Discovering the Quaker Parrot...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I took the photo above of a section of wallpaper in the Raju Dining Room at The Delmanor Retirement Residence on Yonge Street in Aurora, Ontario, where I live.   The bird portrayed intrigued me.   It appeared to be a parrot with colouring I was unfamiliar with, i.e. white and pale blue.   I went looking online and discovered the Quaker Parrot, a predominately green parrot in the wild, but now also a beautiful blue mutation that was developed in the early 2000s.  It seems to be a case of art quickly catching up with evolution.

This parrot is 11 to 12 inches long and is destined to live for 20 to 30 years.  The Quaker Parrot is also known as the Monk Parrot (Myiopsitta monachus).   It is a true parrot in the family Psittacidae.

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BarrytheBirder 

A February look back at Cozumel birds...

                                                                                       All photos by BarrytheBider

The photos reprinted here are meant only to take a bit of the cold edge off the first  day of February, 2005.   They were taken a few years ago on a trip to Mexico.   I hope you enjoy them and they warm you a bit.

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Barry

the

Birder

Part of my bird carvings collection...

                                                                    Photo by BarrytheBirder

Photo above shows carvings of Ruddy Duck by Jim Harkness, shorebird by F. Smith, Loon by Ron Sadler, Puffin by Dale Davies, Western Grebe by Liza Chin. 

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BarrytheBirder

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

Female Downy Woodpecker photo by BarrytheBirder

This small (17 cm.) but favourite backyard bird is widespread and abundant across Canada and the U.S.A.    Most northern of the species move south in the winter.   It is found in most woodland habitats, suburban areas, parklands and orchards. It readily visits feeders non-stop and often joins mixed winter flocks of Chickadees and Nuthatches.   The male of the species has a small read patch on its nape which is lacking on the female.

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BarrytheBirder

Boreal Chickadee ( Parus hudsonicus)

The Boreal Chickadee

Photos - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology

The Boreal Chickadee pales in comparison, literally, to its well-known cousin, the Black-capped Chickadee.

Adults, pictured here, are brownish or dusky brown, with a dark cap, rufous sides and flanks, black bib, dirty white breast and central belly.   They are brown-backed, with a grayish area around the ears and small whitish cheek patches.   

The Boreal Chickadee  is found in the great spruce forests of  Canada,, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland.   

Its call is a wheezy, husky chipping sound, very unlike the clear whistled sound of a Black-capped  Chickadee.

I do not have a large life species list of birds, but I'm surprised after watching birds in many places in Canada, I have never this sweet little bird to me list.

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Barrythebirder

Northern Shrike...

 Photo by BarrytheBirder

I took this photo of a Northern Shrike (Lanius excubitor), also known as a Great Grey Shrike, in late December, 30 years ago, northwest of Toronto at Mount Wolfe, Ontario.   It is 10" long (larger by 1" than the Loggerhead Shrike).   It has a pale head and back, underparts lightly barred and a whitish rump.   Its mask is narrower than on the Loggerhead but its bill is longer, with a more distinct hook.   It has an uncommon range and numbers on the wintering grounds are unpredictable from year to year.

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BarrytheBirder

Turkey Vulture - spectacular on the wing!

Photos by BarrytheBirder

A couple of days ago, I included the photo above, in a blog I wrote on January 24th.   Someone then commented that the Turkey Vulture photo was the most impressive of all the photos I included in that blog.   I have to agree with the commentator's feelings about how impressive this bird can be 'on the wing'.   It's not a handsome bird.   After all, it is a vulture!   But on the wing, it is very impressive.   Below are a few other Turkey Vulture photos I have taken over the years.   As a matter of interest, the Turkey Vulture's wingspan is 72" (1.8 m) and it is approximately Eagle-sized!   It is a resident of the southern Canadian provinces from British Columbia, eastwards to southern Ontario.

 

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BarrytheBirder

Another of my favourite 'Winter Warriors'

The DARK-EYED JUNCO

The Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) is my most favourite small bird in North America, especially at the feeders in winter.   

It is immediately recognizable with its pink bill, white belly, dark eyes, and white outer tail feathers in flight.   

In my part of Canada, just north of Toronto, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, it is the "Slate-coloured" Junco that I see all the time.

It's not just its appearance and behaviour that gets to me, but its personality always wins me over.   It's what I like to call a 'winter warrior' (see photos immediately below).

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BarrytheBirder

Of all the creatures in the world...

 Oh to be one that flies above all the rest

Northern Harrier  

Great Blue Heron

Killdear

Kingfisher

Merlin

Osprey

Caspian Tern

Turkey Vulture

All photos by BarrytheBirder

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BarrytheBirder

366 Hummingbird species in the world...

 

Photo by Barry Wallace

The IOU (International Ornithologists Union) says there are 366 species of hummingbirds in the world, mostly south of the United States of America, and only in the Western Hemisphere.

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world and is found in Cuba and The Isle of Pines.   It is 2.24 inches (5.7 cm) long.

The Giant Hummingbird is the world's largest hummingbird at about 9 inches (23 cm) and is found in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia.   There are actually two types of Giant Hummingbird: the Northern Giant Hummingbird and the Southern Giant Hummingbird.   The 'Northern' one is the slightly larger of the two.

