Bird of the Week

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Bird of the Week

1Tess_W
Editat: març 5, 2021, 8:46 am

I think it would be fun if we started a bird of the week? Anybody in? My thoughts is that members would choose 1 week per year and highlight a bird in their neck of the woods (a pic would be nice, but not mandatory). If you would agree to post, please just respond yes and then we'll get a schedule, or sorts. (Very loose, for example, 4 people in April, 4 in May, no set dates, just sometime during the month, etc.) Or if we have a small number of responses, then bird of the MONTH!

2Tess_W
març 5, 2021, 5:48 am

Yes

3NorthernStar
març 6, 2021, 4:27 pm

yes

4Tess_W
març 11, 2021, 9:48 pm

Well, Northernstar, looks like just me and you. However, if you "missed" this topic, just list your name here and I will add you to the rotation.

5Tess_W
Editat: març 11, 2021, 10:11 pm

Birth of the Month: March 2021 Red-Headed Woodpecker

This uncommon woodpecker differs from other woodpeckers because its head is entirely red. Other woodpeckers have patches of red on their head, but this woodpecker is the only one to have an entirely red head. They are related to the red-bellied woodpeckers, which has a partially red head. They live most often in orchard groves and farm country--but since that is disappearing, they will live in the city in shade trees. Their habitat is central Canada south to the US Midwest south to Florida. Like all woodpeckers, they have 4 toes on each foot, two in the front and two in the rear.

Besides eating insects from wood, they also snatch flying insects from the air and have been known to eat acorns and fruit. They also will eat mice and eggs from the nests of other birds. At bird feeders, red-heads eat sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet, but they are particularly attracted to cracked corn.

Trivia: Woodpeckers of some variety live everywhere except Australia and Oceania.





All information was taken from: Peterson Field Guide to Birds, Whatabird.com, Audubon.com. The pictures are from Google and appear not to have a copy right or water mark.

6NorthernStar
març 12, 2021, 12:11 am

>5 Tess_W: very pretty, I do see lots of woodpeckers, but not those ones, I'm much too far north and west.

7John5918
març 12, 2021, 12:43 am

We also have woodpeckers in Africa. The one I see most often is the Nubian woodpecker. I saw a Pileated woodpecker in the USA when a friend took me birding in Annapolis, MD, a couple of years ago.

8Tess_W
març 12, 2021, 4:12 am

>7 John5918: Yes, we have pileated woodpeckers, also. I debated on whether to post the red-headed or the pileated.

9John5918
Editat: març 12, 2021, 9:30 am

This prompted me to look up American woodpeckers, and I was interested to read about the Ivory-billed woodpecker which apparently may or may not be extinct, but probably is.

Edited to add: And I've just been out on my upstairs balcony and there was a Nubian woodpecker in a tree, and on the ground below, a Purple grenadier.

10Tess_W
Editat: març 12, 2021, 12:24 pm

Just some pics of "John's birds" and an ivory billed woodpecker:


Ivory-billed woodpecker


Nubian woodpecker


Purple Grenadier

All pics taken from ebird.com

11elenchus
març 12, 2021, 12:39 pm

I love the idea of this thread but likely will visit to learn more than comment or post my own bird.

I still struggle to reliably distinguish house wrens from finches from sparrows, and my eyesight isn't terribly keen, either!

That said, I've never seen a red-headed woodpecker here in Chicago, but definitely see (and hear) red-bellied and pileated fairly regularly.

12John5918
Editat: març 12, 2021, 1:34 pm

>10 Tess_W:

Thanks. I can only see the first picture, the Ivory-billed woodpecker. The other two just show a little icon.

Let me try.



13Tess_W
març 12, 2021, 1:23 pm

>12 John5918: Can I fix that? I see all 3.

14John5918
Editat: març 12, 2021, 1:33 pm

>12 John5918:

No, I can still only see the first one, and I haven't succeeded in posting those other two either!

Edited to add: Ah, I've fixed it by posting photos from Wikipedia rather than eBird.

15John5918
març 12, 2021, 11:31 pm

Incidentally I will add my name to those interested in bird of the week and when it's my turn I'll showcase some African birds.

16Tess_W
març 13, 2021, 6:36 am

>15 John5918: I'm excited. How about May? I will remind you!

17booksfindme
Editat: març 13, 2021, 4:57 pm

I will take a week or 2 as well. My weekend home has many many different birds. I’m learning more about them every weekend

Thanks for including me. You can assign me dates

18booksfindme
Editat: març 13, 2021, 5:05 pm

If you all are interested - there is a camera watching an Eagles nest live on U -tube. U- tube Eagle Big Bear California and it will show up.

Streamed live 20 hours ago
Perched at a height of 145 feet on a Jeffrey pine tree in California's Big Bear Lake, the nest houses Jackie and Shadow, a pair of bald #eagles​. The pair's first egg was laid on February 8 and a second clutch of eggs was laid on February 11. Since then, the pair has been protecting and incubating the eggs.

19Tess_W
Editat: març 13, 2021, 9:08 pm

> 18 I watch this (or one like it) every year! Just fascinating! I watch the one at Decorah, Iowa.

20Tess_W
Editat: març 14, 2021, 7:49 pm

2nd Bird, 2nd week of March

Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. These birds are fairly common in Eastern-Central -Southern US and parts of SE Canada. The males have a colorful ruby throat-hence the names. The live in gardens, near feeders, and at wood edges. The prefer flower nectar, but will feed at watering feeders. I have two humming bird feeders at my house and usually from late May-September I have 1-2 at the feeders at all times. Field guides say that hummers in our area migrate to Mexico for the winter months. Increasingly, I'm seeing less and less males and many more females. However, when I researched, the only "answer" I got was that males start migrating south as early as July.
The larger hummers can be bullies and will chase the smaller ones from the feeders. When I'm quiet and sitting on the deck, they will come within 3-4 inches of me while feeding. Hummers can flap their wings 50 times per second and they are the only bird that can fly backwards.







