The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, 23–24 centimetres (9.1–9.4 in) in length and weighing 90–138 grams (3.2–4.9 oz). The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females are browner and duller than males, and young birds may lack the pale chest markings altogether.

The ring ouzel has an extensive range, estimated at 9.17 million square kilometres (3.54 million sq mi), and a large population, estimated at 600,000–2 million individuals in Europe (which comprises 95% of the breeding range). The Ring Ouzel is mostly an upland bird, where it breeds in steep sided-valleys, crags and gullies, from near sea level in the far north of Scotland up to 1,200m in the Cairngorms.

The ring ouzel is territorial and normally seen alone or in pairs, although loose flocks may form on migration. When not breeding, several birds may be loosely associated in good feeding areas, such as a fruiting tree, often with other thrushes such as song thrushes or redwings. Ring ouzels are solitary nesters with nests being around 200m apart. Breeding begins in mid-April in the UK, the nests are a bulky cup of dried grass, stems, and mosses which are held together with dried mud and built close to the ground in upland areas.

The ring ouzel is omnivorous, eating invertebrates, particularly insects and earthworms, some small vertebrates, and a wide range of fruit. Most animal prey is caught on the ground. During spring migration and the breeding season, invertebrates dominate the adult's diet and are also fed to the chicks. Predators of the ring ouzel include the tawny owl, long-eared owl, common buzzard, common kestrel and Eurasian sparrowhawk, least weasel and stoat. Most deaths are of young juveniles, and birds hatched early in the season are more likely to survive than later broods.

The most common NFC, a raucous chrrk-chik-chik-chik, is a call that Ring Ouzels also use commonly by day on migration and in flight. Every so often they combine this call with another from their repertoire, for example, the series chrrk-chik-chik-chik ends with a deep and knocking tok. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4917038

The western screech owl (Megascops kennicottii) is a small owl native to North and Central America, closely related to the eastern screech owl. The scientific name commemorates the American naturalist Robert Kennicott. Western Screech-Owls are small owls with stocky bodies. They have somewhat square heads, almost no neck, and conspicuous ear tufts. The tail is short. They are superbly camouflaged birds with a base color that can be grayish, brownish, or reddish-brown (rufous). The upperparts are flecked with white; the breast and belly are pale with dark, spidery streaks. The face is pale, outlined with dark arcs. The eyes are yellow.

Western Screech-Owls live mainly in forested habitats, especially in bands of deciduous trees along canyons and other drainages. Common trees include cottonwood, aspen, alder, water birch, oak, and bigleaf maple. But you can also find Western Screech-Owls in suburbs, parks, deserts, coastal areas, and in mountains up to about 6,000 feet elevation.

Western Screech-Owls are nocturnal. They usually leave their roosts around sunset to forage, returning within a half-hour of sunrise. You may glimpse them perching at the entrances of their roost cavities on sunny winter days. They are "socially monogamous," meaning that pairs raise young together, although both sexes may also mate outside the pair. The male and female in a pair often preen each other. During courtship and mating, they sing duets, and the male presents food to the female. Like many small owls, Western Screech-Owls nest in tree cavities excavated by woodpeckers. They may also use naturally occurring cavities, such as those formed where branches have broken off a trunk. Very occasionally, they nest in cavities in cliffs and banks. They sometimes use nest boxes. Wherever the location, the male owl finds a suitable hole, then calls or leads the female to it, sometimes by carrying an enticing prey item. They may use the same cavity for several years in a row. The Western Screech-Owl does not build a nest, but lays its eggs on whatever material happens to be in the cavity. Western Screech-Owl nest cavities are about 1 foot in diameter and 1 to 1.5 feet deep. Entrances are just big enough to admit an owl's body; presumably this helps prevent larger predators from getting in. Western Screech-Owls sometimes take over the nests of other species. In breeding season, the male roosts near the nest cavity. During the last weeks of the nestling period, the female also leaves the nest, often roosting close enough to the male that their bodies touch. Both adults guard the entrance from crows, jays, and other predators. The male provides almost all the food for the female and young during nesting, while the female incubates eggs and broods the baby owls. She stays with her young constantly for the first 3 weeks, then takes increasingly long breaks to help the male hunt. Owlets leave the nest before they can fly well. They remain with their parents for about 5 weeks after leaving the nest site.

Western Screech-Owls are carnivores. They eat mostly small mammals, thought they also eat birds, fish, amphibians, and invertebrates. Their diet can vary tremendously from place to place and from season to season. Mammal prey includes pocket mice, deermice, grasshopper mice, shrews, woodrats, kangaroo rats, as well as bats and occasionally rabbits. Invertebrate prey include insects, crayfish, worms, slugs, snails, and whip scorpions. They are sit-and-wait predators, perching inconspicuously on tree branches and watching the ground for prey. These owls sometimes perch above creeks, watching for crayfish to emerge from the shallows. They also glean invertebrates from foliage and catch flying insects in midair, or bats leaving a roost. Due to their small size, they are also predated by larger animals such as hawks, skunks, snakes, or larger owls.

Heard at dusk and into the night, the Western Screech-Owl's most distinctive vocalization is its "bouncing ball" song: a series of 5–9 short, whistled hoots, speeding up ping-pong-ball fashion toward the end. The male uses this for territorial and courtship advertising, often calling from a nest tree or a prospective nest site. In duets sung by a mating pair, the female's notes are interspersed with the male's—her voice higher than her mate's, despite her larger size. To stay in contact, pairs of screech-owls use a short "double trill" call; when agitated, they make a barking sound. Adult females whinny in response to the male's bouncing ball song, and to solicit feeding and copulation. Western Screech-Owls snap their bills when approached closely by a potential predator such as a crow, squirrel, or human. Nestlings begin doing this when they are about 8 days old. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4886917

The chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) is a species of New World sparrow, a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range. Chipping sparrow adult upperparts are streaked with dark rusty brown and gray, with a gray rump and head, with bright chestnut crown, white eyebrow, narrow black eyeline, and black bill. Note that the cheeks and nape of neck are clear gray. Underparts are light gray.

You’ll find Chipping Sparrows around trees, even though these birds spend a lot of time foraging on the ground. Look for them in grassy forests, woodlands and edges, parks and shrubby or tree-lined backyards. Chipping Sparrows seem to gravitate toward evergreens in places where these trees are available. They also use aspen, birch, oak, pecan, and eucalyptus trees. In the mountains, you can find these birds all the way up to treeline.

In summer, male Chipping Sparrows defend territories against other Chipping Sparrows, but often tolerate other species as long as they don’t go too near the nest. Females typically build their nests between 3 and 10 feet off the ground, hidden in foliage at the tip of a branch. They gravitate toward evergreen trees, but also nest in crabapples, honeysuckle tangles, maples, ornamental shrubs, and other deciduous species. Females can be finicky about placement, often beginning to build a nest, then leaving to begin in another spot. Males guard females as they build nests, but they don’t help build. It takes the female 3 to 4 days to finish her nest, a loose cup of rootlets and dried grasses so flimsy you can often see through it. She lines the nest with animal hair and fine plant fibers. Finished nests measure about 4.5 inches across and 2.2 inches deep. After the breeding season, Chipping Sparrows form flocks of several dozen, foraging together among grasses and at bird feeders. Their flight pattern is energetic, straight, and only slightly undulating.

Chipping Sparrows mainly eat seeds of a great variety of grasses and herbs. During the breeding season they also hunt for protein-rich insects, and these form a large part of their summer diet. Chipping Sparrows sometimes eat small fruits such as cherries. Its small size makes these birds vulnerable to many threats. Other birds, mammals, and snakes will prey on both the sparrow and its eggs. Raptors, such as Cooper’s hawk and American kestrel will target adults in flight or while on their nest, but even American crows and blue jays are a threat. In addition to these obvious predators, the eggs of the chipping sparrow may be displaced by the brown-headed cowbird. This parasitic bird lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. The other bird tends to the egg and baby as if it were its own. The chipping sparrow is a frequent target of the cowbird.

Male Chipping Sparrows sing a long, dry trill of evenly spaced, almost mechanical-sounding chips. It’s one of the most common sounds of open woods in spring – but be careful, because Dark-eyed Juncos sound very similar (though a bit more musical) and often live in the same habitats. Songs are about 3.6 seconds long on average, consisting of around 55 nearly identical chip notes in a row. Year round, both sexes use a single chip note to stay in contact with others. Upon sighting a hawk, Chipping Sparrows give a long zeeeee call as an alarm. During courtship, females make a soft, rapid see-see-see-see to attract the attention of her mate. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4876690

The gray kingbird or grey kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis), also known as pitirre, petchary or white-breasted kingbird, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatchers family Tyrannidae. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name. Large headed and heavy billed like other kingbirds, the Gray Kingbird has ashy gray upperparts that grade into dark gray-brown wings and tail, with the hint of a dark mask through the eyes.

Gray Kingbirds inhabit open and semiopen habitats, often in coastal areas. In Florida, they are relatively common in towns and agricultural areas, as well as edges of mangrove forest. They occasionally nest as far as 15 miles away from the coast. They frequent trees on the edges of native forest, which in southern Florida might include sea grape, gumbo limbo, Jamaican dogwood, West Indian mahogany, green buttonwood, pigeon plum, silver buttonwood, casuarina, and pitch apple. Breeding habitats as far west as Mississippi and occasionally as far north as North Carolina are likewise coastal, with a mixture of pine and oak in residential and resort settings. On Caribbean islands, Gray Kingbirds also frequent savanna and mountain forests with pine and oak, especially where there is partial deforestation. Although they normally occur in habitats below 1,600 feet, there are reports from sites as high as 9,842 feet in the Andes. Wintering birds from Florida use a wide variety of habitats in the Caribbean and northern South America, including not just coastal lowlands but also the llanos (grasslands) of Venezuela, deforested openings in tropical forest, and even large cities in the northern Andes such as Bogotá. At night, Gray Kingbirds sometimes roost with other Tyrannus flycatchers; their roosts in red mangrove forests may include 150 or more birds.

Soon after returning to Florida in spring, male Gray Kingbirds claim territories of about 2–4 acres by calling and flying around the area. Pairs soon form, their bonds obvious in a flight display in which they fly straight up or in a spiral, crossing each other's paths, calling loudly and snapping their bills as they rise. Paired Gray Kingbirds call and flutter their wings when they meet back at the nest site, a greeting that probably also helps maintain their pair bond. Their generally brash behavior notwithstanding, Gray Kingbirds are surprisingly tolerant of others in their species, though males sometimes give chase early in the breeding season or raise their crest in aggressive display, revealing their scarlet central crown feathers. They frequently chase cowbirds away from the nesting area. Nests are set in a tree fork or on a horizontal limb, often over water, typically about 10 feet up in the tree. One nest measured 9.5 inches across and 2.8 inches tall, with an interior cup 3.4 inches across and 1.4 inches deep. The female constructs a rough cup nest of twigs, stems, and grasses, sometimes lining it with moss, hair, and rootlets. Both members of the pair gather nesting material, but the female selects the nest site, builds the bulky twig nest (as the male observes and guards her), and incubates the eggs, though males may help incubate on occasion. Both adults share chick-rearing duties. After the young have fledged, Gray Kingbirds eventually gather in small flocks prior to migration. During winter, they gather into large roosts in the evening, usually in mangroves if they are in a coastal part of the Caribbean or northern South America. Here they often chase each other and call vigorously before settling in for the night.

Gray Kingbirds prey largely on flying insects which they take in swift, direct flights, sometimes of 100 yards or more. Often the pursuit of prey involves steep dives and deft, zigzagging maneuvers that have given them the nickname “spitfire” in some places (after the British fighter plane of World War II). They usually return to their perch to strip prey of wings or stinger, then consume it. Gray Kingbirds also fly out to glean insects from vegetation, the ground, the surface of a pond, vehicles, or buildings. They even eat small lizards, usually striking them against a branch before consuming them, and there are reports of them eating hummingbirds, and minnows. When eating small fruits, they may hover or perch to pluck them. Other prey include beetles, weevils, bees, hornets, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, flies, and fly larvae taken from beach wrack. They also eat fruits of royal palm, espino, lantana, moral, coco plum, and West Indian birch.

Males sing a “dawn song;” a somewhat harsh, rolling, rhythmic chatter resembling a longer version of the typical call. Both sexes make a loud, rolling pitirre! throughout the year. Here

The gray kingbird or grey kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis), also known as pitirre, petchary or white-breasted kingbird, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatchers family Tyrannidae. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name. Large headed and heavy billed like other kingbirds, the Gray Kingbird has ashy gray upperparts that grade into dark gray-brown wings and tail, with the hint of a dark mask through the eyes.

