On occasion someone e-mails me telling me that they have just spotted an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. It is almost certain that what they saw was the Pileated Woodpecker, found throughout the eastern U.S., the Pacific Northwest, and southern Canada, and a close relative of the Ivory-billed. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was one of the largest woodpeckers in […]
Ivory-billed Woodpecker and UFOs Read More »
We all know that the Rock (city) Pigeon, House Sparrow, and European Starling were imported from Europe in the late 1800’s and have become minor pests (or major, depending on your point of view.) The Ring-necked Pheasant was brought over from China about the same time and has turned out to be a nice addition
A New Bird on the Block Read More »
A well known blackbird is the Brewer’s Blackbird. This common blackbird gets its name from a prominent 19th Century Boston naturalist who started his professional career as an M.D. with a degree from Harvard and later developed a passion for birds. As a teenager he began sharing his field observations with J.J. Audubon. Audubon
Blackbirds and Black birds Read More »
My wife and I ended a three week cruise of the west coast of Africa by visiting one of the Canary Islands, a Spanish protectorate, west of Morocco. The Canary Islands are a semi-tropical vacation haven for residents of Europe, comparable to Hawaii for U.S. residents. Like many island nations, it has birds similar to those
Driving down the highway the other day I observed a number of road-killed skunks, deer, raccoons, and unidentifiable blobs of fur and muscle attended to by large blackish birds with red heads. These often misunderstood creatures are our friendly Turkey Vultures, filling their role as avian recyclers. Although some consider them ugly and their habits unappealing,
Avian Sanitation Workers, the Vultures Read More »
East of the Mississippi there is one species of hummingbird. West of the Mississippi you may find six or seven species of hummers. It takes a bit of knowledge to tell them apart, especially the females and immatures. That challenge pales in comparison to trying to identify hummingbirds apart in Colombia, which has over 300
Once a bird mainly of the south, mockingbirds are now found all over the U.S. Officially known as the Northern Mockingbird, they are easily distinguished by their gray bodies and white wing patches in flight. They are also audibly noisy birds. Mockingbirds have a repertoire short songs and calls, consisting of perhaps 200 different phrases,
Listen to the Mockingbird Read More »
Probably the most well-known bird in the western U.S. is the Scrub Jay, whose official name has been recently changed to Western Scrub-Jay. I have often heard these birds referred to as “blue jays”. Yes, they are largely blue, but just as crows are not blackbirds even though they are black birds, Western Scrub-Jays and
A Much Maligned Bird is the Scrub Jay Read More »
Another bird that we see quite often is the House Finch. The bright reddish-burgundy coloration of the male makes it easy to identify . There are similar-looking birds, the Cassin’s and Purple Finches, but they are far less common, lack the brown streaks on the flanks of the House Finch, and generally avoid human habitations.
That black and white bird with an iridescent sheen, long tail, and yellow bill is the Yellow-billed Magpie, unique to (accurately called “endemic”) the California valley and a bit of the south coast in open woodlands and adjacent fields. The identical, except for bill color, Black-billed Magpie is found over most of the west and
The Yellow-billed Magpie Read More »
