Last day of November

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photos by BarrytheBirder

The last day of November has brought snow that appears to be staying on the ground...and on the bird feeders.   This of course provokes a certain amount of nervous overcrowding and bickering about to whom the birdseed really belongs.   In the top photo, Goldfinches, Purple Finches and Juncos load up.   Out of the frame, but nearby, the more timid Chickadees, Tree Sparrows, House Finches and Cardinals wait their turn.   Of course, all these winter warriors will flee at the approach of the boisterous Blue Jays.   Then of course there are the squirrels - the bane of my existence.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

4 subspecies of Fox Sparrow

                                                                                                                                                                         Photo by BarrytheBirder

MFOX SPARROWM

Passerella iliaca

The Fox Sparrow (above) was an unexpected but pleasant surprise in the backyard this afternoon.   I was sitting waiting to photograph House Finches and Purple Finches when this visitor joined the finches, the juncos, the sparrows and the chickadees.   I did not know, until now, that there are now 4 subspecies of Fox Sparrows.   The Sooty, Slate-coloured, and Thick-billed subspecies all live on the west coast of Canada and the U.S.A.   The Red Fox Sparrow (pictured above) can be found in Alaska and right across northern Canada.  Fox Sparrows are always great to have around.   They're big, brightly coloured and have a brilliant and musical song in the spring.   This was a bonus, probably because of  the record-breaking, mild, November weather we've had in southern Ontario.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB  

Annual migration around 1/2 million birds

                                                                                                                                                                         Photo by Marvin DeJong/AP

WSandhill CraneW

Grus canadensis

The terrific composition in this exemplary photograph of Sandhill Cranes, by Marvin DeJong, may be deliberate execution or pure luck.   In either case, it is a picture with which the photographer must be extremely satisfied.   It was shot at a refuge near Socorro, New Mexico, where migrating birds are expected in record numbers this winter because of drought in neighbouring Texas.   Wikipedia says: "The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest.  This is the most important stopover area for the Lesser Sandhill Crane...with up to 450,000 of these birds migrating through annually".   Below is a photo I took, three months ago, of two Sandhill Cranes near Luther Marsh, in Southern Ontario.   Many Sandhills migrate through  Ontario but in nowhere near the numbers as in the U.S. midwest.

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Mildest November ever?

                                                                                                                     Female Junco photo by BarrytheBirder

For the past week or so I've been commenting to people that I will be 70 years old in a couple of weeks and I don't ever remember a November as mild as this one in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.   Most people politely nod or make a very brief comment about how it may be so.   One or two oldtimers seem to remember a November that might have been milder, and a few others eye me apprehensively for what might be coming next.   Well, today I read what Dave Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, and the man acknowledged, far and wide, as the foremost weather expert in Canada, had to say about the possibility.   "In my business, we break records by a fraction of a degree", he said.   "But we've literally smashed it by one full degree (Celsius)".   With just a few days left in the month, plus a warm forecast until the 29th, a new record seems a certainty.   One of the people I accosted with this amazing news wondered whether it was good or bad.   I for one think it is good...and hope that December will set a record also!   Meanwhile, the Dark-eyed Juncos arrived 3 weeks ago and are gorging themselves.   Instinct prevails.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

GBBC 2011 photo winners

                                                                                                Photo by Lesley Mattuchio

The Great Backyard Bird Count 2011 Photo Contest winners have been announced and the overall winner is Lesley Mattuchio, of Massachesetts, for her American Tree Sparrow photograph (above).   The contest is a joint effort of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society, and Bird Studies Canada.   There are  31 photographs of overall and category winners, plus runners-up and they can all be seen on the GBBC website.   Four of the winning photos this year were taken by Canadians.   Below is the winning photo in the 'Behaviour' category: Red-shouldered Hawk with snake, by Howard Izenwasser of Florida.

