Tree Swallow

Posted on May 14, 2014 by tspuckler

The Tree Swallow is the first of the swallows to arrive in Spring. Although they are mainly insect eaters, they can survive on berries and seeds when there is snow on the ground.

These birds are handsome aerialists with deep-blue iridescent backs and clean white fronts. They tend to reside near water and lately I’ve been seeing quite a few of them at Beaver Marsh on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath.

Tree Swallows are streamlined songbirds with long, pointed wings and a short, slightly notched tail. Their bills are very short and flat. They chase after flying insects with acrobatic twists and turns, their steely blue-green feathers flashing in the sunlight.

Tree Swallows nest at this time of the year and you can see them entering and leaving their nests as they tend to their young. They nest near water in tree cavities and old woodpecker holes. The female builds a nest lined with grasses and feathers.

These birds are highly social and may form flocks of several thousand birds at nighttime roosts outside of the breeding season.

As their name suggests, Tree Swallows spend little time on the ground, preferring instead to perch. They spend much of their time in flight and tend to glide more than any other species of swallow. This is a great time of year to observe their airborne acrobatics.

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Dark-eyed Junco

Posted on March 4, 2014 by tspuckler

This bird is nick-named the “snowbird” as it is most often seen in the Winter. It prefers cold climates and retreats north as Spring arrives. Juncos migrate to Canada to mate and raise offspring. They return to the U.S. to spend the Winter months.

These are birds of the ground. They can be seen foraging on the forest floor or gathering seeds in fields. Even when they visit birdfeeders (which they often do), they tend to stay on the ground and eat fallen seeds.

This species avoids deep forest interiors in favor of woodland edges and openings. Dark-eyed Juncos usually hop or walk as they move along the ground. They live in flocks and are very sociable outside of breeding season.

This wide-ranging, sparrow-sized bird shows considerable geographic variation in color. In Ohio it is slate-gray on its head, breast and back. This contrasts sharply with its white belly and outer tail feathers.

At this time of the year they can form mixed flocks with other small, seed-eating birds such as chickadees, sparrows and nuthatches. This “safety in numbers” behavior is an effective survival strategy.

Dark-eyed juncos, like many other bird species, are an important part of forest ecosystems. Members of this species aid in the dispersal of seeds and help to control insect populations.

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Downy Woodpecker

Posted on January 18, 2014 by tspuckler

Not only is this bird one of our most common and widespread woodpeckers, it also has adapted to a variety of habitats. It can be found in mature hardwood forests as well as in fencerows along fields. It also regularly visits bird feeders.

The Downy Woodpecker, our smallest woodpecker, is six inches long and has a small black bill. It has a white chest and back, black wings with white spots, a black tail and a black head with a white “mustache” and white “eyebrows.”

This bird always seems to be hard at work, constantly foraging for food or excavating holes in trees to be used as nests. Like other woodpeckers, it has several adaptations that allow it to hammer away relentlessly on trees. This includes a sturdy bill and strong neck muscles. Its brain is encased in a protective cavity in its reinforced skull.

Another characteristic this bird shares with other woodpeckers is nostrils surrounded by feathers. This helps to filter out the sawdust created by pecking away at wood. The male has a small red patch on the back of his head; the female lacks this marking.

Downy Woodpeckers use their bills to drill into trees and dig out insects like beetles, wasps, moths and their larvae. In the Winter they sometimes “join forces” and mix with other flocks of different species of birds while looking for food.

While hiking its pretty commonplace to observe this bird busily searching trees and shrubs in search of insect eggs, cocoons and hibernating insects and spiders. It also consumes nuts and seeds, like this one was doing on the Ohio Erie Canal Towpath. They can be quite acrobatic in their pursuit of a meal.

I usually don’t have to go far to see this lively creature which stays here year-round – sometimes all I have to do is look out the kitchen window.

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Eastern Wild Turkey

Posted on November 28, 2013 by tspuckler

Eastern Wild Turkey typically forage on forest floor in flocks, but they can also be found in grasslands and swamps. They are the most abundant and widespread of the four subspecies commonly occurring in the United States.

This bird actively searches for nuts, berries, seeds, fruit and insects. Acorns, beechnuts, cherries and ash seeds are primary food sources. They are chicken-like in appearance, and have short, rounded wings, heavy bills and heavy bodies. They stand three to four feet tall and can weigh up to 24 pounds.

The Eastern Wild Turkey was not present in Ohio for many years. This bird once inhabited forested areas of the entire state, providing food for Native Americans and early Ohio settlers. As the forests were converted into farms, this bird’s population dwindled and no birds remained in the state by 1904.

The body feathers appear drab brown at a distance, but are actually iridescent when the bird appears in good light; this iridescence shows the bird’s true coloration – bronze with hints of red, green, copper and gold. Only male turkey display the ruffled feathers, fanlike tail, red head and “beard” commonly associated with these birds. They also gobble with a distinctive sound.

Eastern Wild Turkey nests are made in the ground. A shallow depression is lined with leaves and covered up with vines and other plants. Ten to fifteen eggs are laid. Here is a hen that I saw on the Fourth of July out with her offspring.

Many kids in the United States learn Wild Turkey identification early, by tracing outlines of their hands to make Thanksgiving cards. These big, spectacular birds are quite adaptable. They have become an increasingly common sight, as flocks stride around woods and clearings like miniature dinosaurs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Song Sparrow

Posted on November 2, 2013 by tspuckler

The Song Sparrow is one of the most successful and widely distributed sparrows. This well-named bird is among our greatest songsters for the complexity, rhythm and emotion of its rhapsodies.

This bird truly lives up to its name, being one of the most persistent singers throughout the Spring and Summer. Other birds such as Mockingbirds are not able to effectively imitate their song.

This is a rich, russet-and-gray bird with bold streaks down its white chest. It can be found all across the United States, including Alaska, though species size and color varies depending on the region where it is found.

Look for Song Sparrows in open habitats, such as marsh edges, overgrown fields and backyards (they often visit bird feeders and build nests in residential areas).

This bird is rather shy and hard to see unless it is singing, so sometimes in order to find one, you must look closely. The species name, melodia, is testament to this bird’s beautiful and tranquil song.

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American Goldfinch

Posted on September 18, 2013 by tspuckler

The brightly colored male American goldfinch is especially recognizable. In breeding season they are bright yellow with black and white markings. In the Winter, the males lose their bright yellow feathers and become dull brown.

Females are of dull coloration year-round.

American Goldfinches live in brushy thickets, weedy fields, gardens and roadsides. Since they eat mostly seeds from grasses and wildflowers, they tend to stay where there are a lot of these food sources available.

They are interesting to observe while they eat, because they have great balance and can perch on any stem while twisting their bodies to get to seeds or fruit.

American Goldfinches are very sociable, and you will often see several pairs together at the same time. You can hear them communicating with each other as they forage for food in flocks along roadsides and in brushy fields in on their quest for thistle and sunflower seeds.

Some of their other foods include ragweed, dandelions, mullein, American Elm, Eastern Redcedar, grasses and Evening Primrose. They also eat some types of insects, including caterpillars.

People tend to like these colorful birds and specific feeders are available for thistle seeds, to attract them; though at my house they seen to enjoy taking apart the Zinnias.

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Red-headed Woodpecker

Posted on August 24, 2013 by tspuckler

Can a bird be inspirational? Adult Red-headed Woodpeckers are so striking that the sight of one motivated Alexander Wilson, the author and illustrator of the early 1800s, nine-volume work American Ornithology, to become an ornithologist.

The gorgeous Red-headed Woodpecker is so boldly patterned it’s been called a “flying checkerboard,” with its entirely crimson head, a snow-white body, and half white, half inky black wings.

Adult males and females are impossible to tell apart in the field. Immature birds have a buff-brown or “dusky” head and back.

These birds don’t act quite like most other woodpeckers. Red-headed Woodpeckers are less likely to drill for food than other species. Instead, they fly down to the ground to capture insects or they catch prey from the air.

They also eat lots of acorns and beech nuts, often hiding away extra food in tree crevices for later. They have been known to wedge live beetles or grasshoppers into cracks in wood to store them for future use.

The Red-headed Woodpecker has declined severely in the past half-century because of habitat loss and changes to its food supply. It can be found open woodlands and forest edges and clearings, river bottoms and wooded swamps. It especially likes areas with dead or dying trees.

This year was my first year to have seen these magnificant birds and I’ve been lucky enough to find them several different times throughout the year in different locations.

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Baltimore Oriole

Posted on July 15, 2013 by tspuckler

The Baltimore Oriole is Maryland’s official state bird. It has also been the namesake of the state’s professional baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, since the late 19th century. Baltimore Orioles inhabit Maryland and the rest of the eastern United States only in the Summer months. In Winter, some of these migrating birds live in the southeastern United States, but most fly further south in search of warmer climates.

Male orioles are a bold orange hue with black wings and a black head. Females are not as brightly colored.

These attractive birds frequent woodlands and mainly eat caterpillars and insects. They supplement their diet with fruits and berries. The Baltimore Oriole’s appetite for caterpillars may help protect forests from some destructive pests.

The nest of the Baltimore Oriole is one of the most distinctive bird nests. Females weave remarkable, sock-like hanging structures from slender fibers. The nest are suspended from small tree limbs. Along with natural materials, string or yarn is usually incoporated into the nest.

The Baltimore Oriole is named for Lord Baltimore, an early leader of the British colony of Maryland. His coat-of-arms was orange and black, like the male oriole. You can sometimes hear the male’s loud, flutelike whistle from the tree tops. It may take some time, but catching sight of one of these brilliant black-and-orange birds is worth the effort.

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Phainopepla

Posted on June 14, 2013 by tspuckler

The Phainopepla is a striking bird, with a noticeable crest and a long tail; it is slender and has an upright posture when it perches. It is particularly notable for its mysterious pattern of breeding twice each year, in two different habitats. It is primarily found in washes, riparian areas and other habitats that support arid scrublands.

This bird belongs to a small group of birds known as the silky flycatchers, but they are not related to true flycatchers. The male is shiny and black with a crest and bright red eyes, while the female is gray.

The Phainopepla has a unique relationship with its main food source, mistletoe berries. Mistletoe berries are dependent on the bird to plant them on the branch of a tree. It does this by eating the berry and digesting the seeds, yet not harming them. The bird’s droppings, which contain the seeds, will hit a branch and then the seed will start to germinate. When there is an abundance of mistletoe berries, Phainopeplas will congregate in the hundreds; otherwise, they are hard to find.

An individual Phainopepla eats at least 1,100 mistletoe berries per day, when they are available. The Phainopepla rarely drinks water, even though research indicates that it loses about 95 percent of its body mass in water per day. Instead, it gets the water it needs from its diet of mistletoe.

The name “Phainopepla” (pronounced fay-no-PEP-la) comes from the Greek for “shining robe,” a fitting characterization of the shiny, jet-black plumage of the adult male. This one one of several really interesting birds that I observed on my Vegas trip.

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Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Posted on May 29, 2013 by tspuckler

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a medium-sized, stocky songbird with beautiful, bold plumage. It can be a tricky bird to find, as it often calls from treetops, but lately I’ve been spotting them.

Its beak is large, thick and cone-shaped. It serves the bird by enabling it to eat wide varity of food items. The diet of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak varies between seasons, with a higher percentage of insects being taken warm weather. In the Winter, more seeds, fruits and buds are consumed.

At the beginning of the breeding season the female grosbeak approaches a singing male, who in turn performs a courtship display involving flight and song. The pair is monogamous and builds a nest between May and June, with egg laying generally occurring between mid-May and July.

Like many birds, the females aren’t as brightly colored as the males. They are not the best nest builders; Rose-breasted Grosbeaks build such flimsy nests that the eggs are often visible from below through the nest bottom.

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is relatively common throughout much of eastern and central North America and lives in forests and thickets, as well as alongside humans in parks and gardens.

They are long-distance migrants. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks fly from North American breeding grounds to Central and northern South America in the Winter.

Although often difficult to locate visually, its vocal abilities can often be heard. This bird’s sweet, robin-like song has inspired many a bird watcher to pay tribute to it. A couple of early twentieth-century naturalists said its call is “so entrancingly beautiful that words cannot describe it.”

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Category Archives: Birds

Tree Swallow

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Eastern Wild Turkey

Song Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Red-headed Woodpecker

Baltimore Oriole

Phainopepla

Rose-breasted Grosbeak