My Christmas Bird Count Highlights

This winter’s Christmas Bird Count will end on January 5, 2023, but I suspect that most birding groups have already completed their counts.  I participated in the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge CBC—a bird survey that I’ve helped with many times over the years—on December 17, which is fairly early in the count period.  The weather started out fairly cold (for this area, at least), but it warmed up a bit over the course of the day, and the woods that make up most of my birding territory provided a surprising amount of protection from the wind.  I started out at Dorman Lake, where I usually pick up on a few Red-cockaded Woodpecker calls as those birds begin to stir in the early morning.  Unfortunately, there were none to be heard in the woods near that lake.

Overall, I would say that bird activity was low.  There were relatively few larger groups of sparrows, warblers, and other small species in the forests and thickets, and I saw no ducks at all—not even at Dorman Lake, where I usually find flocks of Ring-necked Ducks.  However, even though I didn’t see as many species as I am accustomed to finding, there were both expected and unexpected delights.  One of the unexpected ones was an American Kestrel in an area outside of my territory.  For at least a minute or two, the male kestrel darted, swooped, and hovered over the fields and the catalpa trees near the road.  Because birds tend not to stay in one place for very long, this kestrel went undetected by the birders who were covering this territory, so I was able to add it to the count list!  In this same area, I spotted two Vesper Sparrows, which are quite uncommon in this region of the country.  Vesper Sparrows usually inhabit fields and pastures, and their pale bills, white eye-rings, wing-bars, and white outer tail feathers help to distinguish them from other sparrows.  These Vesper Sparrows perched in a tree along the side of the road, allowing me to take some photographs.

Other species that I saw in various locations included White-throated, Song, Swamp, and Savannah Sparrows; White-breasted and Brown-headed Nuthatches; Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets; Yellow-throated and Pine Warblers; Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers; Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers; Northern Flickers; Eastern Phoebes; Winter and Carolina Wrens; and a good number of others.  All of these were expected, but that didn't make them any less interesting to me.  No, there weren’t as many individuals and species as last year, but I had a great time in the field, regardless!  There is no substitute for time spent enjoying the outdoors, and the CBC is a rewarding way to do just that.

Time Once Again for the Christmas Bird Count!

The 101st Christmas Bird Count, back in December 2000, was my introduction to both my local Audubon Society chapter and the wider world of birdwatching.  Prior to that experience, I had birded mostly around my own yard in rural Mississippi, and certainly didn’t know anyone else who shared my avid interest in birds.  But all of that changed.  The count leader assigned my mother (who did the driving) and me to an area that included a portion of the local reservoir and dam, as well as the neighborhoods adjacent to it.  I remember standing at our first stop on the route, shivering in my heavy coat and thick gloves as I observed Bufflehead ducks and American Coots bobbing in the waves near the spillway.  Fortunately, the temperature increased considerably as the day progressed, as did the numbers on my bird checklist and my appreciation for this challenging but enjoyable form of citizen science.  What had originally been only a hobby for me was now a way to make a real contribution to ornithology.

The Christmas Bird Count is one of the longest-running wildlife censuses.  The period of December 14, 2022 through January 5, 2023 marks the 123rd time that the count has been conducted.  The count circles, of which there are several per state or province, measure 15 miles in diameter, and each count compiler assigns portions of the count area to the various groups or individuals to cover.  The rules for counting are fairly simple: all observed, identified wild birds should be included in the tally, and the same area cannot be surveyed more than once.

American Kestrel seen on Noxubee NWR CBC, December 17, 2016

In addition to being a fun time in the field, the Christmas Bird Count is a great way to touch base with other birders and hone one’s birding skills.  While I normally do make an effort to keep accurate tallies of birds that I observe, the CBC forces me to pay even closer attention to what I’m seeing and hearing—to locate and identify every individual bird that I possibly can.  A lot of CBC work involves intensely focusing on details: listening carefully to detect all of the brief contact and alarm calls from kinglets, warblers, chickadees, titmice, wrens, nuthatches, and creepers in the dense woods; sorting through groups of "little brown jobs" to identify the different species; scanning distant rafts of waterfowl for subtle differences in plumage between species; trying to get a reasonable estimate of the number of individuals in an enormous flock of blackbirds, robins, or waxwings; and so forth.