Gray Kingbirds inhabit open and semiopen habitats, often in coastal areas. In Florida, they are relatively common in towns and agricultural areas, as well as edges of mangrove forest. They occasionally nest as far as 15 miles away from the coast. They frequent trees on the edges of native forest, which in southern Florida might include sea grape, gumbo limbo, Jamaican dogwood, West Indian mahogany, green buttonwood, pigeon plum, silver buttonwood, casuarina, and pitch apple. Breeding habitats as far west as Mississippi and occasionally as far north as North Carolina are likewise coastal, with a mixture of pine and oak in residential and resort settings. On Caribbean islands, Gray Kingbirds also frequent savanna and mountain forests with pine and oak, especially where there is partial deforestation. Although they normally occur in habitats below 1,600 feet, there are reports from sites as high as 9,842 feet in the Andes. Wintering birds from Florida use a wide variety of habitats in the Caribbean and northern South America, including not just coastal lowlands but also the llanos (grasslands) of Venezuela, deforested openings in tropical forest, and even large cities in the northern Andes such as Bogotá. At night, Gray Kingbirds sometimes roost with other Tyrannus flycatchers; their roosts in red mangrove forests may include 150 or more birds.

Soon after returning to Florida in spring, male Gray Kingbirds claim territories of about 2–4 acres by calling and flying around the area. Pairs soon form, their bonds obvious in a flight display in which they fly straight up or in a spiral, crossing each other's paths, calling loudly and snapping their bills as they rise. Paired Gray Kingbirds call and flutter their wings when they meet back at the nest site, a greeting that probably also helps maintain their pair bond. Their generally brash behavior notwithstanding, Gray Kingbirds are surprisingly tolerant of others in their species, though males sometimes give chase early in the breeding season or raise their crest in aggressive display, revealing their scarlet central crown feathers. They frequently chase cowbirds away from the nesting area. Nests are set in a tree fork or on a horizontal limb, often over water, typically about 10 feet up in the tree. One nest measured 9.5 inches across and 2.8 inches tall, with an interior cup 3.4 inches across and 1.4 inches deep. The female constructs a rough cup nest of twigs, stems, and grasses, sometimes lining it with moss, hair, and rootlets. Both members of the pair gather nesting material, but the female selects the nest site, builds the bulky twig nest (as the male observes and guards her), and incubates the eggs, though males may help incubate on occasion. Both adults share chick-rearing duties. After the young have fledged, Gray Kingbirds eventually gather in small flocks prior to migration. During winter, they gather into large roosts in the evening, usually in mangroves if they are in a coastal part of the Caribbean or northern South America. Here they often chase each other and call vigorously before settling in for the night.

Gray Kingbirds prey largely on flying insects which they take in swift, direct flights, sometimes of 100 yards or more. Often the pursuit of prey involves steep dives and deft, zigzagging maneuvers that have given them the nickname “spitfire” in some places (after the British fighter plane of World War II). They usually return to their perch to strip prey of wings or stinger, then consume it. Gray Kingbirds also fly out to glean insects from vegetation, the ground, the surface of a pond, vehicles, or buildings. They even eat small lizards, usually striking them against a branch before consuming them, and there are reports of them eating hummingbirds, and minnows. When eating small fruits, they may hover or perch to pluck them. Other prey include beetles, weevils, bees, hornets, wasps, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, flies, and fly larvae taken from beach wrack. They also eat fruits of royal palm, espino, lantana, moral, coco plum, and West Indian birch.

Males sing a “dawn song;” a somewhat harsh, rolling, rhythmic chatter resembling a longer version of the typical call. Both sexes make a loud, rolling pitirre! throughout the year. Here

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4837669

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus Dolichonyx. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. The bobolink breeds in the summer in the United States and Canada, with most of the summer range in the northern U.S. Bobolinks winter in southern South America, primarily Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Breeding male Bobolinks are mostly black with a white back and rump, and a rich buffy nape. Females and nonbreeding males are warm buffy brown, streaked with dark brown on the back and flanks. They have bold brown stripes on the crown but are unstreaked on the nape of the neck. The bill is pinkish.

Bobolinks breed in open areas across the northern United States and southern Canada, preferring large fields with a mixture of grasses and broad-leaved plants like legumes and dandelions. They formerly nested mainly in tallgrass and mixed prairie of the midwestern United States and south-central Canada. They now also nest in eastern hayfields and meadows, which became available as eastern forests were cleared, and west of the Great Plains in recently irrigated habitats. After breeding, Bobolinks move to freshwater marshes and coastal areas to molt before migrating. Their main wintering area is in the southern interior of South America, where they spend their time in grasslands, marshes, rice fields, and sorghum fields.

