Fall Bird Identification Quiz, Part III

With September starting and fall bird migration really picking up, it's time for another bird quiz.

1.  This first bird is probably fairly easy to guess: one of the fiercest avian species during the nesting season!

2.  These are usually found near large bodies of water.

3.  Unfortunately for birders, this common migrant's name isn't always very descriptive.

4.  The same is true of this next one!

5.  These birds are more common in open habitats than in woods.

6.  By mid-September, most of these birds will have migrated out of the southeastern United States.

Answers:

1.  A member of the tyrant flycatcher family, the Eastern Kingbird is known for its fierce defense of its territory and nest during the breeding season.  I have seen these birds chase Red-tailed Hawks on numerous occasions, and they seem to have little fear of people, as well.  Their monochromatic color scheme is striking and distinctive, with the dark gray back and wings, black hood, and white-tipped tail.

2.  These large and brightly colored ducks are Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, which expanded their range to portions of eastern Mississippi in the last decade.  The rest of their range includes western and southern Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Central America, and Florida.  They have a high, wheezy whistling call and bright black-and-white wings that stand out in the murky swamps and marshes that they call home.

3.  It's a worm-eating warbler!  Well, a caterpillar-eating warbler, anyway.  It isn't actually a Worm-eating Warbler (and that name refers to caterpillars, too), but a Black-throated Green Warbler.  The trouble with a lot of birds' common names is that they are appropriate only for certain times of year, or for certain sexes or ages.  Breeding adult male Black-throated Green Warblers have the signature solid black throats, but nonbreeding males, adult females, and all immature birds have far fewer black feathers in that area.  The olive-colored back is noticeable even during the fall, though, and the white wing bars, yellow cheek patches, and black streaks on the flanks should make identification fairly straightforward even in the fall.  

Black-throated Green Warblers usually nest in boreal forests, so the farthest south that they will go during the breeding season is the southern Appalachians, where that habitat type exists at high elevations.  In the fall, they are one of the most commonly seen migratory warblers in the Southeast.

4.  While the Black-throated Green Warbler can feel slightly misnamed at times, the Magnolia Warbler's name is downright weird.  Like the Black-throated Green Warbler, the Magnolia Warbler breeds in the boreal forests of Canada and the northeastern United States.  It usually doesn't have much to do with magnolia trees, but because it was discovered in magnolias by the ornithologist Alexander Wilson, the name has stuck.  To be fair to Wilson, this warbler is perhaps one of the least discriminating species during migration, showing up in a wide variety of wooded habitats.  The yellow breast, black streaks, white wing bars, and gray crown are all present in fall plumage, but one of the most obvious field marks is the two-toned tail.  When the tail feathers are spread, as they are in the photo, the white bars can be clearly seen.  When they are closed, the tail appears half white and half black from below.

5.  It may be unfair for me to use this photo, given that there are two species in it!  The birds on the left are male Brown-headed Cowbirds, which look about the same in the fall as they do in the breeding season.  Due to cowbirds' habit of parasitizing other songbirds' nests, most birders aren't particularly thrilled to see them.  Still, this isn't the cowbirds' fault: Human activity has been the driving factor behind their range expansion and population growth.  Cowbirds have a short, pleasant, liquid warble of a song, which can be heard in fields and thickets during the nesting season.

The bird on the right is another frequently reviled species: the European Starling.  Starlings were intentionally released in North America in the late nineteenth century, and they have had no trouble adapting to the environment here!  Depressingly, though, they are not holding on as well in their native range.  During the breeding season, starlings have dark, glossy, iridescent plumage and yellow bills.  In the fall and winter, they become slightly drab, with heavy white speckling and dark bills (as you can see in the photo).  They are known for forming enormous flocks for predator evasion, and for their variety of vocalizations.

6.  Although they nest in hardwood forests along streams and rivers, Mississippi Kites often forage in large flocks over fields and meadows during the late summer and early fall, just before they leave their breeding grounds in the southern and central U.S. for their wintering grounds in South America.  The long, slender wings; slightly forked tail; and overall grayish plumage are distinctive field marks.  This species often gives a two-note, whistled call as it flies.