Info from Wikipedia, Peterson Field Guide to Birds
Pics from: New England Garden Club, Amazon, and Audubon.org

21Tess_W
Editat: març 20, 2021, 6:32 pm

3rd Bird, 3rd week of March

The killdeer is a large plover found in North and Central America. Its breeding grounds are usually open fields or lawns where there may be some higher grass (low spots), rocky ditches, etc. The killdeer is most famous for faking a broken wing and screaming when its nest is approached. The mother will sacrifice itself for the sake of her fledglings. When not breeding, it may frequent coastal areas.





Pics from wikipedia and allaboutbirds.com

22Tess_W
Editat: març 28, 2021, 2:59 pm

Last Bird of the Week for March 2021

Eastern Bluebird--in the 1980's-1990's there was concern that this bird's numbers were diminishing, but they seemed to have bounced back. They are known for nesting in open country and often sitting on fence posts, both of which are in decline. I've never seen the males, only the females.





Pics from pinterest and allaboutbirds.org

23elenchus
març 28, 2021, 5:07 pm

I see blue jays here in Chicago, but don't recall ever seeing a bluebird -- even with plenty of sunshine headed my way.

24NorthernStar
Editat: abr. 6, 2021, 10:34 pm

I just changed my mind about my first bird of the week because I just had an exciting sighting of a bird I've never seen before, except in my bird books!

This is a Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus, and I took the picture myself, less than two hours ago. Where I live is well into the area shown as its breeding range, but there has been at least one around here for a couple of months, as I have a couple of friends who have posted pictures. I saw two of them this evening. I was watching the one in the picture, sitting on a post near the highway. It took off and was circling the snowy field when another owl approached. They flew towards each other, circled around and approached again, then one chased the other, which ended up roosting on another post a few hundred metres away.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Short-eared_Owl
"This open-country hunter is one of the world's most widely distributed owls, and among the most frequently seen in daylight. Don't look too eagerly for the ear tufts, which are so short they're often invisible. More conspicuous features are its black-rimmed yellow eyes staring out from a pale facial disk. These birds course silently over grasslands on broad, rounded wings, especially at dawn and dusk. They use acute hearing to hunt small mammals and birds." Description from All About Birds

25Tess_W
abr. 7, 2021, 8:13 pm

Wow, I was not aware there were daytime owls! Great pic!

26NorthernStar
abr. 7, 2021, 11:34 pm

>25 Tess_W: Hawk owls are often seen in daylight as well, at least here in the north where the days are very long. I suspect that snowy owls are the same, as they nest in the far north.

27NorthernStar
abr. 12, 2021, 1:22 am

My second April Bird of the Week is the one I had originally planned to be first - the Canada Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, also known as Whiskey Jack (which has nothing to do with alcohol, but is an anglicization of its Cree/Algonkian name), Camp Robber, and Gray Jay. The Canada Jay was proposed as Canada's national bird in 2016, but it has not yet been made official. The official name was changed to Gray Jay (note American spelling) in the 1950s, and back to Canada Jay in 2018.


Canada Jays are found in every province and territory in Canada as well as into some parts of the US. They live in the northern forests year round, and nest in late winter. One of the places many people encounter them for the first time is in campgrounds, where they may come around looking for food. They are often bold enough to take food from your hand or steal it from the picnic table while your back is turned.

Picture and map from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/canada_jay
More information: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-gray-jay
https://theconversation.com/oh-canada-the-canada-jay-gets-its-name-back-in-time-...
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/canada-jay

28elenchus
Editat: abr. 14, 2021, 12:12 pm

>24 NorthernStar:

Great picture, and even better story. I've learned there is a clutch of screech owls in my urban neighbourhood, hope to spot one of them but no luck yet.

29NorthernStar
abr. 19, 2021, 12:22 am

My third week of April bird is one of the first birds I learned to identify by ear, the Common Nighthawk, Chordeiles minor. It is a member of the Goatsucker (I love this name) or Nightjar family, which has members worldwide. They are found all over North America in summer, and winter in South America. They are a bird I love to watch and listen to in the summer.
(picture from All About Birds)
Like other members of the family, they have a small beak, but a very wide mouth, the better for catching insects on the wing. They are active mainly at dusk or dawn, and are often first noticed by their distinctive "peent" call or the buzz of air through the male's wings as he dives in a territorial or courtship display. They lay their eggs on the ground, or sometimes on gravel rooftops in urban areas. Both the parents and the eggs are well camouflaged. In addition to their distinctive call, they can be recognized by their long, slender wings with the white patches towards the ends and their swift, erratic flight patterns. The bird websites list a variety of common names, but the only one I'm familiar with, Mosquito Hawk, isn't one of them.

I had some correspondence with Richard C. Davis, the editor of Nahanni Journals about that. R. M. Patterson refers to "the thrum of a mosquito hawk" (June 15, 1928, diary entry, p. 87) and the editor suggests in an end note on p. 188 of my copy, that this doesn't sound like a crane fly (which is also sometimes called a mosquito hawk), so it may be a dragon fly instead. I've made a couple of trips to the Nahanni River, and heard nighthawks there myself, so I wrote to suggest that, given their common name of mosquito hawk, nighthawks were a much more likely alternative. I don't remember where I first heard them called mosquito hawks, but it is a name I've been familiar with for a long time.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Nighthawk/

30John5918
abr. 19, 2021, 12:37 am

>29 NorthernStar: one of the first birds I learned to identify by ear

That's one of my great birding weaknesses. With a handful of notable exceptions, I find it very difficult to identify birds by ear. It's particularly frustrating in dense forests, where you can often hear them but you can't see them

31NorthernStar
abr. 19, 2021, 1:39 am

>30 John5918: I'm the same way. There are some birds I know for sure, but far more I don't.

