Jabiru

Jabirus breed from southern Mexico to southern Bolivia, northeastern Argentina and Uruguay. This stork is abundant only in the Chaco Pentanal of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, otherwise this bird is considered to be a threatened species. I took this photo at Yarinacocha in Amazonian Peru on 26 July 1972 and, despite my years in Peru and Ecuador, I have never seen one since.

A few vagrants have been reported from south Texas and one from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I think these records should be accepted with caution—perhaps as few as 250 Jabiru survive in Central America (Handbook of Bird of the World—Alive; AOU Checklist). More likely the Texas birds are escaped from captivity, as Jabiru are occasionally kept in zoos.

A number of reasons exist for the decline of the Jabiru. Typically they nest on the crowns of tall palm trees. The nests are made of sticks and mud, which are added to each year. Note the large stick being carried by the Jabiru in my photo. Eventually either the palm is killed or the nests, getting to be 2 meters wide and 1 meter deep, fall. Adults also often desert their nests, which are also attacked by Crested Caracaras. The species is also vulnerable to habitat destruction and hunting. The fat young are a popular food item in the Amazon Basin (Handbook of Bird of the World—Alive).

Jabiru eat almost any small animal they can catch, including fish, frogs, crabs, snakes, insects, turtles, and even young caimans (which are subdued by the Jabiru beating them against logs). Fish are often herded by groups of Jabirus into shallow water. Jabiru are not adverse to stealing food items from other storks or ibis (Handbook of Bird of the World—Alive).

Mountain Caracara

While Crested Caracaras are the only caracaras found in the United States, other species inhabit South America. Mountain Caracaras are found in the Andes from southern Ecuador to central Chile. I took this photo high in the Peruvian Andes.

Although these large, atypical falcons are strong fliers, they feed on the ground, scratching and stomping to disturb arthropods, rodents or birds. They also feed, often with vultures, upon carrion and human garbage. They build unsubstantial nests on cliffs, while others build larger nests on electric towers (Handbook of Birds of the World—Alive).

Crested Caracara

Crested Caracaras are found from southern Texas and southern Arizona to northern South America. An isolated population also breeds in central Florida. The first photo was one of my first (taken almost 50 years ago!), a caracara in eastern Mexico. The orange spot in the middle of its breast is probably its naked, extended crop. I photographed the second bird a couple of years ago in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Caracaras are opportunistic feeders that specialize in carrion. They often feed in flocks and with vultures. They are classified as falcons but are often mistakenly thought to be vultures or hawks. Locally known as Mexican Buzzards, in Mexico they are sometimes called “Quebrantahuesos,” which I translate as Bone-breakers. They enjoy carrion but also search for whatever invertebrates or vertebrates they can find. The name caracara is thought to be derived from “traro-traro,” a Native American word mimicking one of the caracara’s calls. The Aztecs were inspired to build their city Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) by a caracara eating a snake while perched on a cactus. This legend is depicted on the Mexican flag and on their coat of arms (Morrison and Dwyer 2012).

Pileated Woodpecker

Banding a Pileated Woodpecker, like this female caught last week, is often a noisy, bloody affair as the bird drills holes in the bander’s hands (see gif on a previous post). This woodpecker is a “keystone species” in forest ecosystems (Bull and Jackson 2011). The holes excavated in trees by this species are used by many birds and mammals for shelter and nesting (Boreal Owl, Wood Duck, martens). Furthermore, Pileated Woodpecker workings decompose and recycle forest logs. Because their deit consists of carpenter and other wood-eating ants and beetles, forest trees are protected from attack by these arthropods.

Brown Creeper

Brown Creepers breed from Alaska, and southern Canada, south to the northern United States and through the Rocky Mountains to Mexico and Central America. They winter across much of North America. Here in the southern half of Minnesota, they are often abundant migrants and common winter residents. Elsewhere, populations have declined as mature forests are logged and dead trees cleared.

We banded this creeper among a flock of Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned kinglets. This photo is one of the few in this blog that is heavily photoshopped (to erase my hand from the picture, but leaving the bird mysteriously floating in space). My goal here was to show you how this often-considered to be drab bird is actually quite elegant. When they are abundant in our back woods and as they furtively creep up forest tree trunks, Erika often calls these brownish birds "tree lice." But look closely at the checkered wing patches and the rusty rump!

Small birds like creepers and kinglets often struggle to maintain their body heat during frigid Minnesota winters. During cold spells, creepers roost in tree cavities and often roost in tight masses of 20 or more individuals behind loose pieces of tree bark (Paul and Bernice Noll).

Giant Water Bug

I was surprised to find this Giant Water Bug trucking across the Carleton College Arboretum. They are common across the northern United States and Canada. They are among our largest bugs and are active all year. They normally live under water. In the fall, these bugs fly about looking for deeper waters where they continue hunting their prey under the winter ice. Often they are attracted by lighted areas at night as the bugs are moving to suitable ponds and rivers.

They eat a variety of invertebrates and tadpoles, salamanders, small fish and even birds (eduwebs). Their larger prey is caught by their powerful front claws and subdued by enzymes injected to the prey’s body. Their bite is painful, but they are otherwise harmless to people.

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebirds, like this young bird Erika and I saw in the Carleton College Arboretum, are always pleasant to find. Previously, I posted a few times on this species—try the search box to the right side of this blog.  Recently I published posts about Western and Mountain bluebirds.

All three species of bluebirds are known to hybridize, albeit infrequently. Genetic studies indicate that Eastern and Western bluebirds diverged in the late Pliocene, some 2.45 million years ago (Gowaty and Plissner 1998, Power and Lombardo 1996). These studies also conclude that bluebirds, although definitely thrushes, are not closely related to other members of the thrush family.

Greater Yellowlegs

On Saturday, 2 November 2013, I saw a large shorebird feeding in a riffle in the Cannon River. My first thought was “Willet,” but soon I observed yellow legs. The leg color, the large size, and long, somewhat up-curved bill add up to Greater Yellowlegs.

Elphick and Tibbitts (1998) list a wide variety of wetland habitats for the Greater Yellowlegs. Although these authors include slow-flowing streams, this yellowlegs’ river was slightly beyond slow-moving. Up to its belly in water, the yellowlegs moved quickly, occasionally feeding like an egret, plunging its bill, head, and neck into the river. Both yellowlegs consume invertebrates, but, unlike Lesser Yellowlegs, Greaters also eat small fish.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

At the end of October, we banded a few small, mixed-species flocks of kinglets and creepers. We caught a couple of dozen birds. All but one of the kinglets, both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned, were male. In the fall, male Ruby-crowned Kinglets migrate later than their females, thus the lack of females this year is somewhat perplexing. This Golden-crowned Kinglet is a male—note the orange feathers at the back and under the center of the crown.

Golden-crowned Kinglets breed further south and winter further north than Ruby-crowneds. Golden-crowneds, however, are hardier and migrate later than Ruby-crowneds. Wintering birds here in Minnesota can withstand nighttime temperatures below −40 degrees C. In such conditions, small groups of kinglets may huddle together to keep warm (Swanson et al. 2012).

DNA studies indicate that kinglets are closely related to titmice and Old World warblers. Golden-crowned Kinglets are closely related to European Goldcrests. Ruby-crowned Kinglets, on the other hand, are only distantly related to Golden-crowned Kinglets (Swanson et al. 2012).

New Zealand Fantail

New Zealand Fantails are Old World Flycatchers that occur in two morphs, a pied morph such as in this photograph, and one that is black. Erika and I photographed this fantail in 1990 at Arthur’s Pass in New Zealand’s South Island.  Here 75 to 88% of the birds are pied. On New Zealand’s North Island, 99% of the birds are pied. This bird’s buffy eye stripe indicates that it is young.

New Zealand Fantails are widespread and occur in both native habitats and in parks, farmland, and pine plantations. They eat arthropods, most often flycatching, and occasionally seeds. Often they follow other birds, and also feed near livestock or humans. These small, tail-swishing birds are threatened by introduced species such as cats, possums, and mynas—furthermore they are often roadkill (Handbook of Birds of the World—Alive).