Acadian Flycatcher

 

Acadian Flycatchers are small and long-tailed, with a large, peaked head and a broad, flat bill. Sits with a distinctly upright posture. Their wings are long for a flycatcher.Acadian Flycatchers are olive-green above with a whitish eyering and whitish underparts. The wings are dark with two distinct white wingbars. The bill is dark above and mostly orange-yellow below.

They sit quietly at middle levels in the forest, sallying out to snatch insects from the bottom of leaves or in midair, and returning to its perch.

Acadian Flycatchers breed in mature deciduous forests, often in lowlands near rivers, streams, and swamps. In winter, they can be found in lowland tropical forest. 

Willow Flycatchers are small, slender flycatchers, but they are one of the larger members of the Empidonax genus. They have a fairly long, thin tail and wings. The bill is broad. Like other flycatchers, they tend to perch upright.

Willow Flycatchers are brownish olive overall with a slight yellow wash to the belly. They have 2 whitish wingbars and a white throat that contrasts with the brownish olive breast. The white eyering seen on most Empidonax flycatchers is very thin and nearly absent on Willow Flycatchers.

The Adler Flycatcher is a small flycatcher with an upright posture and a large, usually rounded head. The bill is straight and fairly broad, and the wings are short.

Brownish olive green above with two white wingbars; whitish below. Compared with most other Empidonax species, the eyering is indistinct.

Alder Flycatchers forage for insects by flying out from tree perches to take them from leaf surfaces or midair.

They breed in wet boreal thickets, shrubby bogs, and other areas of regrowth following clearcutting or fire. 

Cornell All About Birds

Long-eared Owl

 

By far my favourite owl is the Long-eared Owl. In fact, it is probably my favourite bird to observe in the wild. I absolutely love hiking in a snow-covered wood checking it out for these beautiful creatures.

Long-eared Owls are lanky owls that often seem to wear a surprised expression thanks to long ear tufts that typically point straight up like exclamation marks.

These nocturnal hunters roost in dense foliage, where their camouflage makes them hard to find, and forage over grasslands for small mammals.

Long-eared Owls are nimble flyers, with hearing so acute they can snatch prey in complete darkness.

Like other owls, the Long-eared has a body adapted for silent flight and precision hunting. Flight feathers with fringed edges and downy surfaces mute the sound of the owl’s passage through air.

The owls gain incredible hearing from their asymmetrically placed ear openings and large, sound-catching facial disks. Cornell All About Birds

Glossy Ibis

 

The Glossy Ibis is a large, long-legged wading bird with a football shaped body and a long-curved bill.

We have observed Glossy Ibis in nesting colonies while birding in Florida and they are quite common. However, they are uncommon in Southern Ontario with few recorded sightings in Lambton County.

Recently while birding at Kettle Point, I received word that a small flock of Ibis was flying south past Grand Bend. A friend who was birding in The Pinery then seen them pass the beaches there. I seriously didn’t think I had a chance to see them but knew from taking the sailboat to the North Channel that I had to get around the north side of Kettle Point to Ipperwash Beach. After about a fifteen-minute wait on the beach, I was able to just make out the flock way out in the lake. Not the experience I was hoping for but a sighting none the less.

The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning “sickle” and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.

Glossy Ibises occur in flocks, both at nesting colonies and when foraging. They typically feed by lowering the bill into water, mud, or soil, to feel for prey, and they often feed among many other species of wading birds.

Glossy Ibises frequent almost any wetland environment with shallow water or exposed mud and also readily feeds in farm fields or open areas where soils are moist. Cornell All About Birds

We have seen Glossy, White-faced, Scarlet, White, Hadada and Sacred Ibis. Hopefully all future blog topics.

Hooded Warbler

 

Hooded Warblers are small, well-proportioned birds with a straight, sharp bill. Compared to other warblers, they are fairly heavy-bodied and thick-necked.

Adult males are olive-green above and bright yellow below with a black hood and throat, a yellow forehead, and yellow cheeks.

