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From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It’s still winter in the land of Albatrossity. On Tuesday, Dan B takes us to Kubota Garden, and then we spend 3 days in Oregon with StringOnAStick.
Albatrossity
The second installment of the Wintry Mix in Flyover Country series includes seed-eaters, bug-eaters, fruit-eaters, and carnivores, covering just about every niche in avian food preferences.
First up are these White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys), an adult on the left and a first-year bird on the right. Flocks of these handsome critters roam the plains in the winter, finding abundant seeds in harvested grain fields and sunflower patches. These two were using the time-honored scratch-and-sniff technique to unearth some seeds in a snowy corn field.
Our most abundant wintertime sparrow, the American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea), summers on the tundra and winters on the plains. Despite its name, it eschews perching in trees, which are non-existent on the tundra and formerly scarce in this corner of Flyover County. Grassy weedy edges are the best place to see these flocks.
A much less abundant sparrow, the Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) comes in many different colors in different parts of the continent. Although many range maps don’t show it, we have small numbers of wintering Fox Sparrows here; almost all of them are of the red (taiga) subspecies. This is a hard bird to convince to perch in the open, so I was happy to see even a rear view of this handsome sparrow.
Moving on from the seed-eaters to the bug-eaters, this female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is an uncommon species in our yard, despite the large number of trees. Unlike the other woodpeckers here, it doesn’t bother with the seed or suet feeders, but will occasionally come in to the bird bath for a drink on a chilly winter day.
Downy Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens), on the other hand, are frequent diners at both the suet and seed feeders in our yard. This female was waiting for a spot at the seed feeder, since the nearby suet feeder was occupied by another Downy Woodpecker.
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a frugivore (fruit-eater) in the winter, and a familiar species to most North American birders. But this species is actually quite uncommon in the Flint Hills of Kansas, where I live; after living in this house for nearly 10 years, we have never seen one in the yard. So it was quite a surprise to see this one at the bird bath one morning. Species #111 for the yard list here.
On to the carnivores! Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) nest in the woods somewhere near our yard, and come to visit the bird bath occasionally. Since they usually feed on rodents and reptiles, the feeder birds (chickadees, nuthatches, finches, sparrows and woodpeckers) generally ignore them. Sometime soon they will start to set up housekeeping in the woods behind the house, and their piercing calls will echo through the woodlot, once again announcing a springtime and a hope for new hawklets to grace our neighborhood. My friend John Lane has written a wonderful little book about his experiences tracking these birds in his neighborhood in South Carolina.
If this bird showed up at the feeders, however, it would cause a panic. Merlins (Falco columbarius) are efficient avian predators, and most other birds scatter when one enters the scene. They are birds of open areas, however, and thus don’t bother urban and suburban bird feeding flocks very often. This is a young bird, and it was eying some flocks of Horned Larks in an ag field near here.
Another open-country avian predator, Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) are the same size as a Peregrine Falcon, but the latter are only seen in this part of the world during spring and fall migrations. So a big falcon here at this time of year is almost certainly a Prairie Falcon, and it is always a treat to find one. Not a treat for the sparrows, larks, and blackbirds that it likes to hunt, however.
Finally, as you might have suspected, I’ll include a picture of a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). This is the least common of the Red-tailed subspecies, the Krider’s Hawk (B. j. kriderii). Only one in about 200-300 redtails in the winter here are members of this subspecies. A pale and regal presence here in the winter, this bird will be heading back to the Dakotas or perhaps Alberta for the summer season soon.
JAFD
Thank you, very much !
Rob
The shot of the Prairie Falcon taking off is my favorite of today’s photos.
SteveinPHX
Thank you for photos AND captions! Helps me learn.
Leenie
Thank you for these stunning photographs. What kind of lens are you using?
SiubhanDuinne
Wonderful photos, as always!
Your comment about the mockingbird — “So it was quite a surprise to see this one at the bird bath one morning.” — reminds me that I’ve been meaning to ask you a question. In a few weeks I’ll be moving to a house and for the first time in decades I’ll be able to have bird feeders and a bird bath. Do you have any suggestions? I don’t want one of those cheap plastic shallow things, and I want it to attract thirsty birds as well as those who need a wash-and-brush-up. I am prepared to replenish the water two or three times a day. Are there particular styles or even brand names I should seek out (or avoid)?
If it helps, I’m in suburban Atlanta. We’re talking bluejays, cardinals, grackles, mourning doves, Carolina chickadees, nuthatches, brown thrashers, etc.
Thanks for any advice.
Albatrossity
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanks!
I agree with you about bird baths; the shallow ones that seem the most abundant in stores are not an option, as far as I am concerned. Mostly that is because I use a bubbler, powered by a small aquarium pump, to make gurgly noises and attract more birds. Those pumps have to be submersed, and a 1-inch deep bath is not deep enough. I do have anecdotal evidence that the gurgling water noises help; when the pump dies and I had to order a replacement, the silent bird bath was not nearly as active as it was previously. And when the replacement was installed, I immediately had my normal flock of robins and waxwings at their normal barstools.
