Birds of the Americas | zScapes Adventures

"All good things are wild and free."

Henry David Thoreau

Anna's Hummingbird
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2020

Anna’s Hummingbirds are among the most common hummingbirds along the Pacific Coast, yet they're anything but common in appearance. With their iridescent emerald feathers and sparkling rose-pink throats, they are more like flying jewelry than birds. Though no larger than a ping-pong ball and no heavier than a nickel, Anna’s Hummingbirds make a strong impression. In their thrilling courtship displays, males climb up to 130 feet into the air and then swoop to the ground with a curious burst of noise that they produce through their tail feathers.

Size & Shape
Tiny among birds, Anna’s are medium-sized and stocky for a hummingbird. They have a straight, shortish bill and a fairly broad tail. When perched, the tail extends beyond the wingtips.

Color Pattern
Anna’s Hummingbirds are mostly green and gray, without any rufous or orange marks on the body. The male's head and throat are covered in iridescent reddish-pink feathers that can look dull brown or gray without direct sunlight.

Behavior
Anna’s Hummingbirds are a blur of motion as they hover before flowers looking for nectar and insects. Listen for the male's scratchy metallic song and look for him perched above head level in trees and shrubs

Habitat
Anna’s Hummingbirds are common in yards, parks, residential streets, eucalyptus groves, riverside woods, savannahs, and coastal scrub. They readily come to hummingbird feeders and flowering plants, including cultivated species in gardens.

Cool Facts

In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna's Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range.
The dive display of the Anna's Hummingbird lasts about 12 seconds, and the male may fly to a height of 40 m (131 feet) during the display. He starts by hovering two to four meters (6-13 feet) in front of the display object (hummingbird or person), and then climbs in a wavering fashion straight up. He plummets in a near-vertical dive from the top of the climb and ends with an explosive squeak within half a meter of the display object. He then makes a circular arc back to the point where he began. On sunny days the dives are oriented so that the sun is reflected from the iridescent throat and crown directly at the object of the dive.
On rare occasions, bees and wasps may become impaled on the bill of an Anna's Hummingbird, causing the bird to starve to death.
Hummingbirds are strictly a New World animal. They fascinated the first Europeans who arrived on the continent. Christopher Columbus wrote about them and many wondered if they were a cross between a bird and an insect (at one point being called “flybirds”). Later, their feathers became fashionable ornaments in Europe (a practice that has thankfully fallen out of favor).What do you call a flock of hummingbirds? Few animals have so many applicable terms, and none so beautiful. Instead of calling them a flock, choose between a bouquet, a glittering, a hover, a shimmer, or a tune of hummingbirds.
Native Americans held hummingbirds in high esteem. Many of their legends describe them as busily bring the rain to quench eruptions or poking holes in the night sky that became the stars. The Navajo say that the characteristic mating dive is a way for them to check what is above the blue of the sky.
The iridescent throat patch of male hummingbirds is called a gorget. The Anna’s gorget extends over its head, making it more of a balaclava than a bib. Oddly, female Anna’s have a tiny red gorget—females of most species have none.
Hummingbirds have tiny legs and can neither hop nor walk, though they can sort of scoot sideways while perched.
Anna's Hummingbirds normally have a body temperature of around 107 degrees Fahrenheit—that's a scorching temperature for a human. When outside temperatures fall, Anna's and many other species of hummingbirds enter torpor. Their breathing and heart rate slow, and their body temperature can fall as low as 48 degrees Fahrenheit. When the temperature warms, the hummingbirds can become active again in a few minutes.

The oldest recorded Anna's Hummingbird was at least 8 years, 2 months old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in Arizona.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Annas_Hummingbird/id

Ash-Throated Flycatcher
Ramrod Ranch, Monterey, California 2014

A common flycatcher of open arid areas of the West, the Ash-throated Flycatcher nests in holes in trees, fence posts, and nest boxes.

Adult Description

Medium-sized bird, medium to large flycatcher.
Long rusty tail.
Short, bushy crest.
Back brown.
Throat and chest pale gray.
Belly pale yellow.

Immature Description
Juvenile similar to adult, but paler, with buffy tips to wing feathers, and more rufous in tail.

Cool Facts

Unlike most members of its genus, the Ash-throated Flycatcher only occasionally uses snakeskin in its nest. Only 5% of nests examined contained reptile skin, but 98% had mammal hair. Rabbit fur was the most frequently used.
The Ash-throated Flycatcher frequently uses man-made structures for nesting. It readily uses nest boxes, as well as pipes, fence posts, ledges under eaves or porches, and even in clothes hanging on a clothesline. The use of artificial structures may have offset the loss of natural nest sites by development, and may be responsible for an increase in numbers.
The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a rare, but regular vagrant to the East Coast. Individuals turn up nearly every year, and have been found in all coastal states and provinces. Sightings are less frequent from inland areas in the East and Midwest.
The oldest known Ash-throated Flycatcher was just under 12 years old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in California.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ash-throated_Flycatcher/id

Bald Eagle
Prince Rupert, British Columbia Canada June 2005

Bald Eagle Inflite 2005

Bald Eagle Phases 2005

Bald Eagle Denali Alaska 2012

Left Bank Lake Chetex 2023

Size & Shape
The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board.
Color Pattern
Adult Bald Eagles have white heads and tails with dark brown bodies and wings. Their legs and bills are bright yellow. Immature birds have mostly dark heads and tails; their brown wings and bodies are mottled with white in varying amounts. Young birds attain adult plumage in about five years.
Behavior
You'll find Bald Eagles soaring high in the sky, flapping low over treetops with slow wingbeats, or perched in trees or on the ground. Bald Eagles scavenge many meals by harassing other birds or by eating carrion or garbage. They eat mainly fish, but also hunt mammals, gulls, and waterfowl.
Habitat
Look for Bald Eagles near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts. For a chance to see large Bald Eagle congregations, check out wildlife refuges or large bodies of water in winter over much of the continent, or fish processing plants and dumpsters year-round in coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

Cool Facts

Rather than do their own fishing, Bald Eagles often go after other creatures’ catches. A Bald Eagle will harass a hunting Osprey until the smaller raptor drops its prey in midair, where the eagle swoops it up. A Bald Eagle may even snatch a fish directly out of an Osprey’s talons. Fishing mammals (even people sometimes) can also lose prey to Bald Eagle piracy. See an example here.
Had Benjamin Franklin prevailed, the U.S. emblem might have been the Wild Turkey. In 1784, Franklin disparaged the national bird’s thieving tendencies and its vulnerability to harassment by small birds. "For my own part,” he wrote, “I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. … Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District.”
Sometimes even the national bird has to cut loose. Bald Eagles have been known to play with plastic bottles and other objects pressed into service as toys. One observer witnessed six Bald Eagles passing sticks to each other in midair.
The largest Bald Eagle nest on record, in St. Petersburg, Florida, was 2.9 meters in diameter and 6.1 meters tall. Another famous nest—in Vermilion, Ohio—was shaped like a wine glass and weighed almost two metric tons. It was used for 34 years until the tree blew down.
Immature Bald Eagles spend the first four years of their lives in nomadic exploration of vast territories and can fly hundreds of miles per day. Some young birds from Florida have wandered north as far as Michigan, and birds from California have reached Alaska.
Bald Eagles can live a long time, with a longevity record of 28 years in the wild and 36 years in captivity.
Bald Eagles occasionally hunt cooperatively, with one individual flushing prey towards another.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bald_eagle/id

Black-billed Magpie
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming March 2011

Black-billed Magpie
Yellowstone National Park, November 2023

Black-billed Magpies are familiar and entertaining birds of western North America. They sit on fenceposts and road signs or flap across rangelands, their white wing patches flashing and their very long tails trailing behind them. This large, flashy relative of jays and crows is a social creature, gathering in numbers to feed at carrion. They’re also vocal birds and keep up a regular stream of raucous or querulous calls.

Size & Shape: Black-billed Magpies are slightly larger than jays with much longer, diamond-shaped tails and heavier bills. In flight, their wings seem to be too short to support their graceful flight.

Color Pattern: These birds are black and white overall with blue-green iridescent flashes in the wing and tail. The upperparts are mostly black with a white patch in the outer wing and two white stripes (“backpack straps”) on the back.

Behavior: Black-billed Magpies are social, inquisitive birds that eat fruits, grains, insects, small animals, and frequently gather in large flocks at carrion. Magpies move in groups and give a variety of trill, cackle, and whistle calls. They flap steadily in flight, alternating deep and shallow wingbeats, and use their very long tails to negotiate abrupt turns.

Habitat; Black-billed Magpies are widespread in towns, fields, and stream corridors of the West. They also concentrate in flocks at feedlots and other areas where food is easy to find.

Cool Facts

The Black-billed Magpie makes a very large nest that can take up to 40 days to construct. It's a lot of work, but a study found that it only used about 1% of the daily energy expenditure of the pair. Laying eggs, on the other hand, takes 23% of the female's daily energy budget.
Historical records of the American West indicate that Black-billed Magpies have been associates of people for a long time. Magpies frequently followed hunting parties of Plains Indians and fed on leftovers from bison kills. On their expedition, Lewis and Clark reported magpies boldly entering their tents to steal food.
Like most members of the jay family, the Black-billed Magpie is a nest predator, although eggs and nestlings make up only a tiny portion of the bird’s overall diet.
The Black-billed Magpie frequently picks ticks from the backs of large mammals, such as deer and moose. The magpie eats the ticks or hides some for later use, as members of the crow and jay family often do with excess food. Most of the ticks, however, are cached alive and unharmed, and may live to reproduce later.
The longest-living Black-billed Magpie on record was at least 9 years, 4 months old and lived in Idaho.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/id

Black Crown Heron
Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, Kauai USA September 2011

Black Crown Heron pair of Juveniles
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2023

Black Crown Heron Juvenile Markings
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2023

Black-crowned Night-Herons are stocky birds compared to many of their long-limbed heron relatives. They’re most active at night or at dusk, when you may see their ghostly forms flapping out from daytime roosts to forage in wetlands. In the light of day adults are striking in gray-and-black plumage and long white head plumes. These social birds breed in colonies of stick nests usually built over water. They live in fresh, salt, and brackish wetlands and are the most widespread heron in the world.

Size & Shape
Black-crowned Night-Herons are small herons with rather squat, thick proportions. They have thick necks, large, flat heads, and heavy, pointed bills. The legs are short and, in flight, barely reach the end of the tail. The wings are broad and rounded.
Color Pattern
Adults are light-gray birds with a neatly defined black back and black crown. Immatures are brown with large white spots on the wings and blurry streaks on the underparts. Adults have all-black bills; immatures have yellow-and-black bills.
Behavior
Black-crowned Night-Herons often spend their days perched on tree limbs or concealed among foliage and branches. They forage in the evening and at night, in water, on mudflats, and on land. In flight they fold their head back against their shoulders, almost making the neck disappear.
Habitat
These are social birds that tend to roost and nest in groups, although they typically forage on their own. Look for them in most wetland habitats across North America, including estuaries, marshes, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.

Cool Facts

The familiar evening sight and sound of the Black-crowned Night-Heron was captured in this description from Arthur Bent’s Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds: “How often, in the gathering dusk of evening, have we heard its loud, choking squawk and, looking up, have seen its stocky form, dimly outlined against the gray sky and propelled by steady wing beats, as it wings its way high in the air toward its evening feeding place in some distant pond or marsh!”
Scientists find it easy, if a bit smelly and messy, to study the diet of young Black-crowned Night-Herons—the nestlings often disgorge their stomach contents when approached.
Black-crowned Night Heron nest in groups that often include other species, including herons, egrets, and ibises.
A breeding Black-crowned Night-Heron will brood any chick that is placed in its nest. The herons apparently don’t distinguish between their own offspring and nestlings from other parents.
Young Black-crowned Night-Herons leave the nest at the age of 1 month but cannot fly until they are 6 weeks old. They move through the vegetation on foot, joining up in foraging flocks at night.
The oldest Black-crowned Night-Heron on record was a female who was at least 21 years, 5 month old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/id

Brewer's Blackbird
Kennedy Meadows, Stanislaus National Forest USA April 2010

A bird to be seen in the full sun, the male Brewer’s Blackbird is a glossy, almost liquid combination of black, midnight blue, and metallic green. Females are a staid brown, without the male’s bright eye or the female Red-winged Blackbird’s streaks. Common in towns and open habitats of much of the West, you’ll see these long-legged, ground-foraging birds on sidewalks and city parks as well as chuckling in flocks atop shrubs, trees, and reeds.

Size & Shape
A small, fairly long-legged songbird with the well-proportioned look of many blackbirds: the fairly long tail is balanced by a full body, round head, and long, thick-based beak. In perching males, the tail appears widened and rounded toward the tip.
Color Pattern
Males are glossy black all over with a staring yellow eye and a blue sheen on the head grading to greenish iridescence on the body. Females are plainer brown, darkest on the wings and tail, with a dark eye. Immature birds look like washed out, lighter-brown versions of the females.
Behavior
Brewer’s Blackbirds feed on open ground or underfoot in parks and busy streets. Their long legs give them a halting walk, head jerking with each step almost like a chicken’s. In flocks, Brewer’s Blackbirds rise and fall as they fly. At landing, birds may circle in a slow fluttering flight before settling.
Habitat
Look for Brewer’s Blackbirds in open habitats of the West, such as coastal scrub, grasslands, riversides, meadows, as well as lawns, golf courses, parks, and city streets.

Cool Facts

Brewer’s Blackbirds are social birds that nest in colonies of up to 100 birds. The first females to arrive choose a nest site to suit them, and later arrivals follow suit. Eggs are extremely variable in color and pattern. Some studies suggest the variability helps the eggs match the background pattern of the nest, helping to camouflage them.
Most birds fly south for the winter, but a small number of Brewer’s Blackbirds fly west – leaving the frigid Canadian prairies for the milder coastal regions of British Columbia and Washington.
Brewer’s Blackbirds cope well with humans and the development we bring. In the last century, they spread eastward from western Minnesota, taking advantage of agricultural fields, farmhouses, and towns. Where they overlap with the Common Grackle, the grackles take the streets and suburbs, leaving the Brewer’s Blackbirds to the fields and grasslands.
Brewer’s Blackbirds are sometimes shot, trapped, or poisoned around agricultural fields in an attempt to protect crops. Although they do eat grains, this species’ appetite for insects makes it more of a farmer’s friend than a pest. Brewer’s Blackbirds are quick to notice new food sources and have been credited with helping to curb outbreaks of insect pests including weevils, cutworms, termites, grasshoppers, and tent caterpillars, among others.
The oldest known Brewer’s Blackbird was a male, and over 12 years, 6 months when it was found in California.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brewers_Blackbird/id

brewersblackbirdrangemap

Brown Pelican 2018
San Francisco Bay, California USA 2018

The Brown Pelican is a comically elegant bird with an oversized bill, sinuous neck, and big, dark body. Squadrons glide above the surf along southern and western coasts, rising and falling in a graceful echo of the waves. They feed by plunge-diving from high up, using the force of impact to stun small fish before scooping them up. They are fairly common today—an excellent example of a species’ recovery from pesticide pollution that once placed them at the brink of extinction.

Size & Shape
Brown Pelicans are huge, stocky seabirds. They have thin necks and very long bills with a stretchy throat pouch used for capturing fish. Their wings are very long and broad and are often noticeably bowed when the birds are gliding.

Color Pattern
Adult Brown Pelicans are gray-brown birds with yellow heads and white necks. In breeding plumage, the back and sides of the neck turn a rich, dark reddish-brown. Immatures are gray-brown above (including the head and neck) with pale whitish belly and breast.

Behavior
Brown Pelicans feed by plunging into the water, stunning small fish with the impact of their large bodies and scooping them up in their expandable throat pouches. When not foraging, pelicans stand around fishing docks, jetties, and beaches or cruise the shoreline. In flight, lines of pelicans glide on their broad wings, often surfing updrafts along wave faces or cliffs. Their wingbeats are slow, deep, and powerful.

Habitat
Brown Pelicans live along southern and western sea coasts and are rarely seen inland (except at the Salton Sea in California, where they are regular in large numbers). They nest in colonies, often on isolated islands free of land predators.

Cool Facts

While the Brown Pelican is draining the water from its bill after a dive, gulls often try to steal the fish right out of its pouch—sometimes while perching on the pelican's head. Pelicans themselves are not above stealing fish, as they follow fishing boats and hang around piers for handouts.
Pelicans incubate their eggs with the skin of their feet, essentially standing on the eggs to keep them warm. In the mid-twentieth century the pesticide DDT caused pelicans to lay thinner eggs that cracked under the weight of incubating parents. After nearly disappearing from North America in the 1960s and 1970s, Brown Pelicans made a full comeback thanks to pesticide regulations.
The closely related Peruvian Pelican lives along the Pacific Coast of South America from southern Ecuador to Chile. It’s a little larger than a Brown Pelican, with fine white streaking on its underparts and a blue pouch in the breeding season. These two species are the only pelicans that plunge-dive for their food.
During a dive, the Brown Pelican tucks its head and rotates its body to the left. This maneuver is probably to cushion the trachea and esophagus—which are found on the right side of the neck—from the impact.
The oldest Brown Pelican on record was 43 years of age

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/overview

California Quail
Ramrod Ranch Monterey, California USA 2014

The California Quail is a handsome, round soccer ball of a bird with a rich gray breast, intricately scaled underparts, and a curious, forward-drooping head plume. Its stiffly accented Chi-ca-go call is a common sound of the chaparral and other brushy areas of California and the Northwest. Often seen scratching at the ground in large groups or dashing forward on blurred legs, California Quail are common but unobtrusive. They flush to cover if scared, so approach them gently.

Size & Shape
California Quail are plump, short-necked game birds with a small head and bill. They fly on short, very broad wings. The tail is fairly long and square. Both sexes have a comma-shaped topknot of feathers projecting forward from the forehead, longer in males than females.
Color Pattern
Adult males are rich gray and brown, with a black face outlined with bold white stripes. Females are a plainer brown and lack the facial markings. Both sexes have a pattern of white, creamy, and chestnut scales on the belly. Young birds look like females but have a shorter topknot.
Behavior
California Quail spend most of their time on the ground, walking and scratching in search of food. In morning and evening they forage beneath shrubs or on open ground near cover. They usually travel in groups called coveys. Their flight is explosive but lasts just long enough to reach cover.
Habitat
You’ll find California Quail in chaparral, sagebrush, oak woodlands, and foothill forests of California and the Northwest. They’re quite tolerant of people and can be common in city parks, suburban gardens, and agricultural areas.

Cool Facts

The California Quail digests vegetation with the help of protozoans in its intestine. Chicks acquire the protozoans by pecking at the feces of adults.
Several California Quail broods may mix after hatching, and all the parents care for the young. Adults that raise young this way tend to live longer than adults that do not.
Pairs of California Quail call antiphonally, meaning that the male and female alternate calls, fit them into a tightly orchestrated pattern.
The California Quail’s head plume, or topknot, looks like a single feather, but it is actually a cluster of six overlapping feathers.
As an adaptation to living in arid environments, California Quails can often get by without water, acquiring their moisture from insects and succulent vegetation. During periods of sustained heat they must find drinking water to survive.
The California Quail is California’s state bird and has had roles in several Walt Disney movies, including "Bambi."
California Quail nests can contain as many as 28 eggs. These large clutches may be the result of females laying eggs in nests other than their own, a behavior known as "egg-dumping."
California Quail are pretty as well as popular with game hunters. They’ve been introduced to many other parts of the world, including Hawaii, Europe, and New Zealand.
The oldest known California Quail was 6 years 11 months old.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Quail/id

California Scrub-Jay (Reclassified from Western Scrub-Jay)
Ramrod Ranch Monterey, California USA 2014

California Scrub-Jay
Aphelocoma californica
ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Corvidae

The “blue jay” of dry lowlands along the Pacific seaboard, the California Scrub-Jay combines deep azure blue, clean white underparts, and soft gray-brown. It looks very similar to the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay (they were considered the same species until 2016), but is brighter and more contrasting, with a bold blue breast band. The rounded, crestless head immediately sets it apart from Steller’s Jays. These birds are a fixture of dry shrublands, oak woodlands, and backyards from Washington state south to Baja California.

Size & Shape
A fairly large songbird with lanky dimensions. The tail is long and floppy; the bird often adopts a hunched-over posture. The bill is straight and stout, with a hook at the tip.

Larger and bulkier than a Western Bluebird; smaller than an American Crow.

RELATIVE SIZE
Larger and bulkier than a Western Bluebird; smaller than an American Crow.

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 11.0-11.8 in (28-30 cm)
Weight: 2.5-3.5 oz (70-100 g)
Wingspan: 15.3 in (39 cm)

Color Pattern
Rich azure blue and gray above, with a clean, pale underside broken up by a blue necklace. In birds, the color blue depends on lighting, so California Scrub-Jays can also look simply dark.

Behavior
Assertive, vocal, and inquisitive. You’ll often notice scrub-jays silhouetted high in trees, on wires, or on posts where they act as lookouts. In flight seems underpowered and slow, with bouts of fluttering alternating with glides.

Habitat
Look for California Scrub-Jays in open habitats, oak woodlands, and chaparral along the West Coast, as well as in backyards, pastures, and orchards. Typically, though not always, in lower and drier habitats than Steller’s Jay.

Cool Facts

Look closely, and you'll see an intriguing difference between the California Scrub-Jay and its close relative, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay. The bill of a California Scrub-Jay is stout and hooked, giving it extra power and grip as the birds hammer open acorns in their oak woodland habitats. By comparison, Woodhouse's have thinner, more pointed bills that nimbly reach deep into pinyon pine cones to pull out the pine nuts inside.
The Western Scrub-Jay’s calls are a hallmark sound of the open West. Some 20 call types are known, and perhaps the best description comes from naturalist W. L. Dawson in 1923: “No masquerader at Mardi Gras has sprung such a cacophonic device upon a quiveringly expectant public. Dzweep, dzweep: it curdles the blood, as it is meant to do.”
California Scrub-Jays—like many members of the crow and jay family—have a mischievous streak. They’ve been caught stealing acorns from Acorn Woodpecker caches, and some even steal acorns they’ve watched other jays hide. When these birds go to hide their own acorns, they check first that no other jays are watching.
You might see California Scrub-Jays standing on the back of a mule deer. They’re eating ticks and other parasites. The deer seem to appreciate the help, often standing still and holding up their ears to give the jays access.
The oldest known California Scrub-Jay lived to be at least 15 years, 9 months old. It was banded in California in 1932 and found in 1948 in the same state.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Scrub-Jay/id

California Thrasher
Ramrod Ranch Monterey, California USA 2014

A long-tailed bird of the chaparral, the California Thrasher is found only in California and Baja California.

Adult Description

Large, long-tailed songbird.
Grayish brown all over.
Long, down-curved bill.
Reddish brown underside.

Immature Description

Similar to adult, but generally duller, with less distinct features and fewer contrasts than in adult.

Cool Facts

The California Thrasher is the largest of the thrashers.
The oldest recorded California Thrasher was at least 9 years, 2 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 2013. It had been banded in the same state in 2005.
Habitat: Lowland and coastal chaparral, and riparian woodland thickets. Also parks and gardens.
Food: Insects and fruits.
Clutch Size: 1–6 eggs
Egg Description: Pale blue with dark spots and blotches; markings may form a ring around the large end or be uniformly distributed over the egg.
Condition at Hatching: Helpless.
Nest Description: Robust platform of coarse twigs, lined with roots and fine stems. Well hidden in dense shrubs.
Nest Placement: Shrub
Behavior: Ground Forager. Feeds chiefly under cover on the ground by swinging its bill in sideways arcs, digging vigorously and noisily in leaf litter, and peering intently into its excavations.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Thrasher/id

California Towhee
Ramrod Ranch Monterey, California USA 2014

Your first encounter with a California Towhee may be prompted by a tireless knocking at your window or car mirror: these common backyard birds habitually challenge their reflections. But California Towhees are at heart birds of the tangled chaparral and other hot scrublands of California and Oregon. You’re as likely to hear their bright chip notes along a secluded trail as on your way out your front door. If you live in the Southwest, look for this bird’s twin, the Canyon Towhee.

Size & Shape
California Towhees are essentially large sparrows, with a sparrow’s short, rounded wings, long tail, and thick, seed-cracking beak – but towhees are larger and bulkier. The long tail and short wings can give this bird an ungainly look in flight.
Color Pattern
Few birds are as uniformly matte brown as a California Towhee. A patch under the tail (called the crissum, giving the bird its scientific name) is a noticeably warmer ruddy brown. Males look the same as females.
Behavior
California Towhees hop or run on the ground but tend to stay close to the protection of low shrubs and trees. When not foraging they may perch on shrubs, rooftops, and backyard fences, to sit and chip for long periods. In flight they look out of practice, using lots of wingpower to travel short distances.
Habitat
California Towhees live in chaparral and other tangled, shrubby, and dry habitats. They’re also at home in the small backyards and neighborhood parks of lowland California towns.

Cool Facts

Taxonomists used to consider the California Towhee and the almost identical Canyon Towhee the same species, the Brown Towhee. The Abert’s Towhee looks quite different from these two species, but evidence suggests it may actually be the California Towhee’s closest relative, rather than the Canyon Towhee.
Poison oak is one of the hazards of outdoor recreation in California. It lines trails and covers hillsides, seemingly lying in wait to inflict its itchy, weeping rash on the unwary. But it’s also an integral part of the landscape and part of the daily life of California Towhees. Many towhees build their nests in poison oak and feast on the plant’s copious crops of pale white berries.
The Inyo California Towhee is restricted to riparian habitat in the Argus Mountains of central California. It is threatened by the destruction of the habitat, largely the result of foraging by feral burros.
The oldest known California Towhee was male, and at least 12 years, 10 months old when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 1986. He had been banded in the same state in 1973.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Towhee/id

Canada Goose
Dorney, England May 2010 (London Olympics Rowing site)

Liftoff at New Melones in the Sierra Foothills 2011

A familiar and widespread goose with a black head and neck, white chinstrap, light tan to cream breast and brown back. Has increased in urban and suburban areas in recent years; just a decade or two after people intentionally introduced or reintroduced “giant” Canada Geese to various areas, they are often considered pests.

Size & Shape
Canada Geese are big waterbirds with a long neck, large body, large webbed feet, and wide, flat bill.
Color Pattern
Canada Geese have a black head with white cheeks and chinstrap, black neck, tan breast, and brown back.
Behavior
Canada Geese feed by dabbling in the water or grazing in fields and large lawns. They are often seen in flight moving in pairs or flocks; flocks often assume a V formation.
Habitat
Just about anywhere near lakes, rivers, ponds, or other small or large bodies of water, and in yards, park lawns, and farm fields.

Cool Facts

At least 11 subspecies of Canada Goose have been recognized, although only a couple are distinctive. In general, the geese get smaller as you move northward, and darker as you go westward. The four smallest forms are now considered a different species: the Cackling Goose.
Some migratory populations of the Canada Goose are not going as far south in the winter as they used to. This northward range shift has been attributed to changes in farm practices that makes waste grain more available in fall and winter, as well as changes in hunting pressure and changes in weather.
Individual Canada Geese from most populations make annual northward migrations after breeding. Nonbreeding geese, or those that lost nests early in the breeding season, may move anywhere from several kilometers to more than 1500 km northward. There they take advantage of vegetation in an earlier state of growth to fuel their molt. Even members of "resident" populations, which do not migrate southward in winter, will move north in late summer to molt.
The “giant” Canada Goose, Branta canadensis maxima, bred from central Manitoba to Kentucky but was nearly driven extinct in the early 1900s. Programs to reestablish the subspecies to its original range were in many places so successful that the geese have become a nuisance in many urban and suburban areas.
In a pattern biologists call “assortative mating,” birds of both sexes tend to choose mates of a similar size.
The oldest known wild Canada Goose was 30 years 4 months old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Canada_Goose/id

Cattle Egret
Anini Beach Princeville, Kauai USA 2010

Cattle Egret
Nihilani Princeville, Kauai USA 2023

Cattle Egret
Charley Young Park, Maui USA 2023

The short, thick-necked Cattle Egret spends most of its time in fields rather than streams. It forages at the feet of grazing cattle, head bobbing with each step, or rides on their backs to pick at ticks. This stocky white heron has yellow plumes on its head and neck during breeding season. Originally from Africa, it found its way to North America in 1953 and quickly spread across the continent. Elsewhere in the world, it forages alongside camels, ostriches, rhinos, and tortoises—as well as farmers’ tractors.

Size & Shape
Compared with other herons, Cattle Egrets are noticeably small and compact. They have relatively short legs and a short thick neck. The straight, daggerlike bill is shorter and thicker than other herons. They have medium-length, broad, rounded wings.
Color Pattern
Adult Cattle Egrets are all white with a yellow bill and legs. In breeding plumage they have golden plumes on their head, chest, and back. Juveniles have dark legs and bill.
Behavior
Cattle Egrets stalk insects and other small animals on the ground in grassy fields. They are much less often seen in water than other herons. They nest in dense colonies of stick nests in trees or emergent wetlands, often mixed with other species of herons.
Habitat
They forage in flocks in upland areas such as pastures and fields, generally focusing on drier habitats than other species of white herons.

Cool Facts

Cattle Egrets are native to Africa but somehow reached northeastern South America in 1877. They continued to spread, arriving in the United States in 1941 and nesting there by 1953. In the next 50 years they became one of the most abundant of the North American herons, showing up as far north as Alaska and Newfoundland.
Cattle Egrets follow large animals or machines and eat invertebrates stirred up from the ground. They will fly toward smoke from long distances away, to catch insects fleeing a fire.
The Cattle Egret has a broad and flexible diet that occasionally includes other birds. In the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida, migrating Cattle Egrets have been seen hunting migrating warblers.
Cattle Egrets have many names around the world, usually referencing the grazing animals they team up with to forage. In various languages they are known as cow cranes, cow herons, cow birds, elephant birds, rhinoceros egrets, and hippopotamus egrets.
The oldest Cattle Egret on record was at least 17 years old when it was captured and released in Pennsylvania in 1979. It had been banded in Maryland in 1962.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cattle_Egret/id

Chestnut Munia
Princeville, HI 2024

Small brownish bird with black face, gray grown, and warm brown chest separated from white belly by distinct black band. Juveniles very plain brownish but usually accompany adults. Frequents very long grass, typically beside wetlands and swamps, across northern and eastern Australia, often in sizable flocks. Often first detected by distinctive bell-like "tink" call.

Habitat
Inhabits grassland, including cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica), open wetlands, freshwater marshes and brackish margins of coastal mangroves, and rice paddies; also occurs in gardens. Mainly in lowlands, from sea-level up to 800 m; to 1200 m in Himalayas, to 1700 m in Borneo, and to 1150 m in Sulawesi.

Diet and Foraging
Grass seeds, including rice; rice favoured food when available, taken mainly at growing milky stage. Takes seeds while perched on stem, and feeds also on the ground. Forages socially, even during breeding season; sometimes in very large flocks.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior
Soft contact call a clear “pee” or “peet”; loud contact call “pink! pink!”, female higher in pitch. Song a series of soft clicks (virtually inaudible to the human ear) followed by extended “weee...” and ending with a series of slurred notes; also described as a very quiet series of bill-snaps followed by ‘silent’ singing and ending with faint drawn-out whistles.

Conservation Status
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common to locally abundant

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/chemun/cur/introduction?login

Chimango Caracara
Napa Rui (Easter Island), Chile 2024

The chimango caracara also known as chimango or tiuque (Milvago chimango) is a species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, as a vagrant on the Falkland Islands and has been introduced on Rapa Nui.

Field Identification
32–43 cm (1, 2); male 289 g, female 300 g, unsexed 170–260 g (2); wingspan 80–99 cm (1). All-brownish small caracara, with dark streaks on sides of head and hindneck; below mottled or barred rufous-brown, underwing-coverts cinnamon barred fuscous-brown; rather long tail mottled grayish and white, with broad black subterminal band; in flight, conspicuous white uppertail coverts and pale buff window, formed by pale gray primaries with black tips; face more extensively feathered than in the Yellow-headed Caracara (Daptrius chimachima). Iris brown, bare facial skin either reddish pink in female or yellow in male, and legs and feet yellow in male and bluish gray in female (3). Similar to immatures of other Daptrius, but considerably smaller. Juvenile strongly tinged rufous, often with white splotches, and has bare-parts coloration like adult female (3). Subspeciestemucoensisphoto darker, smokier brown and more heavily marked.

Habitat
All kinds of open countryvideo ; found equally in grassy foothills of Andes, heathland, shrub steppe, marshes, fields, open woods and plantations (6), river valleys and villages, and even townvideo and city parks (1); also along coast. In Argentina, positively associated with roads, sites with a complex matrix of disturbed and undisturbed plots, and high levels of forest cover (7). Straggles to temperate Andes in central Chile and adjacent Argentina; recorded up to 4,000 m, but only regularly to 3,000 m and most regularly below 2,000 m (1). Sometimes forages over burnt land.

Movement
The chimango caracara is a year-round resident in most of its range. Populations in the far south are partially migratory, with individuals moving north mostly in the austral winter. Members of the northern populations move into Bolivia in the non-breeding season and also in small numbers as far north in Brazil as Minas Gerais and Goiás. There are a few records from the Falkland Islands.

Feeding
The chimango caracara is omnivorous, "a small-scale predator and general scavenger".[9] Its live prey include insects and other invertebrates, lizards, amphibians, the eggs and young of other birds, and rodents. It scavenges small roadkill and also the carcasses of larger animals after other predators have left. It eats smaller amounts of vegetable matter like rotten apples, fungi, and what it can glean from horse and cattle dung. Furthermore, it typically forages on the wing, flying somewhat randomly up to 10 m (30 ft) above the ground and dropping onto prey or other food sources. It often follows farmers as they plow (assemblies of more than 100 birds have been observed), congregates at grass fires, and frequents fishing villages and shellfish processing plants for their waste. It pirates food from other raptors and large waterbirds.[9][8] Individuals have been observed catching live fish from the surface of water.

Breeding
The chimango caracara's breeding season spans September to January, with eggs laid from mid-October to mid-November in much of its range. It usually nests in trees, building a stick platform up to about 30 m (100 ft) above the ground, but much lower in Patagonia and oriented to avoid prevailing winds. In areas with few trees, it will nest on the ground or tussocks in a marsh. Tree nests of adjoining pairs are usually fairly far apart. Ground nesting can be colonial, for example, an observation of more than 70 nests in a 1.5 ha (3.7 acres) site. The clutch size is usually two or three eggs but up to five is not uncommon. The incubation period is 26 to 32 days and fledging occurs 32 to 41 days after hatch. Both sexes build the nest, incubate the clutch, and provision the young.

Cognitive behavior
The chimango caracara is an intelligent bird and has high problem-solving abilities compared to other birds. "The explorative tendency, low neophobia, and ability to innovate showed by M. chimango may be advantageous for this generalist and opportunistic raptor and might be some of the factors underlying its ecological success."

Vocalization
The chimango caracara is usually most vocal during the breeding season "particularly if human or other intruders [are] near nest", but also calls during disputes over food. Its most common call is a "loud petulant squealing keeeeee-eh" that is usually made singly and often in flight. It also makes a "more chattering...keag-keah-keah..." or "ke-ew, ke-ew, ke-ew" and a "variety of squeals, growls, and hissing whistles."

Clark's Nutcracker
Yellowstone National Park, Montana USA March 2011

Clark's Nutcracker First Image
Lewis Lake Emigrant Wilderness, California USA 2003

Clark's Nutcracker
Bristlecone Pine White Mountains, Nevada USA 2007

Clark's Nutcracker
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming USA 2023

Named for William Clark of the famed Lewis and Clark duo, this hi-altitude bird from the Jay family can be found always on top of it's favorite pine tree. Here they crack open the seeds and either feast on them or store them for feeding their young. Because of these plentiful caches, the young can hatch as early as January or February. They emit sharp, rapid and at times grating 'kraaks'.

Description
Large songbird
Gray all over
Black wings and tail, with white patches
Long, stout, pointed black bill
Size: 27-30 cm (11-12 in)
Weight: 106-161 g (3.74-5.68 ounces)

Cool Facts

The Clark's Nutcracker has a special pouch under its tongue that it uses to carry seeds long distances. The nutcracker harvests seeds from pine trees and takes them away to hide them for later use.
The Clark's Nutcracker hides thousands and thousands of seeds each year. Laboratory studies have shown that the bird has a tremendous memory and can remember where to find most of the seeds it hides.
The Clark's Nutcracker feeds its nestlings pine seeds from its many winter stores (caches). Because it feeds the young on stored seeds, the nutcracker can breed as early as January or February, despite the harsh winter weather in its mountain home.
The Clark's Nutcracker is one of very few members of the crow family where the male incubates the eggs. In jays and crows, taking care of the eggs is for the female only. But the male nutcracker actually develops a brood patch on its chest just like the female, and takes his turn keeping the eggs warm while the female goes off to get seeds out of her caches.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide

Common Grackle
Lake Chetex, Wisconsin USA May 2023

Common Grackles are blackbirds that look like they've been slightly stretched. They're taller and longer tailed than a typical blackbird, with a longer, more tapered bill and glossy-iridescent bodies. Grackles walk around lawns and fields on their long legs or gather in noisy groups high in trees, typically evergreens. They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well, including garbage. In flight their long tails trail behind them, sometimes folded down the middle into a shallow V shape.

Description
Common Grackles are large, lanky blackbirds with long legs and long tails. The head is flat and the bill is longer than in most blackbirds, with the hint of a downward curve. In flight, the wings appear short in comparison to the tail. Males are slightly larger than females
Larger than a Red-winged Blackbird; about the same size as a Mourning Dove

Measurements
Both Sexes

Length: 11.0-13.4 in (28-34 cm)
Weight: 2.6-5.0 oz (74-142 g)
Wingspan: 14.2-18.1 in (36-46 cm

Color Pattern

Common Grackles appear black from a distance, but up close their glossy purple heads contrast with bronzy-iridescent bodies. A bright golden eye gives grackles an intent expression. Females are slightly less glossy than males. Young birds are dark brown with a dark eye.

Cool Facts

Those raggedy figures out in cornfields may be called scare-crows, but grackles are the #1 threat to corn. They eat ripening corn as well as corn sprouts, and their habit of foraging in big flocks means they have a multimillion dollar impact. Some people have tried to reduce their effects by spraying a foul-tasting chemical on corn sprouts or by culling grackles at their roosts.
Common Grackles are resourceful foragers. They sometimes follow plows to catch invertebrates and mice, wade into water to catch small fish, pick leeches off the legs of turtles, steal worms from American Robins, raid nests, and kill and eat adult birds.
Grackles have a hard keel on the inside of the upper mandible that they use for sawing open acorns. Typically they score the outside of the narrow end, then bite the acorn open.
You might see a Common Grackle hunched over on the ground, wings spread, letting ants crawl over its body and feathers. This is called anting, and grackles are frequent practitioners among the many bird species that do it. The ants secrete formic acid, the chemical in their stings, and this may rid the bird of parasites. In addition to ants, grackles have been seen using walnut juice, lemons and limes, marigold blossoms, chokecherries, and mothballs in a similar fashion.
In winter, Common Grackles forage and roost in large communal flocks with several different species of blackbird. Sometimes these flocks can number in the millions of individuals.
Rarely, Common Grackles nest in places other than their usual treetops, including birdhouses, old woodpecker holes, barns, and in still-occupied nests of Osprey and Great Blue Heron.
The oldest recorded Common Grackle was a male, and at least 23 years old and 1 month when he was killed by a raptor in Minnesota in 1994.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/overview

Cooper's Hawk (Juvenile)
Half Moon Bay, California USA

Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds. You’re most likely to see one prowling above a forest edge or field using just a few stiff wingbeats followed by a glide. With their smaller lookalike, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawks make for famously tricky identifications. Both species are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds).

Identification
A medium-sized hawk with the classic accipiter shape: broad, rounded wings and a very long tail. In Cooper’s Hawks, the head often appears large, the shoulders broad, and the tail rounded

Behavior
Look for Cooper’s Hawks to fly with a flap-flap-glide pattern typical of accipiters. Even when crossing large open areas they rarely flap continuously. Another attack maneuver is to fly fast and low to the ground, then up and over an obstruction to surprise prey on the other side.

Habitat
Wooded habitats from deep forests to leafy subdivisions and backyards.

Cool Facts

Dashing through vegetation to catch birds is a dangerous lifestyle. In a study of more than 300 Cooper’s Hawk skeletons, 23 percent showed old, healed-over fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula, or wishbone.
A Cooper's Hawk captures a bird with its feet and kills it by repeated squeezing. Falcons tend to kill their prey by biting it, but Cooper’s Hawks hold their catch away from the body until it dies. They’ve even been known to drown their prey, holding a bird underwater until it stopped moving.
Once thought averse to towns and cities, Cooper’s Hawks are now fairly common urban and suburban birds. Some studies show their numbers are actually higher in towns than in their natural habitat, forests. Cities provide plenty of Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove prey. Though one study in Arizona found a downside to the high-dove diet: Cooper’s Hawk nestlings suffered from a parasitic disease they acquired from eating dove meat.
Life is tricky for male Cooper’s Hawks. As in most hawks, males are significantly smaller than their mates. The danger is that female Cooper’s Hawks specialize in eating medium-sized birds. Males tend to be submissive to females and to listen out for reassuring call notes the females make when they’re willing to be approached. Males build the nest, then provide nearly all the food to females and young over the next 90 days before the young fledge.
The oldest recorded Cooper's Hawk was a male and at least 20 years, 4 months old. He was banded in California in 1986, and found in Washington in 2006.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/coopers_hawk

Diuca Finch
Tahia, Rapa Nui, Chile 2024

The diuca finch (Diuca diuca) is a species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Diuca. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.

Identification
Distinctive and attractive “finch” (actually a tanager); common in lowlands and foothills of central Chile and Argentina, uncommon south into Patagonia. Feeds on ground and often seen on gravel roadsides, lawns, and stony slopes, where it moves with a distinctive shuffling gait. Often in small flocks, associating readily with other seed-eating birds. Big white tail corners show in flight and when flushed off roadsides. Song of fairly loud, bright chips is given from perch such as atop a bush or wire.

Behavior
Common Diuca-Finch locomotes by walking, not hopping; the walking style has been described as similar to that of a quail (Jaramillo 2003, Cueto et al. 2013). It begins to sing at break of dawn and also begins foraging on the ground in the morning, and at midday is sometimes found in low shrubs to avoid the heat (Fjeldså and Krabbe 1990, Jaramillo 2011). Usually, Common Diuca-Finch is seen in pairs or family groups as well as in small flocks during the winter non-breeding season (Jaramillo 2011).

Habitat
Parker et al. (1996) list the primary habitat as arid lowland scrub. Additional habitats used by this species include the following, in decreasing order of importance: arid montane scrub and second-growth scrub (Parker et al. 1996). More specifically within these habitats, these birds can be found in shrubs, cultivated gardens and farmland, matorral shrub lands, forest edges, and desert scrub (Ridgely and Tudor 1989, Jaramillo 2003, Perlo 2009, Ridgely and Tudor 2009). Their presence on farmland is possibly a strategy to avoid nest predation that is common in more dense vegetation (Pescador and Peris 2014).

Taxonomy
The diuca finch was formally described in 1782 by the Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina under the binomial name Fringilla diuca.[2] The specific epithet is from the Araucano names Diuca or Siuca for this species.[3] With the transfer of the glacier finch (formerly white-winged diuca finch) to Idiopsar or Chionodacryon, the diuca finch is now the only member of the genus Diuca, which was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diuca_finch
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/codfin1/cur/habitat

Gray Jay
Johnston Canyon Banff, Canada 2008

The deceptively cute Gray Jay is one of the most intrepid birds in North America, living in northern forests year-round and rearing chicks in the dark of winter. Highly curious and always on the lookout for food, Gray Jays eat just about anything, from berries to small animals. They may even land on your hand to grab a raisin or peanut. During summer they hoard food in trees to sustain themselves through bleak winters.

Size & Shape
Gray Jays are stocky, fairly large songbirds with short, stout bills. They have round heads and long tails, with broad, rounded wings.
Color Pattern
Gray Jays are dark gray above and light gray below, with black on the back of the head forming a partial hood. Juveniles are grayish black overall, and usually show a pale gape at the base of the bill.
Behavior
Gray Jays are typically in small groups. They fly in quiet swoops, generally holding their wings below the horizontal. While they have a large variety of vocalizations including hoots and chatters, they are less noisy overall than other jays. Gray Jays have very broad diets, eating anything from berries to carrion to handouts from hikers.
Habitat
Gray Jays live in evergreen (especially spruce) and mixed evergreen-deciduous forest across the boreal forest of the northern United States and Canada, as well as in high mountain ranges of the West.

Cool Facts

The Gray Jay stores large quantities of food for later use. It uses sticky saliva to glue small food items to tree branches above the height of the eventual snow line. It may be this food storage behavior that allows the jay to live so far north throughout the winter.
The Gray Jay nests during late winter, incubating its eggs in temperatures that may drop below minus 20°F. Oddly, it does not attempt a second brood in the May–June breeding period used by other birds in boreal habitats, even though those warmer conditions would appear to be more favorable.
Paleontologists have recovered the fragmented fossils of two Gray Jays from the late Pleistocene (about 18,000 years ago), along with other boreal birds and mammals, at a cave in central Tennessee, indicating a much colder climate at that time than now.
The Gray Jay ranges across northern North America, and its close relative the Siberian Jay spans a similar swath of northern Eurasia. Together, they complete a ring around the Northern Hemisphere. The two species share the habit of using sticky saliva to attach food to crevices in trees.
A 2.5-ounce Gray Jay has to eat 47 calories (technically, kilocalories) per day, compared to a human’s daily diet of 2,000 kilocalories. Gray Jays take advantage of whatever food they can find. A Gray Jay was seen landing on the back of a live moose to eat blood-filled winter ticks. Another was observed tearing a baby bat away from its mother. Gray Jays may even attack injured larger animals.
The Gray Jay has incredibly thick, fluffy plumage that it puffs up in cold weather, enveloping its legs and feet. Even its nostrils are covered with feathers.
The oldest Gray Jay on record was at least 17 years, 2 months old. Banded in 1985, it was recaptured and re-released by a bird bander in Colorado in 2002.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Jay/lifehistory

Great Blue Heron
Merced River Yosemite National Park, California USA 2019

Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. This stately heron with its subtle blue-gray plumage often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher. In flight, look for this widespread heron’s tucked-in neck and long legs trailing out behind.

Size & Shape
Largest of the North American herons with long legs, a sinuous neck, and thick, daggerlike bill. Head, chest, and wing plumes give a shaggy appearance. In flight, the Great Blue Heron curls its neck into a tight “S” shape; its wings are broad and rounded and its legs trail well beyond the tail.
Color Pattern
Great Blue Herons appear blue-gray from a distance, with a wide black stripe over the eye. In flight, the upper side of the wing is two-toned: pale on the forewing and darker on the flight feathers. A pure white subspecies occurs in coastal southern Florida.
Behavior
Hunting Great Blue Herons wade slowly or stand statue-like, stalking fish and other prey in shallow water or open fields. Watch for the lightning-fast thrust of the neck and head as they stab with their strong bills. Their very slow wingbeats, tucked-in neck and trailing legs create an unmistakable image in flight.
Habitat
Look for Great Blue Herons in saltwater and freshwater habitats, from open coasts, marshes, sloughs, riverbanks, and lakes to backyard goldfish ponds. They also forage in grasslands and agricultural fields. Breeding birds gather in colonies or “heronries” to build stick nests high off the ground.

Cool Facts

Thanks to specially shaped neck vertebrae, Great Blue Herons can quickly strike prey at a distance.
Great Blue Herons have specialized feathers on their chest that continually grow and fray. The herons comb this “powder down” with a fringed claw on their middle toes, using the down like a washcloth to remove fish slime and other oils from their feathers as they preen. Applying the powder to their underparts protects their feathers against the slime and oils of swamps.
Great Blue Herons can hunt day and night thanks to a high percentage of rod-type photoreceptors in their eyes that improve their night vision.
Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share.
Great Blue Herons in the northeastern U.S. and southern Canada have benefited from the recovery of beaver populations, which have created a patchwork of swamps and meadows well-suited to foraging and nesting.
Along the Pacific coast, it’s not unusual to see a Great Blue Heron poised atop a floating bed of kelp waiting for a meal to swim by.
The white form of the Great Blue Heron, known as the "great white heron," is found nearly exclusively in shallow marine waters along the coast of very southern Florida, the Yucatan Peninsula, and in the Caribbean. Where the dark and white forms overlap in Florida, intermediate birds known as "Wurdemann's herons" can be found. They have the body of a Great Blue Heron, but the white head and neck of the great white heron.
Great Blue Herons congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly anyway. Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons.
The oldest recorded Great Blue Heron was found in Texas when it was at least 24 years, 6 months old.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/id

Great Egret
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2011

Great Egret Hunting
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2023

The elegant Great Egret is a dazzling sight in many a North American wetland. Slightly smaller and more svelte than a Great Blue Heron, these are still large birds with impressive wingspans. They hunt in classic heron fashion, standing immobile or wading through wetlands to capture fish with a deadly jab of their yellow bill. Great Egrets were hunted nearly to extinction for their plumes in the late nineteenth century, sparking conservation movements and some of the first laws to protect birds.

Size & Shape
Great Egrets are tall, long-legged wading birds with long, S-curved necks and long, dagger-like bills. In flight, the long neck is tucked in and the legs extend far beyond the tip of the short tail.
Color Pattern
All feathers on Great Egrets are white. Their bills are yellowish-orange, and the legs black.

Cool Facts

The Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society, one of the oldest environmental organizations in North America. Audubon was founded to protect birds from being killed for their feathers.
Not all young that hatch survive the nestling period. Aggression among nestlings is common and large chicks frequently kill their smaller siblings. This behavior, known as siblicide, is not uncommon among birds such as hawks, owls, and herons, and is often a result of poor breeding conditions in a given year.
The pristinely white Great Egret gets even more dressed up for the breeding season. A patch of skin on its face turns neon green, and long plumes grow from its back. Called aigrettes, those plumes were the bane of egrets in the late nineteenth century, when such adornments were prized for ladies’ hats.
In mixed-species colonies, Great Egrets are often the first species to arrive, and their presence may induce nesting among other species.
Great Egrets fly slowly but powerfully: with just two wingbeats per second their cruising speed is around 25 miles an hour.
Though it mainly hunts while wading, the Great Egret occasionally swims to capture prey or hovers (somewhat laboriously) over the water and dips for fish.
The oldest known Great Egret was 22 years, 10 months old and was banded in Ohio.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/id

Great Horned Owl
Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs USA 2007

Great Horned Owl Chick
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2020

Great Horned Owl
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2023

We caught up with this trio on the last in-park day of the trip. The adult was just snoozing away when all of sudden the branches quivered and these two balls of feathers just ambled out into view. The adult never woke! Interestingly, these Owls are found in just about any habitat throughout North America. But they do seem to prefer forested areas. Found from the Arctic tundra to the tropical rainforest, from the desert to suburban backyards, the Great Horned Owl is one of the most widespread and common owls in North America.

Size & Shape
These are large, thick-bodied owls with two prominent feathered tufts on the head. The wings are broad and rounded. In flight, the rounded head and short bill combine to create a blunt-headed silhouette.
Color Pattern
Great Horned Owls are mottled gray-brown, with reddish brown faces and a neat white patch on the throat. Their overall color tone varies regionally from sooty to pale.
Behavior
Great Horned Owls are nocturnal. You may see them at dusk sitting on fence posts or tree limbs at the edges of open areas, or flying across roads or fields with stiff, deep beats of their rounded wings. Their call is a deep, stuttering series of four to five hoots.
Habitat
Look for this widespread owl in woods, particularly young woods interspersed with fields or other open areas. The broad range of habitats they use includes deciduous and evergreen forests, swamps, desert, tundra edges, and tropical rainforest, as well as cities, orchards, suburbs, and parks.

Cool Facts

Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions.
When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.
If you hear an agitated group of cawing American Crows, they may be mobbing a Great Horned Owl. Crows may gather from near and far and harass the owl for hours. The crows have good reason, because the Great Horned Owl is their most dangerous predator.
Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch.
Great Horned Owls are covered in extremely soft feathers that insulate them against the cold winter weather and help them fly very quietly in pursuit of prey. Their short, wide wings allow them to maneuver among the trees of the forest.
Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don’t move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.
The oldest Great Horned Owl on record was at least 28 years old when it was found in Ohio in 2005.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/lifehistory

Hairy Woodpecker
Yellowstone National Park, Montana USA 2011

The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests.

Size & Shape
A medium-sized woodpecker with a fairly square head, a long, straight, chisel-like bill, and stiff, long tail feathers to lean against on tree trunks. The bill is nearly the same length as the head.
Color Pattern
Hairy Woodpeckers are contrastingly black and white. The black wings are checkered with white; the head has two white stripes (and, in males, a flash of red toward the back of the head). A large white patch runs down the center of the black back.
Behavior
Hairy Woodpeckers hitch up tree trunks and along main branches. They sometimes feed at the bases of trees, along fallen logs, and even on the ground at times. They have the slowly undulating flight pattern of most woodpeckers.
Habitat
Hairy Woodpeckers are birds of mature forests across the continent. They’re also found in woodlots, suburbs, parks, and cemeteries, as well as forest edges, open woodlands of oak and pine, recently burned forests, and stands infested by bark beetles.

Cool facts

Across North America the Hairy Woodpecker can be found from sea level to high in the mountains. In Central America, it is restricted to higher mountain forests.
Hairy and Downy woodpeckers occur together throughout most of their ranges. The Downy Woodpecker uses smaller branches while the Hairy Woodpecker tends to spend more time on trunks.
Hairy Woodpeckers sometimes follow Pileated Woodpeckers, and sometimes appears when it hears the heavy sounds of a pileated excavating. As the pileated moves on, the Hairy Woodpecker investigates the deep holes, taking insects the pileated missed.
Hairy Woodpeckers sometimes drink sap leaking from wells in the bark made by sapsuckers. They’ve also been seen pecking into sugar cane to drink the sugary juice.
The oldest recorded Hairy Woodpecker was a male, and at least 15 years, 11 months old when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in New York in 2010.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id/

Harris Hawk
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2011

A handsome hawk of the arid Southwest, Harris’s Hawk is a standout with bold markings of dark brown, chestnut red, and white, long yellow legs, and yellow markings on its face. The most social of North American raptors, these birds are often found in groups, cooperatively attending nests and hunting together as a team. When hunting, a group of hawks surround their prey, flush it for another to catch, or take turns chasing it. This hawk’s social nature and relative ease with humans has made it popular among falconers and in education programs.

Adult Description
Medium-sized to large hawk. Dark overall. White rump and undertail. White tip to dark tail. Chestnut-red thighs and shoulders. Legs and bare face skin yellow.
Immature Description
Juvenile similar to adults, except underparts streaked with cream or buffy coloration; amount of light color variable. Rufous patches reduced and dullish. Underwing has whitish primaries, conspicuous in flight. Tail crossed with many fine dusky bars; base and tip white.

Cool Facts

The Harris's Hawk nests in social units that vary from an adult pair, to as many as seven individuals, including both adults and immatures.
Cooperatively hunting groups of Harris's Hawks are more successful at capturing prey than individuals hunting alone. Hawks with more than two members in their group have higher survival rates.
Although most North American Harris's Hawks nest in spring (March through June), some females lay a second and even a third clutch regardless of whether their first breeding attempt fails or succeeds. Eggs or young have been recorded in every month of the year. Multiple clutches often occur when plentiful food is available.
Older nestlings and subadults sometimes seem to play by chasing insects, or jumping on sticks in an imitation of prey capture.
Electrocution from unshielded power poles is a danger to Harris’s Hawks—they can be killed or lose limbs—but other members of the group sometimes come to the aid of injured individuals, providing them with food.
The oldest known wild Harris’s Hawk in the wild was at least 15 years old when it was retrapped and released during banding operations in New Mexico. A captive female lived to be 25 years old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/id

Hawaiian Coot
Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge, Kauai USA 2016

The Hawaiian coot (Fulica alai), also known as the ʻalae kea in Hawaiian, is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae, that is endemic to Hawaiʻi.[2] It is similar to the American coot at 33–40.6 cm (13.0–16.0 in) in length and weighing around 700 g (1.5 lb). It has black plumage and a prominent white frontal shield. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, coastal saline lagoons, and water storage areas. The bird was federally listed in October 1970 as an endangered species [3] and is considered both endemic and endangered by the state of Hawaii. It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators such as the small Asian mongoose.[1] The Makalawena Marsh on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi has been listed as a National Natural Landmark to preserve one of its last nesting areas.

Cool Facts

In Hawaiian culture, it was thought to be a deity but was also considered good to eat.
This bird builds floating nests in just about any standing water including irrigation ditches, sewage treatment ponds, and wet taro fields.
A group of coots has many collective nouns, including a "codgery", "commotion", "fleet", "shoal", and "swarm" of coots.
The Hawaiian Coot is known as "Alae keokeo" in the Hawaiian language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_coot
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1159/overview/Hawaiian_Coot.aspx

Hawaiian Nene
National Wildlife Refuge Hanalei, Kauai USA 2010

The Hawaiian Goose or Nene, Branta sandvicensis, is a species of goose endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It shares a recent common ancestor with Branta canadensis, the Canada Goose. The official bird of the State of Hawaii, the Nene is exclusively found in the wild of the islands of Maui, Kaua'i and Hawai'i. A larger, extinct and possibly flightless species, the Nene-nui (Branta hylobadistes), was present in prehistoric times on Maui related, but hitherto undescribed forms also occurred on Kaua'i and O'ahu there was also a gigantic, flightless relative on the island of Hawai'i. The Nene gets its Hawaiian name from its soft call. It also has soft feathers under its chin, and at Martin Mere, they are very friendly and will eat grain out of one's hand.

The adult male has a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. The female Hawaiian Goose is similar to the male in colouring but slightly smaller. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. The young birds are similar to the male, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colours of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced. The bill, legs and feet are the same as for the adult.

Its strong toes have much-reduced webbing, an adaptation to the lava flows on which it breeds. It mates on land unlike most other wildfowl.

This is the world's rarest goose. The bird was once believed to be common, with approximately 25,000 nenes living in Hawai'i when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. However, hunting and introduced predators such as mongooses, pigs, and cats reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. However, this species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced in 2004 it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1000 in wildfowl Collection and zoos. However, there is some concern of inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge in England was instrumental in the successful breeding of Nene geese in captivity. Under the direction of the leading conservationist Sir Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaii. There are still nenegeese at Slimbridgetoday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_Goose

Japanese White Eye 2024
Princeville, Hawaii USA 2024

A small yellow-olive bird with a prominent white eyering. Occurs in forests, shrublands, parks, gardens, farmlands, and urban areas. Eats fruit, insects, and takes nectar from the understory to the top of the forest canopy. Frequently travels in vocal and active flocks, moving in swift bouncing flight through the canopy. Song and calls are high-pitched twitters and ‘chwee’s. Native to Asia; introduced to the Hawaiian Islands where it is ubiquitous in wet and dry areas from sea-level to the mountains.

Field Identification
10–11·5 cm; 7·5–13·9 g. Male nominate race is olive-green above (without yellow on forehead or over lores), white eye-ring of average width interrupted at front by blackish spotphoto (rarely absent), black loral line continuing under eye-ring; throat and upper breast lemon-yellow, rest of underparts pale grey, mostly buff to tawny-olive on flanks and often whole undersurface, except for whitish centre of belly; undertail-coverts pale lemon-yellow; iris brown or yellowish-brown; bill slate-grey; legs grey. Sexes alike. Juvenilephoto is like adult, but eye-ring greyer at first.

Linear Measurements
◆ Bill Length :: From birds captured on O'ahu I., mean was 10.72 mm ± 0.82 SD (n = 5; 2); from birds captured on Hawai'i I., mean was 11.1 mm ± 0.9 (n = 1102; Charles van Riper pers. comm. and SGVR).
◆ Wing Length :: From birds captured on O'ahu I., mean was 59.4 mm ± 1.6 SD (n = 5; 2); from birds captured on Hawai'i I., mean was 57.2 mm ± 3.6 SD (n = 1102; Charles van Riper pers. comm. and SGVR).
◆ Tail Length :: From birds captured on O'ahu I., mean was 41 mm ± 2 SD (n = 3; 2); from birds captured on Hawai'i I., mean was 42.5 mm ± 3.7 SD (n = 1102; Charles van Riper pers. comm. and SGVR).
◆ Tarsus Length :: From birds captured on O'ahu I., mean was 20.40 mm ± 1.55 (n = 2; 2); from birds captured on Hawai'i I., mean was 20.7 ± 1.4 SD (n = 1102; Charles van Riper pers. comm. and SGVR).
◆ Mass ;; Mean body mass of adults from O'ahu 11.25 g ± 1.55 SD (n = 32); no significant difference between males and females (2). Mean for 568 wild-caught white-eyes from island of Hawai'i 11.12 g ± 1.47 SD (C. van Riper pers. comm. and SGVR).

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/warwhe1/cur/behavior
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warbling_white-eye

Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Zosteropidae
Genus: Zosterops
Species: Z. japonicus

Kalij Pheasant
Volcano National Park, Hawaii USA 2012

Kalij Pheasant Male 2012

Kalij Pheasant Female 2012

The Kalij Pheasant is one of 12 game birds that were introduced into Hawai'i. Brought to the islands in 1962, this bird's population is rapidly increasing.

The male and female Kalij differ considerably in looks. The male is quite striking and is mainly bluish black with white speckling on its lower back. The male has bright red around the eyes. The females, on the other hand, are fairly plain. They are a medium brown color with darker and lighter spots.

The Kalij are almost always in clusters of male and female, or several males to females. The birds are monogamous and share the brood together. A HVNP Park Survey in 2002 found that 85% of the young Kalij being born were male. Many of the male stay with the family and help the parents raise the next generation. They are quick runners, but will fly if frightened. They are usually found on the ground during the day and in the trees at night.

One of the best places to see the Kalij Pheasant is up in the Volcano area, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, and the HVNP Bird Park area. The can be spotted around the roads just before sunrise and sunset.

http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Animals.kalij
http://maps.oiseaux.net/kalij.pheasant.html

Kalij Pheasant Range

Killdeer
Half Moon Bay Coastal Trail, California USA 2023

Killdeer Broken Wing Act

Killdeer Nest & Eggs

A shorebird you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, and parking lots. These tawny birds run across the ground in spurts, stopping with a jolt every so often to check their progress, or to see if they’ve startled up any insect prey. Their voice, a far-carrying, excited kill-deer, is a common sound even after dark, often given in flight as the bird circles overhead on slender wings.

Size & Shape
Killdeer have the characteristic large, round head, large eye, and short bill of all plovers. They are especially slender and lanky, with a long, pointed tail and long wings.

Relative Size
Similar in size to American Robin, but with longer legs and wings.

Measurements
Both Sexes
Length: 7.9-11.0 in (20-28 cm)
Weight: 2.6-4.5 oz (75-128 g)
Wingspan: 18.1-18.9 in (46-48 cm)

Color Pattern
Brownish-tan on top and white below. The white chest is barred with two black bands, and the brown face is marked with black and white patches. The bright orange-buff rump is conspicuous in flight.

Cool Facts

Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give so often. Eighteenth-century naturalists also noticed how noisy Killdeer are, giving them names such as the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover.
Gravel rooftops attract Killdeer for nesting, but can be dangerous places to raise a brood. Chicks may be unable to leave a roof because of high parapets and screened drain openings. Adults eventually lure chicks off the roof, which can be dangerous – although one set of chicks survived a leap from a seven-story building.
The Killdeer’s broken-wing act leads predators away from a nest, but doesn’t keep cows or horses from stepping on eggs. To guard against large hoofed animals, the Killdeer uses a quite different display, fluffing itself up, displaying its tail over its head, and running at the beast to attempt to make it change its path.
A well-known denizen of dry habitats, the Killdeer is actually a proficient swimmer. Adults swim well in swift-flowing water, and chicks can swim across small streams.
The male and female of a mated pair pick out a nesting site through a ritual known as a scrape ceremony. The male lowers his breast to the ground and scrapes a shallow depression with his feet. The female then approaches, head lowered, and takes his place. The male then stands with body tilted slightly forward, tail raised and spread, calling rapidly. Mating often follows.
Killdeer lay their eggs into an empty nest but add other materials later on. Some of these items they pick up as they are leaving and toss over their shoulder into the nest. In one nest in Oklahoma, people found more than 1,500 pebbles had accumulated this way.
The oldest recorded Killdeer was at least 10 years, 11 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Kansas.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Killdeer/overview

Laysan Albatross
Princeville, Kauai USA 2016

Laysan Albatross Chick 'Ekahi'
Princeville, Kauai USA 2023

Laysan Albatross Juveniles Babysitting a Chick
Princeville, Kauai USA 2023

One of the most marvelous sights in the Pacific ocean is the graceful glide of a Laysan Albatross at play among the winds and waves. These expert soarers can travel hundreds of miles per day with barely a wingbeat. They nest on islands of the tropical Pacific, but they may head out to Japan, the Aleutian Islands, or California to feed. Laysan Albatrosses are numerous, though they face threats from longline fishing, plastic trash in the ocean, and predation by dogs, rats, and cats.

Size & Shape Laysan Albatrosses are very large seabirds (though they are among the smaller albatrosses). They have very long, very narrow wings. The neck is thick and the head is large.
Color Pattern Laysan Albatrosses are white-headed birds with dark gray-brown upperwings and mostly white underwings (with variable dark markings). The underparts are clean white. They have a dark patch around the eye. In flight, note the dark back, white rump, and dark tail.
Behavior They fly by dynamic soaring: gliding low over the waves and then wheeling up into the sky to take advantage of the wind. They rarely flap their wings. They feed by sitting on the water, often at night, catching squid and other small prey with their bills.
Habitat Laysan Albatrosses spend most of their time on the open Pacific Ocean, spanning tropical waters up to the southern Bering Sea. They nest on open, sandy or grassy islands, mostly in the Hawaiian Island chain.

Cool Facts

Laysan Albatrosses are masterful soarers, able to fly great distances and through the fiercest storms while barely even flapping their wings. To a large extent, the faster the wind blows the more maneuverable they area
One Laysan Albatross found its way back to Midway Island from the Philippines—a journey of 4,120 miles. Another made its way back to Midway from Washington state traveling at an average of almost 350 miles per day.
Ever heard of a “tubenose” before? That’s the term birders and biologists use to describe albatrosses and their relatives (petrels, shearwaters, fulmars, and storm-petrels). These birds have a pair of bony tubes above or inside the bill that excrete salt—allowing these ocean-going birds to drink seawater without becoming dehydrated.
Albatrosses’ amazing size and graceful flight led sailors to regard them as good luck. In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a crewmember foolishly shoots an albatross, setting off a string of terrible misfortunes.
When the wind is calm, albatrosses have trouble taking off. They typically need to face into the wind and run along the ground or water’s surface, wings spread, to take off; or to launch themselves from a high point.
The Laysan Albatross gets its name from its Laysan breeding colony in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common seabird.
Laysan Albatrosses live very long lives. They usually don’t start breeding successfully until they are 8 or 9. The oldest known individual was 65 years old, when she was identified in 2016 by the band on her leg while she was at her nest.

Sourced:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Laysan_Albatross/lifehistory

Lesson's Motmot
Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica 1998

Large motmot of tropical lowland forest and edge, mainly in humid areas. Perches low to high, usually in shady areas. Blue crown with a big black central patch, unlike solid blue of Blue-capped Motmot, which occurs to the north. Plumage overall less contrasting in pattern than Turquoise-browed Motmot, with much smaller tail rackets. The name ‘motmot’ comes from double-hooting call of this species, which can sound like an owl, and is mainly uttered around dawn.

Field Identification
38–43 cm; 77–102 g (exiguus), 97–148 g (lessonii). Mid-sized to large motmotphoto with blue on crown, tail long and racquet-tipped; billvideo slightly decurved, both mandibles with coarse serrations along most of length of cutting edges. Juvenile resembles adult, but has entire crown suffused greenish blue and indistinct borders, smaller and sootier-coloured black mask, lacks any breast-spots and tail racquets, and iris is dark brown.

Diet and Foraging
Insects and many other invertebrates, including snails, centipedes and earthworms; also small reptiles and mammals

Sounds and Vocal Behavior
Often vocalises from fairly open perches in canopy: a distinctive low double-hooting sound, “oot-oot” or “hoop-hoop”, which is frequently heard before dawn (thus may recall an owl) but also at other times of day (especially during overcast conditions), occasionally given as single hoot or several hoots in series, especially if two or three birds calling together; also gives a hard, hollow clucking sound “kluk-kluk-kluk...” or “klok-klok-klok...” in alarm, or a slightly bouncing-ball “wuuh wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh” that can recall voice of Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata).

Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coraciiformes
Family: Momotidae
Genus: Momotus
Species: M. lessonii

https://ebird.org/species/bucmot2
https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bucmot2/cur/introduction?login#fieldid
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesson%27s_motmot

Common Merganser
Yosemite National Park, California USA 2014

Common Mergansers are streamlined ducks that float gracefully down small rivers or shallow shorelines. The males are striking with clean white bodies, dark green heads, and a slender, serrated red bill. The elegant gray-bodied females have rich, cinnamon heads with a short crest. In summer, look for them leading ducklings from eddy to eddy along streams or standing on a flat rock in the middle of the current. These large ducks nest in hollow trees; in winter they form flocks on larger bodies of water.Size & Shape: These are large, long-bodied ducks with thin, pointed wings. Their bills are straight and narrow, unlike the wide, flat bill of a “typical” duck. Females have shaggy crests on the backs of their heads.

Size & Shape
These are large, long-bodied ducks with thin, pointed wings. Their bills are straight and narrow, unlike the wide, flat bill of a “typical” duck. Females have shaggy crests on the backs of their heads.
Color Pattern
Adult males are crisply patterned with gleaming white bodies and dark, iridescent-green heads. The back is black and the bill red. Females and immatures are gray-bodied with a white chest and rusty-cinnamon heads. In flight, both sexes show large white patches on the upperwings (larger in adult males).
Behavior
Common Mergansers dive underwater to catch fish. After the chicks leave the nest in summer, the female stays with them as they grow up while males gather in flocks. In winter, mergansers form large flocks on inland reservoirs and rivers. They stay in these tight flocks to feed and court during the cold months. In migration and winter, they mix with other fish-eating, diving ducks such as Bufflehead, goldeneyes, and other species of mergansers.
Habitat
These ducks live mainly on freshwater rivers and lakes. They are rare in the ocean, but they sometimes use saltwater estuaries in winter. They nest in tree cavities in northern forests near rivers and lakes.

Cool Facts

Young Common Mergansers leave their nest hole within a day or so of hatching. The flightless chicks leap from the nest entrance and tumble to the forest floor. The mother protects the chicks, but they catch all of their own food. They start by diving for aquatic insects and switch over to fish at about 12 days old.
Common Mergansers are sometimes called sawbills, fish ducks, or goosanders. The word “merganser” comes from the Latin and roughly translates to “plunging goose”—a good name for this very large and often submerged duck.
Common Mergansers usually nest in natural tree cavities or holes carved out by large woodpeckers. Sometimes mergansers take up residence in nest boxes, provided the entrance hole is large enough. On occasion they use rock crevices, holes in the ground, hollow logs, old buildings, and chimneys.
You may see gulls trailing flocks of foraging Common Mergansers. They wait for the ducks to come to the surface and then try to steal their prey rather than fishing on their own. Occasionally even a Bald Eagle will try to steal a fish from a merganser.
The oldest Common Merganser on record was a female, and at least 13 years, 5 months old. She was banded in Oklahoma in 1938 and found in Wisconsin in 1950

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/common_merganser/id

Myna Bird
Myna Common, Princeville Kauai USA 2017

Common myna is a species of bird that belongs to the starling family. It originates from Central, South and Southeast Asia. Common myna was deliberately introduced to New Zealand and Australia to eradicate several species of pest insects in the 19th century. Unfortunately, this bird soon adapted to the new environment and became one of the most notorious pest in Australia. Common myna inhabits shrubby woodlands, open fields, floodplains and grasslands in the wild. It is very common in urban areas where it inhabits parks, gardens and areas filled with garbage. Common myna is widespread and numerous in the wild (nothing currently threatens its survival).

Interesting Common myna Facts:

Common myna can reach 9.1 inches in length and 3.8 to 4.9 ounces of weight.
Common myna has dark brown body, white-tipped tail and white patch on the bottom side of the wings (visible during the flight). Head, throat and upper part of the breasts are covered with black feathers. Eyes are encircled with bare yellow skin.
Common myna has stocky body, straight, stout bill, large feet and short tail.
Common myna uses its strong legs to walk (rather than to hop) on the ground.
Common myna is an omnivore (it eats plants and meat). Its diet is based on the snails, eggs, immature birds, frogs, insects, fruit and seed.
Common myna often follows the ploughs due to insects that can be collected from the furrowed soil. It occasionally eliminates ticks from the back of cattle.
Common myna often feeds in the groups and produces great damage in the orchards. It pierces the skin of various types of soft fruit and decreases their market value.
Common myna roosts in large flocks that occasionally consist of few thousand birds.
Common myna produces various songs that consist of whistling, squeaking and gurgling sounds. Captive birds are able to mimic humans' speech.
Mating season of common mynas takes place from April to July in India. Common mynas are monogamous birds (they mate for a lifetime).
Common mynas are very aggressive during the breeding season. Pairs of birds often violently fight with each other. Winners get opportunity to build nest on the preferred site.
Common mynas build nest in the cavities of trees, buildings or cliffs. Both parents collect twigs, leaves and grasses for the construction of cup-shaped nest.
Female lays 4 to 5 eggs that hatch after 13 to 18 days. Male provides food for the female during the incubation.
Both parents collect food for their offspring. Young birds are ready to leave the nest 22 to 27 days after hatching. They begin independent life three weeks later. Common myna reaches sexual maturity at the age of one year.
Common myna can survive around 4 years (rarely up to 12 years) in the wild.

https://www.oiseaux.net/maps/common.myna.html
https://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/common_myna_facts/1658/

Northern Cardinal
Allerton Gardens, Poipu, HI 2024

The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.

Habitat
Open WoodlandsLook for Northern Cardinals in dense shrubby areas such as forest edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows, backyards, marshy thickets, mesquite, regrowing forest, and ornamental landscaping. Cardinals nest in dense foliage and look for conspicuous, fairly high perches for singing. Growth of towns and suburbs across eastern North America has helped the cardinal expand its range northward.

Food
SeedsNorthern Cardinals eat mainly seeds and fruit, supplementing these with insects (and feeding nestlings mostly insects). Common fruits and seeds include dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses, sedges, mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, tulip-tree, and corn. Cardinals eat many kinds of birdseed, particularly black oil sunflower seed. They also eat beetles, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, and moths.

Behavior
Ground ForagerNorthern Cardinals hop through low branches and forage on or near the ground. Cardinals commonly sing and preen from a high branch of a shrub. The distinctive crest can be raised and pointed when agitated or lowered and barely visible while resting. You typically see cardinals moving around in pairs during the breeding season, but in fall and winter they can form fairly large flocks of a dozen to several dozen birds. During foraging, young birds give way to adults and females tend to give way to males. Cardinals sometimes forage with other species, including Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, other sparrow species, Tufted Titmice, goldfinches, and Pyrrhuloxias. They fly somewhat reluctantly on their short, round wings, taking short trips between thickets while foraging. Pairs may stay together throughout winter, but up to 20 percent of pairs split up by the next season.

Cool Facts

Only a few female North American songbirds sing, but the female Northern Cardinal does, and often while sitting on the nest. This may give the male information about when to bring food to the nest. A mated pair shares song phrases, but the female may sing a longer and slightly more complex song than the male.
Many people are perplexed each spring by the sight of a cardinal attacking its reflection in a window, car mirror, or shiny bumper. Both males and females do this, and most often in spring and early summer when they are obsessed with defending their territory against any intruders. Birds may spend hours fighting these intruders without giving up. A few weeks later, as levels of aggressive hormones subside, these attacks should end (though one female kept up this behavior every day or so for six months without stopping).
The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in glass surfaces, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder.
A perennial favorite among people, the Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states.
The oldest recorded Northern Cardinal was a female, and was 15 years, 9 months old when she was found in Pennsylvania.

Northern Pintail
Ventura Harbor, Oxnard California USA 2023

Northern Pintail
Anas acuta
ORDER: Anseriformes
FAMILY: Anatidae

Elegant Northern Pintails swim through wetlands and lakes with their slender necks and long, pointed tails held high. Intricately patterned and pale-faced females join males fashioned with a signature white stripe down their chocolate-colored necks. These eager breeders head to the prairie pothole region of the Great Plains, as well as Canada, and Alaska to nest as soon as the ice breaks up. Large groups congregate in wetlands, lakes, bays, and even waddle through agricultural fields eating grains during the winter. Though still common, their populations are declining.

Size & Shape
Northern Pintails are elegant, long-necked ducks with a slender profile. The tail is long and pointed, but it is much longer and more prominent on breeding males than on females and non-breeding males. In flight, the wings are long and narrow.

Color Pattern
Breeding male Northern Pintails stand out with a gleaming white breast and a white line down their chocolate brown head and neck. Females and males that are molting (eclipse plumage) are mottled in browns and whites with an unmarked pale tan face and a dark bill. In flight, males flash a green speculum (the inner wing feathers or secondaries) and females flash a bronzy speculum

Behavior
Northern Pintails dabble on the surface of the water and filter out seeds and insects with their bills. They also waddle at the edges of wetlands and through agricultural fields feeding on grain and insects. They form large groups and readily associate with other ducks during the non-breeding season.

Habitat
Northern Pintails nest in seasonal wetlands, croplands, grasslands, wet meadows, and shortgrass prairies. They forage in nearby shallow wetlands, lakes, and ponds. They spend the non-breeding season in wetlands, ponds, lakes, bays, tidal marshes, and flooded agricultural fields.

Cool Facts

When it comes to breeding, Northern Pintails don't waste any time. They start nesting as soon as the ice starts to thaw, arriving by late April in places as far north as the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Northern Pintails migrate at night at speeds around 48 miles per hour. The longest nonstop flight recorded for a Northern Pintail was 1,800 miles.
Northern Pintails aren't restricted to North America; they also occur in Europe, the Middle East, India, and Asia. In South America the White-cheeked Pintail and the Yellow-billed Pintail take their place.
The oldest recorded Northern Pintail was a male, and at least 22 years, 3 months old when he was shot in Saskatchewan, Canada in 1994.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/overview

Osprey
Yellowstone National Park Tower Point, Wyoming USA 2007

These are majestic and swift birds as they soar overhead in search of food for their young. I had to drop down to my 28-300 zoom to follow this one in-flight and got lucky. They are facing a decline in numbers around the park and significantly around Yellowstone Lake. This is a case of the domino effect that we are seeing all too often. Native cutthroat trout are being squeezed out by non-native lake trout, which impacts up the chain to the Osprey. Imagine the early 70s and seeing over 70,000 cutthroats and going back today and counting only 471!!! And to make matters worse, a fire in 2003 on Frank Island, in the middle of the lake, burnt 570 of 600 acres and took with it the old-growth trees that were an excellent habitat for breeding. In 2007, just nine pairs were breeding on the island and produced three young.

Size & Shape
Ospreys are very large, distinctively shaped hawks. Despite their size, their bodies are slender, with long, narrow wings and long legs. Ospreys fly with a marked kink in their wings, making an M-shape when seen from below.
Color Pattern
Ospreys are brown above and white below, and overall they are whiter than most raptors. From below, the wings are mostly white with a prominent dark patch at the wrists. The head is white with a broad brown stripe through the eye. Juveniles have white spots on the back and buffy shading on the breast.
Behavior
Ospreys search for fish by flying on steady wingbeats and bowed wings or circling high in the sky over relatively shallow water. They often hover briefly before diving, feet first, to grab a fish. You can often clearly see an Osprey's catch in its talons as the bird carries it back to a nest or perch.
Habitat
Look for Ospreys around nearly any body of water: saltmarshes, rivers, ponds, reservoirs, estuaries, and even coral reefs. Their conspicuous stick nests are placed in the open on poles, channel markers, and dead trees, often over water.

Cool Facts

An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime. Scientists track Ospreys by strapping lightweight satellite transmitters to the birds’ backs. The devices pinpoint an Osprey's location to within a few hundred yards and last for 2-3 years. During 13 days in 2008, one Osprey flew 2,700 miles—from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, to French Guiana, South America.
Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.
Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. The older hatchling dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, chicks share meals in relative harmony; in times of scarcity, younger ones may starve to death.
The name "Osprey" made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for "bird of prey" (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for "bone-breaker"—ossifragus.
The oldest known Osprey was at least 25 years, 2 months old, and lived in Virginia.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/lifehistory

Osprey Family
New Melones Reservoir, Sierra Foothills California USA 2011

Osprey Family Male Landing with Meal
New Melones Reservoir, Sierra Foothills California USA 2011

Osprey Family Spreading Wings
New Melones Reservoir, Sierra Foothills California USA 2011

A lot of patience and time went into getting this shot. A katak ride in May 2011 and then a June hike to a seculded spot in a far corner of the lake that had a natural blind, allowing us to get close and personal. We spent a good portion of the day watching the male and female care and defend their two chicks, with plenty of meals and aggressive tactics to keep away all predators. Just one look into their eyes tells it all!!!

Unique among North American raptors for its diet of live fish and ability to dive into water to catch them, Ospreys are common sights soaring over shorelines, patrolling waterways, and standing on their huge stick nests, white heads gleaming. These large, rangy hawks do well around humans and have rebounded in numbers following the ban on the pesticide DDT. Hunting Ospreys are a picture of concentration, diving with feet outstretched and yellow eyes sighting straight along their talons.

One of the largest birds of prey in North America, the Osprey eats almost exclusively fish. It is one of the most widespread birds in theworld, found on all continents except Antarctica..

Size & Shape
Ospreys are very large, distinctively shaped hawks. Despite their size, their bodies are slender, with long, narrow wings and long legs. Ospreys fly with a marked kink in their wings, making an M-shape when seen from below.
Color Pattern
Ospreys are brown above and white below, and overall they are whiter than most raptors. From below, the wings are mostly white with a prominent dark patch at the wrists. The head is white with a broad brown stripe through the eye. Juveniles have white spots on the back and buffy shading on the breast.
Behavior
Ospreys search for fish by flying on steady wingbeats and bowed wings or circling high in the sky over relatively shallow water. They often hover briefly before diving, feet first, to grab a fish. You can often clearly see an Osprey's catch in its talons as the bird carries it back to a nest or perch.
Habitat
Look for Ospreys around nearly any body of water: saltmarshes, rivers, ponds, reservoirs, estuaries, and even coral reefs. Their conspicuous stick nests are placed in the open on poles, channel markers, and dead trees, often over water.

Cool Facts

An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime. Scientists track Ospreys by strapping lightweight satellite transmitters to the birds’ backs. The devices pinpoint an Osprey's location to within a few hundred yards and last for 2-3 years. During 13 days in 2008, one Osprey flew 2,700 miles—from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, to French Guiana, South America.
Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.
Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. The older hatchling dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, chicks share meals in relative harmony; in times of scarcity, younger ones may starve to death.
The name "Osprey" made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for "bird of prey" (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for "bone-breaker"—ossifragus.
The oldest known Osprey was at least 25 years, 2 months old, and lived in Virginia.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/lifehistory

Osprey Nest
Columbia River, Oregon USA 2002

One of the largest birds of prey in North America, the Osprey eats almost exclusively fish. It is one of the most widespread birds in the world, found on all continents except Antarctica.

Description

Large raptor
White breast and belly
Black back and wings
Long wings, held with wingtips angled slightly backwards
Dark eyestripe
Crown and forehead white
Size: 54-58 cm (21-23 in)
Wingspan: 150-180 cm (59-71 in)
Weight: 1400-2000 g (49.42-70.6 ounces)

Sound

Calls are short, chirping whistles

Cool Facts

An Osprey may log more than 160,000 migration miles during its 15-to-20-year lifetime. Scientists track Ospreys by strapping lightweight satellite transmitters to the birds’ backs. The devices pinpoint an Osprey's location to within a few hundred yards and last for 2-3 years. During 13 days in 2008, one Osprey flew 2,700 miles—from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, to French Guiana, South America.
Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.
Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.
The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.
Osprey eggs do not hatch all at once. Rather, the first chick emerges up to five days before the last one. The older hatchling dominates its younger siblings, and can monopolize the food brought by the parents. If food is abundant, chicks share meals in relative harmony; in times of scarcity, younger ones may starve to death.
The name "Osprey" made its first appearance around 1460, via the Medieval Latin phrase for "bird of prey" (avis prede). Some wordsmiths trace the name even further back, to the Latin for "bone-breaker"—ossifragus.
The oldest known Osprey was 25 years, 2 months old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Osprey/id

Pacific Golden Plover 2024
Princeville, Hawaii USA 2024

During the breeding season, Pacific Golden-Plovers dazzle with gold-spangled feathers and a jet-black face and breast. These graceful, long-winged shorebirds breed on arctic tundra, usually in lower, wetter slopes than the closely related American Golden-Plover. Both species perform fluttery courtship flights, giving mellow calls. After breeding, Pacific Golden-Plovers head far out over the sea to spend winters as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Horn of Africa.

Size & Shape:

A medium-sized shorebird with an upright posture, rather large head, slim neck, long wings, and relatively long legs.
Relative Size: Larger than a Killdeer, less bulky and slightly smaller than a Black-bellied Plover.
Measurements

Both Sexes
Length: 9.1-10.2 in (23-26 cm)
Weight: 3.6-3.8 oz (102-108 g)

Color Pattern
Adults in breeding plumage are gold-spangled above, blackish below, with a white “scarf” extending from brow to flanks. Adult nonbreeding birds have strong gold tones above and are dingy grayish below. Juveniles are rich gold above, mottled grayish below, with a gold-toned face.

Behavior
Pacific Golden-Plovers forage in typical plover fashion, running along and suddenly stopping to scan or seize prey; they also dig small pits to unearth prey. They form flocks in migration and on wintering grounds. Males sing and perform graceful aerial displays on breeding grounds.

Habitat
Nests on tundra, sometimes in higher, drier tundra in mountains but usually in lower slopes with dwarf shrubs or sedges. Migrants and wintering birds use agricultural fields, lawns, parks, pasture, sod farms, estuaries, mudflats, salt marshes, beaches, and mangroves.

Cool Facts

Pacific Golden-Plovers drive most other shorebird species out of their breeding territories, but they tolerate Dunlins, which often stand close to golden-plovers, call with them, and even fly with them. Reflecting this curious relationship, the Icelandic name for the Dunlin translates as “plover-slave,” and in nineteenth-century England, the Dunlin was called the “plover’s page.”
The migration of the Pacific Golden-Plover is remarkable: from the Arctic breeding grounds, many travel over 8,000 miles to wintering grounds in the Pacific and Indian Oceans!
The winter range of the Pacific Golden-Plover extends across nearly half of the earth's circumference, from California, to Hawaii, to Asia, to northeastern Africa.
Young Pacific Golden-Plovers are able to run soon after hatching. The first-hatched chicks forage near the nest while the adult continues to incubate late-hatching eggs.
The Pacific Golden-Plover and the American Golden-Plover were once considered subspecies of the same species. However, where their breeding ranges overlap in western Alaska, they nest in slightly different habitats, have different display calls, and do not interbreed. They are now classified as different species.
The oldest recorded Pacific Golden-Plover was at least 21 years, 4 months old when it was recaptured during banding operations.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pacific_Golden-Plover

Pine Grosbeak
Yellowstone National Park, Montana USA 2011

One of the larger members of its family, the Pine Grosbeak is a bird of the boreal forests, found across northern Eurasia and North America, and south into the mountains of western Canada and the United States. A large, unwary finch, it makes periodic winter irruptions into southern Canada and northern United States. It is the largest and rarest of the "winter finches."

Size & Shape:

Adult Description
Plump, heavy-chested.
Dark wings with two white wingbars.
Large stubby curved bill.
Male red.Large finch; medium-sized songbird.

Male Description
Pinkish-red head, breast, back and rump. Streaked back. White undertail coverts. Blackish brown wings and tail. White wingbars and tertial edges.

Female Description
Yellowish olive head and rump. Gray underparts and back. Blackish brown wings and tail. White wingbars and tertial edges.

Immature Description
Immature male usually is indistinguishable from immature or adult female until the second year when it molts and grows new reddish feathers. Some young males have some red or orange feathers in the body plumage, which females apparently lack. Females average duller than males (especially on the crown and rump) and have a lighter russet tinge to the head or lighter olive tinge to the breast than males. The color of the head and body is often golden orange or reddish bronze in males, in contrast to golden yellow of the female, and the chin is often buffier or more brown-gray than in the female.

Cool Facts

The tameness and slow-moving behavior of the Pine Grosbeak gave rise to local name in Newfoundland of "mope."
Winter flocks may stay near a tree with abundant fruit until all of it is consumed.
A breeding adult Pine Grosbeak develops pouches in the floor of its mouth for carrying food to its young.
During most of the year, 99% of diet is vegetable matter, especially buds, seeds, and fruits of spruce, pine, juniper, elm, maple, mountain ash, apple, and crabapple. It feeds insects and spiders to its young, though, often mixed with plant foods. It drinks water or eats snow daily.
The oldest recorded Pine Grosbeak was a male, and at least 9 years, 9 months old when he was found in Quebec in 1970. He had been banded in Connecticut in 1961.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pine_Grosbeak/id

Pygmy Nuthatch
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2020

Pygmy Nuthatch
Sitta pygmaea
ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Sittidae

Small even by nuthatch standards, Pygmy Nuthatches are tiny bundles of hyperactive energy that climb up and down ponderosa pines giving rubber-ducky calls to their flockmates. Their buffy-white underparts set off a crisp brown head, slate-gray back, and sharp, straight bill. Pygmy Nuthatches breed in large extended-family groups, which is one reason why you’ll often see a half-dozen at a time. Look for them in open forests of older ponderosa pines across the West.

Size & Shape
A tiny bird with a relatively large, rounded head, no discernible neck, and a straight, sharp bill. The legs are short, the wings are short and broad, and the tail is short and square.

Color Pattern
Bluish-gray above with a sharply defined brown crown and pale nape spot. The throat is white and the underside creamy buff. Some subspecies show a blackish line through eye.

Behavior
These energetic songbirds forage by climbing pine trunks and branches to search under bark and in needle clusters for insects and seeds. They move constantly and give short, squeaky calls, often mixing with chickadees, kinglets, and other songbirds. Pygmy Nuthatches are highly social: they breed cooperatively and also pile in to cavities in groups to roost communally on cold winter nights.

Habitat
Pygmy Nuthatches live in pine forests in western North America; they especially favor mature ponderosa pine forests. They are typically found at lower and middle elevations where ponderosa pine grows, but can sometimes occur up to 10,000 feet

Cool Facts

The Pygmy Nuthatch is one of only a few songbirds in North America (and only two nuthatch species worldwide) with nest helpers. Breeding pairs often get assistance from relatives—including their own grown offspring—when raising a young brood. The helpers defend the nest and feed incubating females and chicks.
They survive cold nights by sheltering themselves in tree cavities, huddling together, and letting their body temperature drop into hypothermia. They and the unrelated Vaux's Swift are the only bird species in North America that combine those three energy-saving mechanisms.
No records exist of Pygmy Nuthatches roosting alone. They always huddle in groups. In the 1950s, a biologist watched 150 Pygmy Nuthatches pile into roost holes in a single tree—at least 100 in a single hole.
Pygmy Nuthatches in aspen forests of Arizona often dig out nest cavities within scars or darkened patches of bark. One incubating female repeatedly climbed out and covered the entrance with her body, her dark back camouflaged against a dark scar on the trunk, to prevent a red squirrel from finding the nest.
What does it take to keep such a tiny, hyperactive bird running? Pygmy Nuthatches weigh about a third of an ounce, and the food they eat each day adds up to a whopping 9 calories (or technically, kilocalories).
A late Pleistocene fossil of a Pygmy Nuthatch, at least 11,000 years old, was unearthed in California. A fossilized member of its genus (Sitta) was found in France, possibly dating to the mid-to-late Miocene, at least 23 million years ago.

Common Raven
Yosemite National Park, California USA Winter 2009

Common Raven Snow Beak
Yosemite National Park, California USA 2007

Common Raven Pushing the Limit
Yosemite National Park, California USA 2009

Common Raven Juvenile
Yosemite National Park, California USA 2012

The intriguing Common Raven has accompanied people around the Northern Hemisphere for centuries, following their wagons, sleds, sleighs, and hunting parties in hopes of a quick meal. Ravens are among the smartest of all birds, gaining a reputation for solving ever more complicated problems invented by ever more creative scientists. These big, sooty birds thrive among humans and in the back of beyond, stretching across the sky on easy, flowing wingbeats and filling the empty spaces with an echoing croak.

Size & Shape
Not just large but massive, with a thick neck, shaggy throat feathers, and a Bowie knife of a beak. In flight, ravens have long, wedge-shaped tails. They're more slender than crows, with longer, narrower wings, and longer, thinner “fingers” at the wingtips.
Color Pattern
Common Ravens are entirely black, right down to the legs, eyes, and beak.
Behavior
Common Ravens aren’t as social as crows; you tend to see them alone or in pairs except at food sources like landfills. Ravens are confident, inquisitive birds that strut around or occasionally bound forward with light, two-footed hops. In flight they are buoyant and graceful, interspersing soaring, gliding, and slow flaps.
Habitat
Common Ravens live in open and forest habitats across western and northern North America. This includes deciduous and evergreen forests up to treeline, as well as high desert, sea coast, sagebrush, tundra, and grasslands. They do well around people, particularly rural settlements but also some towns and cities.

Cool Facts

The Common Raven is an acrobatic flier, often doing rolls and somersaults in the air. One bird was seen flying upside down for more than a half-mile. Young birds are fond of playing games with sticks, repeatedly dropping them, then diving to catch them in midair.
Breeding pairs of Common Ravens hold territories and try to exclude all other ravens throughout the year. In winter, young ravens finding a carcass will call other ravens to the prize. They apparently do this to overwhelm the local territory owners by force of numbers to gain access to the food.
Common Ravens are smart, which makes them dangerous predators. They sometimes work in pairs to raid seabird colonies, with one bird distracting an incubating adult and the other waiting to grab an egg or chick as soon as it’s uncovered. They’ve been seen waiting in trees as ewes give birth, then attacking the newborn lambs.
They also use their intellect to put together cause and effect. A study in Wyoming discovered that during hunting season, the sound of a gunshot draws ravens in to investigate a presumed carcass, whereas the birds ignore sounds that are just as loud but harmless, such as an airhorn or a car door slamming.
People the world over sense a certain kind of personality in ravens. Edgar Allan Poe clearly found them a little creepy. The captive ravens at the Tower of London are beloved and perhaps a little feared: legend has it that if they ever leave the tower, the British Empire will crumble. Native people of the Pacific Northwest regard the raven as an incurable trickster, bringing fire to people by stealing it from the sun, and stealing salmon only to drop them in rivers all over the world.
Increasing raven populations threaten some vulnerable species including desert tortoises, Marbled Murrelets, and Least Terns. Ravens can cause trouble for people too. They’ve been implicated in causing power outages by contaminating insulators on power lines, fouling satellite dishes at the Goldstone Deep Space Site, peeling radar absorbent material off buildings at the Chinal Lake Naval Weapons center, pecking holes in airplane wings, stealing golf balls, opening campers’ tents, and raiding cars left open at parks.
Common Ravens can mimic the calls of other bird species. When raised in captivity, they can even imitate human words; one Common Raven raised from birth was taught to mimic the word “nevermore.”
The oldest known wild Common Raven was at least 22 years, 7 months old. It was banded and found in Nova Scotia.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/id

Red-breasted Nuthatch
Yellowstone National Park, Montana USA 2023

Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta canadensis
ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Sittidae

An intense bundle of energy at your feeder, Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops.

Size & Shape
A small, compact bird with a sharp expression accentuated by its long, pointed bill. Red-breasted Nuthatches have very short tails and almost no neck; the body is plump or barrel-chested, and the short wings are very broad.

RELATIVE SIZE
Noticeably smaller than a White-breasted Nuthatch

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 4.3 in (11 cm)
Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (8-13 g)
Wingspan: 7.1-7.9 in (18-20 cm)

Color Pattern
Red-breasted Nuthatches are blue-gray birds with strongly patterned heads: a black cap and stripe through the eye broken up by a white stripe over the eye. The underparts are rich rusty-cinnamon, paler in females.

Behavior
Red-breasted Nuthatches move quickly over trunks and branches probing for food in crevices and under flakes of bark. They creep up, down, and sideways without regard for which way is up, and they don’t lean against their tail the way woodpeckers do. Flight is short and bouncy

Habitat
Red-breasted Nuthatches are mainly birds of coniferous woods and mountains. Look for them among spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, larch, and western red cedar as well as around aspens and poplars. In northeastern North America you can also find them in forests of oak, hickory, maple, birch, and other deciduous trees.

Cool Facts

The Red-breasted Nuthatch collects resin globules from coniferous trees and plasters them around the entrance of its nest hole. It may carry the resin in its bill or on pieces of bark that it uses as an applicator. The male puts the resin primarily around the outside of the hole while the female puts it around the inside. The resin may help to keep out predators or competitors. The nuthatch avoids the resin by diving directly through the hole.
During nest building, the Red-breasted Nuthatch is aggressive, chasing away other hole-nesting birds such as the House Wren, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Downy Woodpecker. A particularly feisty nuthatch may go after Yellow-rumped Warblers, House Finches, Violet-Green Swallows, and Cordilleran Flycatchers.
Red-breasted Nuthatches migrate southward earlier than many irruptive species. They may begin in early July and may reach their southernmost point by September or October.
Red-breasted Nuthatches sometimes steal nest-lining material from the nests of other birds, including Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees.
The oldest known Red-breasted Nuthatch was 7 years, 6 months old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-breasted_Nuthatch

Red-Crested Cardinal
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2023

Red-Crested Cardinal
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2024

Red-Crested Cardinal
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2024

Red-Crested Cardinal
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2024

Red-crested Cardinal gets its common name from its red head and prominent crest. Native to northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, Red-crested Cardinal has been introduced to various regions of the world including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Mainly a seed eater, Red-crested Cardinal generally searches for seeds and small arthropods on or near the ground. Red-crested Cardinal's natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and heavily degraded former forest

Appearance
The Red-crested Cardinal is a medium-sized bird with a distinctive appearance. It has a bright red crest and breast, and deep blue wings and tail.

Size
The birds grow to 7.5 inches (19 centimeters) long.

Behavior
It is an energetic and active species, known for its acrobatic flight and playful behavior. In its natural habitat, it can often be seen foraging on the ground or in low vegetation, searching for seeds and insects to eat. It is a vocal bird, with a variety of different calls and songs that it uses to communicate with other members of its flock.

Native Habitat
The red-crested cardinal is native to Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. It has also been introduced to Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Red-crested cardinals live in semi-open areas with shrubs and trees, such as parks, lawns, tropical shrub land and degraded forests. In Hawaii and other introduced locations, the Red-crested Cardinal can be found in a variety of habitats, including gardens, parks, and other urban and suburban areas. It is a adaptable species that is able to thrive in a variety of environments, and is often attracted to areas with a good supply of seeds and insects to eat.

Food/Eating Habits
Red-crested cardinals eat fruit, seeds and insects.

Social Structure
Red-crested cardinals are often found in pairs or small family groups.

Reproduction and Development
The red-crested cardinal will lay two to five eggs. The eggs have a 12 to 13 day incubation period. They breed readily in human care.

Lifespan
Red-crested cardinals live 3 to 6 years in the wild and about 13 years in human care.

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/reccar/cur/acknowledgments
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-crested-cardinal
https://hawaiibirdguide.com/red-crested-cardinal/

Red-footed Booby
Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse, HI 2024

Large seabird of offshore tropical waters around the globe; not seen from the mainland. Adult plumage is variable, but all have bright red feet and colorful bill and face; some have wholly brown plumage, others are white with a black trailing edge to the wings; the tail can be black or white. Immatures of all types are brown overall with dull pinkish feet. Looks smaller and more slender than other boobies, with more crooked wings. Nests on offshore islands (usually in trees and bushes, unlike other boobies, which nest on the ground).

Field Identification
Smallest booby. Slim-bodied and long-winged, with relatively longest tail within genus. Overall length 69–79 cm; mass 850–1,100 g; wingspan 134–150 cm Howell et al. 2014. Female larger than male. Adult with feet and legs orange-red to red, billvideo mostly bluish gray, and base of lower mandible pinkish. Bare facial skin brightly colored: a combination of pink to red, and light blue. Male has lime green or bluish green patch under and in front of eye prior to breeding, which fades quickly once incubation begins (Palmer 1962a, EAS); otherwise sexes indistinguishable. Soft-part colors fade universally as nesting season progresses.

Distribution
Hawaiian Islands. See Figure 1 and Table 1. Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Laysan, Lisianski, Gardner Pinnacles, French Frigate Shoals, Necker, Nihoa, Kauai, Oahu, and Johnston Atoll

Habitat
Strictly marine and largely pelagic. Breeds on islets with abundant vegetation. Mainly coral atolls or volcanic islands, pantropical. Nests primarily in shrubs or trees, e.g., beach magnolia (Scaevola sericea), beach heliotrope (Tournefortia argentea), but will use almost any plant, and sometimes deserted man-made structures (Nelson 1978c; EAS, RWS, GAS). Prefers to nest at heights of >1 m, but readily nests on clumps of grass if no bushes present. On large islands, found nesting up to 5–8 km inland. Generally does not nest in shade. Abbott's Booby is the only other arboreal booby.

Diet and Foraging
Main foods taken ~ Mostly flying fish (Exocetidae) and squid (Ommastrephidae; Palmer 1962a, Schreiber and Hensley 1976, Nelson 1978c).

Food capture and consumption ~ Feeds mostly by diving vertically into the water, generally from 4-8 m in the air, out of sight of land (EAS, RWS, GAS). May catch flying fish in air (Palmer 1962a, Diamond 1974). Sometimes makes oblique, shallow surface dives, or sits on water to grab prey at surface (Diamond 1974). Flying-fish also taken in flight. Dives are generally fairly shallow, often < 1 m Lewis et al. 2005 and c. 5 m maximum depth on average, but perhaps also employs underwater pursuit swimming LeCorre 1997. Prey never carried in beak while flying; always swallowed first. Feeds singly or in flocks, numbering a few to several hundred.