One of the most common songbirds seen in the winter months in North America: the White-throated Sparrow.  (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 as a response to the then-common “side hunts” that involved teams of hunters competing to see who could shoot the most animals—birds included—on Christmas Day.  The count’s founder, Frank M. Chapman, was a prominent ornithologist and conservationist who (quite understandably) found the tradition of “side hunts” to be irresponsible and repulsive, so he recruited a number of colleagues from all around the country to count all of the birds that they could find on Christmas.  Although the CBC has expanded considerably since its conception, its basic formula hasn’t changed much.  The fairly simple, straightforward rules make it just as fun for beginners as it is for those who have done it for years.

Considering how simple the CBC really is, how valuable could its results be to ornithology?  In some cases, more valuable than one might think.  For example, Niven et al. (2004) used CBC data to examine population changes in the bird species that breed in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska and winter farther south.  Some of these boreal species, such as Merlins and Palm Warblers, showed population increases.  Populations of several other species were relatively stable, while some species, including Harris’s Sparrows, Rusty Blackbirds, and Northern Shrikes, had declined significantly.  The researchers noticed that the CBC winter population trends paralleled those in the data from the Breeding Bird Survey, another long-running bird census.

Merlin at Choctaw Lake, MS, December 31, 2015.

Like the authors of the boreal species study, Link et al. (2006) found that CBC data matched data from other surveys very well.  In this instance, American Black Ducks showed similar population changes on both the CBC and the Midwinter Waterfowl Inventory—an indication of the general accuracy of CBC data!  The data can also be useful for examining the impact of disease on bird populations; in 2003, C. Caffrey and C. C. Peterson looked at CBC results over a multi-year period for several common species in the northeastern U. S., and came to the conclusion that West Nile Virus had likely not significantly affected the populations in that region.  And these studies are merely the tip of the iceberg; CBC data can be a treasure trove of information for a patient researcher.  This is something worth celebrating about the CBC as the 123rd count begins and as we move into a new year.

A rare (for the region) Palm Warbler seen on Noxubee NWR CBC, December 16, 2017.

References:

Caffrey, C. and Peterson, C. C.  2003.  Christmas Bird Count data suggest West Nile Virus may not be a conservation issue in the northeastern United States.  American Birds 57:14-21.

Link, W. A., Sauer, J. R., and Niven, D. K.  2006.  A hierarchical model for regional analysis of population change using Christmas Bird Count data, with application to the American Black Duck.  The Condor 108:13-24.

National Audubon Society, Christmas Bird Count Compiler Resources.  Retrieved December 30, 2017, from http://www.audubon.org/christmas-bird-count-compiler-resources.

Niven, D. K., Sauer, J. R., Butcher, G. S., and Link, W. A.  2004.  Christmas Bird Count provides     insights into population change in land birds that breed in the boreal forest.  American Birds 58:10-20.

Weidensaul, S.  2007.  Of a Feather.  Harcourt, Inc., Orlando, Florida, USA.

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s...

Many years ago, on one of our trips to Macon from Collinsville in late afternoon, I had an encounter with a couple of very unusual birds. 

It was late April, and the month before, I had been fortunate to spot several owls on some of our drives down to Collinsville.  The trick had been simply to look for odd-shaped lumps stuck up in the bare branches of trees along the roadside.  Now that it was April, it seemed that most of the owls had stopped coming to their nighttime lookouts.  Nesting was over, so there was no need to spend so much time hunting prey for the young owls.  These impressive night birds had headed back to the forest for a few months.

But wait a minute!  There they were: two owls perched in a dead tree about 500 feet from the road.  I asked my mom turn around and go back so I could get a better look at them, which she willingly did.  When we were parked on the side of the road, I picked up my binoculars and got out of the car, fairly certain that even though I couldn’t make out any “ears” from this distance, the birds were most likely Great Horned Owls.  I brought the binoculars to my eyes and focused on the chunky birds, perched side by side on a limb.  I expected to see the majestic silhouettes of two owls.  Instead, the binoculars revealed a couple of lumpy, hunched-over figures with tiny, wrinkled heads.  Well, if these were owls, then they must have crept a little too close to a campfire a long time ago.  The two Black Vultures appeared to be settling in for the night; probably they had dined on the road earlier that day.

I got back into the car, and everyone asked me what species the birds were.  When I answered, we all laughed over it.  What about the birds?  Well, as we left, I think I saw them stretch and fluff their feathers.

If you ever happen to be driving down Highway 45, late in the day, definitely keep your eyes open for birds.  Maybe you’ll be one of those fortunate birders who can draw a group of naturalists together to tell them about your encounter with the rare Great Horned Vultures…

Black Vultures (January 2017, Pearl River WMA)

Fall Bird Identification Quiz, Part II

Fall bird migration is continuing steady, with communities changing slightly—or even drastically—on a daily basis.  Let’s continue studying possible migrants with another bird identification quiz! 