32perennialreader
abr. 19, 2021, 9:48 am

>30 John5918: & >31 NorthernStar: Same here. This time of year, where I live, several of the parks sponsor guided bird walks and I get frustrated when I can't pick out a particular bird sound from all the other birds.

Birds that are heard are included in the bird list for that day but I only include birds on my list that I have seen. I have only been bird watching for 2-3 years and was never an auditory learner (always visual).

33elenchus
abr. 19, 2021, 11:35 pm

I don't even count myself as a novice birder: the Unconstant Birder, maybe? Anyway, the birds I can identify are few and random, and are outnumbered tenfold by the very common birds I can't. Perhaps because of that, I'm ever so pleased that I can identify by ear the Cardinals in my neighbourhood (there are many pairs), and the Red Winged Blackbirds on the riverbank. The latter always remind me of mid-20th century telephony signaling (the North American variant).

Of course, the calls I recognise are only one of the many different calls a species uses, so I'm probably "not identifying" Cardinals as frequently as I identify them successfully.

34Tess_W
Editat: abr. 21, 2021, 9:34 pm

LOL I'm only good at identifying crows and bobwhites (which are now a threatened species) by sound!

35NorthernStar
abr. 22, 2021, 12:20 am

>34 Tess_W: I'm adding birds I can identify by sound to my memory very gradually. Just yesterday I figured out what a pine siskin sounds like. It was in a tree right near me, and I used Merlin to check that the call I heard was the siskin. I hope I can remember it, like >32 perennialreader:, I'm not an auditory learner. I once had a collection of cassette tapes on birding by ear (am I dating myself?), and despite listening to it over and over, I did not manage to retain much.

36John5918
Editat: abr. 22, 2021, 2:55 am

>35 NorthernStar:

I had an app on my phone with the calls of all the East African birds, but after a few years it died (as, in my experience, apps tend to do) and despite contacting the manufacturer (or whatever you call people who sell apps) I haven't been able to resurrect it. The fish eagle, augur buzzard and ibis are the main three which I can identify easily. I can also sometimes pick out an unusual bird call without knowing which bird it actually is, and then go looking for it to identify it visually - I've several times found silvery-cheeked hornbill, red and yellow barbet and Hildebrandt's starling that way.

37NorthernStar
Editat: abr. 27, 2021, 10:21 pm

I'm behind with my fourth bird of the week for April. I wasn't sure what to choose, but I decided to pick the bird whose call had me confused for the longest time. I worked many summers up north and often on those summer evenings I would hear a particular call, especially around boggy or marshy areas. I thought it was some kind of owl, except I never heard it after dark. It took me years to figure out what was making that noise. It was a Wilson's Snipe, and it is actually their tail feathers that make the sound, called winnowing. Both males and females do it, apparently as a territorial and breeding call, usually when diving or levelling out after a dive.
I have since learned to look up, way up, when I hear snipe winnowing. They are a well-camouflaged bird with a long bill, and very pretty in varied shades of brown. Their eyes are set far back in their heads, giving their heads a bit of a squished look.

Picture from All About Birds, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/
Snipe winnowing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dam0sDp6Xig
more info: https://blog.nature.org/science/2020/06/23/the-winnowing-of-the-wilsons-snipe/
When I was at a summer camp as a child we went on a "snipe hunt" which I think was an excuse to get us out in the woods for the day. I never found anything, but we were served the "snipe" for dinner (probably chicken). "Snipe hunt" can be used as a synonym for wild goose chase - or searching for something which doesn't exist.

A few more notes: these are found across most of North America and northern South America, wintering in the south and heading north for breeding.
The Wilson's snipe was, until recently, considered a subspecies of the Eurasian common snipe. Apparently the main distinction is having 8 pairs of tail feathers instead of 7.

38Tess_W
abr. 27, 2021, 3:33 am

>37 NorthernStar: Very interesting! Thank you so much for sharing. I love to learn about birds that I know nothing about!

39elenchus
Editat: abr. 30, 2021, 12:50 pm

>37 NorthernStar: When I was at a summer camp as a child we went on a "snipe hunt"

This was used as initiation in Boy Scouts, in my troop, and fits your description as a fun diversion / trick. For years I thought a snipe was a fictional creature, and was confused when I learned it was real. So what was the snipe hunt, then? -- I thought.

The winnowing is fascinating.

40NorthernStar
abr. 30, 2021, 4:44 pm

>39 elenchus: I'm sure you're not alone in thinking snipe are imaginary, I suspect I did for a while too. There could be millions of others out there who think they are fictional. I would guess, by how often I've heard the winnowing, that they may actually be fairly common. But not likely ever seen or caught by boy scouts or campers!

41Tess_W
abr. 30, 2021, 7:30 pm

Ditto on thinking snipes were imaginary.

42John5918
maig 2, 2021, 12:42 am

I've been asked to do Bird of the Week for May. I'll spotlight four of my favourite large African birds, three of which are very beautiful and one which can probably only be described as a bit ugly, albeit impressive at around 1.2 to 1.4 m tall. I'll start with the latter, the Shoebill, Balaeniceps rex, which obtained its English name from the shape of its bill.

The shoebill is distributed in freshwater swamps of central tropical Africa, from southern Sudan and South Sudan through parts of eastern Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, western Tanzania and northern Zambia. The species is most numerous in the West Nile sub-region and South Sudan (especially the Sudd, a main stronghold for the species); it is also significant in wetlands of Uganda and western Tanzania. More isolated records have been reported of shoebills in Kenya, the Central African Republic, northern Cameroon, south-western Ethiopia, Malawi. Vagrant strays to the Okavango Basin, Botswana and the upper Congo River have also been sighted. The distribution of this species seems to largely coincide with that of papyrus and lungfish.