                                                                                           Photo by Howard Izenwasser

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Snow Buntings in Greenland

                                                                                                                                             Jon Vidar Photo

After writing about Snow Buntings two blogs ago, I went to bed that night with my copy of Ken Kaufman's Lives of North American Birds.   Ken Kaufman notes that these buntings are sometimes called "Snowflakes", for their winter-time, swirling, low-level flying.   He goes on to say: "In summer they retire to barren northern tundra, with some breeding on the northernmost islands of Canada and the mountains of Greenland".   Greenland?   Mountains?   I had always assumed Greenland was a gigantic slab of ice, year-around.   Out of bed... back to the computer... hit Google... go to Wikipedia.   Including the Snow Bunting, Greenland has recorded 240 species of birds!  170 of these are rare or accidental.   I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by 39 species of ducks and geese, or 32 species of sandpipers, but 24 new world warblers?!?   Here's a sampling of some of the other shockers for me: Pacific Loon, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Cattle Egret, Glossy Ibis, Purple Gallinule, Bohemian Waxwing, Marsh Wren,Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Mourning Dove.   These birds should know better.   Well, maybe not the Mourning Dove.   
As for mountains in Greenland, there are  90 over 1/2 mile high, of which five are over 10,000 ft.   Judging by the photo above, by Jon Vidar, Greenland is indeed green, in spots and at certain times, but the ice cap and small glaciers still cover 85% of Greenland.
Please comment if you wish.       
BtheB

Fall's first freezing rain

                                                                                                                                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder
A forlorn Junco ponders the thin layer of ice on his breakfast this morning.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

First Snow Buntings arrive

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photos by BarrytheBirder

WSNOW BUNTINGW

Plectrophenax nivalis

We've had no snow on the ground yet, but I saw Snow Buntings this morning in the village of Nobleton.   There was a flock of about 30 and they swooped about me for almost five minutes while I patiently waited for them to land, so that I could get a photo.   They did not land however and disappeared across a field, so I did not get a picture.   Ah, but what about the photos above?   I took the photos above, last winter, with a more cooperative flock of buntings.   According to the Royal Ontario Museum Field Guide to the Birds of Ontario, the Snow Bunting is an uncommon to abundant migrant and visitor from October to May.   It breeds on rocky tundra... something I have never done.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB  

In a bit of a slump

Photo by Joanne McKinnon 

Today I saw a Pileated Woodpecker, a Red-tailed Hawk, and an American Kestrel.   The photo of the Pileated Woodpecker above was not taken by me.   It was taken by Joanne McKinnon, the wife of my old friend Glenn McKinnon, up in Bracebridge.   I'm not sure if the continuing mild weather has something to do with my few recent birding sightings but it's only five weeks until Christmas and we still haven't had any snow that's stayed on the ground.   I'm almost wishing for snow in hopes that it will bring some fresh winter visitors.   I'm always on the lookout for Snowy Owls, particularly up in the wide-open Holland Marsh, but none yet.   Checking the internet, no one else seems to have spotted a Snowy yet, either, in York Region.   I'm also ready to see a Great Grey Owl again...it's been a few years.  

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB  

Murmuration of Starlings gives me goosebumps

If you haven't see this bit of video yet, you are in for a real treat.   The lowly starling literally lifts itself, and several thousand others of its kind, into a lofty, spectacular celebration of flight.   It leaves two young women delighted and amusingly breathless.   Go into the blue box below and click on the blue link, under Murmuration.  You will be linked to a large-size format where you can view 'Murmuration'.   Thanks to my friend and neighbour, Ed Millar, for passing this one along.    

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/31158841

Murmuration http://vimeo.com/31158841 About this video: "A chance encounter and shared moment with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena."

