Western Kingbird

The hundredth is a mystical meridian (those imaginary lines on maps that run between the Earth’s poles). The 100th meridian is the line Peterson drew separating the western and eastern United States, each region with roughly its own suite of birds. In South Dakota, this line runs just east of the Missouri River, and the river marks a transition between eastern and western birds.

John Holden and I came upon our first Western Kingbirds as we approached the 100th meridian. This flycatcher breeds across most of the western United States, as well as southern Canada and Northern Mexico. The bird is even found into western Minnesota, where it is uncommon and local. We found them to be common and widespread in central South Dakota.

Western Kingbirds are aggressive birds that catch flying insects in the air and on the ground. They favor a variety of habitats, but require open areas for feeding and and trees and shrubs for perching. Western Kingbirds can also be found in urban areas. The species has become more common with the breaking of the prairies and consequent planting of trees and bushes (Gamble and Bergin 2012).

American Avocet

American Avocets delighted John Holden and me as we travelled across northern South Dakota along Highway 10 north of Aberdeen. The avocets were tame and fed along barrow pits on both sides of the road. The species feeds with a variety of methods. They are famous for using their bills as a scythe, swishing the bills back and forth as they catch small aquatic invertebrates. They also peck, plunge, scrape, and snatch. Avocets use their exceptionally sensitive bills to feel for prey. Sometimes, like in the second photo, avocets feed while swimming. Other times, food is snatched while the avocet walks erratically in shallow water. Check out this last photo. Finally, avocets often feed near phalaropes, hoping to feed on invertebrates and small fish that the spinning sandpipers stir up from the lake bottoms (see previous post) (Robinson et al. 1997).

Wilson’s Phalarope

These five photographs, taken in May 2013, are a series of a male Wilson’s Phalarope. The photos are of the same bird near Leola, South Dakota. I have discussed sex role reversal shown in phalaropes in a previous post. (Females are more brightly colored than males and it is the male that tends the nests.)

Phalaropes are famous for their feeding behavior. They spin in tight circles “in a manner reminiscent of a slightly demented toy” (Rubega et al. 2000). The spinning may stir up prey from the bottom of shallow water. Other researchers hypothesize that the spinning stimulates prey immobilized in cold water. This circling creates upwelling of water that brings the phalarope’s prey up to them. This flow can be created in water with depths of up to a half-meter, thus allowing phalaropes to spin in relatively deep water.

Other research suggests that phalaropes spin only in one direction—individuals may be left or right spinners. In any case, the phalarope moves with each spin, so that the bird slowly moves across the water. As the bird does so, it inspects the surface for new prey items. Most of my information on spinning phalaropes is taken from Rubega et al. (2000). Although famous for their spinning, phalaropes often feed like more typical sandpipers, probing muddy shores for arthropods. 

More Sandpipers

On our recent journey, I played the role of ornithology professor and John Holden had the role of student. The advantage of these roles for me is that, as I have often informed John, the Professor is always correct—especially when it comes to identifying sandpipers. We happened upon this group of four sandpipers near Leola, South Dakota.

The identification of three of these four shorebirds in the upper photo is not too difficult. The bird in the lower left is a Spotted Sandpiper—look at the spots on its underparts. The small, dark-brown backed shorebird behind the others has yellowish legs, making it a Least Sandpiper. The larger bird on the far right, with its thin, pointed bill and chestnut body stripes is a female Wilson’s Phalarope. Female phalaropes are brighter than their mates. I will have more to write about phalaropes in a future post.

That leaves the center bird, which I identified as a Baird’s Sandpiper. Look at the photo below, taken after another shorebird landed nearby. This time the phalarope is the bird in the background. The remaining shorebirds are what birders call “peeps,” a collective name for small sandpipers. The bird I identified as a Baird’s Sandpiper is the middle bird.  Note the dark legs, sharp transition between the dark breast and the white belly, and the black spots on the back.

The first bird in the lower photo also sports black legs. But it has a less distinctly spotted back and its striped chest transitions slowly to its white belly. Finally its bill is clearly shorter than that of the Baird’s—leading me to conclude that this first bird is a Semipalmated Sandpiper. My companion felt it was unfair for me to offer a week-long workshop in shorebird identification in five minutes at a South Dakota lakeshore.

Stilt Sandpiper and Hudsonian Godwit

On our recent jaunt, John Holden and I found ourselves surrounded by shorebirds north of Aberdeen, South Dakota (see last post). West of Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, we found Hudsonian Godwits and smaller Stilt Sandpipers. The sandpipers are easily identified by their barred breasts and chestnut cheeks. Stilt Sandpipers can also be told by their habit of standing in deep water, sometimes up to their bellies.

The godwit is known by its dark chestnut belly and, in flight (see lower photo), by its white rump. The lower photo also shows a Stilt Sandpiper in flight and, behind (and actually in focus), a Pectoral Sandpiper. The Pectoral is known by its size, relatively short bill, dark bib, and the dark-brown upperparts, a color that contiues through the center of the tail. Curiously, when I took this photo, I did not even see the Pectoral Sandpiper fly by me.

As I have written previously about Hudsonian Godwits, this species was considered to be on the brink of extinction in the early 1900s. Only in the 1940s were staging areas of migrating godwits discovered—perhaps these godwits were not as rare as previously believed. Nevertheless, hunting in South America, the effects of huge geese populations degrading arctic breeding grounds, and habitat destruction for oil extraction all threaten this species today (Walker et al. 2011).

Stilt Sandpipers are usually thought to be relatively rare shorebirds. They also winter in South America, and breed in the high arctic. Like the godwit, habitat degradation by over-abundant geese interfere with their nesting. Habitat fragmentation, both in South America and in the Arctic, does not help. Nevertheless, according to Klima and Jehl (2012), overall numbers of Stilt Sandpipers may be underestimated by ornithologists.

White-rumped Sandpiper

On our recent trip to attend the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union’s meeting, John Holden and I drove across the Northeastern part of that state. We came upon many shorebirds, a few of which I will share with you in this and upcoming blog posts. The first of these birds was a White-rumped Sandpiper. When not flying and showing its white rump, this sandpiper always puzzles me—until I remember that its salient field mark is its striped flanks (below the folded wings).

Note this individual’s yawn. This behavior is similar to a Spotted Sandpiper’s yawn that I posted in April 2010. I mentioned that female Spotted Sandpipers often give a choking display when courting males. Parmelee (1992) in his species account in Birds of North America, does not mentioned similar behavior in White-rumped Sandpipers.  So, perhaps, this yawn is exactly what it seems—just a yawn.

Pileated Woodpecker Recapture

On 21 May 2013, I discovered a Pileated Woodpecker in my banding net. Turns out to be a bird that I banded on 3 November 2010. In fact, it is the same bird I blogged about in November 2010. I seldom catch these large woodpeckers, and I wondered if a bird just short of three years might be one of the oldest on record. A search of the Bird Banding Laboratory’s website indicates my record is a far cry from the a record of 12 years 11 months of a bird banded in Maryland.

Variegated Meadowhawk

Last weekend, John Holden and I attended the South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union meeting in Mobridge, South Dakota. We saw lots of birds, but this post is about my first dragonfly of the season—a Variegated Meadowhawk on 19 May 2013! This species was my first Odonate last year too, when I obtained my 2012 Variegated Meadowhawk on 20 April in Rice Co., Minnesota. That this dragonfly was the first of the season two years in a row may not be that coincidental. The species is a long-range migrant, often appearing before local populations emerge. It winters in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and warmer, southern states, south into Mexico and Central America.

The yellow spots on the thorax and the complex pattern on the abdomen make the Variegated Meadowhawk relatively easy to classify. Although odonates can be more difficult to identify, the rewards can be satisfying. In this case, even though Variegated Meadowhawks are found across the United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico, this record is a first from Walworth County, South Dakota.

Harris’s Sparrow

Last week, Erika and I sat on our porch mesmerized by our water feature. An odd bird flew to the stream. “Is that a Harris’s Sparrow?” I asked. “It is!” “Walk up the garden path,” I instructed, “and see if it will fly into the banding net.” And that is exactly what the sparrow proceeded to do.

I have seen a few Harris’s Sparrows in Northfield, and have banded one other, but at our Dundas station. Our Northfield home seems to be unlikely habitat for this prairie species. The bird does have a preference for streams, however, and generally favors brushy, secondary-growth areas (Norment and Shackleton 2008).

Two Vireos

Two vireos, a Red-eyed and a Blue-headed, also foraged with the warbler wave of mid-May 2013. Here are photos and links to previous posts about each species.

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo