Tag: Birds

American Dipper

On By Mike and Christy4 Comments

An American Dipper getting the big view before taking the plunge into the icy winter water below. American Dippers forage along the rocky river bottoms of rapidly moving streams of western North America. Diving in and out and running along the bottoms of the river at times to feed on a variety of aquatic invertebrates. In addition to their fascinating foraging behavior American Dippers have quite a song and really can belt out a wonderful tune making a hike along a rushing stream a full on audio-visual delight.

Reference:

Kingery, H. E. and M. F. Willson (2020). American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amedip.01

Strutting their stuff

On By Mike and Christy2 Comments

Strutting their stuff

Two male goldeneyes working hard to impress a female in the late afternoon light. These guys will likely only be around here a few more weeks. As spring arrives most of the waterfowl leave my area. Their yearly coming and going gives rhythm to life. Have a great trip north and someday I hope to join you.

White-winged Crossbill

On By Mike and Christy2 Comments

A female White-winged Crossbill rests close to their next meal on a fine winters day. Crossbill and their namesake bills are specialized to feed on conifer seeds. Prying open open the cone scales and then extracting the seeds with their tongues a single Crossbill can consume up to 3,000 seeds per day. Crossbill often travel in large flocks and seek out numerous species of conifer seeds just as they are ready to consume.

Crossbill typically are nomadic and wander across the boreal forests in search of food. Large Flocks containing up to 10,000 individuals have been reported to move through an area in a single day.

A wonderful and specialized bird and one in need of study as climate change descends upon the boreal forests they call home.

Reference:

 Benkman, C. W. (2020). White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whwcro.01

One by one.

On By Mike and Christy3 Comments

A Yellow-throated Toucan picking figs , although we took a fancy to calling them Milk-Duds, and knocking them back one-by-one.

Reach over and pluck a fig from the tree.

Looks like a good one.

Down the hatch it goes.

Quite tasty indeed. Perhaps I’ll have another.

We watched this one Toucan foraging for a good twenty minutes until they got their fill and boy, they could sure eat their fill indeed.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

On By Mike and Christy2 Comments

A dapper Yellow-crowned Night Heron along the edge of a costal marsh patiently waiting for their next meal (preferentially crab) to appear. These wonderful birds breed in coastal and inland lowlands, wooded swamps, mangroves, and lagoons. Feeding and foraging areas almost always are associated with high concentrations of crustaceans, their food of choice.

This bird preening which is a common behavior after foraging and feeding. Full adult plumage like that in birds we photographed this day may take 3-4 years to develop. Along the way Yellow-Crowned Night Herons may display 4-5 distinct plumages.

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron foraging in brackish waters.

Reference:

Watts, B. D. (2020). Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.ycnher.01

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

On By Mike and Christy6 Comments

The Bare-throated Tiger Heron is a medium sized heron common to Central America. They are somewhat bulky and shaped a bit like a night-heron or Bittern with distinct baring and rufous on their breast.

This individual was displaying a behavior that indeed reminded us of the American Bittern.

The Bare-throated Tiger Heron forages along costal zones, brackish water and in inland marshes and swamps feeding mainly eating fish, frogs and crustaceans but has been known to consume small rodents.

Like many other Herons the bare-throated Tiger Heron hunts by remaining motionless and quickly striking when prey appears.

Reference:

Martínez-Vilalta, A., A. Motis, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (Tigrisoma mexicanum), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.btther1.01

Roadside Hawk

On By Mike and Christy1 Comment

The Roadside Hawk is on the most common raptors encountered at the edge of forests and cleared fields ranging from Northern Mexico all the way south to Argentina. There are at least 12 subspecies with most being similar in appearance with a grey head, yellow cere, rufous banding across the breast and striped tail. The Roadside Hawk is opportunistic and hunts insects, reptiles and small mammals. We encountered this individual several years ago on a large palm tree peering out into some cleared pasture.

A intense looking hunter and a good look at the banded tail.

Reference:Bierregaard, R. O., P. F. D. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.roahaw.01

On the bull kelp

On By Mike and Christy2 Comments

yellow_rumped_bull_kelp

A tiny Yellow Rumped Warbler found the bull kelp a perfect perch for hunting sand flies and other small insects on the beach. This girl would quickly dart down form the kelp to snag a small meal and quickly return to her perch. Seeing her sitting on the head of the bull kelp made us realize just how small she was. We watched a documentary about songbirds the other night called The Messenger.
It is a very timely reminder about what a world without song birds would be like.