rob Curtis/VIREO

To keep myself from bailing out, I deliberately went first. Wet, mesh steps and minimal rails made it an added challenge. I put a steely grip on both handrails and willed myself up.

About two-thirds of the way up the tower I had to stop and catch my breath in the middle of a stairway. As I stood there looking straight ahead, neither up nor down nor sideways, our guide Domingo ducked under my arm and went ahead.

Within seconds he touched my arm. I was concentrating so hard, I almost jumped out of my skin. “Essnake,” he whispered in his version of English.

Ahead in a corner of the next landing was an eight-inch coil of lime green, diamond-headed snake. If I’d gone two steps further, I’d have been staring right into its small, beady eyes.

Continue up or head back down?

With instructions from Domingo, I turned sideways, grabbed the right handrail behind me with both hands, and cautiously inched past the snake.

Flame-colored Tanager adult male © Robert A. "Spike" Baker/VIREO

My knees were jelly when I got to the top of the tower. A 12-foot bridge was all that separated me from the wooden platform at the top of a giant kapok tree. I grabbed the rails with both hands, closed my eyes, and crossed it.

Once on the platform I opened my eyes and reached for a wooden support nailed to a tree limb. Domingo grabbed my arm. “Bullet ant,” he said, pointing to a huge ant about an inch and a half long. “Bullet ant?” “If eet bite you, it feel like you heet by bullet.”

We had a productive morning in the canopy. Lots of parrots and macaws and aracaris, an Ornate Hawk-eagle, and many kinds of brilliantly colored tanagers, to name just a few. The climb was sure worth it.

Going down was no easier. In fact, it was scarier. The snake was still there, and I couldn’t help but look down.

Back at the lodge we discovered that the snake was an Amazonian Palm Viper, sometimes called a two-striped forest pit-viper (Bothriechys bilineate). No one at the lodge had ever seen it on the tower before. It would have to pick my day on the tower as its first!

Hepatic Tanger adult male © Rick and Nora Bowers/VIREO

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Posted in Entries by Gene Walz | No Comments »

Variations in Rough-legged Hawks

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Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Rough-legged Hawk by Lisa Densmore

Location: Lima, Montana

If you’re wondering where Lima (pronounced LI-ma, like the bean), Montana is, you are not geographically challenged. With due respect to the residents of this small ranching community in the southwestern part of the Treasure State, the only reason Lima entered my life was because we passed through it on the way home after a weekend in Idaho. I’m not apt to forget it. It took a long time to travel through Lima, not due to traffic – we might have seen two cars in two hours on the open road on which we traveled – but because we saw so many Rough-legged Hawks (Buteo lagopus).

Rough-legged Hawk by Lisa Densmore

They perched everywhere, on the irrigation pipes, on the tops of electrical poles, on fence posts… In this hawk-rich environment, I gained a new appreciation for this rodent-eating raptor, which is on the large side for a buteos, averaging 19 to 24 inches tall. With so many of the species in one place, I realized how much variation there could be from one to another. The typical Rough-legged Hawk has a dark belly, though it may be blotchy. A black patch normally shades the carpal joint where the wing bends, but not always or it might be very small. The wings have lots of white on the underside, and its white tail has a black band near its end, but the black morph has a mostly dark tail. ID-ing a Rough-legged Hawk can be challenging if you don’t already know the bird. It’s more diverse than Grand Central Station during rush hour. Fortunately, it lives in a less populated environment than mid-town Manhattan, making it easy to spot.

I enjoyed seeing its color variations. The phenomenon is not unique to Rough-legged Hawks. While each avian on my AudubonGuides.com app has a common look, variations occur. Have you seen birds-of-a-color that really are not?

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Posted in Entries by Lisa Densmore | 3 Comments »

The Life List of a Newcomer

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Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Bird Watching

As we birders continue adding to our many lists, time moves on and the additions become slower and slower. This can sometimes throw us into a rut of boredom with the hobby. Recently, I’ve learned a new way of listing that’s brought back all sorts of excitement!

Having a baby is one of those whirlwind experiences that everyone tries to prepare you for but until you actually experience it, there’s just no way to truly be ready. There is excitement, loss of sleep, emotions, loss of sleep, visitors, and loss of sleep. Did I mention it’s hard to get sleep? Through this, however, comes a new set of eyes to experience life and everything we as parents love about life. Little did I know how fun it would be to experience some of our favorite things through her eyes. As spring launches early in our neck of the woods, it’s a perfect time to bring our new arrival (Lillian Rose) outside to begin enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of our favorite time of year.

We’ve enjoyed a few walks around our property as well as at the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary this spring. As spring and the birds are returning, the chorus is getting louder and louder. Spring Peepers tend to be taking over but Red-winged Blackbirds and Song Sparrows are fighting for territories awaiting the females. As we walk with Lillian, we’re always quick to point out birds and sounds of birds even though there is little hope a 4-week old understands. Having said that, it’s just plain exciting to think about what Lillian’s first true life bird will be when she’s old enough to understand. I can just picture her screaming SWAN or HAWK when in reality; it will probably be simply “birdy!” Whether our little one becomes a birder like Dad or she chooses to enjoy other things, we know she is destined to at least love being outside as this will be a major part of her life growing up. Either way, to think of experiencing all the new things through her sweet little eyes make all the sleepless nights that much more worthwhile.

The Haas Family!

Just for fun, why don’t our readers jump over to the Audubon Guides Facebook page and comment what you think Lillian’s first REAL life bird will be!!

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Posted in Entries by Josh Haas | 1 Comment »

Pine Siskin

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Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

Pine Siskin by Lisa Densmore

Location: Red Lodge, Montana

When I peered at our thistle-filled bird feeder the other day, three Pine Siskins (Spinus pinus) poked ravenously at the seeds. Another half dozen flitted from branch to branch in the dormant Quaking Aspen tree from which the swaying feeder hung. It was a nasty day, a blizzard. Dime-sized snowflakes streaked sideways by the window of our house. The wind was so strong the feeder was rarely vertical to the ground. I bundled up to get this shot, finding a modicum of shelter by pressing my body against a leeward wall of the house for the few moments I dallied outdoors.

The siskins handled the storm with much more aplomb. These little finches do not need to be upright to eat. They cling to the end of branches, sometimes upside down, to pluck a seed from a pinecone. If a larger bird finds a seed that’s too big for a siskin’s beak, such as a sunflower seed, they’ll flutter by, gleaning a scrap from the larger bird.

A Pine Siskin has a pointed bill that’s more slender than most finches. They are streaked brown, black and white with yellow on their wings, which is visible when their wings are folded.

During the winter, this little songbird often visits feeders in flocks, twittering constantly and rarely sitting still unless it’s stabbing its sharp bill into a pile of thistle seeds. I was glad a few stopped by on this blustery day. Though Pine Siskins are not considered rare – they sometimes migrate in flocks of 1,000 or more birds – they are notorious for being around one winter then gone the next. This might be my only chance to see them for a while. Have you spotted any Pine Siskins lately?

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Posted in Entries by Lisa Densmore | 3 Comments »

Verdant Vulture – The Turkey Vulture

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Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Green Turkey Vulture by Jungle Pete

Fully aware that this column comes to you the day after April Fools and a couple of weeks after Saint Patrick’s Day – I offer you a green Turkey Vulture. The photo is real and untouched. I took it. I do apologize that it has the same blurred quality to it that most of the photos of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster have. A canal full of alligators separated me and the emerald-feathered bird and a zoom lens can only do so much.

There are no shortages of natural curiosities on the shores of Lake Trafford in Immokalee, FL. The 1600-acre lake has more alligator per acre than anywhere on the planet. Colorful Roseate Spoonbills, Purple Gallinules, Tricolored Herons and Little Blue Herons stalk the shoreline. The nearby marina is home to several exotic birds like Macaws, Cockatoos and an African Grey Parrot. So when I saw what I thought was a Peacock sipping water in front of a backdrop of Pond Apples (Annona glabra) and Alligator-flag (Thalia geniculata) it didn’t seem entirely out of place. As I approached, it quickly became clear that I had been fooled by a Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) in disguise.

Turkey Vulture © Arthur Morris/VIREO

Turkey Vultures are so named because of the red, featherless skin on their head that is similar to the male Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Turkey Vulture feathers are black to brown with white markings underneath from the wing tips to the body. The legs are pink to white. This vulture was green. Closer inspection shows that feathers closest to the tail are almost entirely green while those closer to the shoulders are brown with green tips. The eye appears white but is sunken and desiccated suggesting an old or sick bird.

I wish I had an explanation. As the photo has been passed around, the theories include: splattered with paint on St. Patty’s Day, inadvertently doused with liquid copper (an orange tree fungicide), a nutritional deficiency, stricken with a parasite or an escaped character from World of Warcraft. What do you think?

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Posted in Entries by Jungle Pete | 4 Comments »

American Tree Sparrow

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Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

American Tree Sparrow by Lisa Densmore

Location: Burlington, Vermont

It was the second night this winter that I spent at my cousin’s house. This time I was prepared. On my first visit, a month ago, I didn’t bring my “wildlife lens”, a 500 mm Sigma zoom that lets me fill the camera frame with a small songbird without spooking it. I missed the chance to photograph a number of vireos, chickadees and juncos that gathered around their backyard bird feeder. I didn’t know they had one.

This time, I watched and watched, but only one chickadee flitted to the feeder, snatching a few seeds. Not a vireo or a junco in sight! I was about to give up when a small flock of American Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea) stopped by for breakfast. These chubby, long-tailed sparrows busily flew from a tree branch to the feeder to the ground then back to a tree branch. They foraged voraciously as they need to eat 30% of their body weight per day to stay alive. If they are forced to fast only one day, their body temperature drops too low, and they likely won’t make it to the next morning.

Despite their names, American Tree Sparrows, spend a lot more time on the ground or perched on low shrubs and weeds than in trees. During the summer, they forage and nest on the ground in the Krummolz (scrubby stunted trees) or just above tree line.
It’s been a mild winter in New England with only intermittent snow. I wondered if these twittering seed-eaters were already winging their way back to the Canadian tundra where they breed. Winter is the only time you can see Tree Sparrows in the Lower 48.

American Tree Sparrow, adult © Brian E. Small/VIREO

The American Tree Sparrow is a cute little thing, with a rust-colored cap on top of its head, matching stripe off the corner of its eye, and white and black bars on its wings. Its bi-colored bill is black on top and yellow below. It has a curious dark smudge in the middle of its buff breast as if it bumped its pudgy belly on a patch of soot.
As winter wanes, I’m excited to stake out my bird feeders when I get home to see if any migrating birds drop on their way north. Anything stop by your feeder lately?

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Posted in Entries by Lisa Densmore | 1 Comment »

The Four Year Image

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Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Female Red-winged Blackboard by Josh Haas

For the many photographers out there, think back to an image you captured that may have taken weeks, months, or even years to capture. For me, it’s an image of a female Red-winged Blackbird.

When thinking about Red-winged Blackbirds, thoughts of the marsh, incessant calls, and dark birds with bright red wing bars come to mind. What is a shame in my mind is that of the female who is typically rarely seen and forgotten about. The female Red-winged Blackbird is a stunning specimen with contrasty barring and hints of carroty color around the throat and beak. The rare sighting of this bird above the reeds make this secretive gem somewhat of a specialty. Seeing these birds is always a treat but setting off to get a great image turned out to be harder than I thought, mostly due to the rare times this bird pops into the open.

One warm spring day birding along a bustling boardwalk for Warblers, this image would finally come to fruition. As we walked, we passed several openings with marshy habitat where male Red-Winged Blackbirds were calling and fighting over mating rights. From time to time females would show themselves, but rarely away from cover and never high enough to get a face-to-face image with a clean background. While others snapped away, I knew the results would be bland so onward we walked. We soon approached another opening with a nice bench for resting. We stopped and decided to take a break from carrying all the heavy gear. As we enjoyed the spring morning and the orchestra of bird songs, the chack and chatter calls of a close female caught my ear. I turned and brought my camera up just as a beautiful adult Female popped on to an open branch. I captured an image and was beside myself until she let out one more call, which beckoned me to continue shooting. I was completely content with getting a perched shot of this beauty but to capture an image with her singing was the icing on the cake. I captured a handful of nice songbird images that day but the one that will always stand out is the singing Female Red-winged Blackbird.

Male Red-winged Blackbird by Josh Haas

If there was any lesson to be learned that day, it was that preparation is key. By having my camera gear ready to go and exposure settings close to where they needed to be, I was able to bring up my camera and fire away. Always monitor your settings as natural lighting changes by the second. Being ready is most the battle.

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Posted in Entries by Josh Haas | 1 Comment »

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