Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)

Photo: Tennessee Wildlife Resources

I regret to say I have never seen an Ovenbird, that I know of, even though I live in the centre of this warbler's North American range.  It is quite a distinctive looking bird with its coloring and markings, however it does not forage in live vegetation but instead walks about on the ground, foraging among leaf litter and twigs, and its singing is usually done from an elevated perch high up in deciduous trees.

They eat insects, caterpillars, snails, slugs, earthworms, small amphibians, seeds, berries, and fruit.

They are more often heard than seen, singing a loud and repetitive "TEAcher-TEAcher-TEAcher" sound, rising and becoming more emphatic.

They are common in mature forests and their plump bodies are usually seen on the ground walking with their tails cocked, rather than hopping.

There have been signifigant population declines in the northeast of their range beginning in the 1970s, but they are now increasing in much of their range.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)

                                                                    Photo by Ryan Sanderson

My DK Birds of Canada Field Guide says the Barn Swallow is "the most wide-ranging swallow in the world...cosmopolitan...found breeding or wintering on almost all continents".

The Barn Swallow is also the swallow I remember most , from my youth, on visits to my maternal grandfather's  farm north of Toronto, in southern Ontario, in the 1950s.

They eat a wide variety of flying insects and follow farm machinery, even riding lawnmowers, to feed on stirred-up insects.

They have adapted to nesting in and on man-made structures, such as my grandfathers farm buildings and sheds.   They are abundant and widespread in open country and agricultural lands, especially near water.

They are widespread across lower Canada, the U.S.A, and Mexico and they interbreed with with both Cliff and Cave Swallows.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Common Loon (Gavia Immer)

Photo by Dave Kemp

Canada is home to all 5 species of loons found in the world.

 The Common Loon is the provincial bird of Ontario.

The first time I heard the Common Loon's wailing yodel, I thought I was in a different world.   I was in a canoe on a lake in Ontario's Algonquin Park.

The loud yodelling calls are delivered on water and in flight and are heard all year, but most often on the breeding grounds.

This bird is fairly common and is found across Canada, in Alaska, and even in parts of Canada's Arctic region, but is decreasing in some breeding areas in southern parts of its range (probably including Algonquin Park).

The common Loon's winter range in North America is along the eastern seaboard and south-eastern U.S. and parts of Mexico.

Fred J. Alsop III, in his Birds of Canada Filed Guide states the Common Loon is "...prone to environmental loss due to human disturbance and reduced food supply resulting from acid rain.  Some abandon nests due to human activity...although some breeding grounds protected by volunteers".

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder  

Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea)

Photo: Birds of the World

Perhaps the hardiest gull in the world, but global warming imperils the species.   It's a two-year Arctic gull that is ghostly pale.   The all-white plumage is not acquired until its second year.   

It does have black eyes, legs and feet and a yellow-tipped dark bill.  The all-white plumage is distinctive and there are no similar gulls.

It's closely connected to pack ice and winters primarily in Arctic seas.  They are casual along the Atlantic coast to New York and inland to the northern tier of states, but accidental to Tennessee.

It is a smallish gull (pigeon-sized) that is almost never found far from snow and ice and rarely winters farther south than drifting ice or pack ice.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Far-eastern Curlew ( Numenius madagascarriensis)

                                                                      Photo - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Far-eastern Curlew (one of seven or eight Curlew species left in the world) flies from its wintering grounds in Australia to nesting areas in Siberia, straying sometimes to the Pribilof Islands and Aleutians during spring and summer.   This largest of all the curlews sometimes accidentally reaches British Columbia, which causes some field guides to include the species in their 'Birds of Canada' guides.

There are eight species of curlews in the world.   They are the Far-eastern Curlew, Slender-billed Curlew, Eurasian Curlew, Long-billed Curlew, Far Eastern Curlew, Little Curlew, Eskimo Curlew (now critically endangered or probably extinct) and the Bristle-thighed Curlew.