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Muskrats

BarrytheBirder Photos

I shot the top photo today at a pond near my home in King City.   I was especially pleased to see that the picture clearly showed how perfectly the Muskrat's fur sheds water.   I took the second picture of a typical muskrat den last week, several miles west of the village.   The bottom photo I shot a couple of years ago and it shows a wintertime muskrat den with an open springtime foraging hole...a hole which is closed up at the end of each day.   Muskrats have been extensively studied and reported upon but I always wondered how they managed to chew and eat the underwater stems and roots of cattails and bulrushes without drowning.   Well now I know.   After some searching I came across the following on the Hinterland Who's Who website.   First of all, the Muskrat is capable of staying submerged for up to 15 minutes by reducing its heart rate and relaxing its muscles, thereby reducing oxygen usage.   It also stores oxygen in its muscles and is less sensitive to carbon dioxide levels in its blood than non-diving mammals.   Secondly, its front teeth are especially modified for underwater chewing.   Non-aquatic mammals, like you and me, would have great difficulty trying to chew on a large object under water, because the water would fill our mouth, throat and nasal passages.   The Muskrat has overcome this problem through the evolution of its cutting teeth, that protrude ahead of its cheeks and of lips that can close behind the teeth.   This permits the muskrat to chew on stems and roots under water with its mouth closed.   Nature is so adaptable.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Great Barn at Marylake

I was birdwatching on the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail, at Marylake Shrine and Monastery yesterday, and decided to take a picture of the Great Barn from an angle I had not taken previously.   The photograph may be of interest to my fellow King Township residents who have never seen this southward hilltop view.   The barn does not seem so large from this perspective, but stand close to it or slip inside, onto the upper barn floor, and look up (see photo below).   It is an amazing structure and certainly a worthy, if unintentional, monument to its original owner, Sir Henry Pellatt.   Sadly, this one-of-a-kind, historical, Canadian structure is in a state of disrepair that is quickly approaching the point of no return.                  

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

I didn't know Kestrels came from Africa

                                                                                                      Photo by Mpho Phiri

Today I was quite surprised to see a picture of a Kestrel on my South African internet friend Mpho Phiri's blogsite, Mafikeng Birding Blog.   Once again I have been reminded how much I have to learn as a birder.   I naively thought that Kestrels were only found in the Americas.   Well, that's true when it comes to the American Kestrel.   The trouble is they're are 12 other kinds of Kestrels in the world, particularly in Africa, but also in Europe, Asia, India, Australia, Indonesia, and other exotic places like Madagascar, The Seychelles and Mauritius.   And Africa is where it all started a zillion years ago and where the most Kestrel species live today.   Mpho's photograph, above, is of a Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni.   The Kestrel is also known as the Windhover because it requires a slight headwind in order to hover, which is central to its hunting style.   Kestrels prefer to hover and then drop or swoop down to take prey on the ground, whereas other falcons are apt to take prey on the wing.   Below is a photograph I took, a week or so ago, of an American Kestrel.   Because of its poor focus quality, I never intended to use it but have decided to do so since the subject has arisen.   Thanks to Mpho and  Wikipedia for expanding my horizons.

                                                                           BarrytheBirder Photo 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB        

Chickadees mate with Titmice - who knew?

                                                                                                                                                                                 Photo by BarrytheBirder

MBlack-capped ChickadeeM

Poecile atricapilla

It's true.   Chickadees mate with Tufted Titmice.   There are six species of Chickadees in North America and Black-capped Chickadees mate with Carolina Chickadees and Mountain Chickadees where their ranges overlap.   But Chickadees and the Tufted Titmouse?!?  Chickadees and titmice are known to flock together during fall migration and winter in the eastern United States, and the scientific literature supports claims of this interbreeding.   There is a picture on the Chipper Woods Bird Observatory website that  certainly looks like a chickadee/titmouse hybrid.   Go to www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/hybridtt.htm or just Google 'Hybrid Tufted Titmouse'.   In 20 years of birding, I've seen one Tufted Titmouse in my backyard.   I'm told if I was to head down to the Niagara Falls area I would have much better luck.   In the meantime, I will not be holding my breath while waiting to see a Chickadee/Titmouse hybrid but will enjoy every Chickadee that sweetly greets me each day.   And if a 'TT' shows up again, I will have my camera ready this time.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB

Headless vulture

                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

TURKEY VULTURE

Cathartes aura

The last of this year's Turkey Vultures seem to have migrated south and I just discovered that I had not used this photo in a blogspot yet...so here it is.   I was at the top of a steep roadside embankment  and the vulture was taking off in a valley below.   That wingspan, by the way, is 6' or 183 centimetres.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB    