1.  As before, let’s begin with an easier one. 

2.  During the spring and summer, this species is commonly found in large shade trees. 

3.  Hint: You may spot this little sprite around bodies of water. 

4.  This species is part of a group that can be challenging to sort out. 

5.  One of the LBBs, or little brown birds: 

6.  Another fairly drab bird on a wire: 

Answers: 

1.  The Red-breasted Nuthatch is frequently seen during migration.  It is known as an irruptive species, since it moves farther south in larger numbers when food sources are scarce father north.   It has a nasal call that sounds like a toy trumpet.  Although it looks somewhat similar to the White-breasted Nuthatch, its smaller size, reddish breast, and black stripes on the sides of the head help to make it distinctive. 

2.  Great Crested Flycatchers have several close relatives in the Myiarchus genus.  Of these species, only the Great Crested Flycatcher is commonly found in most of eastern North America, so it's usually not a major challenge to identify it.  The yellow belly against the olive-green plumage; long, rust-tinged tail; and bushy crest are good field marks.

3.  This photo was taken in the late spring; the Spotted Sandpiper actually lacks spots in the fall and winter.  However, even if you see birds with drabber plumage, several features are helpful in clinching the identification, including continuous tail-bobbing behavior, shallow wingbeats, greenish-yellow legs, and piping calls.

4.  Eastern Wood-Pewees, like the Great Crested Flycatchers that we previously discussed, are in the tyrant flycatcher family, or Tyrannidae.  Many members of this family look similar to one another.  Fortunately, size, behavior, habitat, and vocalizations help to differentiate these birds!  For example, the Eastern Wood-Pewee, genus Contopus, commonly returns to the same perch over and over again when it is flycatching, which is different from most of the similar-looking flycatchers in the Empidonax genus (e.g., the Acadian Flycatcher, the Least Flycatcher, and many others).  Wood-Pewees are also bulkier and have duskier plumage than the Empidonax flycatchers.

5.  Sparrows are a notoriously tricky group.  In this case, the short tail, yellow-tinged lores, finely streaked breast, and pinkish bill point to an identification of Savannah Sparrow.  True to its name, this species forages in open fields and grasslands.  It has a thin, insect-like call.

6.  Yet another tyrant flycatcher!  This one is the familiar Eastern Phoebe, which is common in most of eastern North America.  Its dark head, gray back and wings, long tail, and yellowish flanks make it distinctive.  If this were a video, instead of a still image, you would undoubtedly be able to witness the bird repeatedly wagging its tail.  I will say that the phoebes in my region of the country seem to have recovered well from their local population crash in early 2021.

Fall Bird Identification Quiz

As autumn approaches, I feel like sharpening my bird identification skills in preparation for the variety of species that I may see: summer nesters on their way south, year-round resident birds, transients, and even winter residents arriving from farther north.  Do you feel the same way?  If so, then here is a short identification quiz for the coming months!

1.  Let’s start with something easy.

2.  This one was foraging in the leaf litter.

3.  This species is not uncommon around ponds, lakes, and swamps.

4.  Many individuals of this species can be found perching on wires, especially in the late summer and early fall.

5.  This should be another fairly easy one.

6.  It wouldn’t be a proper ID quiz without a half-hidden bird!

 

Answers:

1.  The Barn Swallow is a common and colorful summer resident throughout most of North America.  The blue upperparts, orange throat and forehead, and buffy underparts make the identification simple.  The forked tail is best seen when the bird is flying.

2.  Some warblers molt into drab plumage and are hard to identify in the fall, but the Pine Warbler tends to look pretty much the same at any time of year.  However, young birds and adult females with drabber plumage than usual may be confused with other warbler species.  In this individual, the yellow spectacle-like markings on the face, the white wing bars, the unstriped back, and the white undertail coverts clinch the identification.  It’s always a bit harder when there aren’t lots of pine trees around, though!

3.  Large, white herons often don’t pose any major identification challenges, but there are always exceptions to the rule.  Immature Little Blue Herons, like this one, have white plumage (except for the wingtips, which are gray), so they may resemble immature Snowy Egrets.  However, their two-toned gray-and-black bills are different from the largely black bills of Snowy Egrets, and the skin around their eyes is blue, unlike the yellow lores of Snowy Egrets.  The legs and feet of Little Blue Herons are generally a solid greenish-gray, while immature Snowy Egrets have contrasting yellow feet.  Little Blue Herons commonly nest throughout the southeastern part of North America.

