Bird a Day: Red-winged Blackbird

Here is a bird you might be familiar with, the Red-winged Blackbird.  These birds are numerous in wetland habitats and cling to cattails as they sing.  They are highly polygynous, a male can have as many as 15 females nesting in his territory during the breeding season.  Males defend their territories aggressively against rival males and will even attack larger species like Great Blue Herons or hawks. 

Red-winged Blackbirds have jet black plumage with red and yellow epaulets on their shoulders which they flare at rival males when displaying.  The epaulets may not be seen when birds are not being territorial.  Their bill is straight and conical which they use to eat insects and seeds.  The female Red-winged Blackbird looks completely different from the male.  She is a drab brown with much streaking on the breast and back.  Females have a yellow-orange throat and a white stripe above the eye.  See the video below of a male Red-winged Blackbird calling on his territory.

Posted in: Red-winged Blackbird,video

Bird a Day: Pine Warbler

***NOTICE: Blogger has been down the last few days due to some server issues.  My blog posts from Wednesday and Thursday appeared and disappeared throughout the day.  They are both back online now as it seems Blogger has fixed its issues.  Just thought I would let you know in case you thought I was giving up on posting a new bird species every day!  I'm still at it!  :)

Pine Warblers are one of the few birds that hang around in Kentucky in the winter and subsequently are one of the first warblers to be heard singing in our area in spring.  They are aptly named because they are usually found in pine trees where they eat large quantities of seed.  They also are one of the few warblers to be found at bird feeders where they favor suet.  The male below was heard singing in a tall pine tree next to my parent's driveway.  I opened my iBird app for my ipod and played the Pine Warbler song.  After much trepidation he eventually dropped down to the branches above the ipod to investigate the rival warbler on his territory.  He was moving quick but I was able to snap this picture quick before he tired of the games and went back to the treetops.

Pine Warblers are yellow over most of the body with only the undertail coverts and bottom of belly white.  They have faint streaking along the flanks and two bright white wing bars.  Listen for a trill coming from the tops of pine trees but don't confuse the song with that of a Chipping Sparrow or Dark-eyed Junco, which can easily be done.

Posted in: Pine Warbler

Bird a Day: Cape May Warbler

Today's bird is the lovely Cape May Warbler.  I found this female in my mom's front yard foraging for insects in the spruce tree.  You will normally find these birds around conifers during migration.  They breed in the boreal forest of Canada and southern United States.  Their life history is closely tied to the Spruce Budworm, their preferred food source.  They are so dependent on this worm (which is actually a caterpillar and actually feeds on Balsam Firs and not spruces) that populations will increase or decrease depending on the availability of Spruce Budworms.  They are considered a pests to foresters so the Cape May Warbler is a welcome sight to silverculturists.  This is one example of why birds are so vital to ecosystems and humans and why we should do everything in our power to conserve them.

The female Cape May Warbler is less colorful than the male but just as beautiful.  She is yellow on her breast, face, sides and rump.  There are fine streaks running along her flanks and two wing bars on each wing.  The males are similar but have chestnut or orange brown cheek patches and are a brighter yellow.

Posted in: Cape May Warbler

Bird a Day: Indigo Bunting

I'm working hard to get pictures of a new bird every day, I don't know if I'm going to make it the whole month but I'm going to try!  Today's bird is the Indigo Bunting.  Small and common in summer, the Indigo Bunting is so named for its brilliant blue plumage.  You can find them in old fields, along roadsides, and and edge habitat.  They love brushy areas and vine tangles where they can be head singing their bright song, which sounds like fire-fire where-where here-here. 

Identification of Indigo Buntings is fairly straightforward.  Only one other bird has this bright of blue plumage and that is the Blue Grosbeak, but they are larger, have large beaks, and a chestnut wing patch.  See my bird a day post on them here to compare.  The female is a dull brown with hints of blue on her wings.  They resemble female House Finches but without the streaking.  You may be lucky enough to have these birds visit your feeder if you fill it with thistle or sunflower seed in the summer.

Posted in: Indigo Bunting

Bird a Day: Yellow-breasted Chat

If you have ever felt out of place, like you just didn't belong, then you know what it feels like to be a Yellow-breasted Chat.  These birds have confused ornithologists and taxonomists for decades.  They have been shuffled back and forth between the wood warbler family Parulidae and the mimic family (including Northern Mockingbird and Brown Thrasher) Mimidae so many times I am beginning to lose count.  The latest findings are that it is not a warbler and may belong in its own family.  It is already the only species in its genus Icteria.  Regardless of their taxonomy, Yellow-breasted Chats are lovely birds, one of my favorites.  As you can see below they have a bright yellow chest and throat, olive-green back, white spectacles, and a long tail.  Their song is a combination of chatter, notes and slurs, seemingly random in order.  Watch one singing in the video below.

Posted in: Yellow-breasted Chat

Bird a Day: Sora

Today's bird a day is the Sora, a secretive marsh bird belonging to the rail family Rallidae.  They are the most common of rails but are seldom seen due to their secretive nature.  Sora are more often heard than seen.  They have an interesting whinny call that alerts you to the presence of a bird you otherwise would most likely never see.  They prefer wetland habitats with emergent vegetation where they forage for seeds and aquatic invertebrates. 

Sora are easy to identify because if their unique chicken-like bill.  The bright yellow bill in combination with the dark black face mask differentiate them from all other birds.  They are about the size of a robin and have a distinctly triangular shape with a short tail.  If close look for the red eye like in the bird above.

Posted in: Sora

Beckham Bird Club: Joe Creason Park

Barbara Woerner led a field trip to Joe Creason Park today and it was a blast.  Dense fog greeted us as we began the trip but it gradually lifted as the day went on.  Warblers were falling off the trees and everyone in attendance got great looks at several birds.  We barely made it out of the parking lot for the first two hours of the field trip.  A big willow tree next to the parking lot had so many good birds we stood and watched it for almost an hour.  Below are some of the birds we saw in the one tree alone.

Blackburnian Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Least Flycatcher

Yellow Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Eastern Wood Peewee

Cape May Warblers were in abundance foraging in the Spruce trees for bugs and caterpillars.  Several were seen in the Spruces along the road back to the Metro Administration Building.  Everyone was very helpful in trying to get me good looks at this bird so I could get a photograph.  I got a couple decent snaps but the overcast sky tends to wash out the detail in the bird's plumage.

Cape May Warbler

Here are a few random birds from the walk.

Gray Catbird

American Robin

Baltimore Oriole

We made out way to the bridge over Beargrass Creek where we saw a nesting pair of Eastern Phoebes and a very cooperative American Redstart.  The phoebes must have a nest under the bridge because they kept coming and going from the same branch.  They would fly from the branch to the underside of the bridge with a mouthful of bugs, and then from the bridge to the branch with their beaks empty.  A telltale sign that they have a nest and are feeding young.

Eastern Phoebe with food on way to nest

Eastern Phoebe without food after flying to bridge

A male American Redstart was foraging very close to the bridge, coming within a few feet at times.

American Redstart

I want to thank Barbara for putting us on some great birds.  A total of 74 birds (20 species of warblers) were seen in about four hours.  Warblers seen that I didn't get pictures of are: Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Canada, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat, several Nashville, Black-and-White, Blackpoll, Palm, Ovenbird, and apparently four more I can't remember!

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Posted in: Baltimore Oriole,Blackburnian Warbler,Cape May Warbler,Eastern Phoebe,Eastern Wood Pewee,Gray Catbird,Joe Creason Park,Least Flycatcher,Prothonotary Warbler,Tennessee Warbler,Yellow Warbler