Welcome to King City

                                                                                                                                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder

I live in King City.   Despite its pretentious name, it has never been a city.   It is a village: always has been and always will be.   It is about to undergo a dramatic change as it doubles its population from 6,000 to 12,000 in a couple of years.   This may not sound like that big of a deal, but residents will find the change to be on scale as earth-shaking as the first settlers cutting down the trees and displacing the Indians, the coming of the first railway, and the advent of electricity, the telephone and indoor hockey rinks!   The village is about to change again in a profound way.   Hopefully, King City will continue to be a nice place to live.   Modern infrastructure dictates that the need for storm-water sewers be mitigated by the use of run-off retention ponds, like the one above.   While just one, gigantic model home, in one of several sprawling subdivisions, has been built,  flocks of new residents have already moved in.   In the photo above, 400 or so Canada Geese have taken up residency on one of those new retention ponds.   It is a scene to be repeated here on dozens of such ponds in the near future.   Will King City become one of those communities where Canada Geese become the scourge of normally peaceful, live-and-let-live villagers?   We shall see in due course.   Meanwhile, I am looking at the photo above and thinking ahead to when these 400 geese become the parents of 2000 goslings next year.   And if the same where to happen at 10 other ponds in the new King City, why....that would be 20,000 geese.   Yikes!   Surely not.   Next thing you know, they'll be a pair nesting in my backyard.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB   

Gulls in the Salad Bowl

                                                                                                                                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder

Ring-billed Gulls reap their own harvest in the Holland Marsh (Ontario's Salad Bowl), near Andsnorveldt, as a market-garden farmer harrows, cultivates and discs the soft black soil, all in one pass.   It is a scene as old as the tilling of land, anywhere on this globe.   The special soil here is so light and manageable that ploughing is often not necessary.   The 20,000-acre marsh stretches from the Oak Ridges Moraine, in the south, to Lake Simcoe's Cook's Bay in the north.   In the coming months, the marsh will become somewhat of a cold, barren landscape and local birders will be on the lookout for Snowy Owls which over-winter here.   In certain years, seemingly unwary Great Grey Owls inhabit the scrubby edges of the marsh in winter, allowing birders to get very close.   A few years ago, on nearby Dufferin Street, I was near a group of birders who were getting a very good, close-up view of three or four Great Greys, when one of the big birds took off and flew straight at my head.   There were gasps and shouts as I ducked and the silent, beautiful creature passed just above me.
Please comment if you wish. 
BtheB 

A murder of crows at Kettleby

                                                                                                                                                                                   Photo by BarrytheBirder

I've been watching a murder of crows gathering near the hamlet of Kettleby, in King Township, for the past 10 days and today my count surpassed 400 birds.  This is the time of year, of course, that crows do gather and head to ever-so-slightly milder areas nearby.  400 is not a big number in the grand scheme of the things.   After all, there will be flocks in the tens of thousands this winter in the most south-western part of Ontario.   The Royal Ontario Museum, in its Field Guide to Birds of Ontario, states: "...more than 90,000 individuals reported to roost together at one site in winter".    Nevertheless, 400+ crows is a fairly sizeable flock hereabouts and I was impressed as I watched their constantly-moving and noisy entourage.   I had the feeling that each and every crow thought it was the centre of attention.   Folks in this area can see these crows on the north side of the Kettleby Road, between Keele Street and the east end of the hamlet.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB 

Egyptian Goose by Mpho Phiri

MEGYPTIAN GOOSEM
Alopochen aegyptiacus 

Today I discovered this great photo of a very impressive-looking Egyptian Goose on Mpho Phiri's blogsite, from Mafikeng, South Africa.   Mpho and I check out and make comments on each other's blogs, from time to time.   His site is called Mafikeng Birding Blog.   I think Mpho's picture above is a terrific shot of a remarkable-looking goose and just had to spread it even further.   There aren't that many goose species in the world; maybe around 60, if you count the true geese (16), add the subspecies (37) and include the shelducks (7).   I personally think the most beautiful goose in the world is the Red-breasted Goose, but the Egyptian Goose, which is one of the shelducks,  might just be the most striking-looking, especially in flight (go to Google).