The population is estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 individuals, the majority of which live in swamps in South Sudan, Uganda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. There is also a viable population in the Malagarasi wetlands in Tanzania. It is classified as Vulnerable with the main threats being habitat destruction, disturbance and hunting, and is protected under CITES.

I first saw many individuals along the riverbank in 1983 when I travelled by boat from Malakal to Bentiu in what was then southern Sudan (now the newly independent country of South Sudan), a three day journey through the swamps. They are fairly common around Bentiu. The civil war drove me away from that area for many years, but when I was back there again in 2007 for a short visit I saw one just on the outskirts of the town, by the new bridge linking Bentiu and Rubkona.







Photos from National Audubon Society and Wikipedia; map from Wikipedia; text from Wikipedia, fact-checked in my favourite field guides Birds of East Africa and Birds of Africa south of the Sahara.

43NorthernStar
maig 2, 2021, 12:20 pm

>42 John5918: These are so cool looking! You can really see the dinosaur connection in birds like these. I'm really looking forward to seeing what else you have to show us. I've never been to Africa, but would love to travel there someday, especially to see some of the birds, wildlife, and plants.

44John5918
Editat: maig 2, 2021, 1:08 pm

>43 NorthernStar:

I really hope you get to this beautiful continent someday. Birds, wildlife and plants we have in abundance, as well as awe-inspiring scenery and friendly people. If you make it to Kenya, get in touch. The shoebill, though, is only to be found in some of the most inaccessible parts of Africa, so you may not see one of these. I count myself very privileged that I was able to see them regularly just going about my daily work. But the birds I will post for the next three weeks are all relatively common in very accessible areas.

45elenchus
maig 2, 2021, 1:45 pm

>42 John5918:

My first reaction was to think: I know the shoebill via "literary encounters" with Stephen Maturin in the Patrick O'Brien nautical novels! But I think I mistake it for the spoonbill. Maturin is a lifelong birder and did a lot to spark my own nascent interest, but I don't recall any voyages to that part of Africa.

46John5918
maig 2, 2021, 1:58 pm

>45 elenchus:

Yes, spoonbill is a very different bird. We do have them here, but I believe it is also found all over the world.

47Tess_W
maig 3, 2021, 6:32 am

That is one big bird!

48John5918
Editat: maig 9, 2021, 11:41 pm

My second Bird of the Week is probably the most graceful bird I have ever seen, the Blue Crane, Anthropoides paradiseus. It's a blue-grey bird, about 1 m tall, which is endemic to southern Africa. Although still locally common, it is classified as vulnerable.

I saw lots of these beautiful birds when we spent a week in South Africa's Western Cape province five years ago. We saw groups of up to fifteen individuals, mostly enjoying themselves feeding in farmers's fields.



Photo from eBird, information from Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa and Birds of Africa south of the Sahara.

49Tess_W
maig 9, 2021, 3:32 pm

So beautiful it almost doesn't look real!

50NorthernStar
maig 9, 2021, 5:06 pm

Beautiful! We see Sandhill Cranes here in the spring/summer/fall, but they are not so elegant looking.

51elenchus
maig 11, 2021, 5:39 pm

>49 Tess_W: almost doesn't look real!
>50 NorthernStar: not so elegant looking

Yes, and yes!

52John5918
Editat: maig 17, 2021, 7:43 am

My third bird of the week is the African fish eagle, Haliaeetus vocifer. Thankfully this one is not endangered and is classified as "least concern". It is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever there is open water, and is the national bird of Namibia and Zambia. It's a large eagle, with body length up to 75 cm and wingspan up to 2.4 m, and has a very distinctive call*, one of the few that I can instantly recognise.

I've seen this bird frequently over the years in a number of countries. One of my earliest memories of it is from nearly forty years ago. I was inside the prison doing chaplaincy work in the town of Malakal in then Sudan (now South Sudan) on the banks of the Nile, and I saw one perched on a telephone pole just outside the barbed wire prison fence - it seemed to symbolise the freedom of the eagle compared to the imprisonment of the inmates. Since then I've also seen it on the Zambesi, and in many parts of South Sudan and Kenya. My favourite spot is Lake Naivasha in Kenya, where on one occasion I could see twelve individuals without moving from my place on the jetty. On Crescent Island in the same lake I have looked down from high ground into a nest with young in a tree on the lake shore. A beautiful and regal bird.

The first photo is for me the iconic image of this bird, sitting in splendid isolation (or occasionally with its mate) at the top of a lone tree, usually the tallest tree around.







Descriptions from Wikipedia, Birds of East Africa and Birds of Africa south of the Sahara, photos from eBird and Wikipedia.

* The Cry of the Fish Eagle is the title of a book published in 1957 by a British colonial officer who was a Game Warden in Sudan.

53perennialreader
maig 16, 2021, 6:26 am

>52 John5918: What a beautiful bird!

54Tess_W
maig 16, 2021, 8:39 am

>52 John5918: splendid!

55NorthernStar
maig 16, 2021, 4:46 pm

>52 John5918: Beautiful!

56John5918
Editat: maig 24, 2021, 2:23 am

My fourth Bird of the Week is another crane, the grey crowned crane (or crested crane), Balearica regulorum. It is found in eastern and southern Africa, and is the national bird of Uganda. Although it is fairly common locally it is classified as "endangered". It grows to about 110 cm tall.

I first saw it in Uganda when I first arrived on this wonderful continent in 1976, and since then have seen it regularly. I see them from the road near my house, often in pairs. Another very beautiful and regal bird.

I include one photo of a pair of them since I so often see them in pairs, plus the Ugandan flag.







Images from eBird, Wildlife Conservation Network and Wikipedia; description based on Wikipedia, Birds of East Africa and Birds of Africa south of the Sahara.

57Tess_W
maig 24, 2021, 3:26 am

Regal is a good word choice for that bird!