Locomotion
Walking and hopping ~ Rarely seen to walk bipedally, since usually found in trees. Hops from limb to limb to move: often doing an upright posture with neck arched, head down, bill pointed down as it finishes moving. Function of this behavior unknown (Nelson 1978c).

Flight ~ Strong flapping flight interspersed with gliding. Seen to glide for as much as a mile without flapping. At sea, flight velocity of 8 birds estimated at 12.8 m/s (Ballance 1995). Rarely seen flying in lines, as pelicans (Pelecanus) do. Will glide just above wave crests, as well as higher. May congregate in updraft and gain altitude before heading out to sea from roost or colony (Verner 1965b). May give preflight intention movements: wing-flicking (rapidly jerking wings half-open and shut) or wing-rattling (wings slightly raised, out from body a little, are rapidly jerked horizontally: Nelson 1978c).

Swimming and diving ~ Sits on water to bathe, preen, and rest; does not seem to swim distances. Plunges from air to catch fish and squid; not known to swim underwater. Depth of dive unknown.

Stance ~ When sitting relaxed, head retracted onto body, plumage smooth. When alert, head is up, neck extended, plumage may be ruffled depending on degree of alertness. Holds body more horizontally when standing than Brown Booby does.

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/refboo/cur/breeding

Red Shoulder Hawk
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2011

Red-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus
ORDER: Accipitriformes
FAMILY: Accipitridae

Whether wheeling over a swamp forest or whistling plaintively from a riverine park, a Red-shouldered Hawk is typically a sign of tall woods and water. It’s one of our most distinctively marked common hawks, with barred reddish-peachy underparts and a strongly banded tail. In flight, translucent crescents near the wingtips help to identify the species at a distance. These forest hawks hunt prey ranging from mice to frogs and snakes.

Size & Shape
Red-shouldered Hawks are medium-sized, with broad, rounded wings and medium-length tails that they fan out when soaring. In flight, they often glide or soar with their wingtips pushed slightly forward, imparting a distinctive, “reaching” posture.

RELATIVE SIZE
Noticeably smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk; larger than a Broad-winged Hawk.

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 16.9-24.0 in (43-61 cm)
Weight: 17.1-27.3 oz (486-774 g)
Wingspan: 37.0-43.7 in (94-111 cm)

Color Pattern
Adults are colorful hawks with dark-and-white checkered wings and warm reddish barring on the breast. The tail is black with narrow white bands. Immatures are brown above and white below streaked with brown. All ages show narrow, pale crescents near the wingtips in flight

Behavior
Red-shouldered Hawks soar over forests or perch on tree branches or utility wires. Its rising, whistled kee-rah is a distinctive sound of the forest. They hunt small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles either from perches or while flying.

Cool Facts

Although the American Crow often mobs the Red-shouldered Hawk, sometimes the relationship is not so one-sided. They may chase each other and try to steal food from each other. They may also both attack a Great Horned Owl and join forces to chase the owl out of the hawk's territory.
The Great Horned Owl often takes nestling Red-shouldered Hawks, but the hawk occasionally turns the tables. While a Red-shouldered Hawk was observed chasing a Great Horned Owl, its mate took a young owl out of its nest and ate it.
Red-shouldered Hawks return to the same nesting territory year after year. One Red-shouldered Hawk occupied a territory in southern California for 16 consecutive years.
By the time they are five days old, nestling Red-shouldered Hawks can shoot their feces over the edge of their nest. Bird poop on the ground is a sign of an active nest.
The Red-shouldered Hawk is divided into five subspecies. The four eastern forms contact each other, but the West Coast form is separated from the eastern forms by 1600 km (1000 mi). The northern form is the largest. The form in very southern Florida is the palest, having a gray head and very faint barring on the chest.
The oldest-known Red-shouldered hawk was a female, and at least 25 years, 10 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 2000. She had been banded in the same state in 1974.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk

Red Tail Hawk
Emigrant Wilderness, California USA 2011

Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
ORDER: Accipitriformes
FAMILY: Accipitridae

This is probably the most common hawk in North America. If you’ve got sharp eyes you’ll see several individuals on almost any long car ride, anywhere. Red-tailed Hawks soar above open fields, slowly turning circles on their broad, rounded wings. Other times you’ll see them atop telephone poles, eyes fixed on the ground to catch the movements of a vole or a rabbit, or simply waiting out cold weather before climbing a thermal updraft into the sky.

Size & Shape
Red-tailed Hawks are large hawks with typical Buteo proportions: very broad, rounded wings and a short, wide tail. Large females seen from a distance might fool you into thinking you’re seeing an eagle. (Until an actual eagle comes along.)

RELATIVE SIZE
The Red-tailed is the second-largest Buteo hawk in North America, after Ferruginous Hawk.
Relative Size: between crow and goose

MEASUREMENTS
Male
Length: 17.7-22.1 in (45-56 cm)
Weight: 24.3-45.9 oz (690-1300 g)
Wingspan: 44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)
Female
Length: 19.7-25.6 in (50-65 cm)
Weight: 31.8-51.5 oz (900-1460 g)
Wingspan: 44.9-52.4 in (114-133 cm)

Color Pattern
Most Red-tailed Hawks are rich brown above and pale below, with a streaked belly and, on the wing underside, a dark bar between shoulder and wrist. The tail is usually pale below and cinnamon-red above, though in young birds it’s brown and banded. “Dark-morph” birds are all chocolate-brown with a warm red tail. “Rufous-morph” birds are reddish-brown on the chest with a dark belly.

Behavior
You’ll most likely see Red-tailed Hawks soaring in wide circles high over a field. When flapping, their wingbeats are heavy. In high winds they may face into the wind and hover without flapping, eyes fixed on the ground. They attack in a slow, controlled dive with legs outstretched – much different from a falcon’s stoop.

Habitat
The Red-tailed Hawk is a bird of open country. Look for it along fields and perched on telephones poles, fenceposts, or trees standing alone or along edges of fields.

Cool Facts

The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think. Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.
Birds are amazingly adapted for life in the air. The Red-tailed Hawk is one of the largest birds you’ll see in North America, yet even the biggest females weigh in at only about 3 pounds. A similar-sized small dog might weigh 10 times that.
The "Harlan's Hawk" breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada, and winters on the southern Great Plains. This very dark form of the Red-tailed Hawk has a marbled white, brown, and gray tail instead of a red one. It’s so distinctive that it was once considered a separate species, until ornithologists discovered many individuals that were intermediate between Harlan's and more typical Red-tailed Hawks.
Courting Red-tailed Hawks put on a display in which they soar in wide circles at a great height. The male dives steeply, then shoots up again at an angle nearly as steep. After several of these swoops he approaches the female from above, extends his legs, and touches her briefly. Sometimes, the pair grab onto one other, clasp talons, and plummet in spirals toward the ground before pulling away.
Red-tailed Hawks have been seen hunting as a pair, guarding opposite sides of the same tree to catch tree squirrels.
The oldest known wild Red-tailed Hawk was at least 30 years, 8 months old when it was found in Michigan, the same state where it had been banded.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-tailed_hawk/id

Red-winged Blackbird
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2023

Red-winged Blackbird (California Bicolored)
Agelaius phoeniceus
ORDER: Passeriformes
FAMILY: Icteridae

One of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the Red-winged Blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

Size & Shape
A stocky, broad-shouldered blackbird with a slender, conical bill and a medium-length tail. Red-winged Blackbirds often show a hump-backed silhouette while perched; males often sit with tail slightly flared.

Color Pattern
Male Red-winged Blackbirds are hard to mistake. They're an even glossy black with red-and-yellow shoulder badges. Females are crisply streaked and dark brownish overall, paler on the breast and often show a whitish eyebrow.

Behavior
Male Red-winged Blackbirds do everything they can to get noticed, sitting on high perches and belting out their conk-la-ree! song all day long. Females stay lower, skulking through vegetation for food and quietly weaving together their remarkable nests. In winter Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks to eat grains with other blackbird species and starlings.

Habitat
Look for Red-winged Blackbirds in fresh and saltwater marshes, along watercourses, water hazards on golf courses, and wet roadsides, as well as drier meadows and old fields. In winter, you can find them at crop fields, feedlots, and pastures.

Cool Facts

Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups.
The Red-winged Blackbird is a highly polygynous species, meaning males have many female mates – up to 15 in some cases. In some populations 90 percent of territorial males have more than one female nesting on their territories. But all is not as it seems: one-quarter to one-half of nestlings turn out to have been sired by someone other than the territorial male.
Male Red-winged Blackbirds fiercely defend their territories during the breeding season, spending more than a quarter of daylight hours in territory defense. He chases other males out of the territory and attacks nest predators, sometimes going after much larger animals, including horses and people.
Red-winged Blackbirds roost in flocks in all months of the year. In summer small numbers roost in the wetlands where the birds breed. Winter flocks can be congregations of several million birds, including other blackbird species and starlings. Each morning the roosts spread out, traveling as far as 50 miles to feed, then re-forming at night.
One California subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird lacks the yellow borders to the red shoulders (epaulets) and has been dubbed the “bicolored blackbird.” Some scientists think this plumage difference may help Red-winged Blackbirds recognize each other where their range overlaps with the similar Tricolored Blackbird.
The oldest recorded Red-winged Blackbird was 15 years, 9 months old. It was banded in New Jersey in 1967, and found alive, but injured in Michigan in 1983. It was able to be released after recovering from its injuries.

Snow Goose
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2023

Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid a cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Among them, you might see a dark form with a white head—a color variant called the “Blue Goose.” Snow Geese have skyrocketed in numbers and are now among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent.

This particular individual was caught vacationing in Kauai and are spotted around the islands in winter time. I thought this was an albino at first!

Snow Goose
Anser caerulescens
ORDER: Anseriformes
FAMILY: Anatidae

Size & Shape
A medium-sized goose with a hefty bill and long, thick neck. Juveniles are slightly smaller than adults in the fall, and this can be noticeable in flocks during fall and early winter.

Measurements
Both Sexes
Length: 27.2-32.7 in (69-83 cm)
Weight: 56.4-116.4 oz (1600-3300 g)
Wingspan: 54.3 in (138 cm)

Color Pattern
The Snow Goose is a white-bodied goose with black wingtips that are barely visible on the ground but noticeable in flight. The pink bill has a dark line along it, often called a "grinning patch" or "black lips." You may also see dark morph Snow Geese, or "Blue Geese," with a white face, dark brown body, and white under the tail

Behavior
Snow Geese don’t like to travel without the company of another couple dozen geese and can form flocks of several hundred thousand. Family groups forage together on wintering grounds, digging up roots and tubers from muddy fields and marshes. In flight, they are steady on the wing with even wingbeats.

Cool Facts

The dark color of the blue morph Snow Goose is controlled by a single gene, with dark being partially dominant over white. If a pure dark goose mates with a white goose, the offspring will all be dark (possibly with white bellies). If two white geese mate, they have only white offspring. If two dark geese mate, they will have mostly dark offspring, but might have a few white ones too.
Snow Geese chicks are well developed when they hatch, with open eyes and down-covered bodies that already show whether the adult will have white or dark plumage. Within a few days they are able to maintain a constant body temperature on their own. They grow very quickly, with the males outpacing the females.
The creamy white eggs of Snow Geese stain easily. People can sometimes tell what order the eggs were laid in, just by the color of the shells (the dirtiest shells belong to the oldest eggs).
In wintering and migrating flocks that are feeding, lookouts keep an eye out for eagles and other predators. Upon sighting a threat they call out to the rest of the flock, which may take flight.
Snow Geese make epic journeys by air, but they are impressive on foot, too. Within the first three weeks of hatching, goslings may walk up to 50 miles with their parents from the nest to a more suitable brood-rearing area. Molting Snow Geese can outrun many predators.
Females forage up to 18 hours a day once they arrive at breeding grounds, but eat little once they begin incubating the eggs.
Food passes through the Snow Goose’s digestive tract in only an hour or two, generating 6 to 15 droppings per hour. The defecation rate is highest when a goose is grubbing for rhizomes, because such food is very high in fiber and the goose inevitably swallows mud.
Snow Goose hunting in the eastern United States was stopped in 1916 because of low population levels. Hunting was allowed again in 1975 after populations had recovered. Since then, their populations have continued to grow, to the point that some areas of tundra nesting habitat are starting to suffer.
The oldest Snow Goose on record, a blue morph, was shot in Idaho in 2020. It was 30 years, 8 months old and was originally banded in Arizona in 1990.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snow_Goose/overview

Sooty Grouse
Yosemite National Park Glacier Point, California USA 2006

The Sooty Grouse is a large game bird of the wet mountain forests of the Pacific Coast. Females are intricately camouflaged in brown, buff, and white. Males are a steely gray-blue, but during courtship they reveal orange eye combs and yellow-orange air sacs in the neck. They eat needles, buds, berries, and insects. Unlike their close relative the Dusky Grouse of the Rockies, Sooty Grouse display from perches high up in trees. Their deep, rhythmic hooting calls are loud, but can be difficult to locate.

Find This Bird
Finding Sooty Grouse often involves patience. Try walking quietly or driving through open coniferous woodlands in spring, and listen for the male’s hooting—then take some time to locate the sound. Early in the morning, you may also find Sooty Grouse walking along trails or roadsides, gathering grit for their diet.

Size & Shape
A heavyset, chickenlike bird with a short bill, short, strong legs, and a medium-length tail that can be fanned into a semicircle.

Color Pattern
Both male and female are camouflaged with patterns of brown, gray, white, and black. Males have dark gray tails and paler gray underparts. In display, males reveal yellowish air sacs on the neck, and their eye combs swell and become a rich yellow-orange.

Behavior
Sooty Grouse spend much of the day resting and feeding. They forage on the ground for plants and insects, as well as in trees where they take leaves, needles, and buds, especially in winter. Males display in early spring from perches in trees, making short flights and performing strutting displays on the ground.

Habitat
Mountain and coastal coniferous forests (hemlock, fir, Douglas-fir, pine), mostly where there are openings, as well as subalpine forests, especially ones with extensive grass and shrub understory.

Cool Facts

The Sooty Grouse of the Pacific Coast and the Dusky Grouse of the Rockies were long considered the same species, (“Blue Grouse”), but their displays, plumages, vocalizations, and genetics differ. The two species do sometimes hybridize in a small zone of contact in interior British Colombia.
The Sooty Grouse is the third largest grouse in North America, and one of the largest in the world. The two sage-grouse (Greater and Gunnison) are the only larger American grouse species.
Most bird species have a consistent number of tail feathers (rectrices)—usually around 10 of them. The Sooty Grouse, however, can have from 15 to 22

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sooty_Grouse/overview

Steller's Jay
Yellowstone National Park, Montana USA 2011

A large, dark jay of evergreen forests in the mountainous West. Steller’s Jays are common in forest wildernesses but are also fixtures of campgrounds, parklands, and backyards, where they are quick to spy bird feeders as well as unattended picnic items. When patrolling the woods, Steller’s Jays stick to the high canopy, but you’ll hear their harsh, scolding calls if they’re nearby. Graceful and almost lazy in flight, they fly with long swoops on their broad, rounded wings.

Size & Shape:
Steller’s Jays are large songbirds with large heads, chunky bodies, rounded wings, and a long, full tail. The bill is long, straight, and powerful, with a slight hook. Steller’s Jays have a prominent triangular crest that often stands nearly straight up from their head.
Color Pattern:
At a distance, Steller’s Jays are very dark jays, lacking the white underparts of most other species. The head is charcoal black and the body is all blue (lightest, almost sparkling, on the wings). White markings above the eye are fairly inconspicuous.
Behavior:
Like other jays, Steller’s Jays are bold, inquisitive, intelligent, and noisy. Steller’s Jays spend much of their time exploring the forest canopy, flying with patient wingbeats. They come to the forest floor to investigate visitors and look for food, moving with decisive hops of their long legs.
Habitat:
Look for Steller’s Jays in evergreen forests of western North America, at elevations of 3,000-10,000 feet (lower along the Pacific coast). They’re familiar birds of campgrounds, picnic areas, parks, and backyards.

Cool facts

Steller's and Blue jays are the only North American jays with crests. The Blue Jay is expanding its range westward. Where they meet, the two species occasionally interbreed and produce hybrids.
Steller’s Jays have the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently misspelled names in all of bird watching. Up close, the bird’s dazzling mix of azure and blue is certainly stellar, but that’s not how you spell their name. Steller’s Jays were discovered on an Alaskan island in 1741 by Georg Steller, a naturalist on a Russian explorer’s ship. When a scientist officially described the species, in 1788, they named it after him – along with other discoveries including the Steller’s sea lion and Steller’s Sea-Eagle.
The Steller's Jay and the Blue Jay are the only New World jays that use mud to build their nests.
The Steller's Jay shows a great deal of variation in appearance throughout its range, with some populations featuring black crests and backs, and others blue. One black-crested form in southern Mexico is surrounded by eight other blue-crested forms.
Steller’s Jays are habitual nest-robbers, like many other jay species. They’ve occasionally been seen attacking and killing small adult birds including a Pygmy Nuthatch and a Dark-eyed Junco.
An excellent mimic with a large repertoire, the Steller’s Jay can imitate birds, squirrels, cats, dogs, chickens, and some mechanical objects.
The oldest recorded Steller’s Jay was a male, and at least 16 years 1 month old when he was found in Alaska in 1987. He had been banded in the same state in 1972

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Stellers_Jay/id

White-headed Woodpecker
Kennedy Meadows, California USA 2017

White-headed Woodpecker
Dryobates albolarvatus
ORDER: Piciformes
FAMILY: Picidae

The White-headed Woodpecker is an unusual woodpecker restricted to mountainous pine forests of the western states and British Columbia. It’s a glossy black bird with a gleaming white head and neck, augmented in males with a red crown patch. White-headed Woodpeckers feed heavily on large pine seeds, and are most associated with old-growth ponderosa pine and sugar pine forests. They also often use recently burned areas. They tend not to drill into wood to get insects, but rather flake away bark or probe into needle clusters.