What is the rarest 'hummer' in the world?   It is the Iridescent Sabrewing, found in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains of northern Columbia and it has an extremely limited range.

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BarrytheBirder

Nuthatches - acrobats at the feeders...

 

Above...

White-breasted

Nuthatch

At left...

Red-breasted

Nuthatch

Both are very common in southern Ontario

in winter

and are able to empty nut feeders with amazing speed 

and non-stop

intensity.

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BarrytheBirder

Swainson's Hawk still in Aurora in January!

                                                                  Photo by Barry Wallace

The Swainson's Hawk I featured in this space several times late last year and had subsequently thought, back in September, to have migrated south for the winter has suddenly reappeared in January's freezing temperatures here in Aurora in southern Ontario.   A fellow resident of the Delmanor Retirement Residence where I live, showed me a photo which he had taken, a day or so ago, of the Swainson's Hawk I had become so familiar with.   Obviously, with the cold temperatures hereabouts, but with very light snow cover so far this winter, this bird is finding food and is not thinking it should be in Mexico or points further south.

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BarrytheBirder

Snowy Owls found dead with bird flue...

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

Birds found dead in Toronto Park in December

Two Snowy Owls were found dead at Tommy Thompson Park in Toronto, Ontario, last month, have tested positive for avian influenza, also known as bird flu.   Avian influenza can spread between animals and humans and vice versa and presents a huge risk.   Dead and injured birds found near Toronto should be reported to the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, or the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative or the Toronto Wildlife Centre.   No one other than members of these agencies mentioned above should touch, feed or handle birds to avoid potential exposure to avian flu.   Rodenticide, a common rat poison used to kill rodents that sometimes ends up in larger animals that eat them, is often under-reported in wildlife deaths because of the precautions around handling birds with avian influenza.   More details can be found in a Toronto Star story of January 18th, on page A2.

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BarrytheBirder

Barred Owl (Strix varia)

 

                                                                        Photos by BarrytheBirder

This chunky owl is quickly recognized by its dark eyes, dark barring on its upper breast, and dark streaking below.   It's mainly nocturnal and its daytime roost is usually well hidden, but it is much more likely to be heard than other owls in the daytime.   Its distinctive call is a rhythmic series of loud hoots, sometimes preceded by an ascending agitated barking.   It is found in lower eastern Canada and the eastern United States.   The photos shown here were taken on the Oak Ridges Moraine in King Township, a few miles north of Toronto, Ontario.

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BarrytheBirder

BirdsCanada.Org Appeal for Funds...

 

Art by Shaylena Stenback

I received an appeal for funds from BirdsCanada.Org recently, but the request was from 2024 and had been delayed by the recent postal strike.   I intend to make a contribution nevertheless, but wanted to share the artwork (above) that accompanied the request.   I was quite impressed by this charming coloured illustration of a Least Bittern by Shaylena Stenback.

The Least Bittern is the smallest Heron in the world, at roughly the size of a '...long-necked, long-legged American Robin'.   Interesting...as the Least Bittern is 13" (33cm.) long, while the American Robin is 10" (25 cm.) long.

Nevertheless, Doug Tozer, Director of Waterbirds & Wetlands at BirdsCanada.Org, makes an impassioned plea for funds on behalf of birds.  Doug went on to say that wetland birds like the least Bittern have seen a population increase of 21% on average since 1970, while grassland bird species have declined by 67% since 1970, and some species like the Chesnut-collared Longspur have declined by a disheartening 95%!

A quick way to reach BirdsCanada HQ is by calling 1-888-448-2473.

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BarrytheBirder

New bird for me...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

(Calyptorhynchus banksii)

I came across this bird recently as part of a travelling menagerie of exotic creatures that was making a presentation in the retirement community in which I live, in Aurora, Ontario.   This striking-looking creature is native to Australia, where about only 15,000 remain in the wild.

It is 60 centimeters (24") in length and can live up to 50 years, 

but its long-term prospects in the wild are not good.

 

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if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Grackle image...

                                                                  Photo by BarrytheBirder

The only reason I'm showing this photo of a Grackle, which I took some time ago, is because I didn't notice before, just how long its bill was.   All three types of Grackles in North America also have long keel-shaped tails.   This one above, with its long bill and  tail is a neat specimen.   Love that upward glance also.

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BarrytheBirder

Reliable sightings of Snowy Owls north of Newmarket...

 

                                                                Photos by BarrytheBirder

I've always found Snowy Owls, in winter,  at the western end of the Ravenshoe Sideroad, between Queensville and Keswick, north of Newmarket. My friend, Doreen Hiltz, of Holland Landing, wrote last week to say she and her son spotted some last week and got photos of one.   I have several photos of these wonderful creatures in this reliable location that stretches across the most northern reaches of the Holland Marsh, just south of Lake Simcoe's southern end.

My National Geographic Society Field Guide to the Birds of North America states the Snowy Owl is "A large white owl, with rounded head, yellow eyes.  Dark bars and spots are heavier on females, heaviest on young birds; old males may be pure white."

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BarrytheBirder