58NorthernStar
maig 24, 2021, 12:55 pm

Beautiful! I love the way that it looks like it has a poofy hat held on by ties fastened under the chin. I think this is one I've seen in captivity.

59John5918
Editat: maig 30, 2021, 1:01 am

May is a long month, today marks the beginning of the fifth week, and there are so many birds, so I hope I will be forgiven for sneaking in a fifth Bird of the Week this month. It's a bird I see or hear from my house almost every single day, the augur buzzard (Buteo augur), a fairly large bird of prey, up to 60 cm in length with a wingspan up to about 1.5 m. It is common in eastern and parts of south western Africa, particularly at around the altitude at which I live (1,900 m), and is classified as "least concern".

I frequently see single birds, less frequently a pair, and on a couple of occasions three birds together - that would be parents teaching their young to fly and hunt. They're often soaring above me, or perching on trees on our land, or swooping below me when I look over the edge of the escarpment into the Great Rift Valley. When it's perched in a tree or on a fencepost I can often walk or drive to within a few metres of it before it flaps away to find a new perch a little further on. It's a beautiful bird with a very distinctive chestnut tail, and it also has a distinctive call, one of the few birds I can instantly recognise by ear.

Despite searching on Google, I have not found a photo which captures the true splendour of this bird when the bright sunlight catches its white and chestnut parts, but here are some just to give an idea.







Images found on Wikipedia and by googling; descriptions based on Wikipedia, Birds of East Africa and Birds of Africa south of the Sahara.

There's a scarlet-chested sunbird sitting outside my window as I type this - a pair of them has built a nest hanging from a light fitting on the balcony. I can't resist posting a photo from eBird of this beautiful little chap. I look forward to presenting "Bird of the Week" again when my turn comes around in the future.

60Tess_W
maig 30, 2021, 6:25 am

Both beautiful birds!

61NorthernStar
Editat: maig 31, 2021, 1:39 am

>59 John5918: I've enjoyed seeing your birds of the week from a part of the world I've never been to. Those two are both beautiful, in different ways.

62Tess_W
Editat: maig 31, 2021, 2:40 pm

Bird of the Week June Week 1

Baltimore Oriole. This bird used to be very common in the US midwest, but not so much anymore. You can lure it out into the open by using either oranges or grape jelly. Interesting note, they are not attracted to white/green grapes, white cherries, etc. They are only attracted to darker fruit. Although they do eat insects, fruit & nectar are their first choice. The female makes a hanging basket as a nest. The American Baltimore Oriole is in the same family as the crow and raven. They got their name because Lord Baltimore, who founded Maryland for the British, also sported bright plumage.




Pics from Cornell Labs and NPS.gov

63elenchus
maig 31, 2021, 7:05 pm

John5918, I echo the sentiment expressed in >61 NorthernStar:, very much appreciate your tour and am cheered at the thought you're interested in continuing the tour later.

64elenchus
maig 31, 2021, 7:09 pm

>62 Tess_W:, a beautiful creature and I suspect one of my best chances of sighting one would be at nearby Montrose Harbor bird sanctuary (Chicago lakefront): "best" in large part because I have plans to bike there already, as much as because the oriole would frequent the area.

65John5918
maig 31, 2021, 11:52 pm

>61 NorthernStar:, >62 Tess_W:

Thanks for the affirmation. I've enjoyed doing it and I'm looking forward to the next round.

66Tess_W
Editat: juny 7, 2021, 10:38 pm

Bird of the Week 2nd week of June

The yellow-billed cuckoo is a cousin to the road-runner. They live mostly in forests, but because of their destruction are now found nesting in suburbia. Their uniqueness is that they eat the hairy-caterpillar, which no other bird will eat.





The hairy caterpillar comes in several varieties, but this is the most common (in the US)



Pics from All About Birds and Wild Life in Sight.

67Tess_W
juny 13, 2021, 9:34 am

Bird of the Week 3rd week of June

Parakeet Auklet



The Parakeet Auklet is a small seabird with a short thick orange bill that is slightly upturned. It is dark colored above and white below, with a white plume behind the yellow eye. In summer its eye plume may disappear. Males and female look similar.

The auklet only comes ashore to breed in slopes and rock crevices. The female lays one egg and nurtures the hatchling until it is one month of age.

Found in the waters of Alaska and Siberia.



Images from North America.com

68Tess_W
juny 27, 2021, 7:10 pm

Bird of the Week 4th Week of June
Phalarope (s) better known as Sandpipers with lobed toes

The one displayed is one that is central to my area--north/eastern US, specifically the Great Lakes Area. They are fairly common. The one in particular inhabiting the Great Lakes area is Wilson's Phalarope, plain winged with a white rump. These sandpipers are able to spin in water quite quickly. This bird is different from species in that the female has brighter and more distinct markings than the male. They inhabit shallow/fresh water lakes and marshes, pool, shore, and mudflats. When migrating (to South America) they may stop off at salt marshes. Their diet consists of brine shrimp, mosquito larvae, and other insects.

Female


Male


Together


Pics from Audbon.org and reddit.com

69terriks
juny 27, 2021, 9:18 pm

This is a great thread! Loving all these photos and info. It's nice to see some that aren't endangered or have threatened habitats.

70John5918
Editat: juny 28, 2021, 1:15 am

>67 Tess_W:, >68 Tess_W:

Thanks, Tess. I love the auklet if only because of the name - reminiscent of the extinct Great Auk. Somehow related, perhaps?

I saw Wilson's phalarope in the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Delaware, in 2019. I was in DC for meetings and I took a weekend off to go birding with an old colleague who lives near there. In a couple of days in Bombay Hook and Annapolis we saw more than 50 species, many of them fairly common for you but new to me as I know African and European birds but I had never before been exposed as a birdwatcher to US birds.