So I get livestock watering basins from the local farm supply store, which are not the most attractive to humans, but seem very attractive to the birds. Particularly if you add a rock to provide a perch in the middle of the water.
Good luck! Looking forward to the reports!
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: Not Albatrossity, but I’ll throw in my $0.02:
We have a round heated birdbath mounted via a thumbscrew on the ledge of our deck. (Probably not that vendor, may not be that exact one, but that’s what it looks like.) The heated tray is orange-red plastic and sits in a black steel ring for easy removal. If it’s perfectly level, it holds water about an inch deep – around a gallon. I refill it every morning.
Squirrels chew on it when it is empty.
Lots of birds use it for baths – from chicadees to mourning doves. I’ve occasionally seen crows drink from it and a hawk once sat near it briefly.
I’ve been very happy with it – it’s several years old. It needs an outlet and an extension cord when it’s below freezing, of course.
I assume that anything much deeper won’t be used for many birds for bathing – they want to touch the bottom – but would be fine for drinking. Since they often have to drink from mud puddles, any dish is probably a treat for them!
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Albatrossity
@Leenie: I became a fan of mirrorless camera bodies several years back, and switched from heavy Canon gear to the Olympus system. These were all shot with an OM E-M1X body and the Olympus 150-400 zoom lens. That lens was developed with that body in mind, and they work pretty much perfectly together.
Albatrossity
@Another Scott: Yes, a deeper bird bath won’t be used for bathing by many smaller birds. But if you want a deeper one for a fountain, you can just just add a flat rock of appropriate height, and watch the fun begin.
I’ve seen birds in sizes ranging from Barred Owl to Red-breasted Nuthatch bathing in ours, if you pick just the right rock, with a depression in the middle to hold water, they seem to love it!
Another Scott
@Albatrossity: Good to know. Thanks!
A neighbor up the street has a very small (maybe 5’x5′) shallow pond with a central fountain pump (water shoots up maybe 6-12″), surrounded by various kinds of vegetation. It doesn’t seem to get a lot of bird traffic (that I can see, anyway), but I usually hear a bullfrog there in the spring and summer. I would have thought that the birds would like it a lot, but dunno. They can be fickle beasties.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
All lovely. Thanks again for the all the great pics.
Albatrossity
@Another Scott: Yes, ponds are attractive for amphibians, but unless you include a trickling stream feature, birds (other than herons) are not particularly fond of them. I do have a couple of friends who have built artificial streams that recirculate water into a pond, and those do seem to attract smaller birds like warblers and buntings, etc.
I did dig up a video of a female Northern Cardinal bathing in the depression in a limestone rock I have in my birdbath. Enjoy!
mvr
Nice photos as usual!
We get so many house sparrows and they all move so fast that I can rarely identify any other kind of sparrow in our yard. I think I’ve managed to identify a white throated sparrow once or twice. But that is about it.
Thanks!
zhena gogolia
These pictures are my morning meditation objects. Love the mockingbird — so sprightly.
SiubhanDuinne
@Albatrossity:
@Another Scott:
Thanks so much for the good suggestions! I love the idea of a flat rock in a deeper bath (and the video illustrates that very well) — and bubbles! We don’t generally get much in the way of freezing temperatures here, so a heated birdbath might be a little superfluous most days; when my dad was alive and had his wildlife setup, he had some kind of immersible heating element he used to keep the water in the birdbath from freezing. Anyhow, I’ll have fun with this project.
Miss Bianca
How funny, I was just going through a thread of birder observations on a list serv I’m part of, and Mockingbirds were definitely a topic of discussion! I’m not sure I’ve ever actually encountered one in the wild – I may have and mistaken it for another bird or beast entirely.
As always, I am blown away not only by your stunning photos, dear Albatrossity, but also your encyclopedic knowledge of bird species!
Princess Leia
Thank you for your wonderful photos!
J R in WV
Monday mornings are always great, with these photos of great birds (etc) to look forward to. Also greatly admire the photographic setup you use, maybe someday I’ll take the plunge.
Currently I’m using a Panasonic Lumix superzoom which I enjoy, but it doesn’t have the resolution your Olympic rig does. No extra lenses needed tho, macro to tele in one gadget!
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
Fabulous pictures and commentary as usual – thank you so much. And nice use of the word “eschew” :-) We commonly have Golden-crowned Sparrows around here, and White-Crowns very rare on our property. Your raptor shots are great, and Krider’s Hawk is elegant.
Yutsano
First picture out of the gate got me. White-capped sparrows seem to just have personality.
stinger
Fox Sparrow — that is a gorgeous photo of a gorgeous bird!
And the Northern Mockingbird: I’m dreaming now of Hally, sweet Halleeeee…..