Internationally, curlews are considered as 'near threatened'!  There vulnerability is linked to their highly specialized and restrictive feeding requirements and the availability of suitable feeding habitats.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)

                                                                             Photos by BarrytheBirder

Male browned-headed Cowbirds

Female Brown-headed Cowbird

The male's brown head contrasts with the metallic greenish-blue black body, while the female is gray-brown above and paler below.

They are found across lower Canada, throughout the U.S.A. and parts of Mexico.   They are very common today, and their nest parasitism threatens populations of some smaller birds.

Cowbirds were named for their habit of feeding near cattle and other grazers; walking on the ground with their tails held straight up.

They often flock with starlings and blackbirds in agricultural and residental areas

They breed from northeast British Columbia east to Newfoundland in Canada, and south to Texas.   They winter across the southern United States.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

How many quail bird species in North America?

                                                                            Montezuma Quail

My National Geographic Field Guide says that scientific evidence has placed the new world quail in their own family. All have chunky bodies and crests or head plumes.   In North America, most live in the west.   I chose to use a photo of the Montezuma Quail to illustrate this blog entry because of this quail's very distinctive head markings.

The six quail species found in North America are:

California Quail

Gambel's Quail

Montezuma Quail

Mountain Quail

Northern Bobwhite

Scaled Quail

A group of quails is called a 'covey' of quails.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Flickers in the western hemisphere...

                                                                               Photo by BarrytheBirder

    Northern Red-shafted Flicker (pictured above)

There are two main Flicker species regularly found in North America: the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) and the Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chtysoides).   

The Northern Flicker is the most common and widespread species, found across the entire North American continent from Alaska down to Central America.

It is split into two major regional forms that frequently hybridize (interbreed) where their ranges meet.

The Yellow-shafted Flicker dominates the eastern half of North America and northern boreal forests, while the Red-shafted Flicker dominates western North America.

Meanwhile, The Gilded Flicker is a separate, genetically distinct species restricted mainly to the arid southwestern United States (such as Arizona) and northwestern Mexico. 

There are 4 primary flicker species commonly recognized in South America, alongside a few closely related woodpecker species in the same genus that are sometimes referred to as green or forest flickers.

In the world, there are 13 extant (living) species of birds in the woodpecker genus (Colaptes), which comprises the birds commonly known as flickers.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

The Northern Flicker is a widespread and common woodpecker usually found in wooded habitats, particularly gardens and parks.   They can be noisy and conspicuous, and seen frequently hopping on the ground in search of ants.   Two of my favourite Flicker photos which I taken are shown below.                                                                                                         

Flicker preening (above and below)

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Green Heron (Butorides virescens) a.k.a. Green-backed Heron

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Although I am particularly partial to the Great Blue Heron, my next favourite heron is the Green Heron.   If for no other reason, it is the heron I see most often, other than the Great Blue, in the area of southern Ontario where I live.   I see them nearby in ponds, marshes and wooded creeks, where they jerk their short tails up and down as they stalk the water's edge.

They are small (18") and dark, with orange-yellow legs.   They have a chestnut neck and dark back glossed with green or blue.  Their black crown feathers are sometimes raised in a bushy crest.

Generally solitary, the Green Heron will be found in a variety of habitats and even perches in trees often.

They are found across the U.S.A., southern Canada and in Mexico.

Although known historically as the Green Heron, they are now commonly known as the Green-backed Heron.

They winter along coasts from Oregon and Massachusetts south to South America.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Female Wood Duck and female Mandarin Duck are almost identical...

Female Mandarin Duck

Female Wood Duck

While male Wood Ducks and Mandarin Ducks are quite distinctive in appearance their female counterparts are very similar (see photos above).   I wonder if the two species ever inter-breed? 

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapilla)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Black-capped Chickadees are native to Canada and the United States.   They are found in Canada across most provinces and territories, from Newfoundland to British Columbia and up to the Yukon.   In the United States they are found widely across the northern states, extending down into parts of New Mexico in the west and to Georgia along the Appalachian Mountains in the east.

Birdlife International also lists Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collective of France, where they are native and residents.

