Fox Sparrow

Weckstein et al. (2002) wrote "When John James Audubon found a Fox Sparrow for the first time on its breeding grounds in southern Labrador in 1834, he had no idea that he was looking at one of North America’s most geographically variable birds, with 18 subspecies divided into 3 or 4 distinct groups…”  I have posted a number of times on this species’ taxonomy—use the search box to the right of the posts to pursue this information.

Because of the cold winter, our Texas travels, and other mitigating events, only this week did I get my banding nets set up. We were happy to band three Fox Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, and about a dozen Slate-colored Juncos.

Plain Chachalaca

Feeding along with the Green Jays at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge were flocks of Plain Chachalacas.  These large birds are in the same order, Galliformes, as turkeys, but they do not seem otherwise closely related. They are assigned to a separate family, Cracidae. In fact, some evidence exists that they are most closely related to Bush Turkeys. Some ornithologists go as far as to assign the Cracidae and the Bush Turkeys to their own order, Craciformes, separate from turkeys, grouse, pheasants and quail (Handbook of the Birds of the World—Alive). In any event, chachalacas are primarily South American species, with only the Plain Chachalaca barely ranging north of the Rio Grande.

Green Jay

Early on 20 February 2014 we drove from Rockport south to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Long-time readers of my blog will recall that, in 2012, it was here that Erika and I first found many of the birds that occur in the United States only along the Rio Grande valley.

Once again, we found our first Green Jays here. Seven races of Green Jay occur in North and Central America. Most of these subspecies intergrade where they overlap. South American Green Jays have a disjunct range and are distinctly colored, have different calls and behavior, are found in different habitat (mountains), and are, thus, potentially distinct species (Gayou 1995).

Couch’s Kingbird

As Erika and I rested at The Rockport Demo Bird Garden and Wetlands Pond, Erika suddenly pointed and said, “Now there’s a different bird!” Our choice was between Couch’s and Tropical kingbirds. Silent birds like this one are very difficult to tell apart. Couch’s Kingbirds have tails that are less notched. Their bills are relatively shorter. They often has brighter olive-green back. Our bird seems to confirm to these field marks. (Banders can often separate them by comparing their culmen-length to wing-length ratios and by the relative length primary five or primary four).

A look in eBird, however, added another clue. The Tropical Kingbird is usually restricted to the lower Rio Grande Valley, while the Couch’s ranges at least to the Rockport area along the Texas coast. eBird did not list the Tropical Kingbird as a possibility for our location.

The first Couch’s Kingbird was discovered by Darius Couch in 1853 and described in 1859. A problem arose thereafter, however, because the bird was “demoted” to subspecies status—just a race of the Tropical Kingbird. Not until 1979, on the basis of their different calls, was the Couch’s Kingbird returned to species status. Due to this hiatus, much confusion exists about just which species older ornithologists studied. Precise details. therefore, are lacking about much of Couch’s Kingbird biology (Brush 1999). In any event, Couch’s Kingbirds range from southeastern Texas across much of eastern Mexico to northern Central America.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Upon our return from Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Erika and I stopped by The Rockport Demo Bird Garden and Wetlands Pond. This area is managed by Rockport and the Texas Department of Transportation.

Despite our fatigue from a long day of birding, I entertained visions of finding our first dragonflies of the trip. No such luck. The area is a bit small to attract many birds, and this winter, a bit dry to attract any dragonflies. Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped warblers flitted around, both common wintering birds on the Texas coast. The Orange-crowned Warbler in this photo was launching itself into the air as I took the photograph. Elsewhere in this blog I have commented that Orange-crowned Warblers are identified by their lack of field marks. Only the faint breast streaking hints as to their identity.

Pied-billed Grebe

This Pied-billed Grebe kept a close eye on the alligator at The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on 19 February 2014. I have made several previous posts on this species, which can be accessed through this link.

Grebes are among the most ancient living birds. The oldest fossils are from Chile and are about 80 million years old (Cretaceous). Now grebes are found around the world, but the family is most diverse in South America. Half of the world’s 22 grebes are found in the neotropics.

Grebes were recently thought to be closely related to loons. DNA studies, however, conclude that the two families, due to convergent evolution, are only superficially similar. Today grebes are thought to belong to the same lineage that led to storks, shearwaters, pelicans, and penguins. The origins of loons, however, are more puzzling to ornithologists. Loons may be more closely related to gulls or auks (Handbook of the Birds of the World—Alive).

American Alligator

American Alligators are found in the southeastern United States inland across the piedmont, from Texas to Virginia and including all of Louisiana. By the mid-1960s, hunting and habitat loss had decimated alligator populations. Federal and state protection over the next 20 years have brought the species back from near extinction.

Wikipedia has more information on alligators than you could possibly want to know. This source reports that alligators do not usually regard people as prey. Nevertheless, since 1948, about 5 attacks on people per year have been reported. Alligator bites tend to be serious and the ultimate cause of death may be infection from the wound. As alligator numbers increase and available habitat decreases, alligator attacks appear to be on the rise.

When alarmed, alligators can run on their hind legs, giving rise to Big Foot reports from southern swamps. This alligator paid Erika and me no attention at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. We hurried on to the next bird.

Eastern Meadowlark

On Wednesday morning I drove over to Circle Lake in Rice County, Minnesota, and photographed an Eastern Meadowlark. I have previously written about the travails involved in telling Eastern and Western meadowlarks apart. In this case, identification was not difficult. The bird sang a series of lazy whistles unlike the Western's jumbled notes. Compare these two photos. In the first one, the Eastern, the yellow of the throat does not trespass onto the white lores (the area of the sides of the head between the bill and the beginning of the black necklace). In the second photo, a Western Meadowlark I blogged about last year, the loral area is clearly yellow.

Ornithologists are in general agreement that the meadowlarks are a distinct lineage within the blackbird family. This group is made up of about ten species, including yellow-breasted ones found in North America and red-breasted meadowlarks from South America. The oddest member of the meadowlark lineage is the Yellow-headed Blackbird.

In the early 1900s, Eastern and Western Meadowlarks were considered to be races of the same species. Now, despite occasional hybridization, they are thought to be two very similar species. Based on DNA research and slight plumage differences, many ornithologists consider the Eastern Meadowlarks of the desert-southwest are actually a third species, the Lilian’s Meadowlark. Recent DNA research also indicates that the Cuban subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark is also deserving of species recognition (Handbook of Birds of the World—Alive).

Little Blue Heron

Erika and I did not see too many other birds aside from the Whooping Cranes at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on 19 February 2014. We did photograph this Little Blue Heron. These herons tend to be solitary and can be relatively hard to see. They occur in smaller numbers than do other American herons and egrets (Rogers and Smith 2012). The species is also unique among our herons and egrets because first year birds are white, while adults are dark. Some other species have white and dark morphs unrelated to age. We found this white bird in the refuge. We found the dark bird the next day in South Padre Island.

Little Blue Herons lack aigrette plumes, the feathers that hunters found to be so lucrative in other herons and egrets. Thus this species escaped the decimation that befell other species in the early decades of the 20th century. See my previous post for photos Erika and I took during our 2012 Florida trip.

Trumpeter Swan

I drove over to Wells Lake last Wednesday, 26 March 2014, and found five Trumpeter Swans. A number of field marks cinched my Identification. The first was the long, straight, sloping bill. A Tundra Swan’s bill has a slight angle. In the second photo, you can see that the forehead, at the top of the bill, is pointed. The Tundra has a rounded border. Finally the gray, first-winter bird in the upper photo gives a clue. Young Tundra Swans begin to molt to white in December and all are white by April. YoungTrumpeter Swans often remain gray-brown through the spring and even into the summer (Sibley 2014). The rusty color on these swans’ heads and necks are stains from iron-rich waters and muds where the birds often forage (Mitchell and Eichholz 2010). Not all swans sport this color.

As I was leaving Wells Lake, three Common Mergansers shot by me and I was lucky to get the more or less focused photo you see below.