This warbler spends much of its time in the understory flitting between shrubs and flashing its white outer tail feathers. It tends to stay at least partially hidden in understory vegetation, jumping up to take insects or picking them from foliage.

Hooded Warblers are found in mature deciduous forests with a dense understory, but also uses smaller forest patches as long as there is a shrubby understory. Cornell All About Birds

Upland Sandpiper

 

Upland Sandpipers nest mainly in natural prairies, but they forage (and to a lesser extent nest) in a wide variety of grasslands, croplands, and pastures. During the early part of the nesting cycle, watch for males calling from fence posts.

The elegant, enigmatic Upland Sandpiper paces across grassland habitats like a tiny, short-billed curlew throughout the year: prairies, pastures, and croplands in summer; and South American grasslands in winter.

Unlike most other North American shorebirds it avoids wetlands, instead hunting grasshoppers and other insects with jerky steps and quick jabs at prey. Cornell All About Birds

Whimbrel

 

Since most of the province is on Whimbrel watch I thought I would post some info on them today.

Whimbrels are a robust, large shorebird with a very long, curved bill and relatively long neck and legs. The wings are long and pointed; the tail is short.

Whimbrels probe with their long bills into mudflats or wet sand for invertebrates such as crabs, walking slowly through areas where water is very shallow.

Habitat is Arctic tundra during the nesting season; saltmarshes, mudflats, beaches, small islands during migration and winter.

They are sometimes found inland after being grounded by storms, taking refuge in farm fields, airports, lakeshores, or other open environments. Cornell All About Birds

Vermilion Flycatcher

 

The Vermilion Flycatcher is my favourite flycatcher. I thoroughly enjoy photographing them every year at St Marks Wilderness Area on the Florida Panhandle.

They are a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family found throughout South America and southern North America. It is a striking exception among the generally drab flycatcher family.

A fairly small, stocky flycatcher with an upright posture. Fairly flat headed and barrel chested, with a slender tail and a broad, straight bill.

Vermilion Flycatchers spend long periods sitting on exposed perches such as the tops of shrubs and fence lines. They watch for flying insects, catching them in midair by quick flights (sallies), and often returning to the same perch.

Habitat is open, shrubby habitats including scrubby desert, lightly cultivated lands, and shrubby tropical lowlands. Cornell All About Birds

Wilson's Phalarope

 

The Wilson’s Phalarope females are a rich peachy and gray, and are more colorful than the males. Females court and defend male mates—several per season—while males do most of the work of raising the young.

Unlike most birds where the female has the predominant role in caring for the young, female phalaropes desert their mates once they’ve laid eggs.

While the male raises the young by himself, the female looks for other males to mate with. This unusual mating system is called polyandry, and it’s reflected in the way the two sexes look, with the females more brightly coloured than the male. Cornell All About Birds

Cerulean Warbler

 

The male Cerulean Warbler is a brilliant blue songbird with a cerulean neck band and streaks down the sides. Females are equally well-dressed, wearing a dusky hue of blue-green.

These long-distance migrants breed in mature eastern deciduous forests and spend the winters in the Andes in South America.

Their populations have declined dramatically due to habitat loss.
Cornell All About Birds

Common Yellowthroat

 

Common Yellowthroats are small songbirds with chunky, rounded heads and medium-length, slightly rounded tails.

Adult males are bright yellow below, with a sharp black face mask and olive upperparts. A thin whitish line sets off the black mask from the head and neck.

Common Yellowthroats spend much of their time skulking low to the ground in dense thickets and fields, searching for small insects and spiders.

Common Yellowthroats live in open areas with thick, low vegetation, ranging from marsh to grassland to open pine forest. Cornell All About Birds

Chestnut-sided Warbler

 

The Chestnut-sided Warbler is a slim warbler with a relatively long tail that it often holds cocked, or raised above the body line, which makes the tail appear longer still.

Breeding adults are crisp gray-and-white birds with a yellow crown, black face markings, and rich chestnut flanks. Males are more richly marked than females.