71Tess_W
juny 29, 2021, 5:20 am

>70 John5918: Tried to do some cursory research to relate the parakeet auklet and the Great Auk and found that they are in the same family, but not as closely related as some of the other family members.

72NorthernStar
jul. 6, 2021, 2:29 am

Last week I lost a good friend who would have turned 89 today. So for July I have chosen his favourite bird, the Common Raven, Corvus corax, as the first bird of the week. Ravens are highly intelligent birds, social, and playful. They are skillful flyers and often indulge in aerobatics. Ravens live anywhere from the high arctic to the tropics, and are found in North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Ravens are omnivorous and will eat almost anything. If you live where there are ravens, never leave groceries or garbage in the back of a pickup truck. The ravens will have your food eaten or garbage scattered and leave a bonus of white droppings down the side of your truck in short order. Although they look similar, ravens are much larger than crows and have a much wider range of vocalizations. Other distinguishing features are the ravens' shaggy neck feathers, heavy bill, and wedge-shaped tail.


picture and maps from: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/overview

73John5918
Editat: jul. 6, 2021, 4:17 am

>72 NorthernStar:

Condolences on the loss of your friend, and thanks for highlighting the raven, a bird of myth and legend. Legend has it that "if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the kingdom will fall. Therefore, at least six ravens must be in residence at all times" (The Legend of the ravens of the Tower of London). A few years ago, travelling with some friends in Yorkshire, we stopped to visit another British castle which has ravens, looked after by an elderly lady in mediaeval costume. As well as the normal ravens, she had some with white patches which she told me are "African ravens", but here in Africa they are known as Pied crows (corvus albus).

74elenchus
jul. 6, 2021, 10:26 am

I am in awe of corvids generally and welcome learning something new about them here.

75NorthernStar
Editat: jul. 11, 2021, 3:46 pm

For the second week of July I have chosen another corvid. A favourite of mine, the Black-billed Magpie, Pica hudsonia, is native to western North America. I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, which may well be the magpie capital of the world. They are everywhere, and their distinctive calls, both harsh and musical at the same time, always transport me back to childhood summers. The magpies were there in winters too, but my memories are of the summer. They have a reputation as nest robbers, but they also eat many insects that prey on crops and livestock, wild fruit and grain, small mammals, and carrion. They once followed the bison herds, living off the insects on the bison and in their dung.

Their showy black-and-white plumage has beautiful green and blue iridescence in the right light, and with their long tails, they are a handsome and easy-to-identify bird. They are highly intelligent, in fact the European magpie is thought to rank among the world's smartest creatures. European magpies and California's Yellow-billed magpies are close relatives, but the Australian magpie is not related.

I remember being very surprised to see magpies in an aviary during a trip to Ontario as a child. I'm not sure if those were European or North American.

Magpies are just starting to move into the area where I live now and are not a common sight, but they are fairly common both 4 hours south and north in the Yukon.



Pictures and maps from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-billed_Magpie/overview
Other information mostly from Wikipedia and personal experience.

76John5918
Editat: jul. 12, 2021, 4:13 am

>75 NorthernStar:

It reminds me of the Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki) which we saw a couple of years ago when we were on the Portuguese Camino, although the Iberian one seems to have a lighter blue colour and your magpie is more striking.



77Tess_W
jul. 12, 2021, 4:12 am

I love your selections and detailed info!

78NorthernStar
jul. 12, 2021, 4:21 pm

>76 John5918:, that's lovely! When in Costa Rica a few years ago, I saw a bird called a Magpie Jay (Calocitta formosa), which is also more blue than the magpie. Very pretty bird!


>77 Tess_W: Thanks!

a couple of other interesting snippets I came across - both the words pied and pica come from the magpie. Pied referring to the black and white patched colour scheme, and pica referring to picking at sometimes inappropriate foods.

79John5918
jul. 13, 2021, 11:52 am

>42 John5918:

I've just come across a YouTube video of an African shoebill in action. I've never been that close to one so I can't comment on its authenticity!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFgYT3HfgP8

80NorthernStar
jul. 13, 2021, 1:42 pm

>79 John5918: fascinating!

81Tess_W
jul. 18, 2021, 8:26 am

>79 John5918: Thanks, John!

82NorthernStar
Editat: jul. 18, 2021, 11:02 pm

John5918 showed us some lovely and interesting cranes from Africa (and the shoebill, which according to google is more closely related to pelicans), so I decided to feature North America's most common crane, the Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis), for the third week of July. It is a favourite of mine, and it's distinctive call is a feature of both spring and fall here as huge flocks pass through. Some also stop and nest in this area, and their balletic courtship dances are fascinating if you are lucky enough to see them. The migrating flocks can number thousands of birds, and I love to watch the flocks circling in updrafts to gain height for their journey. Usually you hear them before you see them, and once you have heard them, it is an unforgettable sound.

Sandhill cranes winter in the southern US and northern Mexico, and breed from the northern US, across Canada and north to the arctic islands and eastern Siberia. Some populations in Florida, Mississippi, and Cuba do not migrate.

They are a tall, long-legged, long-beaked bird, with grey to rusty brown plumage and a red forehead. Omnivorous, they feed both on land and in shallow marshes, eating small vertebrates, invertebrates, seeds, and berries. The young, known as colts, are precocious, and very cute.


pictures from All About Birds and google images.

83John5918
jul. 19, 2021, 12:23 am

84Tess_W
jul. 20, 2021, 9:42 pm

I love seeing birds that are not local to me! You are doing such a great job!

85John5918
jul. 25, 2021, 4:48 am

One of my first tasks as new co-admin of this group has been to take a look at the Bird of the Week thread. Thanks to Tess and NorthernStar (and myself) for taking turns at Bird of the Week so far.

I'm waiting to hear from >17 booksfindme: and I hope they will take a turn soon as well. Meanwhile I'll do Bird of the Week for August, and maybe we'll get some new volunteers to do it after that? We'd love to hear from other birders, showcasing their favourite birds from their own regions. Just let me or Tess know of your interest, either by posting on this thread or by a message to our profile pages.