Please comment if you wish.
BtheB 

Obsolete bird names

                                                                                                                                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder

Sleepy Duck

a.k.a. Ruddy Duck

Oxyura jamaicensis

The Ruddy Duck wood carving above was crafted by Jim Harkness of Stayner, Ontario, in 1982.   It is one of my favourites in a small collection of bird carvings that I own.   The Ruddy Duck carving is almost 30 years old now and it's interesting to note that 100 years ago this bird was known as, for reasons unknown to me, the Sleepy Duck.   The Ruddy Duck is one of hundreds of birds in Canada and the USA that went by different names in the last two centuries.   If you are interested, there is a list of all those old names that has been compiled by Richards C. Banks of the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre, at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.   The list is available online at www.pwrc.usgc.gov/research/pubs/banks/obspart1.htm or just Google 'old bird names'.   Here is a list of old bird names (and their modern equivalents) that caught my eye.   They range from  exotic to odd to amusing to descriptive - referencing sight, sound or behaviour.

cock of the plains (sage grouse)

scolopaceous courlan (limpkin)

sicklebill (long-billed curlew)

acorn duck (wood duck)

dunk-a-doo (American bittern)

Lord Derby's flycatcher (great kiskadee)       

fly-up-the-creek (green-back heron)

brotherly love (Philadelphia vireo)

hairbird (chipping sparrow)

anthracite (common black-hawk)

hell-diver (horned grebe)

muttonbird (short-tailed shearwater)

niggergoose (double-crested cormorant)

monkey-faced (common barn owl)

oxeye (least or semipalmated sandpiper)

poke or shite-poke (green-backed heron)

rain crow (yellow-billed cuckoo)

rice-bird (bobolink)

snakebird (anhinga)

specklebelly (greater white-fronted goose)

stake-driver (American bittern)

tell-tale (greater yellowlegs)

...and my personal favourite: black warrior (red-tailed and Harlan's hawk)

Please comment if you wish, especially if you know the origin of 'Sleepy Duck'.   

BtheB

Cairns Warbler

                                                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder

I was quite surprised to discover this past week that back in the late 1800s and early 1900s there was a warbler known as the Cairns Warbler.   Cairns happens to my wife's maiden name and her ancestors arrived in Canada in the early 1800s and took up homesteading in King Township, not far from where she and I live today.   How could she and I never have heard of the Cairns Warbler before?   It's because the Cairns Warbler  was a subspecies of the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)   It was discovered and first described in the southern Allegheny Mountains by John S. Cairns of Weaveryule, North Carolina.   What made it different?   It was apparently a little darker than other Black-throated Blue Warblers and had staked out a favourite territory.   There were skeptics, but eventually Dendroica caerulescens cairnsi was declared.   The case for the subspecies did not last however and today it is only a historical footnote.

I do nevertheless have to admire John Cairns' convincing eloquence when he described his special bird.   "High up on the heavily timbered mountain ranges of western North Carolina is the summer home of the Black-throated Blue Warbler.   Here in precipitous ravines, amid tangled vines and moss-covered logs, where the sun's rays never penetrate the rank vegetation and the air is always cool, dwells the happy little creature, filling the woods from dawn to twilight with its song.   These birds are a local race.   They arrive ten days earlier than those that pass through the valleys on their northward migration.   The nests show little variation...exteriorly they are composed of rhododendron or grape-vine bark, interwoven with birch-bark, moss, spider-webs, and occasionally bits of rotten wood.   The interior is neatly lined with hair-like moss, resembling fine black roots, mixed with a few sprays of bright red moss, forming a strikingly beautiful contrast to the pearly eggs.   The female gathers all the materials, and builds rapidly, usually completing a nest in from four to six days if the weather is favourable.   She is usually accompanied by the male, which, however, does not assist her in any way."   I probably would have been convinced by Mr. Cairns also.   Those Scottish immigrants could be very persuasive.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB         

Collector's canoe needs lots of TLC

                                                                                                                                                                                      Photo by Bob Wallace

My brother is the proud owner of the classic Peterborough canoe pictured above.   He bought it recently in northern Ontario and plans to restore it to its former glory sometime in the future.   Knowing Bob, the job will be done with extreme care and attention to detail.   As-is, it is a collectors item, but when my brother is finished with it, it could become someone's highly-prized and valuable pride and joy.   The canoe seems to be an authentic Peterborough Floatwell 16' Canvas Sponson model, probably built between 1927 and 1938.   The sponsons, just below the rails on each side, make the canoe wider and heavier, and supposedly more stable and buoyant in heavy weather and currents.   The Floatwells were probably thought of as a workhorses by many of those who paddled them 75 and 80 years ago.   I can hardly wait to see the transformation in the next year or so.   I may even get to paddle it.   Ah, but that is a somewhat sad story.   My seventy-year-old knees are not user-friendly anymore when it comes to canoes.   Nevertheless, I'd love to give it a spin.   Bob the Restorer has warned me, however, that he is not getting any younger and this old canoe needs a heck of a lot of work.   He says this old Floatwell could end up as a terrific working restoration or as two sawn-off, half-canoe curio/bookshelves!!!   He wouldn't dare. 

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB

Early November at Cawthra Mulock

                                                                                                                                                                                  Photos by BarrytheBirder

This very attractive Beech tree is located in the Cawthra Mulock Nature Reserve parking area, in King Township, east of Newmarket and south of the Holland Marsh community of Ansnorveldt.   The tree graces a former homesite where it was allowed to grow in its own space, with little or no competition.   This meant it could horizontally.   Normally a Beech  would grow in a tall fashion to 60'-80', but this is not the case here.   This tree has grown to typical Beech girth however, of almost 3', and it has the distinctive smooth gray bark that I always think looks like elephant skin.   Beech is known for hanging on to its leaves late into the fall, which certainly is the case with this specimen.  My Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide remarks that Beech was an important timber species, but not for the quality of the wood.   Rather, it was traditionally and extensively used to make cheap furniture, tool handles, veneer, shoe lasts, and fuel.   Its ecological significance, however, is the importance of its fruit to ruffed grouse, wild turkey, bobwhite, pheasant, black bear, raccoon, red and grey foxes, white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbit, many squirrels, porcupine and oppossum.   Near to this beech is a young Sugar Maple, which was planted to honour acclaimed Canadian authors and naturalists Margaret Atwood and her husband Graeme Gibson (see plaque photo below).   The Cawthra Mulock site is operated by Ontario Nature ( formerly Federation of Ontario Naturalists) and many of the tree plantings and site enhancements have been noted with markers such as this one.   The site can be reached from either Bathurst or Dufferin Streets (parking lot at both locations) 1/4 mile north of  Millers Sideroad.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB     

Sparrow may join junco gang

Photo by BarrytheBirder

It's now November and the 40 or so Juncos in the backyard can't seem to get the one male White-throated Sparrow, who shares their seeds, to move on.   In fact, he may not move any further south.   For many years, the northern limit of White-throated Sparrows, in winter, has been the north shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.   I'm located just north of Toronto and I put out birdseed faithfully, all winter long, so this fellow may hang around.   Most birdwatchers know that White-throated Sparrows come in two flavours: their head stripes being either white or tan.   The one pictured above has tan stripes.   What I didn't know, until I opened Kenn Kaufman's 1996 book, Lives of North American Birds, was that the two colour morphs of White-throated Sparrows almost always mate with their opposite colour morph.   In other words, the white-striped male will usually mate with a tan-striped female, while the tan-striped male will mate with a white-striped female.   The different colour mixtures produce some slightly different behaviours also.   Kaufman notes that this bird is  common and widespread, but adds that surveys suggest slight declines in total numbers during recent decades.

Please comment if you wish.

BtheB