There are an estimated 43 million adults birds.   

There are 7 species of chickadees recognized in North America, while the broader genus (Poecile) includes 15 species worldwide (with the Eurasian members commonly known as "tits").

Other Chickadee species in North America include the Carolina Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Boreal Chickadee, Gray-headed Chickadee and the Mexican Chickadee.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

Lewis's Woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis)

                                                       Lewis's Woodpecker - photo by Nathan DeBoer

The Lewis's Woodpecker is a large, dark, black-backed woodpecker with an extensive pinkish red belly (the only north-American woodpecker so coloured).   It has a wide gray collar and dark red face patch.   It also has a greenish-black head and back.

The pink underparts and wide black wings are the best marks and the sexes are similar.

It has a straight crow-like flight and a fly-catching habit.

This not-so-usual woodpecker is scare and localized in the western U.S.A. and Mexico.   It is common in open woodlands of interior foothills and valleys, but less common on the Pacific coast.

Main food is insects, mostly caught in the air, but also eats fruit, acorns and other nuts.   It stores acorns, which it first shells, in tree bark crevices.

They are generally silent birds.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon)

                                                                        Photos by BarrytheBirder

The Belted Kingfisher is the only kingfisher in most of North America.  It is a solitary bird of watersides almost everywhere, perched on branches above streams and lakes or on low coastal rocks.

The large-headed Belted Kingfisher has a bushy crest and spear-shaped bill. They hover over small fish and then plunge-dive headfirst into water.

They excavate nest burrows in steep banks.   They fly with rapid, deep, irregular wingbeats.

They breed from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to central California and the Gulf Coast.   They winter on open water from southeast Alaska to Nova Scotia and south to South America.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

What is the ornithological definition of a warbler?

 

Yellow Warbler photo by BarrytheBirder

In ornithology, a songbird is a perching bird belonging to the suborder Passeri (also called oscines) within the larger order of passerine birds (Passeriformes).

KEY SCIENTIFIC  TRAITS

The Syrinx: Songbirds are defined by a specialized, highly developed vocal organ called a syrinx with fine muscular control.

Learned Vocalizations: Unlike many other birds that make instinctual sounds, true songbirds typically learn and perform complex vocalizations and songs.

Perching feet:   As passerines, they share a distinct toe arrangement - three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward - that helps them grip branches easily.

Not always melodic: Despite the name, not every species in this suborder produces musical songs; some have harsh calls or simple vocalizations, yet they still share the same anatomical structure.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea)

Champion long-distance migrant of the world???

The Arctic Tern nests in the Canadian Arctic and northern territories, and winters in Antarctica, travelling an annual distance of more than 40,000 kilometres!

They are common to fairly common on the breeding grounds in the far north, but are steadily declining on the southern end of their breeding range along the Atlantic Coast.

They are distinguishable from similar terns by their short red bills, short legs and necks.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Herons about to head south...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Great Blue Herons winter from British Columbia and southern New England southward to Mexico.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Mute Swans are an old world species introduced to the United States from Europe in the 19th century.   They are most commonly seen in ponds of public parks and gardens as well as in the wild.

A black knob at the base of the orange bill is a prominent feature.

Mute Swans usually hold their long necks in a S-curve, with the bill pointed down, and often swim with their wings arched over their backs.

They give a variety of hisses and snorts, but are usually silent...however wingbeats are noisy in flight.

Mute swans can be aggressive, especially in defense of their nests.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Peregrine Falcon - Big fish

 

Photograph Alexander Askalsky/Shay Shohat

Don't think I've ever seen an osprey with this big a fish!

Please comment if you wish.

Barry theBirder

Tundra Swam (Cygnus columbianus)

Photo - National Audubon Society

Not the largest Swan in North America, but the most widespread and common.   It breeds on arctic tundra and winters primarily on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

They are common on the breeding range and but rare on the wintering range.   Overall, they are increasing in population.

