Saturday, March 24, 2012

Birdapolooza

Seen at Huntington Park (Beach) on March 23rd
- For Thursday lab

Ring-billed Gull ( Juvenile)

Diagnostic features:
Adults:

  • Have clean grey back and white body
  • Black wingtips and a black ring around a yellow bill
  • Yellow legs

Juveniles:

  • Pink legs and a molted brown and grey coloring
  • Black wingtips











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Birdapolooza - Thursday Lab

All birds seen at Sandy Bottom Park on March  23rd


Northern Cardinal - Male
Diagnostic Features:

  • Red plumage with black mask on eyes and bill
  • Cone shaped reddish bill
  • Long tail, elegant crest

Double Crested Cormorant
Diagnostic Features:

  • Large black waterbirds, sit low in water
  • Long snake like neck with a yellow bill

American Robin

Diagnostic Features:

  • Black head  with white circle around eye and yellow bill
  • Grey/black back with a rusty orange chest
  • White under tail



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Friday, March 23, 2012

Sparrows, Finches, and Starlings (Thursday Lab)

Brooke Pemberton & Victoria Spencer

Starlings

  • Dark, glossy birds
  • Sociable and bold
  • Ground foragers
  • Four species are found in North America

European Starling

  • Identifiers
    • Iridescent black plumage
    • Yellow bill with blue (male) or pink/purple (female) base
    • Short, square tail
    • Stocky body
  • Behavior
    • Will imitate songs of other species
  • Habitat
    • Towns; avoid forests and deserts

Emberizids

  • Includes towhees, sparrows, longspurs, and Emberiza buntings
  • All species possess conical bills
  • Diets include small seeds, fruit, and insects
  • Ground foragers
  • Habitat in grassy fields and open woods
  • Geographically concentrated in the east due to diet and habitat restrictions

Field Sparrow

http://www.birdzilla.com/images/stories/id2/field-sparrow-id.jpg
  • Identifiers
    • Gray face with reddish cap
    • Distinct whitish eye ring
    • Bright pink bill
    • Back is streaked except on gray-brown rump
    • Unstreaked chest
  • Call
    • Clear whistles accelerates into "chip"
  • Nesting
    • Open cup of large grass pieces placed on ground in grass clumps or at base of shrubs
  • Additional
    • Male will return to same breeding territory every year. Females are less likely and young sparrows rarely return to where they were born.
    • Male sings vigorously until he finds a mate, but rarely after that.

 Chipping Sparrow

  • Identifiers
    • Bright chestnut crown with white eyebrow
    • Black line extending from bill through eye to ear
    • Gray nape and cheek
    • Gray unstreaked rump
    • Two white wing bars
    • Tail is fairly long and notched
  • Call
    • Rapid, dry "chip" notes all on one pitch
    • High, hard "seep" or "tsik"
  • Nesting
    • Male guards female as she builds nest, but doesn't help
    • Females are picky about nest placement
  • Additional
    • "The little brown-capped pensioner of the dooryard and lawn, that comes about farmhouse doors to glean crumbs shaken from the tablecloth by thrifty housewives." -Edward Forbush
    • Move to apline tundra to molt

Song Sparrow

  •  Identifiers
    • Long, rounded tail
    • Broad grayish eyebrow and broad, dark malar stripe bordering whitish throat
    • Upperparts (chest) usually streaked
    • Underparts whitish, with streaking on sides and breast that often converges in a central spot
    • Legs and feet pinkish
  • Call
    • Loud, 2-6 phrases that starts with abrupt, well-spaced notes and finishes with a buzz or trill
  • Additional
    • In British Columbia, observed picking at the droppings of Glaucous-winged Gulls

Seaside Sparrow

  • Identifiers
    • Long, spike-like bill with thick-base and thin-tip
    • Short, pointed tail
    • Yellow loral patch
    • Dark malar stripe separates whitish throat and broad, pale stripe along cheek
    • White or buffy chest with some streaking
  • Habitat
    • Grassy tidal marshes; sometimes accidentally travel inland
  • Additional
    • Dusky Seaside Sparrow went extinct in 1987

White-Throated Sparrow

  • Identifiers
    • Strongly outlined white throat
    • Mostly dark bill
    • Dark crown stripes and eyeline
    • Broad eyebrow is yellow in the front and the remainder is white or tan
    • Upperparts rusty-brown
    • Underparts grayish, sometimes with streaking
  • Call
    • "Pure sweet Canada Canada Canada"
    • Sharp "pink" and long "tseep"
  • Additional
    • Mates with Dark-eyed Junco to produce hybrids

Old World Sparrows

  • Two species from the Old World (Europe) that have established themselves in North America
  • Characterized by shorter legs and thicker bills than native sparrows 

House Sparrow

  • Identifiers
    • Gray crown
    • Chestnut nape
    • Black bib
    • Black bill
  • Call
    • Simple song of one or a series of "cheep" or "chirrup" notes
  • Habitats
    • Populated areas
    • Parking lots
  • Additional
    • Also known as English Sparrow