86NorthernStar
Editat: jul. 26, 2021, 1:29 am

For the fourth week of July I am going from last week's sandhill crane, one of the largest local birds, to one of the smallest - the red-breasted nuthatch - Sitta canadensis.

At 10-12 cm (about 4 inches) it is a cute, tiny bundle of energy. They have a slate-blue-grey back, black cap with a black and white stripe through the eye, and a rusty red to buff underside. The males are brighter red than the females. They are mainly a bird of the mountains and boreal forests, but can be found across most of the US and Canada. Even in the coldest winters they don't head south. They nest in tree cavities and eat mainly insects gleaned from crevices in tree bark. They will also come to bird feeders, and are fond of suet, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. They are hard to see travelling up and down the tree trunks, but once you learn to identify their call you realize how common they are. I had never seen one in this area until they showed up at my feeders about 6 years ago. They are regular visitors now, but I still rarely see them except at the feeders. I hear them everywhere in the forest, though.


Map and picture from All About Birds.

87elenchus
jul. 28, 2021, 2:51 pm

Love this thread, both the posts and the commentary.

>85 John5918:
Not ready to post a Bird of the Week! I do hope our collective enthusiasm brings other LTers to bear, though, and some of them might be ready to contribute in that way.

88Tess_W
jul. 28, 2021, 8:38 pm

>86 NorthernStar: Have never seen one, either. They remind me of the Eastern Bluebird and the Blue Jay, although much smaller.

89John5918
jul. 28, 2021, 11:10 pm

>87 elenchus:

Thanks. I also enjoy the commentary here as well as the actual birds of the week. Let us know if ever you feel ready to take on Bird of the Week, but meanwhile, keep commenting!

90NorthernStar
jul. 28, 2021, 11:30 pm

>88 Tess_W: I believe they are much less common in eastern US, where, I think, you live. I think that the white-breasted nuthatch is more common in the east, and the brown-headed in the south-east. I don't know how easy either of these are to spot. I've only seen the white-breasted a few times (at my sister's feeder in Edmonton, AB), as they don't come this far north.

91John5918
Editat: ag. 1, 2021, 3:31 am

So, my turn again to present Bird of the Week for August, and again I will showcase some of the birds that I see in Africa. Let me also repeat my appeal for more volunteers to take a turn to present their own Bird of the Week.

I'll start with another big bird which I see regularly by the roadside in the area where I live, the Kori bustard Ardeotis kori, probably the largest flying bird in Africa; in fact Wikipedia says, that the male kori bustard may be the heaviest living animal capable of flight. Although they can fly well, they prefer to spend most of their time on the ground and their take off is rather slow and lumbering. The male is much bigger than the female, and stands up to 1.3 m tall with a wingspan up to 2.75 m. They can weigh up to 20 kg. I've seen one within the last couple of weeks, but I also saw a beautiful photo of one in the Guardian recently. Since we also regularly see zebra, this photo looks very authentic.



The Kori bustard is common in southern and eastern Africa. Its conservation status is "Near Threatened", one step up from "Least Concern".

As a breeding display, the male ruffs up its neck feathers, which is very impressive. The first time I saw it like this I had to look twice to realise it was actually a bird, and then again to work out which bird.



Photos from the Guardian and Wikipedia.

92NorthernStar
ag. 1, 2021, 12:48 pm

>91 John5918: Thank you for another fascinating look at African bird life. You are increasing my desire to travel there to see some of these myself!

While I agree with you that it would be nice to get more members contributing, I am really enjoying this thread, both seeing what others decide to post, and doing a bit of research for my own posts.

93Tess_W
ag. 2, 2021, 7:43 am

Great and interesting selection, John!

94John5918
Editat: ag. 8, 2021, 9:06 am

Second African bird of the week for August is the Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius). Its range covers most of sub-Saharan Africa, but it is now classified as "Endangered", probably largely due to habitat loss. I've seen them a few times near my house, but most of my sightings over the years have been in Kenyan national parks. Don't see them so often these days.

It's quite a large and impressive bird, up to 1.3 m tall. It's normally seen stalking around on the ground, although I once saw one flying, with the characteristic tail feathers sticking out at the rear beyond the legs. They hunt all sorts of prey such as insects, small mammals and snakes, stomping them to death with their powerful legs and feet.

There are various stories as to how it got its European name. One is that it resembles a Victorian male secretary in the typical office attire of the time. Another is that its feathers are like the quill pens used by secretaries in those days. Yet another is that early Dutch settlers described it as "sagittarius" (hence its Latin name) because its gait was thought to resemble an archer's, and that it became known as "secretarius", a corruption of "sagittarius", or vice versa. Who knows? Local communities of course had their own names for it long before it was "discovered" by Europeans!



Photo from The Atlantic.

95NorthernStar
ag. 8, 2021, 1:56 pm

>94 John5918: Wow! Such a cool-looking bird!

96John5918
ag. 8, 2021, 2:01 pm

>95 NorthernStar:

And that photo shows a fairly typical pose, strutting imperiously!

97elenchus
ag. 8, 2021, 2:15 pm

>94 John5918:
>96 John5918:

That ruffle (is that what it is?) reminds me of a stylised Meso-American headdress, like that honouring Quetzalcoatl. Those eye markings are vibrant and add to the effect.

98perennialreader
ag. 8, 2021, 3:30 pm

>94 John5918: Great looking bird!

99Tess_W
ag. 8, 2021, 10:53 pm

>94 John5918: Great choice !

100TempleCat
ag. 9, 2021, 12:53 pm

>94 John5918:
This was my favorite bird when I was in Kenya. I heard a version of the quill story, that they look like a quill pen that English female secretaries would stick in their bouffant hairdos because that was a convenient place to keep it. I wonder what the Maasai or Swahili word is for these birds?

