Lewis and Clark 2: Lewis’s Woodpecker

On 20 July 1805, Meriwether Lewis wrote, “I saw a black woodpecker (or crow) today… it is a distinct species of woodpecker; it has a long tail and flys a good deal like the jay bird” (Vierling 2013). Later the ornithologist Alexander Wilson scientifically described and named this bird after Lewis. A skin of the Lewis’s Woodpecker at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology is perhaps the only surviving intact specimen taken during the Lewis and Clark expedition (Johnsgard 2003).

Lewis’s Woodpeckers look strange. They have a flight pattern that looks more like a crow than a woodpecker. The species is found across western North America. They are not good excavators, so require snags in dead or partly dead trees and need decayed wood in which to drill nest holes. Often good places to search for Lewis’s Woodpeckers are recently burned forest tracts. On the other hand, I took this photo of a woodpecker on a suburban rooftop several years ago on the outskirts of Missoula, Montana.

(Note from previous Lewis and Clark post: I have since discovered that the Clark’s Grebe is not named for Meriwether Lewis’s co-leader William Clark, but John Clark, an early American naturalist and surveyor.)

Bell’s Vireo

Word of a Bell’s Vireo in Rice County, Minnesota, near Big Woods State Park, filtered to me via friends and the MOU listserv. After a busy day, Erika and I searched for the bird late Monday afternoon. We immediately heard and saw it at the first stop sing west of the state park, as Dave Bartkey posted on the listserv. The species is found in the central and southwestern United States and is considered to be rare and local in Minnesota.

I have previously posted about Bell’s Vireos. Oddly, the habitat were we found this bird seems to be atypical for this riparian species. With no river very close, two birds sang vociferously from overgrown, shrubby, hilly pastureland. Thinking back on other Bell’s Vireos that I have seen in South Dakota, all were within a few meters of rivers, lakes, or drainage areas. I can find no literature reference of females singing and defending territory, thus I suspect we observed two males.

Lewis and Clark 1: Clark’s Grebe

One of the last birds that John Holden and I saw on our May South Dakota trip was a Clark’s Grebe. The rain was a downpour, but racing at such an angle that I was able to get this photograph from our car’s open window. I have previously blogged on how to identify this grebe, but seeing it started my wondering what birds have common names commemorating Lewis or Clark.

After Lewis and Clark returned from their explorations to secure the Pacific Northwest for the United States, Thomas Jefferson sent three of their bird specimens to Alexander Wilson for scientific description. The literature is a bit difficult to decipher as to what these three may be. Presumably they are Clark’s Nutcracker, Lewis’s Woodpecker, and, perhaps, the Greater Sage-Grouse. The former two species are the only birds I can find bearing the names of Lewis or Clark, plus the Clark’s Grebe which was considered for many years to be but a color morph of the Western Grebe. Further investigation reveals that the Clark’s Grebe is not named for William Clark of Lewis and Clark fame.  Instead the name honors John Henry Clark, a 19th-century American surveyor and naturalist.

Wikipedia lists seven birds described for the first time by European Americans during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In addition to the three already mentioned, are Common Poorwill, Interior Least Tern, McCown’s Longspur, and Trumpeter Swan. But here “described” is not used in the scientific context, but rather that Lewis and Clark mention them in sufficient detail to know what they saw. Johnsgard (2003) cites literature listing a total of 25 birds that are also mentioned by Lewis and Clark.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

On our return to Minnesota from South Dakota, rain drove mercilessly across the highway. How do birds keep dry in the rain? Theoretically, birds keep dry by oiling their feathers from secretions from an oil gland on their rumps. Water slides off the oil, leaving the birds dry. I write “theoretically,” because this Black-crowned Night-Heron is looking drenched—its wing coverts are becoming matted and water is dripping off the tip of its bill.

Black-crowned Night-Herons are found around the world, except Antarctica and Australia. They are usually hard to see because they feed at dusk, night, and at dawn. They eat fish and other aquatic animals. Because of this diet, night-heron tissues accumulate contaminants such as DDT. Populations have rebounded with the advent of modern environmental protection, and currently numbers in North America appear to be on the increase (Hothem et al. 2010).

I have previously blogged about night-herons.  This photo was taken in central South Dakota along Highway 12.

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Returning to South Dakota after a seven-year absence, I was surprised by the abundance of Eurasian Collared-Doves. When I left the state, about the only reliable place to see them was in the Pierre area. Previously I posted a photo of a large flock of these doves from Pierre, and there I wrote about the doves’ spread across North America. Nevertheless, I was not expecting the species to be abundant in Mobridge and Timber Lake (the later town not even on the Missouri). The courting Eurasian Collared-Doves in this photo were in Timber Lake.

Factors responsible for this dove’s spread across the continent include its ability to make long-distance dispersal flights, multiple releases in the United States, backyard bird feeders, locations with stored and waste grain, and an increasing planting of trees (Romagosa 2012). Indeed, a good place to find this dove is near grain bins in small rural towns.

Lark Sparrow

I have previously blogged about the Lark Sparrow, now a western bird found east only to Minnesota and Iowa. Formerly the species was found all the way to the Atlantic coast, spreading there after the eastern forests were cut with the advent of European settlement. Now that the fields are returning to forests or supplanted by urban development, Lark Sparrows are now rare birds in the East.

These photos were taken this May of singing Lark Sparrows near Timber Lake, South Dakota. Erika and I occasionally see them in Rice County, Minnesota, and most years we find them along the Cannon River Bike Trail in nearby Goodhue County. We found a singing bird there on Monday. According to Martin and Parrish (2000), no definitive studies of Lark Sparrow biology have been undertaken.

Burrowing Owl

I have blogged that prairie dogs are despised by many ranchers—a hatred that is bad news for Burrowing Owls, who often live in prairie dog burrows. The owls are now listed as Threatened or Endangered in Canada. In Mexico this owl is listed as requiring Special Protection. By not designating the Burrowing Owl as Threatened or Endangered, the Federal Governement in the United States bowed to pressure from ranching interests who fear the rise of prairie dogs if Burrowing Owls are protected. Nevertheless, several states protect Burrowing Owls (Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). Burrowing Owls are killed by ranchers shooting at prairie dogs and ranchers often destroy whole prairie dog colonies. Intensive cultivation of grasslands and the ever-encroaching specter of urban development also destroy habitat. Pesticides used against prairie dogs are also toxic to the owls.

For all these reasons, the Burrowing Owl we saw must be one of the highlights of John Holden’s and my trip to western South Dakota. The absolute best birds, however, were two Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, a bird not often reported from the state. Unfortunately our flycatchers were about a half-mile distant. Serrendipitously I took a photo anyway, and if you are interested in one of the world’s worst photos of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, check it out on my eBird list.

Eastern Kingbird

I have always thought the Eastern Kingbird to be inappropriately named. After all, this bird is found from coast to coast across North America, being absent only from the Southwest. When John Holden and I visited South Dakota last month, Eastern outnumbered Western kingbirds even west of the Missouri River. I think a better name might be the translation of its Spanish name, Pitirre Americano, or American Kingbird. This species is, after all, almost red, white and blue. OK, so it is bluish gray, and the red is hidden in its crown. So how about another Spanish appellation, Tirano Viajero, or Traveling (or Migrant) Kingbird? Erika and I saw huge flocks of Eastern Kingbirds in the winter when we studied in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Eastern Kingbirds tend to be monogamous and usually retain the same mates over subsequent years. However, extra-pair copulations have been observed and they will lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, even birds of different species. The males guard while the females build nests, either to warn her of predators or to keep her from mating with other males (Allaboutbirds.org). Only single broods are raised each season, presumably due to the high energy required for flycatching and subsequent long periods of parental care (Murphy 1996). In a previous blog, I posted photos of young Eastern Kingbirds.

Swainson’s Hawk

Swainson’s Hawks migrate each year from the Great Plains of North America to the pampas of of Argentina, a distance of some 10,000 kilometers. West of the Missouri River in South Dakota, John Holden and I found them to be the most common raptor. The species is in some peril—studies have demonstrated that, in Argentina, thousands of Swainson’s Hawk are poisoned by pesticides (Bechard et al. 2010). I have previously posted on this hawk.

These hawks come in three color phases. Bechard et al. (2010) write that there are light-morph birds, like the hawk in the upper photo, dark-morph ones, and everything else inbetween. The authors appear to claim that a third, rufous-morph exists, like the one John and I found and photographed below. Sibley (2000), however, implies that the rufous birds are simply intermediate between the light and dark birds.

Why do many hawks come in dark and pale morphs? One hypothesis is that the pale birds (usually outnumbering the dark ones) are learned by the prey. Consequently the pale morph declines while the dark one increases—until the prey learns that dark raptors are also dangerous. Then the dark ones decline and the pale ones increase. I do no know if an hypothesis for three morphs exists. The situation with Swainson’s Hawks is complicated. In California, 89% of males were pale. In breeding pairs, males tended to be paler than females (Bechard et al. 2010).

Lark Bunting

At the recent South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union meeting, John and I elected to more or less accompany a field trip heading west of the Missouri River. Our goal was to try to find western birds that we could not easily see at home in Minnesota. As I explained in my last post, at least in South Dakota, the river separates eastern and western avifaunas of the United States. This is not a strict rule, however, because birds have unique ranges and because distributions are not static. For example, 20 years ago Lark Buntings bred at least to the Aberdeen area; this year John and I did not see them until we were west of the river. (Lark Buntings are considered to be casual in Minnesota.)

Lark Buntings are among the six songbirds endemic to North America’s grasslands (Shane 2000). Unlike almost all other sparrows, the male is drab in the winter but molts into a striking breeding plumage. This Lark Bunting, photographed near Timber Lake, South Dakota, is probably in its  second year, since the bird has retained its warn, brownish tail feathers, left over from its first winter plumage. I wrote about this species last January.