On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
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.
It’s chunky birds Monday. On Tuesday arrive takes us to the Ukraine research facility in Antarctica, followed by churches with Big R, we head to the Redlands with BillinGlendale, and The Dangerman finishes off the week with lighthouses.
Albatrossity
Week 2 of the Chunky Bird series has an international flavor, featuring birds from North America, Tanzania, and New Zealand, as well as one bird who travels to and from Alaska to NZ twice a year.
Many owls are round and fluffy, but especially in cold weather. This Barred Owl (Strix varia) was waiting for a snow squall to stop before resuming its hunt.
This Eastern Screech-owl (Megascops asio) was also waiting for the snow to end, and amazingly it was waiting in a cedar tree just a few feet from my dining room window. These birds are actually more common than you might imagine, but their small size and cryptic coloration help them stay out of sight. And since they can be prey for larger owls (our neighborhood has both Great Horned and Barred Owl pairs), they don’t tend to make much noise if they know other owls are around.
Another example of “does the camera make me look fat”, this Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) male is all puffed up with pride (and testosterone) as he dances for the ladies on a lek on Konza Prairie. By the time you jackals are reading this, the local Flint Hills pastures will be hosting this spectacle, and it is a show that you really should have on your bucket list.
Another chicken-like bird who looks plump and tasty, this Black-faced Sandgrouse (Pterocles decorates) male halted his amble down a dirt track in the Serengeti to gaze at a carload of strangers and cameras. He must have thought the aliens had finally landed! Interesting fact: this grouse-like bird with the word grouse in its name is not closely related to chickens or other grouse like the prairie-chicken above (Galliformes). Current taxonomies place them in their own order (Pterocliformes), and they are thought to be more closely related to shorebirds than to chickens.
Speaking of shorebirds, this chunk-style cutie is a Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) is only found on the western coasts of North America, unlike its cosmopolitan cousin the Ruddy Turnstone.
Another well-rounded shorebird, this Chestnut-banded Plover (Charadrius pallidus) is a resident of saline lakes in the Rift Valley of eastern Africa. This is not an abundant species (estimated at fewer than 20,000 individuals total), so I felt fortunate to see one.
Here is the current reigning world-champion chunky bird, the Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica). In preparation for a phenomenal migration (from the southern coast of Alaska, making a 7000 mile long nonstop flight to New Zealand and Australia), the body weights of individual birds of this species include up to 55% fat. That high-octane fuel is all depleted after that 7-8 day nonstop flight. Neither WeightWatchers nor Jenny Craig diets can take you from 55% body fat to 0% in a week!
This bird may not be chunky, but it has a chunky-looking head! The Hamerkops (Scopus umbretta, literally dark-brown hammerhead)) is a wading bird, but is not closely related to storks and herons. Its closest relatives seem to be the pelicans.
Closer to home, and more in the category of cute yellow chunky bird, is this first-year male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). By the next spring he would have been sporting that black bandit mask, but you can start to see its five-o’clock shadow on his cheek even in this fall portrait.
Truly one of the cutest chunky birds in North America, this Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) ends the list for today. These little guys flit through the coniferous forests of western North America, making an amazing variety of bips, kips, toots and squeaks as they go.
mrmoshpotato
“Eat me! Oh wait, I didn’t mean…”
Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Scuffletuffle
Your owl pics are just stunning! When i have seen screech owls up close, they look like clockwork toys, so very cute!
Betty
The pygmy nuthatch truly is adorable. Such a nice collection of chunky birds.
stinger
Every shot a masterpiece, every bird so fascinating!
Torrey
Amazing pictures! As always, your bird pictures lift the spirits. And, as stinger said, every shot is indeed a masterpiece.
mvr
Another great bunch of photos. Thanks!
Made a screech owl box and hung it on our oak tree. Now inhabited by squirrels as far as I can tell. OTOH the squirrels are getting so fat from spilled bird seed they may not be able to fit soon. As it is they are having trouble jumping onto tree trunks because their bellies are hitting before their feet can grab on.
Kattails
There’s nothing like hearing a screech owl cut loose, close by on a dark night, to get every hair follicle on your body on alert.
Wonderful photos as always. I’m fond of barred owls with their big dark eyes. This one does look cuddly until you notice the talons hiding under the fluff…
MelissaM
That prairie-chicken, from the orange eyelashes to the bracelets, is sure looking for a good time!
You mentioned you live in a “neighborhood.” My question is, how close are houses or what are trees like to see that screech owl? Surely not common suburbia? Can *I* possibly see something more than robins and sparrows in my yard? (I know I can – I found an owl pellet just outside our back door. Given the power lines around our house, there are no trees near the back door, so the owl must have been on our gutter to hork up the pellet where it was. Super cool to dissect!)
Yutsano
I never knew how much I needed floofy owls in my life until just now. Fantastic photo essay Albatrossity!
arrieve
Always a great start to the day, this time with owls!
Albatrossity
@MelissaM:
This neighborhood is right at the edge of town; I can chuck a rock off my back deck and it will be out of the city limits when it lands. And the land behind us is a 40 acre woodlot, mostly cedars but with elms, hackberries, walnuts and locust as well.
Screech-owls, like other smaller owls, like conifers. Urban cemeteries with conifers are a good place to find them.
BigJimSlade
Great pictures as always! I really like the moodiness in the Black Turnstone shot. And what journey the Bar-tailed Godwit makes! Reminds me of the old line, “I just flew in from (Alaska, in this case) and, boy, are my arms tired!” Puts that to shame!
MelissaM
@Albatrossity: Good to know about the urban cemeteries. We do have one, dating back to close to town origination, but the trees are all original and are either dying or coming down in storms and are not being replaced, which makes me sad. I’ll have to head over there late some spring or summer evening and see what I can see.
StringOnAStick
Pygmy Nuthatches are so fun to watch. I recall standing quietly by a western juniper and having one work his way up and down the trunk, his piping calls going up in time and excitement level as he found insects to eat. Such a fun memory!
stinger
@StringOnAStick: That’s a sweet story!