101John5918
Editat: ag. 10, 2021, 5:51 am

>100 TempleCat:

I'm told the Maa name is olmamura, although it can have different names among different Maasai sections.

I'm hearing several different Kiswahili names, incuding Karani tamba ("secretary strut"), Ndege kilemba and Ndege katibu ("bird secretary")

102John5918
ag. 15, 2021, 1:06 am

Before I get onto my third Bird of the Week for August, can I remind everybody that we're looking for more volunteers to present their own birds of the week? If we don't get any more in the next few days then September will be back to either Tess or NorthernStar.

This week I've chosen the Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer), a bird which is big, impressive, distinctive, easy to see, and very ugly. It's classified as "Least Concern" and they are all over the place in sub-Saharan Africa, in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially rubbish tips, landfill sites and abattoirs. They're often to be seen perched in trees and on billboards in central Nairobi. While I was stuck in traffic coming in from the airport I once counted more than sixty of them around Nyayo Stadium. I was in Nairobi just a couple of days ago and I saw several.

The Marabou stork is a large bird, up to 1.5 m tall with a wingspan of up to 3.75 m. It's an accomplished scavenger and will eat almost anything it can find, including small live animals. They'll often follow vultures, whose beaks are better at tearing flesh, and like vultures their bald heads and necks are adapted for poking their heads into large corpses.



Photo from Wikipedia

103John5918
Editat: ag. 21, 2021, 11:05 am

For my fourth Bird of the Week this August I'll showcase the Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), named in Afrikaans for its hammer-shaped head. It's common throughout sub-Saharan Africa wherever there is water, even just roadside pools, and is classified as "Least Concern". I see them quite often, and in fact I've seen one twice this month in our small dam on our own land. It's not a huge bird, reaching not much more than half a metre in height. It takes a wide range of prey, mostly fish and amphibians in shallow water, but shrimps, insects and rodents are also eaten.





Pictures from eBird and Wikipedia

104NorthernStar
ag. 21, 2021, 1:57 pm

>102 John5918: A fascinatingly ugly bird! Much creepier-looking than a vulture. Love it.

>103 John5918: Thank you for introducing us to another cool African bird!

105Tess_W
ag. 24, 2021, 3:09 pm

>103 John5918: Love learning about and seeing the African birds!

106elenchus
ag. 24, 2021, 3:38 pm

I see a pattern in recent posts: large birds.
>91 John5918:
>94 John5918:
>102 John5918:
>103 John5918:

Made me think of how few larger species I see around Chicago, though I know they are around. Herons, various cranes, geese and swans -- these are all plentiful. There are a good many raptors about, too, though I don't see them as frequently. (I suspect they're there, nevertheless.)

107John5918
Editat: ag. 25, 2021, 12:19 am

>106 elenchus:

Thanks, yes, we're blessed with a lot of large birds and I enjoy seeing them and reporting on them. They're also easily identifiable. We don't have swans, which I think are beautiful birds, but we do have geese, cranes and herons. But we also have lots of small birds and I'll try to touch on some of them next time.

108John5918
ag. 28, 2021, 12:55 am

Once again I've landed a month which has the beginnings of a fifth week, so I'll sneak in a fifth Bird of the Week. The Sokoke scops owl (Otus ireneae) is a rare bird, classified as "Endangered", endemic to a couple of small patches of forest on the East African coast, and I have only ever seen it once. With reference to >106 elenchus:, this is a small bird, only about 15 cm tall! Its colour ranges from grey to reddish brown.

We saw it a couple of years ago when we visited the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve in coastal Kenya, near the town of Malindi. A friend of ours was working for an NGO which helps to manage the reserve*, and she arranged for a local bird guide. We spent a morning in the car and on foot in the forest and identified more than thirty bird species, including three which are endemic to that forest. We also found fresh elephant spoor, but we never actually saw these beasts in the dense forest; indeed many of the birds were identified by their call rather than by sight. The Sokoke scops owl has a very limited local range, so once one has been found, the guides know that they're likely to find it roosting in the same area for a while. When we got near that area, he left us standing while he looked around and finally summoned us to see one sitting in a tree. We were able to watch it from very close up for quite a while. Beautiful, and a great privilege to see such a rare species. Mind you, my wife still maintains that the guide had the bird in his pocket all the time and just placed it in the tree after the little pantomime of making us wait while he searched for it!



Photo from eBird. NB: We only saw one, but it seems it's not uncommon to see a pair together.

According to the Kenya Forest Service website, "Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve is a 420 km2 coastal forest in Kenya managed by Kenya Forest Service. It is the largest and most intact coastal forest in East Africa, with 20% of Kenya's bird species, 30% butterfly species and at least 24 rare and endemic bird, mammal and butterfly species."

109John5918
ag. 28, 2021, 1:01 am

And that's the end of my Birds of the Week for August. Tess will do September, and will start a new thread as with so many photos it begins to take a while to load for people on slower internet connections.

We're still looking for more volunteers to present Bird of the Week for a month, so if anybody else would like to have a bash, please contact me or Tess, either on the Bird of the Week thread or by comments to our home pages. Remember that what may seem like a boring commonplace bird in your area may seem interesting and exotic to those of us in other parts of the word!

110elenchus
ag. 28, 2021, 5:42 pm

>108 John5918:

Great, great story and that makes the photo even better. I like your wife's skepticism, had me laughing aloud.

111NorthernStar
ag. 29, 2021, 1:16 am

>108 John5918: another fascinating bird, and I love your story.

112Tess_W
ag. 31, 2021, 5:04 am

Please see Bird of the Week, thread #2 for a continuation. The "continue" link does not appear to be working!

113John5918
ag. 31, 2021, 5:26 am

>112 Tess_W:

I think it only kicks in after 150 posts.