Eared Grebe feeding on surface insects and brine shrimp at Owens Dry Lake, California filmed in early April 2017. Birds are starting to return to Owens Lake now that some shallow water remains in it. This time of year it is unusual for a single grebe to be hanging out. A very unusual looking bird with striking red eyes and head feathers.
Steller's Jay scavenging food from a wildlife refuge parking lot near Flagstaff, Arizona. A stunning bird very similar to the Blue Jay, but with black head and white eye lines. I was surprised to encounter this bird primarily as a scavenger hanging around public areas of western national parks. I have not seen Blue Jays back east exhibit this type of behavior that is more often seen with Grackles.
The Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the blue jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the long-crested jay, mountain jay, and pine jay. It is the only crested jay west of the Rocky Mountains. While it does not have as prominent a crest as the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) it can be found west of the Rockies especially in south east British Columbia.
The Steller's jay shows a great deal of regional variation throughout its range. Blackish-brown-headed birds from the north gradually become bluer-headed farther south. The Steller's jay has a more slender bill and longer legs than the blue jay and has a much more pronounced crest. It is also somewhat larger. The head is blackish-brown with light blue streaks on the forehead. This dark coloring gives way from the shoulders and lower breast to silvery blue. The primaries and tail are a rich blue with darker barring.
It occurs in coniferous forest over much of the western half of North America from Alaska in the north to northern Nicaragua completely replacing the blue jay in most of those areas. Some hybridization with the blue jay in Colorado has been reported. The Steller's jay lives in coniferous and mixed woodland, but not in completely dense forest, and requires open space. It typically lives in flocks of greater than 10 individuals. In autumn, flocks often visit oak woods when acorns are ripe.
The beautiful sounds of a Western Meadowlark singing it's song at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge near Merced, California. While visually quite similar to the eastern Meadowlark, the western Meadowlark's song is a little more intricate.
The Cardinals are having a nice quiet private meal which is unusual in the Backyard Jungle. They are getting ready to start a family - its that time of year!
Killdeer nesting and calling. This is classic windswept habitat for Killdeers - they are really hard to see against brown dirt and gravel and their nests are just depressions scraped into the ground.
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
When not on the nest Killdeers are conspicuous and noisy,
hence, the specific name, vociferus. Like the Wilson's Plover, the broken-wing distraction display is highly developed in Killdeers and readily confirms breeding. The Killdeer breeds from Newfoundland, the south rim of Hudson Bay, and the southern Yukon and Northwest Territories south to central Mexico and the Gulf coast.
Habitat. The Killdeer inhabits both brackish and freshwater habitats and is perfectly at home in upland situations far from water. It prefers open areas with short or sparse vegetation, such as pastures, golf courses, airports, and extensive lawns. Killdeers will also nest on gravel parking lots and on rooftops. Food of the Killdeer consists of beetles and other insects and invertebrates, including arachnids, worms, snails, and crustaceans. The nest of the Killdeer is a shallow scrape, usually in bare sand or gravel, but occasionally among sparse vegetation. Four buffy eggs with black, brown, and gray markings are laid. The cryptic color of the eggs, adults and chicks enables them to avoid detection by predators. Incubation is performed by both sexes and takes 24 to 28 days. The young are precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching. They are usually accompanied by the parents until fledging at about 25 days (Ehrlich et al. 1988). Rooftop nesting can present a problem to Killdeer chicks because they must leave the roof to obtain food on the ground. Apparently they are successful at negotiating this, however, because Killdeers return to the same rooftop year after year.
Seasonal Occurrence. Most breeding occurs March through July. Fall migrants swell the Florida population Ju
through November, and spring migration occurs primarily in March and April. http://legacy.myfwc.com/bba/docs/bba_KILL.pdf
Downy Woodpeckers and Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers return to the Backyard on the same day and on the same tree during the Great Backyard Bird Count - the woodpecker miracle! In general, birding in the Backyard has been slower in the past year and the cheerful sound of the Downy Woodpecker in particular has been missing for some time. That unmistakable high-pitched call was the first thing I heard this morning! For a sample check out:
Animation of Birds on Radar! December 19th, 2016 - A rare perfect circular donut echo is seen on weather radar from flocks of birds taking off at sunrise south of Orlando, Florida. It has long been known that bird movements show up on radar, but rarely do they show up as perfect circles starting from a small area and growing to such a large area. These birds took off south of lake Tohopekaliga near Kissimmee, Florida. Another circular bird echo can be seen further south toward the north shore of Lake Okeechobee.
Screech Owl uses newly documented scary daytime defensive posture against annoying Blue Jays and Mockingbirds consist of wide eyed blinking and open mouth snapping to look more intimidating. Mother red morph Eastern Screech Owl is trying to take a break outside the nest box in the daytime and let the fast growing owlets have some room and air to cool down. Ordinarily she would never expose herself in the daytime except for nesting season. The Blue Jays are not going to let her rest - they want to harass her until she leaves their nesting area, but she is not going to leave her nest box - thus a standoff. Father Screech Owl sometimes kills songbirds roosting in the trees at night to feed the owlets so you can't blame the Blue Jays. Screech Owls are very small owls and have different techniques to deal with threats including making themselves very skinny like a branch when a real dangerous threat is around like a hawk or big owl or puffing themselves up for some threats they can intimidate like squirrels. These behaviors can be seen in this documentary:
Eastern Screech Owl Camouflage and Defensive Survival Techniques
Northern Parula singing in the swamp - a type of Warbler it is a rare bird to get on film on its winter grounds - its loud cheerful call lets you know its near, but getting it on video as it flits rapidly in dense cover is the hard part.
Filmed at Corksrew Swamp Sanctuary this bird has also been observed in the Backyard in 2014 but without the song - see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zV4GwIZtGo
Northern Parulas breed in mature forests along streams, swamps, and other bottomlands. They're closely associated with epiphytic plants that grow on the branches of canopy trees. In the southern U.S. they use Spanish moss; farther north they use beard moss. Key tree species include water, willow, and swamp chestnut oak, black gum, eastern hemlock, sugar and red maple, birches, and sycamore On its tropical wintering grounds, parulas use many habitat types including fields, pastures, scrub, woodland, and coffee, cacao, and citrus plantations.
Spiders and many kinds of insects, particularly caterpillars. Also eats beetles, moths, ants, wasps, bees, flies, locusts, and others. During the breeding season Northern Parulas also occasionally eat bud scales and on wintering grounds they sometimes eat berries, seeds, or nectar.
Brown Thrashers are ground foraging songbirds and one of the rarer and more striking birds to visit the Backyard with their sharp yellow eyes and downward curved bill that gives them a seemingly disapproving expression. Their long legs and a high center of gravity mean it is a bird always on the move, using its curved bill to "thrash" for something to eat. They typically stay in deep cover and only venture out in the open like in this video on rare occasion and then head back to cover. They occasionally come to eat bird seed on platform feeders, but would much rather catch live insects to eat. Related to the Mockingbird they are also some of the best singers of the songbird world, although I have yet to catch one putting on a show - the ones are here tend to be quite secretive.
Tame White Winged Dove has no apparent fear of me standing just a few feet away - part of a group of about six that stopped by the Backyard. They are considered an introduced and exotic species in Florida and are common year round in some areas, but not the Backyard. They are rare visitors here. They are beautiful Doves with striking orange eyes surrounded by a light blue eye-shadow accents. Originally a bird of the desert their range is expanding.
Male Northern Cardinal loudly singing three different territorial songs just before sunrise in late February in Florida. Many recorded cardinal calls or songs are rather "wimpy" honestly - underestimating how much Cardinals can dominate the Backyard soundscape. This cardinal is over 200 feet away and 50 feet high in the tallest tree - an important territorial marker for birds - and he has to be heard through all the other birds calls you will hear - notably Grackles and Jays. Cardinals are one of the loudest and strongest singers of the Backyard world. Spring is in the air in Florida and the male cardinal is staking his claim! Mating and nesting comes early in Florida!
Beautiful Snowy Egret with bright yellow feet, uses them to help stir up fish while hunting. Unlike most herons that patiently sit and wait to strike a fish, the Snowy Egret is on the move - stirring up the bottom and exciting fish with those big yellow feet and covering a lot of ground to stalk fish. Snowy Egrets are one of my favorite birds with their striking pure white plumage and sexy yellow feet they always make my day! If you've never seen on on the move you are in for a treat!
Close up quality time with a beautiful Northern Cardinal couple in the dense jungle behind the Backyard. A very unusual and relaxing backdrop for watching Cardinals! There are usually one pair of Cardinals that call the Backyard area home, but they are very low profile and hide in the deep brush - making quick darts to the feeder. I can never get to spend any time with them as they are dominated by the Jays, Grackles Woodpeckers and squirrels around the feeders. So I took the food to them into the jungle and succeeded in getting them to enjoy a private dinner until a surprise crass visitor totally destroys the party at the end. Your in for a treat!
The Snowy Egret is a species of special concern in Florida and relatively rare to get close to in the wild. It is my favorite wading bird with its friendly expression exotic plumage and cute yellow feet. This one still has a lot of yellow on its legs which probably means it is fairly young.
Physical Description
The snowy egret is a small and active wading bird that can reach a height of 26 inches (66 centimeters) with a 39 inch (100 centimeters) wingspan (Parsons and Master 2000). This species has a full white body, black legs, bright yellow feet, yellow marks around the eyes, and a black bill.
Life History
The diet of the snowy egret primarily consists of shrimp, small fish, and small invertebrates. It feeds in fresh and salt water habitats within flocks of other wading birds.
The snowy egret begins breeding around late March to early April. This species nests with other wading birds in swamps and mangroves on islands. During courtship, the male will point his bill upwards and begin moving his body up and down as he tries to impress the female . They will nest no higher than 30 feet (9.1 meters) above the ground on a stage of sticks in trees and bushes. Females will lay three to five eggs, and they will hatch after 23-26 days of incubation. During incubation, both parents will incubate the eggs . To feed young, the parents will partially digest food and regurgitate it to the nestlings. The young are able to fly 25 days after hatching; however, they do not leave the nest until a couple months after first flight.
Habitat and Distribution
Snowy Egret Distribution
Snowy egrets commonly prefer shallow estuarine areas including mangroves, shallow bays, saltmarsh pools, and tidal channels. This species can be found in the U.S. from northern California, east to South Dakota, and south to Florida where they are widespread year-round residents. Snowy egrets are also found in Chile, Argentina, and the Greater Antilles. This species is found throughout Florida.
Threats:
Historically, the snowy egret was overhunted for their plumage (feathers) which were often used for women’s clothing and hats. Today’s threats to the species are not well understood, but coastal development, recreational disturbance at foraging and breeding sites, habitat degradation, human disturbance, and increased pressure from predators are primary concerns. Similar to other wading birds that depend on fragile estuaries and wetlands for foraging and breeding, snowy egrets are at risk of exposure to persistent contaminants such as heavy metals (ex. mercury) and pesticides . Snowy egrets compete for nesting sites with growing numbers of cattle egrets, which can be aggressively territorial at colony sites, but the relationship to productivity is not well understood . Other potential threats to snowy egret populations are alterations to the hydrology of foraging areas, and oil spill impacts to critical breeding, foraging, and roosting sites.
Conservation and Management
The snowy egret is protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act and as a State Species of Special Concern by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule External Website.
Male Red Bellied Woodpecker joins the Blue Jay Family in the fight for morning peanuts. Presented in real-time it takes about 50 seconds from the time I open the door until the peanuts are gone! Listen for the blue jays imitating a Red Shouldered Hawk call as intimidation to keep squirrels and other birds away while the Jay strike force hits the peanuts.
Amazing contact calls from female inside the nest box to male outside almost like telegraph Morse Code. Eastern Screech owl mating and contact sounds are in full swing and the first egg should appear any day. Mother Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl has moved into the nest box full-time and makes some unusual lengthy contact calls to Mr. Owl who is starting to bring her food in the nest box. You will not need to turn up the volume - these calls are loud!
Thousands of dead fish washed ashore along a few East Central Florida Beaches overnight on December 21st. The dead fish were mostly Thread Herring and were causing quite a stench and sickening a few birds - notably a young Northern Gannet in a bit of stupor. Hundreds of gulls and other birds were drawn to the scene, but hardly any appeared to be eating the fish, perhaps sensing that something was wrong and they may be toxic. Large fish kills have been reported for the last few weeks around Florida perhaps due to toxic algae blooms. Tests were taken of this fish kill and results will be announced within a week. I can say the general "ambiance" caused eyes to water and was generally uncomfortable. It will take some time for nature to clean up the mess and with near record Christmas heat the 1000's of dead fish left on the high tide line will be quite a sensory overload!
Great Blue Heron spears a large Mullet and then quickly swallows it and washed it down with a few sips of water. Great Blue Herons are some of the largest birds in Florida and are always fascinating to watch as they patiently stalk their prey and often spear it with their sharp bill.
