Killdeer Nesting and Calling

Video: Killdeer Nesting and Calling

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

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Killdeer Nesting and Calling

Sandhill Cranes Flying and Calling

Video:  Sandhill Cranes Flying and Calling

Sandhill Cranes graceful flight closeup and dinosaur-like calls and rattles on the ground. Threatened in Florida, but conspicuous due to their huge size and loud calls there is a year-round resident population (Florida Sandhill Crane). However, these birds may be part of the migratory Sandhill Cranes that arrive each winter from around the Great Lakes and hangout in freshwater marshland and wide expanses of field and rangeland.

Sandhill Crane: Grus canadensis

Appearance:

Sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) are long-legged, long-necked, gray, heron-like birds with a patch of bald, red skin on top of their head. Cranes fly with necks outstretched like geese, whereas herons fly with necks tucked in on their backs. For positive identification, look for reddish skin on top of the crane's head.

Habitat:

Two subspecies of sandhill crane occur in Florida.  The Florida sandhill crane (G. c. pratensis), numbering 4,000 to 5,000, is a non-migratory year-round breeding resident.  They are joined every winter by 25,000 migratory greater sandhill cranes (G. c. tabida), the larger of the two subspecies. The greater sandhill crane winters in Florida but nests in the Great Lakes region. Sandhill cranes nest during late winter and spring on mats of vegetation about two feet in diameter and in shallow water. 

Behavior:

Two eggs are normally laid. Cranes are monogamous breeders. Within 24 hours of hatching, the young are capable of following their parents away from the nest. Together, they forage for seeds and roots, crop plants such as corn and peanuts, insects, snakes, frogs and occasionally young birds or small mammals.

Cranes are quite omnivorous  feeding on seeds, grain, berries, insects, earthworms, mice, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, crayfish, but do not "fish" like herons.

Resident sandhill cranes are usually seen in very small groups or pairs.  In November and December, however, large flocks of northern cranes move in, more than doubling the population in the state and then leave during March and April.  The sandhill crane is a close relative to the nearly extinct whooping crane, which is being reintroduced into the state. Young sandhills weigh about twelve pounds, males are larger than females, but external markings are identical. Cranes live to be older than most birds, some reaching 20 years old.

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video:  Sandhill Cranes Flying and Calling

Meadowlark Singing And Calling - 11 Minutes

Video: Meadowlark Singing And Calling

Eastern Meadowlark singing at least three variations of a song and  some interesting chattering calls which I have not witnessed before. Watch this gorgeous bird for over 11 minutes and you'll never forget him. Out in the vast grass marshes of the St. Johns River a boundary marker becomes prime territory. One of the most striking and melodious songbirds of the marshlands I am quite lucky to find such a friendly subject to film and in such perfect lighting conditions.

Recorded January 26, 2017

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Meadowlark Singing And Calling

Northern Flicker Woodpecker Calling and Drumming

Video: Northern Flicker Woodpecker Calling and Drumming

Male Northern Flicker woodpecker calls and drums to attract a female to the Screech Owl nest box he has claimed as a nest site. He is a gorgeous yellow-shafted variety common to eastern North America with a call similar to a Pileated Woodpecker, but weaker and higher pitched.  The call ringing through the forest almost brings to mind the sounds of a tropical jungle.

This brown woodpecker flashes bright colors under the wings and tail when it flies. Its ringing calls and short bursts of drumming can be heard in spring almost throughout North America. Two very different-looking forms -- Yellow-shafted Flicker in the east and north, and Red-shafted Flicker in the west -- were once considered separate species. 

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Northern Flicker Woodpecker Calling and Drumming

Eastern Screech Owl Calling At Nest Box

Video: Eastern Screech Owl Calling At Nest Box

Male Eastern Screech Owl whole body shakes as he makes the classic "trilling" sounds at dusk upon arriving at the nest box to hunt and bring food to the female. Their courtship period is the longest I've seen in five years and eggs should start showing up any day now. Screech Owls make a wide variety of interesting calls - many of them can be heard on this playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2DGc0uje3U&list=PL9ODW2GQ3n8I0Azv9VZbCtTJrbMASM06j

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Eastern Screech Owl Calling At Nest Box

Eastern Screech Owls Mating and Calling

Video: Eastern Screech Owls Mating and Calling

Screech Owl Calls and Courtship continues at 2 AM with a nice big bug delivered by Mr. Owl. The male actually landed on the camera and the female seems to take her time with the bug until eating it just at the end. Note that I need to adjust the exposure on the camera - no amount of post-processing can save overexposed video.

New HD videos uploaded weekly. Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Eastern Screech Owls Mating and Calling

Haunting Screech Owl Calls For Halloween

Video: Haunting Screech Owl Calls For Halloween 

A most amazing recording of a female Eastern Screech Owl calling in an unusual manner was captured during this years breeding season as she was sitting on three eggs. This is probably a type of contact call with the male outside in a nearby tree - but is unusual for a Screech Owl call. With dozens of hours of recordings this is the only time I can recall the rhythmic trilling going on for so long. The original recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-p-ec-DHlw was captured live and lasts almost an hour with approximately one minute between calls. The original video audio trace is shown below.  This short two minute video Haunting Screech Owl Calls for Halloween - contains highlights of the extended live recording and was made by editing together the first 18 consecutive calls of seven seconds each compressed in time. The audio trace of this shorter video is shown below. Also, and audio trace of an individual call is shown below and each of these calls contains more than 70 segments. You can see the owls entire body shake as she makes these amazing calls! Enjoy......

New HD videos every week. Please Subscribe at: 

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding

Video: Haunting Screech Owl Calls For Halloween 

Audio Trace of Original Live Recording - 27 Calls in about 25 minutes.

Audio Trace of the Remix Video of the first 18 calls cut into seven second sections

Audio Trace of an individual Screech Owl haunting call - Over 70 segments in each call.

This is what Mrs. Owl looks like in daytime