4.  With its brown upperparts, dusky underparts, and blunt tail tip, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow is probably the least flashy of the North American swallows.  Juveniles, like the one in the photo, can have faint rust-colored bars on their wings.  These swallows are extremely widespread in North America.

5.  In some regions (such as the Gulf Coast), Ospreys occur as permanent residents.  In most of the lower 48 United States, you probably won’t see them unless they’re migrating.  Interestingly, the Osprey can be found on every continent but Antarctica.

6.  Even with the branches partly obscuring the bird, the yellow belly, brown head and neck, slate-colored back and uppertail, white wing edges, and overall sleek appearance make it clear that this is a Cedar Waxwing.  The pointed crest can barely be seen through the leaves.  In Mississippi, where I live, this species is a winter resident, but it occurs all year in many states.

Gallinules

My first sighting of a gallinule was around twenty years ago at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.  It was a Purple Gallinule, and utterly unmistakable: violet head, neck, and breast blending to green on the back and wings; long, yellow legs; red-and-yellow bill; ruffled white undertail feathers; and a chicken-like gait and stance.  I later saw Common Gallinules (then called Common Moorhens—they were split from the Old World species in 2011), as well.  I had heard them calling at a heronry in south-central Mississippi before that, but had not seen them.  As it turns out, even though gallinules may be less secretive than their cousins, the rails, they don’t always make themselves obvious.

Perfect gallinule habitat -- and a gallinule in the upper right corner.

However, this time of year—late summer—is one of the best times to look for them.  Both Common and Purple Gallinules can be found on many ponds and lakes in the southeastern United States.  They need lots of aquatic vegetation on which to build their nests and search for food.  In the summer months, they are surprisingly active and vocal, and often have chicks in tow.  

This Common Gallinule swims with its three young.

This Purple Gallinule stays with its chick.

Gallinule clutch sizes are fairly large; eight is a typical number of eggs, although, obviously, not all of the chicks will survive to adulthood.  In the video below, you can see three Common Gallinule young swimming with the adult.

Gallinules consume a variety of foods, including aquatic vegetation and invertebrates.  Their long toes enable them to walk on floating vegetation (generally lily and lotus pads) while foraging.  They sometimes pluck insects and snails from the undersides of leaves, as you can see in the following video of a Purple Gallinule chick:

Because their nesting period is generally in the spring, their young are pretty far along in development by this point.  It also helps that they are born semi-precocial, rather than altricial.  This means that, unlike songbird chicks, they are feathered and have their eyes open.  Unlike precocial Killdeer chicks, though, they still stay in the nest for a day or so and must be fed by their parents for several days.  Once out of the nest, they can climb through vegetation using the tiny claws on their wings.  This is a feature of birds in Rallidae, the rail family.

This Purple Gallinule chick is stretching its wings.

It takes several weeks for gallinule chicks to learn to fly, and it could be argued that they are never truly comfortable with that skill!  On lakes and ponds, gallinules generally fly for only short distances, but some North American populations do migrate from breeding territories to wintering grounds in southern North America or Central America.  The vast majority of Common and Purple Galinules actually occur in South America, where they are permanent residents.

An immature Purple Gallinule -- old enough to be away from its parents, but not old enough for adult plumage.  Note the white undertail coverts, though.  Adult birds have these, too.

Some of my favorite places to see gallinules are Noxubee NWR and Ross Barnett Reservoir.  Of course, there are many other areas to look, and, if you go exploring, you just might discover a new hotspot. 

Sources:

Bannor, B. K. and E. Kiviat (2020). Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.comgal1.01.

West, R. L. and G. K. Hess (2020). Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.purgal2.01.

The Greater Roadrunner: A Life History

I lived in Arkansas for several years, and one bird from that region that I sometimes find myself missing is the roadrunner.  Luckily, where I live now, I can still watch some of its close relatives, the Yellow-billed Cuckoos.  The following is a brief species account of the Greater Roadrunner.

The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a large, ground-dwelling cuckoo (Order Cuculiformes) that occurs in North America, typically in deserts, shrubby habitats, and chaparral.  As a member of the Cuculiformes, the roadrunner has zygodactyl feet (i.e., two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward), and, like many others of that group, it also has a proportionally long tail.  Its plumage is brown and streaked, and it has a crest and bluish skin around the eyes. 

Greater Roadrunners begin breeding in early spring.  Egg-laying occurs mainly during April and May, although some eggs have been found during mid-March.  Two broods may be produced per season.  Courtship includes the male singing a song composed of low, cooing notes, and drooping the wings and tail during a courtship dance.  The nest is usually placed about 3-15 feet from the ground in a low tree, thicket, or cactus clump, although nests are occasionally also built on the ground.  The nest, which is a foundation of sticks with leaves, grasses, feathers, roots, and other materials as lining, is about one foot in diameter and 6-8 inches high.  The clutch size is usually 3-6 eggs, which are ovate or elliptical, about 39.2 by 30.1 millimeters in size, and are white with a chalky, yellowish film.  Eggs are laid at long intervals, and both sexes begin incubating as soon as the first few eggs are deposited.  The incubation period lasts approximately 18 days, and the newly-hatched chicks are altricial with black skin and scattered white, hair-like plumes.  The young are cared for in the nest for about 2-3 ½ weeks, and adults may continue to provide care for young for over a month after fledging occurs. 

Roadrunners consume a variety of foods, including lizards, snakes, spiders, scorpions, insects, rodents, ground birds and their eggs and young, fruit, and seeds.  The diet is approximately 90 percent animal matter.  Roadrunners range from the southwestern United States south to central Mexico.  More specifically, the range is north to north-central California, southern Kansas, and Colorado; east to Kansas, central Oklahoma, Texas, Pueblo, and Tamaulipas; west to Jalisco and Baja California; and east to southwestern Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.  They are nonmigratory, year-round residents in these areas. 

Greater Roadrunner

Sutton, G. M.  1940.  Roadrunner.  In A. C. Bent (Ed.), Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and Their Allies: Orders Psittaciformes, Cuculiformes, Trogoniformes, Coraciiformes, Caprimulgiformes, and Micropodiiformes (pp. 36-50).  Washington: United States Government Printing Office.

Birds of Summer

Summer is rapidly approaching.  The Migration Count, which took place over two weeks ago, was a lot of fun.  Even during that event, however, I could tell that the peak of bird migration was over.  That’s not to say that I didn’t see many interesting species on the count—but nearly all of them are going to be here through the breeding season, building their nests and raising young before migrating south in the fall.

What sorts of summer resident birds am I regularly observing where I live?  Well, Summer Tanagers seem to be everywhere.  Both the males and the females spend a lot of time in the large oak and pine trees around the neighborhood.  I haven’t yet found a nest, but I’ll be sure to post about it if I do.  These birds’ bright colors—rosy red for the adult males, and mustard yellow for the adult females—stand out against the green foliage, and their sharp pik-i-tuk-tuk calls and throaty songs add variety to the outdoor soundtrack.

Summer Tanager

In the lower-lying portions of the neighborhood, where I seldom venture, there are apparently enough bottomland hardwood tree species to entice Prothonotary Warblers and Northern Parulas.  I actually see far more of these birds at Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, but any woodland near water may harbor them.  I listen for the dry, ascending trill of the parula and the somewhat monotonous, ringing tweet tweet tweet tweet of the Prothonotary.  The Prothonotary Warbler builds its nests in tree cavities (and may use nesting boxes, if you have them), while the Northern Parula nests in hanging vegetation, including Spanish moss.

Northern Parula on the move

Prothonotary Warbler singing at Noxubee NWR

Indigo Buntings brighten any day with their upbeat, whistled, jumbled songs.  The males, of course, have iridescent blue feathers that appear indigo in dimmer light and vibrant turquoise in direct sunlight.  The females are subtler, with buff-brown plumage and often a hint of blue on the wings and tail.  The Indigo Bunting nests low in a tree or a shrub.  I’ve seen a couple of Painted Bunting nests in Arkansas—and that was after hours and hours of looking!  Indigo Bunting nests may be equally well concealed, but the abundance of the species in comparison to the Painted Bunting should make finding its nests a little easier.  Whether or not I ever discover a nest in this area, Indigo Buntings will remain fascinating to me.

Indigo Bunting in Arkansas

On the larger side of things are Mississippi Kites, which tend to stake out territories around rivers and streams.  I suspect that the kites I see in the neighborhood are nesting somewhere along the creek run.  They sometimes perch in the large snags at the edges of the fields.  Other times, they swoop through the treetops to catch cicadas and other large insects, giving distinctive two-note calls.  Perhaps surprisingly, I have not observed any smaller birds chasing the kites; either they view the kites as non-threatening, or they are deeply terrified of them.  I’m sure that the Red-shouldered Hawks in the neighborhood—which always seem to be mobbed by mockingbirds, crows, and other species—would appreciate similar treatment!

Mississippi Kite

This is just a small sampling of the avian life that I have seen over the past month or so.  No matter how routine and mundane things may seem, especially as springtime wanes, there is always something of interest to observe in nature.

The North American Migration Count

For many birders, the hobby of birding is at its best in the springtime.  While you head out into the field, the observer of the changing landscape with all its fresh, different sights, there will be transient birds migrating through, new residents staking out territory, early breeders busy at their nests, and winter visitors moving on north.  This is clearly one of the best times to survey the vast numbers of bird life on this continent and make a useful contribution to science.  This is the idea behind the North American Migration Count—which is held on the second Saturday of May.  Although this date falls later than the peak of spring migration for the Southeast, there should still be plenty of migrating birds moving through.  Migration counts may be conducted by teams of birders or individuals, but each count area must be confined to a single county.  All wild birds within the count area may be included in the tally, and the counting procedure is very simple and straightforward—like that of the Christmas Bird Count.

I was a teenager when I first participated in the North American Migration Count.  The Oktibbeha Audubon Society asked me to survey a route in the southeastern part of the county.  My dad and I headed out on our route at about 9:30 a.m., hitting the Bluff Lake levee first to tally any herons, egrets or songbirds that crossed over into Oktibbeha County.  The morning was warm and muggy but full of birds.  Very quickly we picked up Acadian Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-throated Warbler, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Prothonotary Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting and many other species in the woods, including a Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding from Trumpet Creeper blossoms.  We heard a Fish Crow and also counted many egrets flying overhead, a couple of Wood Ducks, and one Great Blue Heron, which surprisingly, would turn out to be our only one all day.  Just as we were leaving the area, I glimpsed a group of three large birds flying high overhead—White Ibises.

Prothonotary Warbler

We drove a little down the road, looking and listening for some of the forest species such as Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Yellow-billed Cuckoo.  By now our list was around 40 species.  There were good numbers of singing Yellow Warblers, and I could make out two Northern Parulas trilling close by.  As we got out to walk a trail that cut through the woods, there was a harsh chittering overhead, which alerted us to about two dozen Chimney Swifts circling.  These were probably natural-nesting swifts, choosing a hollow tree over a manmade chimney.

The woods were mostly deciduous, with tall pines mixed in here and there.  There were also many deep puddles of muddy water from a recent rainfall.  Pine Warblers, chickadees, titmice, towhees, and vireos noisily proclaimed their territories in the dense woods, seeming almost indignant at us traipsing through their home.  I accidentally flushed a Cooper’s Hawk from its roost.  It flew away, disturbing the singing birds for a few minutes.  I heard White-breasted Nuthatches in the distance and saw a pair of Summer Tanagers in the trees.  Bird songs were not all that we heard:  Gray Treefrogs were also making their presence known in the forest with low-pitched croaks.

Cooper's Hawk

I had just commented to my dad on the odd absence of Kentucky Warblers, when one in a thicket burst emphatically into song.  A Hooded Warbler added its short, eight-syllable whistle to the other sounds of the forest, while wrens and skinks scuttled through the thickets and leaf litter, the wrens putting in a word now and then, unlike the lizards!  There was a creek by this trail where we were likely to find Louisiana Waterthrushes, and in the trees near it, American Redstarts.  Unfortunately, neither species showed up for us, and eventually we moved on, making a mental note to come back to the trail later. 

We went up Oktoc Road for more counting.  The habitat here was mostly thickets, fields and pastures, with scattered trees, which meant a whole new group of species for us.  Bluebirds and kingbirds perched on the wires; grackles and blackbirds foraged in the pastures.  We were able to add Red-headed Woodpeckers and many more Cattle Egrets to the tally.  Eastern Meadowlarks, Orchard Orioles, Barn Swallows and Purple Martins also put in appearances.  Overhead, there were vultures, Red-tailed Hawks and a Green Heron that flew from a small pond.  A little farther down the road, I heard a loud ringing song coming from a thicket—a Swainson’s Warbler.  I listened to the recording on my audio field guide back in the car; no doubt about it:  the song was a Swainson’s Warbler’s.  Since this is a fairly scarce bird, I wrote down the location, including the mailbox number, and we headed on.

We came to a place down the road where mixed forest grew on one side and young trees and shrubs were just coming up on the other.  Almost immediately our ears picked up Northern Bobwhite, Yellow-breasted Chat and one Prairie Warbler.  A few more Kentucky Warblers and Indigo Buntings sang loudly, and I spotted another Summer Tanager pair.  Then I noticed something lower down in an oak tree.  I investigated with binoculars and found myself looking at a beautiful male Scarlet Tanager, just sitting on a limb in a little shaft of sunlight, his jet-black wings and tail contrasting with the bright-red of his body.  What a treat!

Scarlet Tanager

We still had to head through Starkville, so after tallying, we drove on.  While in town, we saw plenty of House Sparrows and European Starlings and two Eurasian Collared Doves.  Our next stop was a sewage lagoon where we supposed to locate a few ducks and shorebirds.  As we began walking around the pond, we flushed bunches of Red-winged Blackbirds and saw Northern Rough-winged Swallows overhead, but the edge of the pond, choked with weeds, just didn’t look promising for sandpipers.  Farther up, however, we noticed the drastic difference in the habitat.  There were obvious mud flats with shorebirds feeding.  Three Solitary and one Spotted Sandpiper dotted the bank with several Killdeer, too.  We saw two Blue-winged Teal, a pair of Canada Geese with four large fuzzy young, and thirteen Wood Ducks—two adults and eleven ducklings. 

The count list was pretty big so far, but I did notice that we were missing a few birds.  We managed to find some Blue Grosbeaks by retracing our route and only counting species that were new to us, not ones we’d counted already.  We managed to hear a flock of Cedar Waxwings this way, and then went to search again for the redstarts and waterthrushes.

The woods were a lot quieter now; it was about 4:00 p.m. and I doubted that we’d see the elusive species we were looking for.  Although we didn’t pick up any new birds while we were there, we did see other wildlife.  Butterflies fed on the flowers, Ichneumon wasps flew up from the grass, and a Southern Leopard Frog was in one of the puddles.  My dad was pleased to observe a Toad Bug that I located near another pool of water.  We watched it as it hopped about, its coloration blending in amazingly well with the gritty mud of its habitat.

Back in the car, we counted up the species we had found during the day:  seventy-six, and hundreds of individuals all over.  It had been a great count.  We were both exhausted but filled with a sense of accomplishment and exciting memories of that spring day. 

Even if your schedule doesn't permit you to count every bird that you see for an entire day, it’s still worthwhile to spend some time marveling at the diversity of species during this fascinating season!

The Orchard Oriole

A beautiful, variable song of whistles and guttural notes announces the presence of the Orchard Oriole in nearly every open woodland in Mississippi.  This striking bird, the smallest of all North American orioles, arrives in spring during the first half of April and is soon abundant in orchards and stands of young trees—which is the habitat of many people’s yards!  Orchard Orioles can be somewhat difficult to see as they skulk in dense vegetation or sing from the tops of tall trees, but they are certainly worth watching.  While many species of birds simply pair up and retreat to the woods to nest singly, chasing off other members of the same species, Orchard Orioles have much more interesting social behaviors.  More often than not, there will be several individuals on one property, and they will usually stay in that area until the end of summer. 

Soon after they arrive in the state, the male orioles begin singing, usually from high perches.  Many of these birds are males in their first spring and are greenish-yellow with white wing bars and black throats.  Some may show traces of chestnut feathering as well.  The males two years or older are striking with their rich chestnut underparts and extensive black hoods.  Instead of the upper white wing bars of the younger males, they have chestnut shoulder patches.

The more secretive females are predominantly greenish-yellow, darker on the upperparts and have white wing bars on dark wings.  At first glance they might resemble warblers, but they have longer tails and bills than any warblers and are larger than any warbler other than the Yellow-breasted Chat.  They spend most of their time hidden in the vegetation where, after they pair up, nest building begins.

No mating displays of the Orchard Oriole are known.  (A good reason to watch their behavior carefully this year:  you might notice something that has never been seen before!)  But nesting is fairly well documented, even though the nest can be very difficult to find, concealed as it is in the foliage.  The female, with a little help from the male, constructs a pouchlike nest of grasses suspended from a forked limb 4-50 feet up in a deciduous tree.  After the nest is built, the female lays 3-5 pale eggs marked with brown.  Both the male and female incubate, and they obviously don’t mind other pairs nesting close by.  Last year I saw three pairs on our wooded back six acres in early summer, and in Louisiana 114 pairs were once found nesting on one 7-acre tract! 

It takes about 12 days for the eggs to hatch, and then the virtually helpless young are fed by both parents.  They leave the nest after 11-14 days.  Often the parent birds will divide the group of fledglings and care for them separately, another interesting aspect of oriole behavior.  Only one brood per year is produced, but family groups will remain together until fall when they depart for their wintering grounds from central Mexico to northern South America.

With their sharp, slightly-curved bills, Orchard Orioles are obviously insect eaters and also feed heavily on fruit.  In August of last year I saw a whole family group in a fig tree, snatching pieces of ripe fig and probably the insects attracted to the fruit, as well.  Some people have success attracting orioles to nectar or halved oranges.  You might want to try this; it could be the key to luring orioles out in the open for easy viewing. 

Sadly, the Orchard Oriole is declining in some areas, especially western North America, in part due to cowbird parasitization.  But since it seems to be holding on very well in the Southeast, you can expect this fascinating oriole to keep on delighting you for years to come.

Source: 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Guide to Birds of North America, Version 3.

The Cedar Waxwing

Winter just wouldn’t seem like winter, at least to a birder, without Cedar Waxwings passing overhead with a chorus of whistling trills or perched in a tree, rapidly devouring every berry in sight.  Even nonbirders enjoy watching these colorful cold-weather visitors that display long, sleek crests; striking black-and-white masks; waxy red tips on the secondary wing feathers; blue-gray tails tipped with yellow; and brown upperparts blending with the yellow underparts.

Waxwings, like Purple Finches and Pine Siskins, are somewhat erratic visitors to Mississippi.  Some years, huge flocks turn up on Christmas bird counts and strip hundreds of ripe berries or seeds from the trees, often in the company of American Robins.  During other winters, waxwings may be few and far between.

The amounts of food Cedar Waxwings can stuff themselves with never cease to amaze me, but certainly the variety of this food is just as great.  Mistletoe, holly, cedar and hackberry are just a few of the berry-producing plants that these birds will feed on, and insects are also taken, flycatcher-fashion.  Interestingly, waxwings are sometimes seen passing berries along to adjacent birds.

In the spring, Cedar Waxwings feed on mulberries and often the petals of flowering crabapple trees.  Make note of any Cedar Waxwings you see in late May or early June; they usually depart by this time.  There are a few breeding records for Cedar Waxwings in Mississippi, so be on the lookout for any nesting behavior among these birds.  Your observations could have ornithological significance!

One enjoyable thing about the Cedar Waxwing is that whether you are watching goldfinches and sparrows arrive in the fall or warblers and grosbeaks arrive in the springtime, there will almost certainly be a few of these spectacular birds around as well, making a great birding day even more memorable. 

Cedar Waxwings in May

Sources: 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Guide to Birds of North America, Version 3.

Birds of Mississippi.  Turcotte, William H., and David L. Watts.  University Press of Mississippi.  Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.  1999.

 

Beat Boredom with Winter Birding!

For a lot of us, it has been a tough winter.  If you're like me, then there have probably been days when you've found it difficult to make yourself spend time outside—or perhaps extreme weather conditions have prevented you from being outdoors.  If malaise is the problem, then finding a new challenge—such as species identification—may help you to find more enjoyment in your surroundings.  If inclement weather is the issue, then you can still learn about birds and wildlife, giving yourself a head start for when all of that ice finally melts!

Aftermath of 2021 ice storm

How about brushing up on sparrow identification?  Sparrows may seem drab, especially in comparison with our spring and summer wood-warblers, tanagers, orioles, and buntings.  However, if you spend some time studying them, you may be surprised at the variety of colors and patterns they sport.  A growing appreciation for subtlety is one of the benefits of watching sparrows: https://astheraincrowflies.blogspot.com/2018/12/sparrows.html.

White-throated Sparrow

If you’re able to visit lakes, ponds, or the seashore, then you might also enjoy studying waterfowl: geese, ducks, swans, grebes, coots, etc.  Waterfowl tend to migrate farther south when food sources up north get harder to find, so, if you live in the Southeast, be on the lookout for large flocks of ducks to start appearing in your area after snow and ice events.  While waterfowl generally display flashier plumage than sparrows, some species have subtler coloration, and if you’re observing any of them from a great distance, identification may be tricky.  Here are some basic tips that I’ve compiled for common (and some not-so-common) waterfowl species: https://astheraincrowflies.blogspot.com/2020/12/winter-waterfowl.html.

Ring-necked Ducks and Green-winged Teal

Finally, have you noticed that some species of birds in your region seem to fluctuate wildly in numbers from year to year?  This may be due to dispersal patterns known as irruptions, which occur when food sources in northern climes are too low to sustain local avian populations.  Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Red Crossbills, Evening Grosbeaks, and some species of sparrows are among the birds that can be considered irruptive.  Here is a piece about this phenomenon: https://astheraincrowflies.blogspot.com/2019/01/irruptions.html.

Happy winter birding!