Size & Shape
A medium-sized woodpecker with a trim body, a short, sharp bill, rather long wings, and long tail.

RELATIVE SIZE
Larger than a Downy Woodpecker, smaller than a Northern Flicker; similar in size to Hairy Woodpecker.

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm)
Weight: 1.9-2.3 oz (55-65 g)

Color Pattern
White-headed Woodpeckers are black with a mostly white head and white bases to the outer flight feathers (primary feathers). Males and juveniles have red on the crown.

Behavior
Forages by clinging to pine cones and prying out or hammering out seeds, also by flaking bark and probing pine needle clusters for insects, especially during the breeding season. Also digs rows of shallow holes in trees (“sapwells”) in order to eat sap.

Habitat
Nests in mountain forests, especially where ponderosa pine and sugar pine are abundant.

Cool Facts

The White-headed Woodpecker sometimes places its nest holes in stumps, and even in leaning or fallen logs.
When a White-headed Woodpecker forages at pine cones it usually clings to the sides and bottoms of the cone to avoid getting the sticky sap on its feathers. To eat large pine seeds, the woodpecker wedges them into a crevice in the bark of the tree, where it hammers the seed to break it apart.
Both the male and female incubate the eggs, with the male doing all the nighttime work. Pairs are very attentive to each other during incubation, and often communicate by soft drumming from both inside and outside the nest cavity.
The White-headed Woodpecker was first described to science by John Cassin, from a specimen John Graham Bell collected in El Dorado County, California, during the height of the gold rush. Cassin first classified it in genus Leuconerpes (meaning “white creeper”) but later moved it to its own genus, Xenopicus (“strange woodpecker” or “strange bill,” perhaps because of its short tongue). It’s now in the genus Dryobates (meaning “tree walker”).
The oldest recorded White-headed Woodpecker was a female, and at least 4 years, 1 month old, when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Washington.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-headed_Woodpecker/id

White-rumped Shama
Princeville Kauai, Hawaii USA 2023

Native to southeast Asia, India, and some Indonesian islands, the White-rumped Shama was deliberately introduced to the Hawaiian Archipelago in 1931 as part of an early effort to supplement the native fauna. White-rumped Shamas were released on Kaua'i and O'ahu islands and are now common on both islands. The species is found in a wide range of habitats, including native and introduced forests, agricultural land, and suburban yards. Because it prefers areas with dense undergrowth, it is more often heard than seen. It has striking plumage and a clear, melodious song that can be heard from several hundred meters away, although aural identification is complicated by the species' tendency to mimic other species.

Although introduced bird species may have contributed to the decline of native Hawaiian bird species through competition for food resources or nesting sites, there is no evidence to confirm that the White-rumped Shama has had any negative impacts on native species through direct competition. However, White-rumped Shama populations may act as reservoirs for introduced diseases, such as avian malaria, to which native Hawaiian birds have little resistance.

Classification
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Copsychus
Species: C. malabaricus

Identification
Medium-sized songbird: 22–27 cm long (including male tail 7 cm); mass 22–42 g (tricolor; 2), 31–42 g (suavis; 3). Adults sexually dimorphic and dichromatic. Long graduated tail . Adult male has glossy blue black head, nape, back, and wings, with the wings and tail being less glossy gray-black; bright chestnut breast extends to vent, and noticeably long tail. Adult female has shorter tail, duller breast, and more gray than black above, and lacks the glossy color of the male. In some areas, however, female may look virtually identical to male; this possibly due to geographical variation or an age factor, or both. Both sexes have white rump and white outer tail feathers (which they flash conspicuously when disturbed), black bill, and pink legs. Juvenile is dull gray brown with 2 cinnamon wing-bars and numerous buffy spots on the breast, head, and back; whitish belly to vent, tail as female but shorter; eye gray (2). Rump and outer tail feathers white.

Feeding
They feed on insects in the wild but in captivity they may be fed on a diet of boiled, dried legumes with egg yolk and raw meat.

Voice
The voice of this species is rich and melodious which makes them popular as cage birds in South Asia with the tradition continuing in parts of Southeast Asia. It is loud and clear, with a variety of phrases, and often mimics other birds. They also make a 'Tck' call in alarm or when foraging. One of the first recordings of a bird song that was ever made was of this species. This recording was made in 1889 from a captive individual using an Edison wax cylinder by Ludwig Koch in Germany.

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/whrsha/cur/introduction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-rumped_shama

White-tailed Kite
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2019

White-tailed Kite
Elanus leucurus
ORDER: Accipitriformes
FAMILY: Accipitridae

Grasslands and savannas are great places to fly a kite and that's exactly where you will find the White-tailed Kite, flying as if it were attached to a kite string. With its body turned toward the wind and wings gently flapping, it hovers above the ground, a behavior that’s so distinctive it’s become known as kiting. From above it tips its head down to look for small mammals moving in the grass below. Its white underparts, gleaming white tail, and black shoulder patches are its other marks of distinction.

Size & Shape
A small to medium-sized raptor with narrow, pointed wings and a long tail. When perched, it looks rather big-headed with a long and skinny body.

RELATIVE SIZE
Larger than an American Kestrel, smaller than a Northern Harrier.
Relative Size between crow and goose

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 12.6-15.0 in (32-38 cm)
Weight: 10.6-12.7 oz (300-360 g)
Wingspan: 39.0-43.3 in (99-110 cm)
White-tailed Kite
© Matt Davis | Macaulay Library

Color Pattern
A largely pale raptor easily identified by its entirely white tail and black shoulder patches. Note the white head and red eyes (visible at close range). Sexes are similar.

Cool Facts

During the nonbreeding season, the White-tailed Kite roosts communally. Sometimes more than 100 individuals pile into a few trees or tall shrubs at the edge of a grassland or savanna.
White-tailed Kites have a tiny range in the U.S., but they occur throughout the Americas, breeding as far south as Chile and Argentina. A closely related and very similar species, the Black-shouldered Kite, occurs across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
The oldest recorded White-tailed Kite was at least 6 years old when it was found in California.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Kite/id

White-tailed Ptarmigan
Yosemite Wilderness Dorothy Lake, California USA 1994

Non-native experimental population released 1971-72 in and around Eagle Peak and Twin Lakes

The smallest grouse in North America, the White-tailed Ptarmigan inhabitsalpine regions from Alaska to New Mexico. It has numerous adaptations to its severe habitat, including feathered toes, highly cryptic plumage, and an energy-conserving daily regime.

Adult Description

Small grouse; medium to large chicken-like bird.
Thick bodied.
Tail moderately short, rounded.
Completely white in winter.
Barred grayish brown in summer.
Wings and tail white.

Male Description
Breeding male mostly grayish-brown, with broad band of black markings across chest. Eye combs are red. Nonbreeding male is completely white with black eyes and bill.

Female Description
Breeding female shows finely barred plumage, with yellowish tint contrasting with black or dark brown. Nonbreeding female is completely white with black eyes and bill.

Cool Facts

The White-tailed Ptarmigan leads a very sedentary lifestyle in winter, conserving precious energy by avoiding flight and often roosting in snow banks.
In winter, the White-tailed Ptarmigan defecates an average of 49 times overnight.
Warm weather may stress the White-tailed Ptarmigan. It can be seen bathing in snow when the temperature is higher than 21° C (70° F).

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-tailed_Ptarmigan_dtl.htmll

White-tailed Tropicbird
Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse 2024

A medium-sized white seabird with black marks on the wings and a yellow beak. The long white tail streamers are visible from a great distance. Nests on coastal and inland cliffs on the main islands. Often seen flying over canyons and along cliffs. At sea usually flies high above the water. Calls are loud clucks and squawks. Smaller and more graceful in flight than Red-tailed Tropicbird.

Distribution
In nw. Hawaiian Is. (Figure 1), a few pairs nest on Midway Atoll; otherwise absent. On main Hawaiian Is., nests at Mokoli‘i Islet (offshore windward O‘ahu I.), Kaua‘i I. (Waimea Canyon, Kïlauea Point, Na Pali Coast), Moloka‘i I. (Pelekunu Valley, Waikolu, and windward sea cliffs), Hawai‘i I. (Kïlauea Crater, windward coast), Läna‘i I. (Kaholo Pali, Maunalei Gulch, Hauola Gulch), and Maui Kïlauea (Harrison 1990a).

Habitat
Tropical and subtropical seas; mainly pelagic, but in places frequents coast more than other tropicbirds, especially for feeding. Breeds on small, remote oceanic islands; prefers inaccessible spot on cliff, where take-off relatively easy, but more catholic in nest-site selection than congeners, and sometimes nests in hollows in trees; fulvus also breeds on limestone pinnacles in disused phosphate mines, and even recorded on mining equipment.

Diet
Small, surface-dwelling pelagic fish and squid. Most food studies conducted at breeding sites; only a few reports from birds collected at sea. In Hawaii, tropicbirds (White-tailed and Red-tailed) consume about 2,000 metric tons of marine organisms a year, a small proportion of total food taken by local seabird community (Harrison 1990a).

Locomotion
Walking, Hopping, Climbing, Etc ~ Not capable of normal bipedal locomotion. Very awkward on land because of short tarsus and anterior position of legs; lurches and shuffles along on breast, and pushes with feet and both wings. Uses wings for support and balance while continuing to fall on belly as it moves forward. Cannot stand upright.
Flight ~ Powerful flier; sustains flight for long periods without resting. Takes flight with ease from flat surfaces, but awkward when landing. Its flight is ternlike or pigeonlike, with rapid wing beats.
Swimming And Diving ~ Sometimes rests on water, where it floats buoyantly and holds tail erect. Also sits on water when swallowing food (DSL). Only about 1 tropicbird in 7 observed at sea off Hawaiian Is.

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/whttro/cur/breeding

Wild Turkey
Half Moon Bay, California USA 2019

Wild Turkey
Meleagris gallopavo
ORDER: Galliformes
FAMILY: Phasianidae

Most North American kids learn turkey identification early, by tracing outlines of their hands to make Thanksgiving cards. These big, spectacular birds are an increasingly common sight the rest of the year, too, as flocks stride around woods and clearings like miniature dinosaurs. Courting males puff themselves into feathery balls and fill the air with exuberant gobbling. The Wild Turkey’s popularity at the table led to a drastic decline in numbers, but they have recovered and now occur in every state except Alaska.

Size & Shape
Wild Turkeys are very large, plump birds with long legs, wide, rounded tails, and a small head on a long, slim neck.

RELATIVE SIZE
One of our largest and heaviest birds; smaller than a Trumpeter Swan; about twice the size (and four times as heavy) as a Ring-necked Pheasant.

MEASUREMENTS
Both Sexes
Length: 43.3-45.3 in (110-115 cm)
Weight: 88.2-381.0 oz (2500-10800 g)
Wingspan: 49.2-56.7 in (125-144 cm)

Color Pattern
Turkeys are dark overall with a bronze-green iridescence to most of their plumage. Their wings are dark, boldly barred with white. Their rump and tail feathers are broadly tipped with rusty or white. The bare skin of the head and neck varies from red to blue to gray.

Cool Facts

The Wild Turkey and the Muscovy Duck are the only two domesticated birds native to the New World.
In the early 1500s, European explorers brought home Wild Turkeys from Mexico, where native people had domesticated the birds centuries earlier. Turkeys quickly became popular on European menus thanks to their large size and rich taste from their diet of wild nuts. Later, when English colonists settled on the Atlantic Coast, they brought domesticated turkeys with them.
The English name of the bird may be a holdover from early shipping routes that passed through the country of Turkey on their way to delivering the birds to European markets.
Male Wild Turkeys provide no parental care. Newly hatched chicks follow the female, who feeds them for a few days until they learn to find food on their own. As the chicks grow, they band into groups composed of several hens and their broods. Winter groups sometimes exceed 200 turkeys.
As Wild Turkey numbers dwindled through the early twentieth century, people began to look for ways to reintroduce this valuable game bird. Initially they tried releasing farm turkeys into the wild but those birds didn’t survive. In the 1940s, people began catching wild birds and transporting them to other areas. Such transplantations allowed Wild Turkeys to spread to all of the lower 48 states (plus Hawaii) and parts of southern Canada.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/overview

Willow Ptarmigan
Denali National Park, Alaska USA 2012

The Alaska State Bird.

A typical bird of the arctic tundra, the Willow Ptarmigan is the largest and most numerous of the three ptarmigan species.

Adult Description
Medium to large chicken-like bird. Thick bodied. Tail moderately short, rounded, and black. Completely white in winter. Barred rusty brown in summer. Wings white.
Immature Description
Similar to adult.
Habitat
Open tundra, especially in areas heavily vegetated with grasses, mosses, herbs, and shrubs, less frequently in openings in boreal coniferous forest.
Nesting
Clutch Size: 4–14 eggs. Condition at Hatching: Completely covered with dense down, eyes open. Leave nest within six to 12 hours after the last egg hatched

Cool Facts

The subspecies of Willow Ptarmigan living in Great Britain is known as the "Red Grouse." It does not change its coloring in the winter, but remains entirely reddish brown throughout the year.
The Willow Ptarmigan is the only grouse in the world in which the male is regularly involved in parental care. Pairs remain together from the beginning of the breeding season until their chicks are independent.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willow_Ptarmigan/id

Yellow Billed Cardinal
Kona Coast, Hawaii USA 2011

The yellow-billed cardinal (Paroaria capitata) is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It was formerly placed in the Emberizidae and is not very closely related to the cardinals proper (Cardinalidae).

It occurs in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina and has been introduced on the island of Hawai'i. It breeds in moist shrubland. The yellow-billed cardinal could be easily confused with the red-crested cardinal. The yellow-billed cardinal does not have a crest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-billed_cardinal

Diet: Yellow-billed Cardinals eat seeds, fruit and insects. They can be seen foraging on the ground hunting for seeds.
Courtship: Mating season begins in October.
Nesting: The nest is deep and cup-shaped and is made of small branches, twigs, grasses and horsehair. Usually two eggs are laid and are alricial (little feathers at birth)
Habitat and Range: They are common on the Kona Coast and are usually found in shrubs and open areas near marshes, lakes and rivers and on the edges of woodlands and forests. I saw them on the lawns around various resorts in Kona.
Vocalization: Their call is a single, squeaky note similar to the red-crested cardinal but softer.
Plumage/Molt No information.
Migration: Not sure about South America, but Yellow-billed Cardinals don't migrate in Hawaii.

http://www.nejohnston.org/Birds/bird_Yellow-billedCardinal.shtml
http://offline.whatbird.com/obj/1128/_/Yellow-billed_Cardinal.aspx

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Ventura Harbor, Oxnard California USA 2023

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Nyctanassa violacea
ORDER: Pelecaniformes
FAMILY: Ardeidae

Size & Shape
Yellow-crowned Night-Herons are fairly small herons with stocky bodies and short, thick necks, and short legs. They have large, blocky heads with thick, relatively short bills. In flight, the wings are broad and rounded. Larger than a Cattle Egret; smaller and stockier than a Great Egret.

Color Pattern
Adults are cloudy gray birds with a bold face pattern: a black head with large white cheek patch, and a creamy yellow crown and head plumes. Immatures are brown with fine white spots on the back and wings; the underparts are streaky. The legs are orange-yellow, brighter in adults.

Behavior
Yellow-crowned Night-Herons slowly stalk prey in or near shallow water, usually alone, with a hunched, forward-leaning posture. They perch quietly on stumps and tree branches, often over water. The majority of their prey is crustaceans, especially crabs and crayfish.

Habitat
They are most common in coastal wetlands barrier islands, saltmarshes, drainage ditches, and mangroves; they also occur inland along bottomland forests, swamps, and sometimes wet lawns or fields.

Cool Facts

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons forage both during the day and at night—in coastal areas the tide can trump the time of day: most foraging occurs from 3 hours before high tide to 3 hours after.
Along the Atlantic Coast, the timing of their breeding season depends on when crabs emerge in the spring, which itself depends on local temperatures.
Found year-round along the crustacean-rich southern Atlantic coast, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in North America can also breed inland by feeding on crayfish in streams. They may breed as far north as Michigan and Ontario, and individuals can appear even farther north and west in spring (mainly adults) and late summer or early fall (juveniles).
This species shows up several times in the fossil record, and the earliest recorded fossil is 2–2.5 million years old (from Sarasota, Florida).
To build their nests, Yellow-crowned Night-Herons usually break dead, brittle twigs and branches directly from standing vegetation. In some colonies, they may completely strip trees of their twigs. They also sometimes steal twigs from other nests.
The oldest Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on record, banded in Mexico in 1974, was at least 6 years, 3 months old.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-crowned_Night-Heron/overview

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