Red-tailed Hawk

Posted on December 27, 2014 by tspuckler

It was cold, it was grey, it was overcast. A typical December day in the Greater Cleveland Area. I decided to see what was up at Brecksville Reservation.

This Red-tailed Hawk was busy scanning the landscape below. Slowly it would move its head from side-to-side, looking for any kind of movement. A few times the bird stood up, as if it were about to take flight.

Before long something caught its interest and the bird dove down to the forest floor. The sound from the impact of where the hawk hit the leaves could be heard from where I was standing.

It was unsuccessful in catching its prey, so it found a new place to perch and start the process all over again. The Red-tailed Hawk is the most common large, broad-winged hawks in North America. Its range is from Alaska and northern Canada south to Central America.

The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. It can be seen along fields and perched on telephones poles, fenceposts, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields. The eyesight of a hawk is 8 times more powerful than a human’s.

This large, majestic bird has another way of hunting – by spending much of its time soaring and scanning the ground below. Both hunting styles allow them to expend a minimum amount of energy when hunting. Its call is commonly used in television and movies to represent the vocalizations of other birds, including vultures and eagles.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Eastern Bluebird

Posted on December 6, 2014 by tspuckler

The Eastern Bluebird is a species familiar to millions in eastern North America, though they are nowhere near as common as they used to be. While they are still around and are seen when people build nest boxes, scientists wonder why there aren’t more.

Males are easy to recognize, with a bright blue back, head, and wings, and a rust-colored throat and breast. Females are similar, but much duller in color. These birds are cavity-dwellers, so they nest in natural tree cavities, old woodpecker holes and bird boxes. Nests are built with grasses and weed stems.

Young bluebirds are grayish in color. They have speckled breasts and their wings have blue tips. As they become adults, the blue color becomes much more obvious, and their speckles disappear.

This beautiful bird is a favorite of many people and is eagerly awaited in the spring after a long winter. Though if the weather is mild, they may stick around all year. They are considered are “partially migratory;” they fly south when food becomes scarce or when temperatures and other environmental conditions become harsh.

Eastern bluebirds eat a variety of foods depending on the season. In summer months they consume mostly insects. During the fall and winter seasons, when insects are less common, they eat fruits and plants.

The future of Eastern Bluebirds has been of concern to conservation agencies. Populations have shrunk over the last few decades (in some places by as much as 90%).

Two reasons why bluebird populations have declined are habitat destruction and competition. Much of their habitat has been turned into farmland or commercial property. Eastern bluebirds also have to compete with the more aggressive, introduced species, like House Sparrows and European Starlings, for food and nesting sites.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Indigo Bunting

Posted on August 31, 2014 by tspuckler

The sparrow-sized, brilliant turquoise blue, male Indigo Bunting is one of the most eye-catching birds around.

Indigo Buntings have no blue pigment; they are actually black, but the diffraction of light through the structure of the feathers makes them appear blue.

Male Indigo Buntings sing from treetops, shrubs, and telephone lines all summer. They favor brushy pastures and edge habitat where fields meet the forest.

As with many birds, the adult female has less spectacular coloration and is mostly brown. In both sexes, the upper beak is dark contrasting with a whitish lower beak.

These birds perform a valuable service to man by consuming grasshoppers, cankerworms, flies, mosquitoes, weevils and other insect pests. Their diet also includes fruit and seeds.

The sights and sounds of Indigo Buntings are a pretty good indication that Summer is in full swing.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Scarlet Tanager

Posted on July 23, 2014 by tspuckler

Male Scarlet Tanagers are among the most beautiful birds in the eastern U.S. forest in Summer, with blood-red bodies set off by jet-black wings and tail. They’re also one of the most frustratingly hard to find, as they stay high in the forest canopy singing their rich songs.

The yellowish-green, dark-winged females can be even harder to spot until you key in on this bird’s call note. In Fall, males trade red feathers for yellow-green and the birds take off for South America.

Insects are the primary food of the Scarlet Tanager. Most often the Scarlet Tanager moves slowly through tree tops searching for beetles and caterpillars; however they do feed on other insects as well – like bees, wasps and butterflies.

Breeding Scarlet Tanagers prefer large, mature forest tracts with large trees. They can easily be overlooked because of their unobtrusive behavior and preference for residing in the forest canopy. I’ve only seen a this bird once before and it was several years ago in West Virginia. I was pretty stoked to come across a pair of them this year in Brecksville Reservation.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Gambel’s Quail

Posted on May 22, 2014 by tspuckler

These are plump birds that tend to stay on the ground. Males and females are both are gray overall with brown sides that are streaked with white, and both sport a black plume feather on the forehead that bends forward. Males have a black face outlined in white and a red cap. Females have a gray head and face.

The Gambel’s quail is named in honor of William Gambel, a 19th-century naturalist and explorer of the Southwestern United States.

These birds mainly move about by walking and can move surprisingly fast through brush and undergrowth. They are a non-migratory species and are rarely seen in flight.

Desert mountain foothills, mesquite springs, plains with diverse vegetation and any area of the desert receiving slightly more rainfall than surrounding parts, are all home to these birds.

Most of the Gambel’s Quail diet is in the form of plants. Various types of seeds and leaves are eaten throughout the year. During certain times of year fruits and berries from cacti are eaten. A few insects are eaten during the nesting season in spring and early summer.

This week I’ve seen a few pairs of Gambel’s Quail walking around the desert with their brood of chicks. Young quail are capable of running around and feeding soon after hatching. They are fun to watch as parents and offspring frequently communicate back and forth with each other.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

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.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

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.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

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.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Wild Turkey

Posted on November 28, 2013 by tspuckler

Wild Turkey typically forage on forest floor in flocks, but they can also be found in grasslands and swamps. They actively search 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 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, the Wild Turkey’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.

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!

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

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.

Third Eye Herp
E-mail

Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Category Archives: Birds

Red-tailed Hawk

Eastern Bluebird

Indigo Bunting

Scarlet Tanager

Gambel’s Quail

Tree Swallow

Dark-eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Wild Turkey

Song Sparrow