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

Crossbills / Red Crossbill and White-winged Crossbill

Red Crossbill photo by 'Coniferous Forest'

White-winged Crossbill photo by 'All About Birds'

There are six species of Crossbills in the world.   Two are found in Canada: the Red Crossbill and the White-winged Crossbill.   I have resisted writing about the Crossbills, up to this point, because of the complicated nature of the Crossbill species and subspecies.

But here goes...

The Red Crossbill (and as many as eight subspecies) is fairly common and widespread across Canada, although I don't recall ever seeing one or photographing one.

The White-winged Crossbill is also found across Canada, even more broadly, and further north in the huge country.

Crossbills feed exclusively on conifer seeds, especially from pine trees.   Their unique oddly-crossed mandibles enable them to extract seeds from the tree cones.   Both Crossbills insert their crossed mandibles into conifer cones, forcing the scales apart while their tongues scoop the seeds into their mouths.   Both species also take sunflowers seeds from feeders.

Because their chosen food is available in the winter, they commonly begin nesting as early as January, but they have been found nesting in every month of the year.

Both species are vulnerable to habitat loss caused by logging operations.

These sparrow-sized birds wander irregularly, depending upon pinecone availability (their principal food).   They irrupt far south of their usual range during some winters.

Red Crossbills range from southern Alaska, Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland, south to North Carolina (in the mountains) and Wisconsin; and in the west to northern Nicaragua.

The White-winged Crossbill ranges from northern Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to British Columbia and Maine.   They winter across the northern half of the United States.

The Red Crossbill's voice is a hard "kip-kip", mostly given in flight.

The White winged Crossbill's voice is a dry slow rattle, also usually given flight.

The White-winged Crossbill suffers heavy mortality in winter due to salted roadway automobile traffic.

I could go on and on, but won't.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)

Photo by All about Birds

Yesterday it was about the Peregrine Falcon, today it is about the Prairie Falcon.   The Prairie Falcon is very similar to the Peregrine Falcon in size.   It is slightly shortly, but has a similar wingspan.   It is pale brown above, creamy white and heavily spotted below.   Its crown is streaked; facial markings are narrower and plumage paler overall than Peregrine Falcon.

Prairie Falcons inhabit dry, open country and prairies.   They prey chiefly on birds and small mammals.

They are found from southern-western Canada, the western U.S. and in Mexico.  Small numbers will winter throughout their breeding range.

The Prairie Falcon  is one of the larger birds of prey found in western North America.   While similar to the Peregrine Falcon, it is different in terms of its colour, and hunting patterns.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

 

Common Loon (Gavia immer)

Photo: American Birding Association

There is a widely held impression that the top ten most iconic and frequently observed bird species in Canada are the

Common Loon

Canada Goose

Black-capped Chickadee

American Robin

Bald Eagle

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal

Downey Woodpecker 

Mallard Duck

Red-winged Blackbird

I have see, heard or photographed all ten of these species over the last several decades, but it is always the Common Loon that comes to mind as my favourite.   As a teenager and young adult, I made many canoe trips in south-central Ontario and the loud, soulful wail of the Common Loon resounds in my head to this day at 84 years of age. 

I hope if I have one last chance at a canoe trip, at 85 years of age, I will once more hear the loon's unforgettable and unique call on a remote Ontario lake.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Photo: National Wildflife Federation/Merrifield, Virginia

The Peregrine Falcon is the world's fastest diving bird.   The record-setting falcon was once clocked at a speed of 186 miles (300 kilometres) an hour. 

Peregrines are global birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.   They can travel long distances, sometimes between continents, to get from their wintering grounds to their breeding grounds.

North American Peregrine Falcons can be both migratory or non-migratory.   Some live year-round in Alaska, the Midwest, the Northeast, the southwest, and along the western coastline.

It has been my experience to find them nesting here in Aurora, Ontario, 35 kilometres north of Toronto, on Lake Ontario, for the past 4 to 5 years.

With their global range, Peregrine Falcons can be found in many habitats including mountains, forest, cities, valleys, deserts and coast lines.

Peregrines eat mostly other birds, consuming a variety of species

(about 450 North American species have been recorded as prey), and the number worldwide may be as many as 2,000 species.

Falcons nest on cliffs up to 1,300 metres high, and sometimes higher, including along the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Males usually select several possible nesting sites, with the female making the final choice.

Peregrines can live up to 15 years and even longer.

Their total migration routes can stretch from Alaska to southern Argentina and return, wracking up over 20,000 kms. per round trip., second longest of any bird of prey in the western hemisphere.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Last Swainson's Hawk on Aug.30th

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I'm almost certain I saw my last Swainson's Hawk of the season yesterday.   These birds have already started their southern migration and many will end up in southern Argentina in another two months.

Below are some of the photos I have taken of Swainson's Hawks over the past year or so here in Aurora, north of Toronto on Lake Ontario...

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

 

Male

Photo by Barry the Birder

Purple Finches are are fairly common in the north and northeast 

of Canada, as well as along the Pacific Coast and the eastern half of the U.S.A., throughout the year, although they are not as common as the House Finch.   They are thought of as not purple so much as rose red over most of the adult male body, brightest on head and rump.

They feed mostly up in trees on seeds and berries and also visit bird feeders, but numbers vary from year to year in winter, in the east, according to Kenn Kaufamnn in his 'Birds of North America'.

They are fairly common, found in coniferous forests, Oak canyons and lower mountain slopes.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

                                

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)

Photos by BarrytheBirder

One of nine wren species in eastern North America, the House Wren is a common, plain little wren of bushy undergrowth, found in a variety of habitats.  They are found in thickets and brush piles, especially around fallen logs, in suburban areas.   They readily use nest boxes.