Swans are usually associated with water and they are exceptionally fast swimmers.   When flying, 'Tundras' are large spectacular birds with long triangular wings, snow white to the tips of their flight feathers.

Dabblers, 'Tundras' plunge their long necks and heads beneath water to pick aquatic vegetation and roots of submerged plants.

'Tundras' mate and pair for life and are solitary nesters over the tundra.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)

Photo by BarrytheBirder

A huge swan that weighs more than any other bird in Canada and the U.S.A.   It was formerly endangered but is now doing well in the northwest and is being introduced into areas farther east (including northern plains and great Lakes region).    

It is larger than all other swan breeds with a massive all-black bill.   Its voice is one of rich, bugling notes.

Trumpeter Swans tend to hold their necks kinked back at the base.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)

Photo by Matt Davis / Macauley Library

The Ring-necked Pheasant was introduced from Asia as a game bird in California in 1857, and then in larger numbers elsewhere.  The Asian Red-necked Pheasant is one of the most widely distributed and popular birds among hunters.   Thousands are harvested annually in southern Canada and the northern United States.   

They are managed as game birds in North America, but some populations are not self-sustaining, and occasional releases from captivity help maintain populations.

Roughly 50 Pheasant species (many endangered) are spread across about 16 different genera, with the Ring-necked Pheasant, Golden Pheasant and Silver Pheasant among the most well-known.

Pheasants are native to Eurasia, particularly in regions stretching from China to Malaysia.

Female

Please comment if you wish.

BasrrytheBirder

BarrytheBirderThe Ring-necked Pheasant

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

 
                                                     Photo - Macauley Library

The Turkey Vulture is commonly known as the "buzzard".   It is a large bird that ranges throughout the United States, southern Canada and south to South America.

It gets its name from the red skin on its head and its dark body feathers that resemble a turkey.   Its length is 55 to 81 cm., its wingspan is 173 to 183 cm., while it weighs in at 1.5 kg.

These birds soar just above treetops and up to 61 metres high, searching for prey by sight and smell.   They feed mainly on carrion and refuse.

They are most often seen in flight, when their two-toned wings, black in front and silver gray behind, are most visible.   Soaring birds hold their wings above their backs in a shallow V and rock from side to side as if unsteady in the air.

Their voices are silent except at the nest site, when kissing sounds are made.

These birds are common in their mapped range, but have expanded both summer and winter ranges northward, and their population is common with a very slight increase overall.

They are notably resistant to most diseases, especially those found to be in carrion.

                                                  Photo - Macauley Library

Black Vulture

The smaller Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), with the gray head, shows large white patches at the base of its primaries.   Its tail is shorter than the Turkey Vulture and its wings are shorter but broader, and it feet extend to the edge of its tail or beyond.

Flight includes rapid flapping and short glides usually with wings flat.

While gregarious and aggressive, they not as good at spotting carrion as the Turkey Vulture.

They are common near human settlements and in open country, and often scavenge in garbage dumps.   Their range is limited to the southern United States and Mexico, but their range is expanding northward in both summer and winter. 

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder 

Blue-winged Warbler replacing Gold-winged Warbler...

Blue-winged Warbler

Photo- All About Birds

Golden-winged Warbler

Photo- All About Birds

Here's a bit of an unfortunate tale.   The Blue-winged Warbler and the Golden-winged Warbler, like all warblers at this time of year, are heading south.

These are two attractive warblers that share the same habitats, i.e. southern Canada and the north-eastern United States.

Sadly over time, the Blue-winged Warbler is steadily taking over the Golden-winged Warbler's range.

They both inhabit brushy meadows, overgrown pastures, power-line cuts, and second-growth woodland borders and bogs.

The Blue-winged Warbler prefers a greater diversity of habitat however than the Golden-winged Warbler.   The Blue-Winged's range is expanding at the northern edge, gradually replacing the Golden Wing's range. 

Who knows how long this ongoing replacement situation will last?   Will extinction eventually prevail?

Meanwhile both these species continue to winter in southern Mexico and Central America and they are always a joy to see in their summer range.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder