Future Birder

Just couldn't resist. This is my grandson, Brayden. He could be a great future bird watcher if this Easter photo encounter did not give him a lifelong case of ornithophobia.

Larking about

This eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) is a year-round resident of Arkansas. According to Audubon Arkansas, the western Meadowlark visits the state during the winter and can only be distinguished from our native bird by its voice. The western Meadowlark is suppose to have a deeper call. I took these pictures in the middle of March on Allen Rd. and I did not hear any call at all, so it could be a western Meadowlark.

Comment on comments

Sorry. If you have been trying to leave comments and were unable to do so, I think I have fixed the problem. Now when it asks you to sign-in just do so under "anonymous" found at the bottom of the list. You can just manually leave your name at the bottom of your comments. It should go to my email account and then I will post your comments from there to the blog for others to enjoy.

Obsessed!

I know I am obsessed with this bird, but I got some new closeups I just had to share (be sure to click on the pics). I guess I should have been an Okie since the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma. Did you know these guys spend the winter in southern Mexico and central America?

Blue Grosbeak

When I was taking Ornithology in college this bird was placed in its own genus, Guiraca. However, with the advent of DNA technology it has been shown that the Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) is close kin to the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea). DNA sequence comparisons (which is what I did in graduate school and still do with my research students) has really changed the way scientist now construct phylogenetic (family) trees for many organisms, not just birds. As far as looks, the Blue Grosbeak can be distinguished from the Indigo Bunting very easily by the two broad rusty wing bars and conical beak.

I caught this fellow during bath time (kind of). The Grosbeak was in the midst of a good preening. The act of preening is the way birds repair and waterproof their feathers. Feathers can split apart (actually become unzipped) and by starting at the base and working toward the tip, birds "rezip" their features. Additionally, most birds have a preen gland, or uropygial gland, at the base of the tail. The gland produces uropygial oil, a waxy substance used to waterproof and condition feathers. Rubbing the preen gland with the beak, a bird picks up the oil and then distributes it onto feathers by rubbing the beak over the feathers. I found this fellow at the Iron Mountain marina on Lake DeGray. Although I have regular visits from the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings at my backyard feeders, I have not seen the Blue Grosbeaks. So I was happy to see this guy and get some pics.

A Bird with Mixed Reviews

Here is Barred Owl (Strix varia) I photographed at the lower dam on Lake DeGray. I know many of you saw him on our original blog a few months back. They are such neat birds. I was just looking around at all the folklore surrounding this bird and was surprised to find the mixed reactions people have had to this species down through time. For example, the ancient Greeks revered the owl as protector of the city of Athens and of the Greek armies; they even put its emblem on their coins. The Romans, on the other hand, loathed the Owl and saw it as an omen of ill will. Even the Bible speaks of the Owl as being a creature of the night and thus of unsavory animal (Job 30:29). Early English folklore also portrayed the Owl as a bird of doom; a creature of the night closely associated with witchcraft and evil. And yet today in America we equate an Owl with wisdom, while a traditional English belief was that if you walked around an Owl in a tree, it would turn and turn its head to watch you until it wrung its own neck (not very smart). Other folklore surrounding Owls include weird cures; for example, alcoholism was treated with Owl egg. The imbiber was prescribed raw eggs and a child given this treatment was thought to gain lifetime protection against drunkenness. Owls' eggs, cooked until they turned into ashes, were also used as a potion to improve eyesight. Owl Broth was given to children suffering from Whooping-cough.

Now for some facts about this bird. Its range encompasses the entire eastern US and they are monogamous. Although a nocturnal hunter, they can be active during the day (I got lucky to get these shots). These birds are holding their own and even expanding their ranges into the northwestern US.

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Red-Shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) generally do not migrate and are native to the eastern and northeastern US. We have loads of them in Bismarck. and I have taken pictures of them in various locations around this area. Nevertheless, these guys are endangered and protected in some states like Michigan. Around here these hawks seem to be quite accustomed to our presence and are not easily spooked from their perch. They are a very solitary bird; I have never seen more than one at a time. It is reported that their lifespan in the wild is just over two years; that seems really short to me, but they do eat red meat exclusively (is there a lesson in that for us?).