Bird a Day: Orchard Oriole

Orchard Orioles are lesser known than their cousins the Baltimore Oriole, probably because there isn't a baseball team named after them.  Nevertheless they are beautiful birds with deep reddish-orange and black plumage.  They are found in orchards (duh!), mid-succession fields, and along streams and wet areas.  It might surprise you that they are actually blackbirds and belong to the family Icteridae.  They construct hanging nests that they weave out of vegetative material like grass and plant down.

They are medium sized birds though they are the smallest of the North American Orioles.  They have brick red and black markings, a long tail, a thin pointed bill, and wingbars.  They are sexually dimorphic like the Blue Grosbeak.  Females are yellow-green but still have the white wing bars and pointed bill which set them apart from the similar female tanagers.

Posted in: Orchard Oriole

Bird a Day: Blue Grosbeak

Today's bird a day is one of my favorite birds, the Blue Grosbeak.  This male was singing from his perch, announcing his return to his breeding territory and also trying to attract a mate.  You will find these birds along forest edges, fields, and riparian areas.  This male was singing from a willow along a creek. 

This species is sexually dimorphic, meaning the males and females look different.  The female looks much different from the bright male above.  She is a drab brown color with a hint of a yellow wash and a blue tint on the edges of her wings.  Blue Grosbeak males are bright blue with a chestnut wing patch.  They have large bills they use to crack seeds and snatch big meaty grasshoppers.  They are larger in size than the similar Indigo Bunting.  One way to remember them is that they look like blue cardinals without the crest.

Posted in: Blue Grosbeak

Bird a Day: Eastern Kingbird

Bird a day is running along smoothly so far and today I have an Eastern Kingbird for you.  These guys are really neat because of their different behaviors.  They can often be seen sparring over territory or chasing off much larger birds like crows and hawks away from their nest.  They are flycatchers and make a living doing just that, hawking insect out of the air.  They are seen in grasslands, fields and other open areas like farms or pastures. 

They are medium sized songbirds and are dark on top and white underneath.  What sets kingbirds apart from almost every other species of bird is the white terminal band on the end of the tail.  Only the waxwings have something similar but their tail bands are yellow. 

Posted in: Eastern Kingbird

Bird a Day: Gray Catbird

Bird a day day two is the Gray Catbird.  This neo-tropical migrant is a common bird around our area, preferring gardens, thickets, and shrubby areas often caused by human disturbance.  They like to nest in these viney areas because of the protection it gives to their nests.  During summer they eat insects like most birds, equally happy plucking grasshoppers off of plants or snagging moths in mid-air.  They belong to the family Mimidae which also includes the Northern Mockingbird and Brown Thrasher.  They share the ability to mimic other birds in their song, but are most known for their mewing call that gives them their name.  

Gray Catbirds are of course gray, but what you can't see in this photo is the deep red undertail coverts.  It is a surprising splash of color on an otherwise drab bird.  The only other real field mark is the dark cap extending across the head. 

Posted in: Gray Catbird

Cedar Grove Industrial Park

Cedar Grove Industrial Park is a interesting place to look for birds and other wildlife.  It is south of Shepherdsville at exit 116 off of I-65.  Part of the site is developed into an industrial park with huge warehouses, but just as much of the site is weedy, shrubby, and wooded.  I usually go out there on the weekends when there is less activity and truck traffic.

The birds were singing up a storm even though I was there around midday.  All the species you would expect in this type of habitat were represented in good numbers, birds like: Common Yellowthroat, Prairie Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Field Sparrows.  There is a small creek that runs through the site and it was still swollen with water from all the rain we've been having.  The creek attracts other birds like Eastern Phoebe, Indigo Bunting, and Blue Grosbeak.  Below is a common bird and not-so-common bird.  I'm sure everyone knows the American Robin but I bet few of you have seen the Lark Sparrow below. 

Lark Sparrows are more of a western and great plains bird and their range barely extends into Kentucky.  They are sometimes seen in western Kentucky but are pretty rare up here.  I suspect the reason I found them at Cedar Grove is because of the type of habitat that is out there.  It is a real unique kind of field with small pine trees, large bushes, grasses, and exposed shale gravel.  This is perfect habitat for the Lark Sparrow and is not a habitat type that is seen too often around here.

One of my favorite things about Cedar Grove is the shale quarry.  There is a big hole dug out of the side of a hill where they are mining shale for construction.  The little nooks and crannies in the rocks create great nesting spots for Northern Rough-winged Swallows.  They can be seen flying all over, zooming past within feet of your head, and just as quickly be out of sight, nestled deep in the rock face.  They were flying so fast I failed to get a picture of them, but do yourself a favor and check out quarry and swallows. 

Look close in the picture below, there is a Rough-winged Swallow sitting on the rocks.  That was about the only time I could catch one sitting still.

Below is a video I made of some of the things I saw at Cedar Grove today.  Hope you enjoy.  :)

Posted in: American Robin,Cedar Grove Industrial Park,Lark Sparrow,Northern Rough-winged Swallow,video

Lark Sparrow in Kentucky

Went to Cedar Grove Industrial Park this afternoon to poke around and see what I could find.  Lucky me found two cooperative Lark Sparrows pecking around.  Below is a map of Cedar Grove Industrial Park with the marker in the exact spot I found the birds. 



Here are some pictures I got of one of the Lark Sparrows.  They were hanging out together and were very cooperative.  I found them around one and came back about two hours later and easily found them again.  They should be an easy get for anyone who wants to go out there and see them.  I have some video I will post tonight or tomorrow.

Posted in: Lark Sparrow

Bird a Day: Red-shouldered Hawk

To celebrate the return of migrating birds, I will be posting a new bird a day every day this month.  May is peak time for warblers, vireos, tanagers, and the rest in Kentucky, so what better way to celebrate than to share photos of these wonderful animals and interesting facts about their natural history.  I hope you enjoy what I have to share!

The first bird for bird a day is the Red-shouldered Hawk.  This adult in flight was seen over Shippingport Island while looking for Osrpeys.  Red-shouldered Hawks are forest dwelling birds and prefer bottomland hardwoods, riparian areas, and flooded swamps.  They eat just about anything, including rodents, birds, crayfish, frogs, and snakes.  They are very vocal, letting off a repetitious kee-ah from a perch high in the tree tops.  They are most common in Florida where a where the subspecies extimus has a gray head and is paler overall with less rufous on the wings and breast.

The Red-shouldered Hawks that occur in Kentucky are the eastern form like the one above.  The adults are rufous on the breast, belly, and upperwing coverts.  They have a black and white banded tail which is short as in most buteos.  Another good field mark is the crescent on the ends of the wings, you can see it very clearly in the bird above.  They often soar like Red-tailed Hawks, but if you look for the identification tips I listed, you will be able to clearly differentiate the two.

Posted in: Red-shouldered Hawk