They are familiar from deep woods to backyards.   They are shy but curious, popping up in the open, tail straight up.   They small, hyperactive, with a thin bill.

They are plainer than most wrens; show a faint eyebrow, thin eye-ring, bars on wings and tail.

Their songs are a very fast, musical high-pitched jumbled or bubbling series of notes, often given throughout the day.

  They range from central British Columbia east to New Brunswick, in Canada, south to southeastern Arizona and northern Georgia, and winter in the south-west U.S.A., along the Gulf Coast and north to Virginia.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

A change of pace...

 

Photo by Dave Kemp

I have featured bird photos taken by Dave Kemp of Vancouver Island many times in this space, but on this occasion I am using a photo of British Columbia tree frogs that Dave recently sent me.

Hope you enjoy.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

End of August - southerly migrations underway

 
Swainson's hawk - photos by BarrytheBirder

Today is August 28th and fall migration has already begun for many bird species, including the Swainson's Hawk, seen here in Aurora, Ontario, pictured above and below.   Swainson's Hawks  casually migrate south to Florida, but winter chiefly in South America, notably Argentina.

They undertake a massive 12,000-mile (19,000 km.) round trip migration from western, central and eastern North America (including here in Ontario) to the pampas of Argentina.

They travel in large flocks, called kettles, leaving the breeding grounds in late August or September and returning to North America by mid-march to April.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

American Golden-Plover

Certain Plover species, particularly golden-plovers, rank among the absolute elite tier of long-distance migratory land and shorebirds globally.   Species such as the America Golden-Plover undertake annual round-trip journeys of up to 40,000 kilometres (25,000 miles) between Arctic tundra breeding grounds and southern South America.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Hummingbird doggeral...

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Ruby-throated hummingbird

Summer's fast-food fanatic

Hundreds of sips a day

Disappearing madly away

Back and forth, back and forth

To and fro, high and low,

Compelled to size the day.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

 

Photos by BarrytheBirder

Flash of sapphire wings,

A sudden voice in the pines,

Guardian of the woods.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

More on Plovers...

Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)

The Black-bellied Plover is the largest of the North American plovers.   This is the grayest of all the New World plovers in both breeding and winter plumages.   It nests on Arctic tundra and winters in the Caribbean.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

 

Photo by BarrytheBirder

I have just discovered that the Killdeer is a plover...

Photo by BarrytheBirder

 I have been a birder for longer than I can remember, but up until now, I have known almost nothing about plovers.   I have just  discovered that plovers are found all over the world except in the Sahara and the polar regions!  And now I have discovered that Killdeers are plovers.  Who knew?!?

There are 40 to 65 true plover species in the world.  Plover bird species include plovers, dotterels, and lapwings.

The highest overall species richness is concentrated in the Afrotropics (Africa) and the Australasian region, with Australia and various parts of sub-Saharan Africa supporting exceptionally high numbers of resident and endemic plover and lapwing species.

There are roughly 8 native plover species in Canada, adding up to millions of individual birds in total!

More on another occasion...

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

 

Madagasgan Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides)

The Madagascan Fish Eagle is officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the rarest eagle species, with an estimated population of only about 120 breeding pairs remaining in the wild along Madagascar's northwestern coast.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Big Owls...

 

Great Horned Owl

Photo by BarrytheBirder

The biggest owls in eastern North America are the Great Horned Owl, the Snowy Owl (during winter visits), and the Barred Owl.   These large birds of prey have heavy bodies, broad wings, and strong hunting skills.

The Great Horned Owl (22") is the most common large resident owl in the east.   It weighs up 3.5 to 5.5 lbs. and has a wingspan of up to five feet.   The feather tufts on its head look like horns.

Snowy Owl

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This giant white owl (23") visits eastern Canada and the northern United States during the winter.    It is slightly heavier on average than the Great Horned Owl and hunts in open fields during the day.

Barred Owl

Photo by BarrytheBirder

This resident eastern Owl (21") is slightly smaller than the Great Horned Owl.   It features brown and white barred feathers, dark eyes, and a loud call that sounds like "who cooks for you".

The Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) (27") is the largest species of owl by length, but not the heaviest, owl in North America, as well as both eastern and western hemispheres.

Miscellanea...

The Great Gray Owl is widely noted as the tallest owl ny length, reaching up to 2 feet 9 inches (approx. 84 cm) though it is mostly fluffy feathers rather than body mass.

The Eurasian Eagle -Owl stands up to roughly 2.5 to 3 feet tall with a massive 6-to-7-foot wingspan, making it one of the most powerful and largest owls overall.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

 

                                                                                                     Photo by BarrytheBirder

Unmistakeable in appearance

Each time I see a male Northern Cardinal, I have to think, for me, it is the most recognizable of all songbirds.   In my part of the world (Eastern North America), It is the only overall red bird with a crest, a black face, and a cone-shaped  reddish bill.   To me, it is unmistakeable and one of my favourite backyard birds.   My Audubon Handbook describes it as 'one of the most familiar North American songbirds'.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry the Birder

What is the ornithological definition of a songbird?

 

                                      Indigo Bunting photo by BarrytheBirder

In ornithology, a songbird is a perching bird belonging to the suborder Passeri (also called oscines) within the large order of passerine birds (Passeriformes).   They are defined by a  specialized, highly developed vocal organ called a syrinx that allows them to produce, complex, learned vocalizations.

The sub-order Passeri, commonly known as true songbirds or oscines, contains roughly 4,100 to 4,500 species.   This group makes up the majority of the larger Passeriformes order (perching birds), which holds about 6,500 total species.

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder