Le Conte's Sparrow

Le Conte's Sparrows were reported from our area on eBird this past week. Erika and I searched for them, but were not too surprised not to find one. These sparrows are infamous for being uncooperative. They only reluctantly flush from their grassland habitat and prefer "creeping about like mice under mats of grass" (Lowther 2005). The same author reports that one Wisconsin researcher "found only 8 of 86 singing males on perches exposed enough to provide an identifiable view." I took this photograph several years ago near Brookings, South Dakota.

This sparrow was named for John L. Le Conte, a friend of Audubon and a distinguished physician, physicist, chemist, teacher, and naturalist. He was president of the University of California, Berkeley, from 1875 to 1881 (Gruson 1972).

Lapland Longspur

This blog is a cautionary tale about bird photos. Leaving Hawk Ridge last Sunday, Gerry Hoekstra and I discovered a cooperative Lapland Longspur at Park Point, Duluth. We took the first two photographs at the same time and of the same individual bird--the first photo was taken by Gerry, the second is mine. We use different cameras, lenses, and camera settings. We also manipulate our photos differently with different software. I tend to overwork my photos a bit. The casual observer would hardly recognize these two birds as the same species, much less the same individual. This variation is one reason I am not a big fan of identification books containing photos rather than painted portraits.

The second set of photos also show the differences in our work. The third photo is by Gerry, and fourth is by me. I am not sure about the "reality" of these photos--I do not remember which of our photos is a more accurate longpsur representation. I have previously blogged on Lapland Longspurs. This bird was one of a flock of about 20 in the grass at the picnic area near the airport at Park Point.

Duluth Sparrows

One of the highlights of our Hawk Ridge visit on Sunday was the plethora of sparrows drawn in by seed spread out near a set of passerine banding nets. Despite intrusions by clueless tourists and unthoughtful volunteers, the birds were relatively tame and easy to photograph.

The first photo is of the the eastern Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys. Note the black line the links the eye to the bill. The lores are white or pale in western races. The orange bill indicates this individual is a northern, rather than eastern, bird. Birds from further east have pinkish bills. I posted accounts of western birds on 17 November 2009  and 21 September 2012.

The second bird is a bright White-throated Sparrow. As I have previously posted, White-throats come in bright and dull color morphs. This variation has nothing to do with the bird's sex and is poorly understood. The third photo is of a dull morph bird.

Finally, one Fox Sparrow visited the feeding area. I have recently written about the variation and systematics of this species. The name Fox derives from the rufous rump and tail feathers.

Krider's Red-tailed Hawk

Probably the highlight of our Hawk Ridge visit last Sunday was the capture of this very pale Red-tailed Hawk. Chances are that this bird is a Krider's Hawk. Krider's Hawks are perplexing. Apparently they are a pale morph of Red-tailed Hawk that breeds in the Dakotas and Montana. The normal breeding bird in the upper midwest is the western race of the Red-tailed Hawk, which come in three color morphs: dark, intermediate, and light. Krider's Hawks are even paler than light Western Red-tails. Possibly Krider's Hawks are a fourth morph of Red-tailed Hawk arising from birds intermediate between Western and Eastern Red-tailed Hawk races. Whatever a Krider’s Hawk actually is, extreme caution should be used differentiating pale and very pale morphs of Red-tailed Hawks.

Hawk Ridge

Hawk Ridge Sanctuary, run by a nonprofit organization, sits atop a rise above Duluth, Minnesota. Because hot air thermals do not form over water, migrating hawks tend to fly around large bodies of water, such as Lake Superior.  Hawk Ridge provides some of the most spectacular hawk-watching opportunities in North America, with an average of nearly 95,000 raptors passing overhead from October through November (MOU). Erika and I, along with our friends Gerry and Merry H., paid Hawk Ridge a visit last Sunday.

We enjoyed our visit, despite large crowds of visitors and relatively few hawks. Only about 500 were counted on Sunday (and we saw only a fraction of that number). Most of these raptors, like this juvenal Broad-winged Hawk, flew at such heights that they were often visible only as pin-spots, requiring scopes or binoculars to see, much less to identify them. Many of the hawks are identified only by body silhouette.  Our hawk lacked the broad white tail bands of an adult, but can be told by the general body shape and by the relatively broad dark band at the end of the tail.

Hawk Ridge bands both raptors and passerines. Trained volunteers run these programs. While we watched, they banded a half-dozen Sharp-shinned Hawks (see photo above) and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks. The crowds of people were well entertained and educated by these activities. The volunteers allowed people to "adopt a raptor," by paying $25 and releasing the banded birds. I will write more about Hawk Ridge over the next week of blog posts.

Oregon Junco

Dark-eyed Juncos breed in forests across Canada and the northern United States south into the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. Juncos winter across the midwestern and southern United States to northern Mexico. The species is abundant, with estimates of the total population thought to be 630 million individuals (Nolan et al. 2002).

With so many birds breeding over such a wide range, junco populations exhibit a great deal of variation. The result has been labeled a "turbulent taxonomic history" and a "nightmare for systematists" (Nolan et al. 2002). Until the 1970s, juncos were split into five species and a number of races. The American Ornithologists' Union currently lumps these species into one, the Dark-eyed Junco, with 15 races assigned to five "groups."

The photograph above is of a Dark-eyed Junco of the "Oregon" group from our travels to Olympia, Washington, last April. Note the angle of the white belly where it meets with the black breast and pink sides. This angle is sharp, not rounded. Oregon Juncos are sometimes reported in winter from Minnesota, but care must be used to eliminate the possibility of Junco hyemalis cismontanus, a brownish race of the "Slate-colored" Junco group, which often winter in Minnesota.

Golden-crowned Sparrow

Another common bird in our son's bird feeder last April in Washington was the Golden-crowned Sparrow. This species is a common winter bird in shrubby and urban areas along the West Coast of the United States, but it breeds further north in British Columbia and Alaska. Relatively few behavioral studies have been conducted on this sparrow. Norment et al. (1998) write that Alaskan goldminers called this bird "Weary Willie "because it was forever singing 'I'm so tired!'...Others called it the 'No Gold Here' bird," again interpreting the call (link curtesy Thayer Birding Software.)

White-crowned Sparrow

We arrived in Olympia, Washington, last April, our granddaughter having the courtesy to wait to be born until after we listed our first-ever Rock Sandpiper. We spent the next week tending to children and a newborn, and thus had little time for birding. Our son keeps a feeder, and I was able to take photos of a few interesting birds.

White-crowned Sparrows are common in Olympia and their distinctive calls can even be heard in downtown areas of the city. (The call file is courtesy of Thayer Birding Software.) Some time ago I wrote about the four races of White-crowned Sparrow. Because we were on Puget Sound, it stands to reason this bird is Zonotricha leucophrys pugetensis (a race unlikely to be encountered in Minnesota). Confirming field-marks include the white lores and yellow (rather than orange) bill.

Rock Sandpiper

Erika and I gave the Rock Sandpiper one more try. We drove around Gray's Harbor and checked out the north jetty at Ocean Shores, Washington. As you can see in these photos, we found our nemesis bird. One reason this species can be hard to list is that it is a late fall (October-November) and early spring (April) migrant, thus a relatively small window in time exists in the winter range to see this rock-loving sandpiper. Further, they return to specific wintering areas. Thus knowing about the north jetty at Gray's Pass may be critical to easily find them. We found them feeding among the rocks, dropping down as waves receded, only to pop back to rock-tops as the next waves crashed into the rocks.

Reading about Rock Sandpipers in Gill et al. (2002), I learned a new word, pagophilic, which means ice-loving. Perhaps because these birds winter further north than other North American shorebird, they often roost on sheets of ice. I also learned that Rock Sandpipers, during migration, can be found on muddy or sandy tidal flats away from rocks. Rocky and/or man-made substrates, however, are the rule in their winter range from coastal southern Alaska to northern California.

Semipalmated Plover

Another common shorebird Erika and I saw last April at the south jetty of Gray's Pass in Washington was this Semipalmated Plover. This plover breeds in Alaska and arctic Canada. The species winters along the coasts of North, Central, and South America. This species is one of the few plovers enjoying increasing numbers--it is not very particular about its food choices and its wide range protects it from local catastrophes (Nol and Blanken 1999). Spring Semipalmated Plovers, like the spring South Dakota bird below, show a black breast band. The Washington bird is in basic (winter) plumage.