Finches

  • Seedeaters with undulating (smooth, wavelike motion) flight
  • Many nest in far north and in the fall flocks of "winter finches" may migrate south

Purple Finch

  • Identifiers
    • Not purple, but rose over most of body, brightest on head and rump
    • Back is streaked
    • Tail strongly notched
  • Call
    • "Hear me? See me? Here I am."
  • Habitat
    • Coniferous or mixed woodland borders, suburbs, parks, orchards
  • Additional
    • "Sparrow dipped in raspberry juice." -Roger Peterson

House Finch

  • Identifiers
    • Brown cap
    • Front of head, bib, and rump typically red but can vary to orange or yellow
    • Bib clearly set off from streaked underparts
    • Tail is squarish
  • Call
    • Variation of three-pitch notes, ends with nasal "wheer"
    • Whistled "wheat"
  • Habitat
    • Desert lowlands and slopes
    • Range has rapidly expanded to the west since 1940s, especially in towns

American Goldfinch

  • Identifiers
    • Bright yellow with black cap
    • Black wings with white bars and yellow shoulder patch
    • Uppertail and undertail coverts white
    • Tail black and white
  • Call
    • Quite "po-ta-to-chip"
  • Habitat
    • Weedy fields, open second-growth woodlands, roadsides, especially in thistles and sunflowers
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Birds on the Noland Trail - Tuesday


Birds on the Noland Trail
Gray Catbird











http://www.jkcassady.com/images/5RHWO207.jpg

-medium sized bird
--slaty gray
-small black cap
-blackish tail
-brown patch under the tail


Red-bellied Woodpecker


en.wikipedia.org
Features
-pale overall
-black and white stripped back
-Red cap and neck



 Downy  Woodpecker -heard


nps.gov
Checkered black and white
-head is striped black and white
-small red patch on head


American Robin


en.wikipedia.org
-gray brown, with orange underparts



Domestic goose


en.wikipedia.org
-White body 
-Orange beak and feet


Canada goose



en.wikipedia.org
-Black head
-White cheeks and chinstrap
-black neck
-tan breast
-brown back

Double Crested Cormorant


asmsobot.wordpress.com
-Large dark body
long neck
medium sized bill


Pileated Woodpecker -heard


hillsteadblog.com
-large woodpecker
-black body
-flaming red crest


Carolina Chickadee



allaboutbirds.org
-black cap and bib
-separated by stark white cheeks

Great Blue Heron


pinker.wjh.harvard.edu

-blue/gray
-wide black strip over the eye

Tufted Titmouse -heard


itsnature.org
gray on the back
white under
-rust/peach color on flanks
-pointed crest on head


Boat-tailed grackle

dpughphoto.com
 -large black bird
-long tail
-wing and tail look black-greenish

Northern cardinal


sdakotabirds.com

-red body
-reddish bill
-black face around the bill

Downy Woodpecker


nps.gov

-checkered black and white
-white strip down back
-red patch on head

Brown Thrasher


outdooralabama.com

-large, long tail
-under parts are white or buff with black streaking

Ring-billed gull


sdakotabirds.com

-gray wings
-white body, head and tail
-yellow legs and bill
-black band around bill at end

Brown-headed Cowbird


flickr.com

-Brown head
-Black glossy body

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Woodpeckers --Tuesday lab

Woodpeckers --Tuesday lab

Background

—Part of the family Picidae, woodpeckers are considered near passerine birds.
—They live in forests or woodlands.
—Woodpeckers do no inhabit Australia, New Zealand or Madagascar
—They have strong bills for drilling into trees
—The diet consist of small insects from inside of trees, and tree sap.
—Monogamous 
Red-headed woodpecker  
 

http://www.jkcassady.com/images/5RHWO207.jpg

Features
-Bright red hood
-white chest
-medium size
Red-bellied Woodpecker


http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/red_bellied_woodpecker_glamour.jpg

Features
-Pale color, with black and white strips on the back
-Bright red cap and neck

Downy Woodpecker

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/naturescience/images/downy-woodpecker.jpg

Features
—-Checked black and white wings.
-—The head is striped black and white.
-—The back had a white strip down the center.
—-Males have a small red patch on the outer side of the head. 

Hairy woodpecker

http://www.birdsamore.com/_images/woodpecker-hairy_350.jpg

Features

—  Checked black and white wings.
—The head is striped black and white.
—The back had a white strip down the center.
—Males have a small red patch on the outer side of the head.
—Has a much large bill then the Downy woodpecker
—Has a larger more distinct black mark on the shoulder.
Pileated Woodpecker

http://hillsteadblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/pileated2.jpg

Features
-Large woodpecker
-Red crest on head
-Blackbody

Northern Flicker
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/piciformes/picides/pic-flamboyant/pic-flamb-male-aur1.jpg

Features
—It is a woodpecker
—Mostly brown with black spots, and crescents.
—The underside of the wing and tail is bright yellow for eastern birds, and red for western birds.
—Black sport under chin, and red on cheeks



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