Feeder full of seeds and feathers...

Photo and haikus by BarrytheBirder

January's last day
our winter has not been harsh
paucity of snow

winter's birds come in
all sizes and shapes and colours
feeding together

seventeen species
of birds visit the feeders
seeds are vanishing

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Chipping Sparrow and Tree Sparrow...telling them apart

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Chipping Sparrow

 Black eyeline / black bill

~

(American) Tree Sparrow

No black eyeline / bicoloured bill

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BarrytheBirder

One of southern Canada's favourites at the winter feeders...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

AMERICAN TREE SPARROW

(Spizella arborea)

Instantly recognized by that dark spot on the breast and and its red-brown cap, the American Tree Sparrow is also known as the "Winter Chippy".   A numerous sparrow but thought to be showing declines in eastern North America.   A handsome little bird and only the male sings...with a sweet and clear song.   A welcome winter visitor here in southern Ontario, but come spring will head north to breeding grounds around James Bay and Hudson Bay.

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BarrytheBirder                                  

White-breasted Nuthatch

Photos by BarrytheBirder

  

White-breasted Nuthatch

(Sitta Carolinensis)

Male (above on the left)   -   Female (above on the right)

The widespread White-breasted Nuthatch species is almost always seen in male-female pairs, year-around.  The male has a black top to its head, while the female has a gray top to her head.   Otherwise they are almost indistinguishable.   Both sexes are the same size.   They are a joy to see at winter seed and suet feeders.

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BarrytheBirder

Red-breasted Nuthatches will eat whatever's available...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH

(Sitta canadensis)

A Red-breasted Nuthatch is seen above at a winter seed feeder in my backyard, where it also visits the suet feeder.  Below another Red-breasted Nuthatch is seen at a Hummingbird nectar feeder in the summertime.   It is also well known for gleaning small insects from branches and outer twigs.  When you are a small as this wee bird is, you have to take whatever you can get, when and wherever you find it.   It is definitely omnivorous.

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BarrytheBirder

Mourning Doves not just ground feeders...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

While Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) spend an inordinate amount of time eating Niger seed on the ground in my backyard, they will resort to eating from suspended feeder trays, if the need arises.   They are such plump birds considering the tiny Niger seeds they eat, and gather those tiny seeds quickly but digest them later while roosting.   They exist year-around in southern Canada and in the US from coast-to-coast, but some do winter in southern Mexico and Central America.

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BarrytheBirder

Juncos do not necessarily stand on principle...when it comes to food

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

DARK-EYED JUNCO

Junco Hyemalis

There are sixteen sub-species of the Dark-eyed Junco and the "slate-coloured" population is widespread in the north-east US and across Canada.   The ones in my backyard in winter are, by and large, ground-feeding seed-eaters.   When they've cleaned up the seeds on the ground however, they will fly up to the hanging bird-feeders and join the other small winter-warriors for a share of the plenty.   During nesting, they again show preference for being close to the ground by creating a cup on the ground hidden under vegetation or next to rocks.

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BarrytheBirder

Canada does not have a national bird...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

What is Canada's national Bird?   We don't have one.   Even though there are seven million Canada Geese in Canada (according to Wikipedia), and even though there 200,000 Common Loons in Canada (once heard - never forgotten), the bird that won a recent favourite bird in Canada contest was the Gray (or Canada) Jay.   Wikipedia also states there are 685 bird species recorded as having been found somewhere and at sometime in Canada, between the oceans surrounding us, so there are lot of species to choose from.  I've always said the Common Loon is my choice for Canada's national bird.   I heard my first loon in Algonquin Park, as a teenager on my first canoe trip.   65 years later, I can recall the memory instantly.

Ever wondered which Canadian province or territory has recorded the most bird species?   Here's a list, compiled by Wikipedia:

1.   British Columbia                        583

2.   Ontario                                        501

3.   Quebec                                        456

4.   Saskatchewan                            436

5.   Alberta                                         435

6.   New Brunswick                           419

7.   Newfoundland and Labrador     398

8.   Manitoba                                      390

9.   Prince Edward Island                 369

10. Yukon Territory                           324

11. Nova Scotia                                 308

12. Northwest Territories                 300

13. Nunavut                                       279

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

My favourite Trumpeter Swan photo...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I have taken many Trumpeter Swan photos over the years, but the one above is my personal favourite.   It was taken in the village of King City.   I hope you enjoy also.

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BarrytheBirder

Downy Woodpecker ~ so small and dainty...

