Ring-necked Duck

Perhaps more aptly named Ring-billed Duck, this species does sport a brown neck ring between its dark head and breast. Ring-necked Ducks beed across central Canada and in the United States in the upper Midwest and in isolated areas through the Rocky Mountains. Although seasonally monogamous, only the female provides parental care (Roy et al. 2012).

They winter across the southern United States, Mexico, and the West Indies. In winter, they consume plants. Although vulnerable to hunting, their populations are stable or increasing (Roy et al. 2012). This spring, I found this male on the Potomac River just north of Great Falls National Park. I previously posted photos of a Ring-necked Duck pair from Minnesota.

Ivory-billed Araçari

Erika and I took this photograph of an Ivory-billed Araçari during our graduate research in Peru. This species is among the smallest of the toucans. We liked toucans until we learned that one use for their odd bills is robbing other birds’ nests and eating the young and eggs. Toucans turn up in avicultural trade, and owners are warned not to cage them with smaller birds (birdchannel.com). Toucans also consume a variety of arthropods, fruits and nuts. Of course, all pet owners should take absolute precautions that their birds are both legally imported and not wild-harvested.

American Tree Sparrow

Although American Tree Sparrows are abundant wintering birds in Minnesota, I band relatively few of them. In fact, the photograph here is my first for my white-background series. As most of you know, I wrote a book of 91 of these photographs. You can see a preview of almost half of these pictures by clicking on the book cover on the upper right-hand side of this blog (look for the side view of the male cardinal).

Tree sparrows are cold-tolerant species (as I mentioned in a previous post). They breed across northern Canada, often north of the tree-line. They consume weed seeds. The species was named for its superficial resemblance to the  Eurasian Tree Sparrow, a bird not even in the same family.  

Eastern Phoebe

Amidst rain and snow, the Eastern Phoebes have returned to our backwoods. One wonders what food they are finding. The one phoebe I’ve banded was very thin. These photos have been lying around in my computer for a couple of years, so I thought I would share them with you now.

The second photo shows a phoebe nest at a garage at our Dundas feeding station. The phoebe’s choice of nesting in buildings and under bridges resulted in a westward spread in range in historic times. They still, however, occasionally nest in rock outcroppings. Recent DNA studies indicate that, although the adults are “socially monogamous,” phoebe young are the result of “considerable extra-pair paternity and polygyny" (Weeks 2011). The last phoebe is a bird photographed last summer at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.

Dark-eyed Junco

This week we witnessed a huge influx of Dark-eyed Juncos. Most are the slate-colored form. Two were the Oregon race (see lower photo and post of 23 March 2010). The bird above was feeding on a dead weed, either eating seeds or searching for insect larvae. Note that this junco is probably mine—the band is still new and shiny, and the band is on the left leg. Although I banded 197 juncos this week, very few of the birds currently at the feeders, and neither of two Oregon Juncos, are ringed—yet.

Speaking of banded birds, fewer banded birds are reported to the Bird Banding Office now than in the 1920s and 30s. Several hypotheses are suggested. Are permits these days restricted to specific scientific studies and not issued to “recreational” banders, resulting in fewer birds banded or recovered? Are people now less willing to cooperate with the Federal government? Are folks worried about legal ramifications of reporting dead migratory songbirds? Are young people glued to their video games and less likely to be exploring outdoors? Are fewer people hunting and not outdoors?

Bufflehead

This female Bufflehead in the Reflecting Pool in Washington DC reminded me of my first discovery of this species. I was in high school, and the Hooded Merganser had become a nemesis species for me. No matter how hard I searched, I could not add the merganser to my life list. I did find a female Bufflehead in a local pond. Did the white stripe on the head indicate a Hooded Merganser? After some agony, I concluded I had yet to find a Hooded Merganser—the white stripe was just too low on the head. Look at the up-turned tail on this photo. Beginning birders might take this posture for a Ruddy Duck.

The Reflecting Pool, a shallow, cement-lined, shallow, rectangular lake between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, seems like an unlikely habitat for diving ducks. What could the ducks find to eat? They search for insect larvae, amphipods, and other small arthropods. The Reflecting Ponds seemed to be fairly sterile, but NBC news reports that, despite a $34 million renovation, the Reflecting Pools are full of algae, which must support enough arthropods to keep the Buffleheads fed.

We encountered a Bufflehead pair in the pool. Buffleheads are monogamous and are among just a few ducks that maintain the same mate for several years. Buffleheads are often shot by hunters, but populations have increased since the 1950s (Gauthier 1993). Also in the pool dove a half-dozen Lesser Scaup, photos of which I will share in a future post.

Red-stained Woodpecker

Red-stained Woodpeckers are locally common inhabitants of the Amazon basin. They forage in the forest canopy and also follow army ant swarms to feed on flushed arthropods (de Hoyo et al. 2002). Erika, James Yost, and I took this photograph in Ecuador using a captive bird inside a photography box covered with blue parachute cloth—look at the blue “sky” in the upper right edge of the photo.

Mallard

My fellow blogger Penelope commented, on my last post on the beauty of cardinals, that she also considers the Mallard to be stunning. Judging by this photo of a drake Mallard, Penny has a point! Although Mallards are the most common of the North American ducks, found in urban and wild areas around the world, birders seldom take a second glance at them. The recurved black central tail-feathers, from which comes the term "duck-tail" hair styles of some 1950s teenage boys, are alone worth a second look. I took this photo, presumably of a wild bird (scaup and buffleheads were also present), along the Reflecting Ponds in Washington, DC. during our recent visit.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinals are omnivorous, eating seeds, fruits, and insects. Their color is derived from carotenoid pigments from their food. The brighter the male, the better is his reproductive success. Brighter males have richer territories and are better able to feed nestlings (Ikin and Linville 1999). This cardinal, photographed on Tuesday, certainly seems to be a top-dog male. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the beauty of our most common birds—imagine if this were the first time you ever saw a cardinal!

Carolina Chickadee

Sharp demarkation between the black throat and white breast, relatively uniform gray wings without frosty white feather edges, and a northern Virginia location all add up to Carolina Chickadee (see my post of 17 January 2012). Only 40 to 60 percent of chickadees survive the winter, when they form territorial flocks. In the spring, dominant males and females breed within these territories. Non-nesting birds are either forced off the territory or remain as non-breeding “floaters,” ready to take the places of deceased breeders (Mostrom et al. 2002). The red splotch behind the chickadee in the lower photo is a fleeing Northern Cardinal (not seen by me when I took the picture).