Category Archives: Bird Categories

Snowy Owl

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Snowy Owl photographs taken at Lakeshore State Park on Milwaukee’s Lakefront on December 9, 2013.

Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

Binomial name: Bubo scandiacus

Category: Typical Owls

Description: Adult males are mostly white with a few dark feather tips.  Adult females and juveniles are white with dark scalloping on chest, back, wings, and tail.  Yellow eyes, black beak, and feathery feet.

Size: 20”- 28” long, 49” – 59” wingspan

Weight: 3.5 lb. – 6.6 lb.

Habitat: Wide open, treeless spaces such as shorelines, lakes, open fields, and agricultural sites.

Diet: Small mammals such as rodents, lemmings, voles, mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and other birds such as shorebirds, songbirds, ducks, geese, and pheasants.

Nesting: The female builds a nest on a mound with good visibility.  She scrapes away the top layer of soil and, over several days, presses her body into the ground to make a depression.  She will lay a clutch of 3 to 11 eggs and incubate them for about 5 weeks.  Both parents will defend the nest and care for the hatchlings which are born pure white.  The same nest may be used year after year.

Notes: Snowy owls are considered the heaviest owl in North America, weighing about a pound more than its closest contender, the Great Horned Owl.  A snowy owl was featured in the Harry Potter series when Harry received his pet, Hedwig.  It is also the official bird of Quebec.

Snowy Owl

Great Black-backed Gull

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Great Black-backed Gull.  Photographs taken at Wind Point and Shoop Park in Racine County, Wisconsin on November 30, 2013.

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Binomial name: Larus marinus

Category: Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers

Description: The largest member of the gull family.  White feathers with grayish-black backs and wings.  The wings have white wingtips.  Pink legs, strong yellow or pinkish-yellow bill.

Size: 25” – 31” long, 4’ 10” – 5’ 7” wingspan

Weight: 1.7 lbs. – 5.1 lbs.

Habitat: Rocky and sandy coastal shorelines, ponds, lakes, and marshes

Diet: 50% or more of their diet is often garbage or human refuse.  They also eat fish, insects, crabs, smaller birds, chick eggs, and land animals such as rats.

Nesting: Both parents build several nests on or near stacks of rocks or fallen logs. The female chooses the best one, and it is lined with grass, seaweed, and other vegetation or garbage such as rope and pieces of plastic.  The female will lay a clutch of 3 eggs and both parents incubate them for about 28 days.  Both parents raise the hatchlings, take turns finding food.  The breeding pair will reuse the same nesting site year after year.

Notes: Great Black-backed Gull feathers were used in clothing while feathers were fashionable in the late 1800’s.  Once the trend ended, populations began to increase.  This trend continues with the increase in refuse sites across North America and Europe.

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

To view the gallery of images, please click here.

Red-headed Woodpecker Adult and Juveniles Storing Acorns

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Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

A Red-headed Woodpecker adult and juveniles storing acorns for the winter in Marquette County, WI.  Photographs taken November 19, 2013.

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker pulling acorn from tree top

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker pulling acorn from tree top

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker after removing acorn cap by striking it

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker after removing acorn cap by striking it

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker after dodging acorn cap

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker after dodging acorn cap

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn piece

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn piece

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn piece

Adult Red-headed Woodpecker with acorn piece

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker just after storing an acorn piece in tree cavity

Juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker just after storing an acorn piece in tree cavity

To see the gallery of images, please click here.

Birdwatching in Marquette County

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While birdwatching in Marquette County, I was able to photograph Eastern Bluebirds, a Red-headed Woodpecker, and others on October 26, 2013. Images were taken near a small water source where birds were coming and going, bathing, preening and drinking.

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Eastern Bluebird

 

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Eastern Bluebird

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Red-headed Woodpecker, Juvenile transitioning to the red head

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Blue Jay

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Blue Jay

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Dark-eyed Junco

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Blue Jay

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Black-capped Chickadee

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Eastern Bluebird

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Eastern Bluebird

To see the gallery of images, please click here.

Rufous Hummingbird

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Rufous Hummingbird photographed in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on October 27, 2013.

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Binomial name: Selasphorus rufus

Category: Hummingbirds

Description: Primarily rust-colored feathers with a small patch of white on the chest.  Red-orange patch on throat.   Short wings and a slender, slightly sloping bill.

Size: 2.8″-3.5″ long, 3” – 4” wingspan

Weight: 0.071 oz. – 0.18 oz

Habitat: Open broadleaf forests, orchards, meadows, parks, swamps, and yards

Natural Range: West Coast from Alaska to Mexico and Rocky Mountains, wintering in the Gulf Coast and Southeastern Atlantic states.  They are occasionally, although rarely, found in cold-weather areas such as the Midwest due to their surprising hardiness.

Diet: Tree and flower nectar, small insects, and hummingbird feeders

Nesting: The males may mate with several females but do not care for the young.  The female provides all parental care, building a nest in a protected tree or shrub.  They favor either deciduous or coniferous trees such as spruce, cedar, maples, pines, birch, and hemlocks.  The nest is made out of bud scales, lichen, spider silk, and dandelion or thistle down.  The same nest may be used year after year and not necessarily by its previous occupant. The female will lay 2-3 eggs at a time, laying 1 brood per summer.  She incubates the eggs for 15-17 days, and the young remain in the nest for 15-19 days.

Notes: This high-strung bird is considered extremely aggressive and will chase other animals from feeders or its nest including larger birds, chipmunks, and even other hummingbirds.  Like other hummingbirds, Roufus Hummingbirds are adept flyers and can hover, dart, and perch with ease.  They have even been seen to pluck insects out of midair.

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

To see the gallery of images, please click here.