                                                                                                 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Smallest of our woodpeckers

Downy Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) are the smallest of the woodpeckers in Canada and they are  two and half inches shorter than Hairy Woodpeckers, but otherwise look quite similar.   Downies have a tuft of nasal bristles that is conspicuous (see bottom photo).

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BarrytheBirder

South America...a haven for birders and poachers...

Photo: HO/SERFOR/AFP via Getty Images

Rescued birds were being smuggled

Birds (above) are seen after being rescued from a Belgian citizen's luggage, bound for Madrid in Spain, at Lima's International airport in Peru.   According to the National Forest & Wildlife Service (SERFOR), a belgian citizen was arrested with 20 live birds hidden in a suitcase, which he intended to sell in Spain.   Peru is home to 1,858 confirmed species of birds and is a well-known, worldwide attraction to birders and collectors.

Six of the top seven countries in the world, for separate bird species, are to be found in South America:

                         COLUMBIA     1,878 Species

                         PERU              1,858       "

                         BRAZIL           1,813       "
                         Indonesia        1,720       "

                         ECUADOR      1,622       "

                         BOLIVIA          1,438       "

                         VENEZUELA   1,394       "

Accepted estimates of the number of world species of birds is somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 species, but some notable scientific agencies are now speculating that 18,000 species is more likely, based on morphology, a branch of biology dealing with the form and structure of animals.

Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder

Birding in southern Arizona...

 Photos by Judy Craig

Here are two photos from my old friend, Judy Craig, who now winters in Arizona.   Judy took these shots of an Eastern Phoebe (above) and a Killdeer (below) at two different locations near Tucson.   Judy has a new camera and is certainly in the right place to get some great bird photos.

__

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BarrytheBirder

The rosy hue of the House Finch...

Photo by Sarah Lorentz

Like me, my nearby cousin, Sarah Lorentz, seems to have taken photographs of ever winter bird that shows up at her feeders....in the case above: a male and female House Finch.   Here's what my Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds (1977) has to say about this bright red-breasted bird.   "This western species occurred naturally east to Nebraska and Texas.   It was introduced in the East and is established from Maine to the Carolinas, as well as south-eastern Canada.   The eastern population of this species is descended from cagebirds released near New York City in the 1940s.   In the 1960s and 1970s they finally established themselves in urban New York where their musical song and bright colours add a cheerful touch".
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BarrytheBirder

Sandhill Cranes in Arizona...

                                                                                                      Photos by Judy Craig
Sandhill Crane
(Antigone canadensis)

One-time resident of King Township, Ontario, and old friend of mine, Judy Craig, sent me some bird photos from Arizona, where she now lives in the winter.  Pictured here are Sandhill Cranes, just a few of approximately 500,000 that will migrate to Canada in the spring.   The early spring migration of these cranes in Nebraska to Canada is one of North America's greatest avian spectacles.  Sandhills are the world's most populous crane species.   

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BarrytheBirder

Neat sign...but probably out of place in my King City backyard

Available from the American Eagle Association

$15 U.S. funds online

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Barry the Birder

Picky, picky, picky...

Photo and haiku by BarrytheBirder

seeds all seem the same

still nuthatches go through ten of them

to find the right one

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Picturesque pigeon greets TD Bank customers inside front door....

Photo by BarrytheBirder

"COOKIE" ~ the TD Bank pigeon

This attractive pigeon (above) was greeting Toronto-Dominion bank customers inside the foyer of the bank on Tuesday of this week.   Bank employees said it had been there for about one hour and they decided to call the feathered visitor "Cookie".   I suspect Cookie got its nickname because of what appeared to be cookie crumbs on the floor ... supplied, I'm guessing, by bank tellers.   Cookie was eventually shown the door, but decided it was much to cold outside and retreated to the warmth inside the bank.   Hopefully this story has a good ending.

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BarrytheBirder

Haiku for a bird...

                                                                                                    Photo by BarrytheBirder

red cardinal feeds mate

then chases her away from seeds

how is she to know

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Barrythebirder

The Guardian newspaper reports 10 new Indonesian songbirds discovered...

Photo: James Eaton / Birdtour Asia / Science

Ten new songbird species and sub-species have been identified on three Indonesian islands, in the biggest discovery of its kind in more than a century.   The new species and subspecies are hidden away on the islands of Taliabu, Peleng and Batudaka, off the coast of Sulawesi.

The new species, identified by Frank Rheindt at National University of Singapore, include the Peleng Fantail, Pelang Leaf Warbler, the Taliabu Grasshopper Warbler, the Taliabu Myzomela and the Taliabu Leaf Warbler.   In addition, the new sub-species include the Togian Jungle Flycatcher, the Banggai Mountain Leaftoiler, the Taliabu Snowy-browed Flycatcher, the Taliabu Island Thrush and the Sula Mountain Leaftoiler.

The findings mark the largest number of new species indentified from such a small geographically confined region in more than 100 years.

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BarrytheBirder

Rainy Saturday morning in January...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Damp Dove

All the birds at the feeders, including the Mourning Dove pictured above, were getting wet this past weekend as rain and mild temperatures got rid of all the snow on the ground.

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BarrytheBirder

Goldfinches come and go...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

Temperatures seem to affect feeding

This is purely circumstantial evidence on my part, but the backyard appearances of goldfinches, which are numerous, seems to ebb and flow with weather changes.  Mild weather, and the goldfinch sightings drop.  Who knows where they go?   Bitter, cold weather and the goldfinches plunder the feeders in the backyard.  I interpret this as innate, inborn, intelligence and a God-given facet of their survival in the harsh Canadian winter months.  They create hope, optimism and colour to any otherwise harsh climate.   Bless them.

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BarrytheBirder

Bird toll in Australia bush fires...

Wikipedia Photo

The BBC reports that the number of bird deaths from the Australia bush fires has been conservatively estimated, by experts, to be between 5.5 and 6 million birds so far.

BarrytheBirder   

Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)

Photo by Dave Kemp

Once called the Marsh Hawk

The Northern Harrier photo (above) was taken by my west coast acquaintance, Dave Kemp.   When he sent me the photo, Dave called it a Marsh Hawk.   There was a time when everyone called this slim, gray raptor a Marsh Hawk.   Here is how it was described, in part, in an old 1926 bird guide of mine, that was gifted to me by a friend several years ago.

"As shown by its name, this hawk is found most abundantly in or around marshes or wet meadows.   I have found them especially abundant in boggy marshes such as frequented by bitterns.   Their flight is quiet and owl-like, and as they do most of their feeding toward dusk, they often seem like owls as they flit by without a sound.   Their food is composed chiefly of meadow mice and moles, which they spy and dash down upon as they fly at low elevations".

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BarrytheBirder

Hawk Owl keeps birders coming to Schomberg...

Photo by Barry Wallace

Birders can't get enough of Hawk Owl

The Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) at the Dufferin Marsh, at Hwy. 27 and Dr. Kay Drive in Schomberg, has been drawing birders from all over southern Ontario for three weeks now and there appears to be no end in sight for all concerned.   The Hawk Owl is constantly hunting for small prey and the birders/photographers are continually scuttling after it for that perfect shot.   I have to wonder if long-time Dufferin Marsh champion, Mary Asselstine knows whether to laugh or cry at the siege by birders.

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BarrytheBirder

Peacocks in Victoria ~ early January

                                                                                                     Photo by Joey Georgekish

My nephew Joey Georgekish took the photo above of a peacock in Victoria, British Columbia, a few days ago, while visiting there with his son, Jaxon.   Look at the green grass and ferns.   Joey knows which part of Canada to visit in early January.   Meanwhile, I have to settle for chilly chickadees and shivering starlings in southern Ontario.

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BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Hawk on the shore of Lake Wilcox...

 Photos by BarrytheBirder

There's nothing different or special about this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), but it caught my eye as it spent several minutes preening itself on the shore of nearby Lake Wilcox.   Once the grooming is done, it will be ready to again soar high overhead looking down for rodents, rabbits or perhaps small birds.

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BarrytheBirder

Here is an assortment of wee birds at the feeders...

Photos by Barry Wallace

Take your pick. Purple Finches, House Finches, Juncos, Tree Sparrows, House Sparrows, Goldfinches, Common Redpolls, Siskens.   They're all here, except when the Blue Jays and Starlings barge in, of course.   But there's always enough seeds for all.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

   

Ospreys a little harder to spot this year...maybe

Photos by BarrytheBirder

As Ospreys seem to be more circumspect in where they put their nests in King Township, landowners are going to greater lengths to prevent people from trespassing on private property.   Birders hoping to see Ospreys may find it harder to spot this grand fish-eating raptor.   At left is an Osprey nest I spotted last year, on Dufferin Street, near the hamlet of Snowball, and which I hope hope is re-occupied in 2020.  It is high on a hill in the middle of a large estate that is well-fenced and signed against trespassing.   At least this one nest is visible from the road and one can only hope the nest will be occupied again this year.   Unfortunately, it will take a spotting scope to get a good look at any activity.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder