Sunbathing Roadrunner

While visiting family near Dallas, and under the tyranny of Erika’s new Fitbit,we often took morning strolls. “What is on the roof of that house?” we asked each other. “An exhibitionist roadrunner raising its feather dress well above its hips!” We had never seen anything quite like this behavior (although I have blogged on the species several times).

Sunbathing roadrunners are described in the ornithological literature. Hughes (2011) writes that roadrunners sunbathe, while standing on fenceposts or rooftops, for two to three hours in the early morning. The wings “are drooped and held away from the body, “ while the “cervial plumage is erect, exposing black skin of the interscapular apterium…"

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbirds are rare in Minnesota, so seeing them is always a pleasure. This mimic-thrush is common within its range, and most abundant in Florida and Texas. I have previously blogged on the species, which is found in parks, yards, and brushland. These photos are from the Dallas, Texas suburbs where we recently visited family.

Across the country, with few, local exceptions, mockingbird numbers are generally declining by almost 2% a year. Farnsworth et al. (2011) note that mockingbirds have “disappeared as a breeding species in Minnesota.” Biologists are unable to explain this trend.

Possible Myrtle x Audubon’s Warbler hybrid

During the last two days in Northfield, Minnesota, I banded my first Yellow-rumped Warblers of this spring. I always double-check to make sure the bird I am banding is not a western “Audubon’s,” instead of the expected eastern “Myrtle” race. See my previous blog about identifying these two races.

One of the four Yellow-rumped Warblers I captured this morning startled me. The throat, which I expected to be pure white, was definitely washed with a relatively intense yellow. Otherwise the bird sported typical Myrtle field marks—a white supercilliary stripe above the eye, and the lack of a white wing patch. I believe this bird is a hybrid between an Audubon’s and Myrtle warbler. Overall, the bird is quite similar to Sibley’s illustration of a hybrid in the most recent edition of his field guide.

I have banded hundreds (if not thousands) of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Over the years, I have encountered at least two typical Audubon’s Warblers in eastern South Dakota. They breed in the Black Hills of western South Dakota. Minnesota enjoys about a half-dozen Audubon’s Warbler sightings. Today’s bird, however, is my first record that I have suspected of being a hybrid. Sibley writes that, although hybridization is common, hybrids are infrequently reported away from the Canadian Rockies, where the two forms overlap.

House Sparrow and Tree Swallow

On Tuesday I watched House Sparrows and Tree Swallow compete to occupy bluebird houses. Last year I wrote about Tree Swallow and bluebird interactions. Swallows also compete with House Sparrows. In the late 1800s, House Sparrows spread across the country. I have also blogged about this phenomenon. This rapid range expansion is somewhat paradoxical, since local House Sparrow populations tend to be relatively sedentary. Apparently cities and towns served as islands of safety for the expanding House Sparrow populations—islands that lacked occupants of the niche that sparrows occupy. Lowther and Cink (2006) write that, if you want to discourage House Sparrows’ supplanting bluebird or swallow nest boxes, then you should place the boxes at least 100 meters from farmyards and other sparrow habitat (such as livestock pens).

Bald Eagle

Back on the road on 12 March 2015, Erika and I found ourselves with a little extra time. I searched for nearby “hotspots” in eBird, and found the Tonkawa Sewage Ponds, a short distance from I-35 in Oklahoma. Perhaps a strange tourist site, but promising a variety of waterfowl. To our dismay, we found the area posted (as are most sewage ponds), and sewage personnel refused our request to enter. (eBird hotspots are supposed to be accessible to birders.)

The only saving grace was this juvenal Bald Eagle. We listed eagles in many locations during our travels. The fact that eagles were recently (like in the mid-1900s) endangered is hard to remember. They were the victims of human persecution and DDT and other pesticides that interfered with reproduction. Their recovery “represents one of the continent’s most successful conservation stories” (Buehler 2000). By the late 1900s, all the Canadian provinces and all but two states in the continental United States boasted breeding Bald Eagles.

Black-capped Chickadee

When we head south on our various winter trips, in order to escape the frozen Northland, we try to drive about as far as we can. This usually means we aim for Andover, Kansas, about ten hours south of Northfield. Nevertheless, this marathon drive does not always guarantee freedom from icy roads.

This year our escape was successful. The next morning, 12 March 2015, Erika and I took a short stroll. Chickadees greeted us. At first I assumed these must be Carolina Chickadees, and eBird did not warn me that the range of the Black-capped Chickadee dips into most of Kansas. Sibley’s guideshows that the Carolina barely ventures north into the state.

I was uneasy about the amount of white on the edges of the flight feathers—too much for most Carolinas. Then a bird started to call, “Chick-a-dee, Chick-a-dee-dee!” This call was typical of a Black-capped Chickadee; Carolinas usually sing five to seven “dees” at their call’s end.

Bloodroot

Today, 12 April 2015, upon our return from a month’s traveling to Texas and Florida, we were greeted by the first Bloodroot of the spring as it bloomed in Erika’s garden. Bloodroot seeds are often propagated by ants, and, thus, like this individual, can appear unexpected places.

Bloodroots are poppies, and like many plants in this family, have colored, sappy liquid in their roots—in this case blood red. They are early bloomers, and are able to do so because of the relatively warm microclimate along the forest floor.  Their main polinators are bees.

Native Americans used bloodroot as a dye and for various medical remedies, including bronchitis, asthma, and sore throats. The sap is reputed to have hallucinogenic properties and contains propotine, also found in the opium poppy. Another name for Bloodroot is Sweet Slumber. Sanguinarine is another alkaloid found in Bloodroots. In the late 1900s, it was used in mouthwash as an antiplaque agent. Sanguinarine was later found to cause a ten-fold increase in mouth cancers, and has since been removed from the market (Gracie 2012).

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

One of our more unlikely outings during our 1990 trip to Australia was to take a mangrove tour out of   Forster. At one point, to entertain us tourists, the guides threw hunks of chicken off the back of the boat. This sea-eagle, in the same genus as our Bald Eagle, made repeated and successful swoops for the bait. In more normal circumstances, sea-eagles consume a wide variety of prey (mammals (including rabbits and wallabies), birds, reptiles, fish, and crustaceans), and even highly venomous sea snakes (Handbook of the Birds Alive). The species is generally common across much of Southeast Asia and coastal Australia.

Ebony Jewelwing

These Ebony Jewelwing photos are from last summer. I found these damselflies in the Carleton College arboretum. Unlike males, females, like in the first picture, have white spots on their wings. These markings are called stigma. Sigma have several, non-mutually exclusive functions. They can serve as signals to potential mates or rivals. They may act as weights to dampen wing vibrations. Finally, they may increase wing flexibility and thereby guard against stress fractures (Seattlepi.com).

Blue-winged Warbler

I photographed this Blue-winged Warbler last spring. Elsewhere in this blog, I discussed the genetics of Blue-winged and Golden-winged warbler hybrids. Blue-winged numbers have greatly increased since their discovery. Because they prefer brushy scrublands, they benefited from the cutting of the Eastern forests and eventual abandonment of farmlands. As their numbers increased, their range expaned northward, often replacing the genetically similar Golden-winged Warbler (Gill et al. 2001). Only in recent years have populations declined, as a result of forest regeneration or urbanization of scrublands.