Chestnut-sided Warblers flit and hop along slender branches, carefully inspecting the undersides of deciduous leaves. Look for them in saplings and shrubs more often than in tall trees. They often raise the tail and droop the wings as they move through the branches. Cornell All About Birds

Black and White Warbler

 

Black-and-white Warblers are medium-sized warblers (small songbirds). They have a fairly long, slightly downcurved bill. The head often appears somewhat flat and streamlined, with a short neck. The wings are long and the tail is short.

Black-and-white Warblers act more like nuthatches than warblers, foraging for hidden insects in the bark of trees by creeping up, down, and around branches and trunks. Despite their arboreal foraging habits, they nest on the ground at the bases of trees.

Deciduous forest and mixed forest are the preferred summer habitats of Black-and-white Warblers, usually with trees of mixed ages that provide a variety of foraging substrates. Cornell All About Birds

Cape May Warbler

 

The Cape May Warbler is a delicate, short-tailed warbler with a slender and distinctively decurved bill, unusual among warblers.

Cape May Warblers hunt insects among branches, sip nectar from flowers, or eat fruit. They take most food by probing and picking but also catch insects in midair or hover to pluck items from leaves and branches.

Boreal forest (spruce, balsam fir) in breeding season; a wide variety of forested and shrubby habitats during migration and in winter. Cornell All About Birds

Bay-breasted Warbler

 

The Bay-breasted Warbler is a small songbird with a fine, pointed bill and rather long wings and tail.

Bay-breasted Warblers feed by hopping and flying around in the inner parts of trees and watching for insect prey, which they capture by gleaning and occasionally hovering. They readily join mixed-species flocks in the nonbreeding season, when they consume more fruit than insects.

Breeds in boreal forests, chiefly mature coniferous forests. Winters in wet lowland tropical forests. Migrants use many types of forest and edge habitats.
Cornell All About Birds

Least Bittern

 

Least Bitterns are very small herons. They have long legs and toes, daggerlike bills, and long necks that they often keep drawn in, giving a hunched appearance.

Least Bitterns hunt by standing motionless and watching the water. Sometimes they take on acrobatic contortions, gripping multiple reeds and hanging just inches over the surface of the water.

Least Bitterns live mostly in freshwater and brackish marshes with tall stands of cattails or other vegetation. Cornell All About Birds

Northern Pygmy Owl

 

Karma

We were birding in Cave Creek Canyon Arizona searching for a Northern Pygmy Owl when we came upon a seniors birding group looking for an Elegant Trogon.

They had stopped as a group and we passed on through only to come across the Trogon about fifty feet up the trail. We stopped dead in our tracks and slid in behind some brush. I motioned back to the group who slowly moved up to join us and eventually we were pushed to the rear.

One of the last ladies to move up said that I must have got some outstanding photos of the bird. However, in an effort not to flush the bird so that they all got a chance to observe the bird, I had not taken any shots. Nikon cameras, especially early digital models, had extremely noisy shutters compared to Canon.

No harm done, we enjoyed seeing the bird, and I was happy all the birders got to see their target bird. Eventually, we hiked back down the canyon to the trailhead, and although we seen a great variety of lifer birds, we did not find a Northern Pygmy Owl.

Ah, the karma part of the story. There, sitting in a tree, not 100 feet from our truck, right in the parking lot, was a beautiful Northern Pygmy Owl.

Karma

Red-headed Woodpecker

 

Red-headed Woodpeckers are medium-sized woodpeckers with fairly large, rounded heads, short, stiff tails, and powerful, spike-like bills.

Adults have bright-red heads, white underparts, and black backs with large white patches in the wings, making the lower back appear all white when perched.

In addition to catching insects by the normal woodpecker method of hammering at wood, Red-headed Woodpeckers also catch insects in flight and hunt for them on the ground. They also eat considerable amounts of fruit and seeds. Cornell All About Birds

An immature Red-headed Woodpecker

We’ve had a Red-headed Woodpecker visiting our McD bird feeder the last two mornings.