Bobolinks are polygynous, meaning each male mates with several females per breeding season. But they are also polyandrous, with each clutch of eggs laid by a single female often representing multiple fathers. Outside of the nesting season Bobolinks live socially in flocks. After arriving on the breeding grounds males compete vigorously for territories by singing, displaying, fighting, and chasing each other. Within the male’s territory, the female chooses a nest site on the ground, usually on wet soil at the base of large nonwoody plants like meadow rue, golden alexander, or clover. The female gathers materials from within about 100 yards of the nest and builds the nest by herself in 1–2 days. She starts the nest by plucking bare a patch of soil and making a depression. She weaves a floorless outer wall of coarse dead grasses and weed stems, then lines the inside by placing fine grasses and sedges directly on the soil. She may continue adding lining material after laying the first egg. The inside of the nest measures 2.4-4.3 inches across and up to 2 inches deep. In the male’s primary nest, both parents feed the young, and in his secondary nests he may help with feeding to varying degrees. In some nests, the nestlings are fed by more than two attending adults, which possibly include multiple fathers or offspring from the previous year. The young leave the nest unable to fly, and hide in thick vegetation for a few more days until their flight feathers have fully emerged. Families from several nests join together and form foraging flocks. Within about a month the immature birds learn to feed themselves, and the flock departs the breeding grounds soon afterward.

During the breeding season, Bobolinks eat weed seeds, insect larvae, adult insects, spiders, and other arachnids. They feed their protein-dependent nestlings with invertebrates exclusively. They forage for seeds at the tops of nonwoody plants, often perching on the plant itself while extracting the seeds slowly and carefully. They glean insects and spiders closer to the base of the vegetation. During migration and winter, Bobolinks eat wild and domesticated rice, oats, other small grains, corn, tassels, weed seeds, and occasional insects. Normally daytime foragers, they may feed after dark on bright nights during migration, to build fat reserves for their long flight over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Adult bobolinks are preyed on by cooper's hawks, northern harriers, and merlins. Bobolink eggs and nestlings are eaten by garter snakes, sandhill cranes, crows, skunks, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, cats, and dogs.

The male sings a metallic, bubbly, rambling song with a mixture of sharp high notes and buzzy low pitches. He sings from perches and in flight throughout the breeding season, but mostly while establishing a territory and courting females. Each male has 2 song types, each composed of 25–50 notes in a fixed sequence, lasting about 3.5 seconds. Bobolinks use a pink sound all year round to communicate within flocks, and they have several additional calls during the breeding season. Males give chunk, chenk, and see-yew calls when disturbed by intruders, buzzes during courtship display, and staccato check notes while pursuing other males. Females respond to intruders with chunk and quipt notes, and use quiet zeep notes when conflicting with other individuals. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

The bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a small New World blackbird and the only member of the genus Dolichonyx. An old name for this species is the "rice bird", from its tendency to feed on cultivated grains during winter and migration. The bobolink breeds in the summer in the United States and Canada, with most of the summer range in the northern U.S. Bobolinks winter in southern South America, primarily Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia. Breeding male Bobolinks are mostly black with a white back and rump, and a rich buffy nape. Females and nonbreeding males are warm buffy brown, streaked with dark brown on the back and flanks. They have bold brown stripes on the crown but are unstreaked on the nape of the neck. The bill is pinkish.

Bobolinks breed in open areas across the northern United States and southern Canada, preferring large fields with a mixture of grasses and broad-leaved plants like legumes and dandelions. They formerly nested mainly in tallgrass and mixed prairie of the midwestern United States and south-central Canada. They now also nest in eastern hayfields and meadows, which became available as eastern forests were cleared, and west of the Great Plains in recently irrigated habitats. After breeding, Bobolinks move to freshwater marshes and coastal areas to molt before migrating. Their main wintering area is in the southern interior of South America, where they spend their time in grasslands, marshes, rice fields, and sorghum fields.

Bobolinks are polygynous, meaning each male mates with several females per breeding season. But they are also polyandrous, with each clutch of eggs laid by a single female often representing multiple fathers. Outside of the nesting season Bobolinks live socially in flocks. After arriving on the breeding grounds males compete vigorously for territories by singing, displaying, fighting, and chasing each other. Within the male’s territory, the female chooses a nest site on the ground, usually on wet soil at the base of large nonwoody plants like meadow rue, golden alexander, or clover. The female gathers materials from within about 100 yards of the nest and builds the nest by herself in 1–2 days. She starts the nest by plucking bare a patch of soil and making a depression. She weaves a floorless outer wall of coarse dead grasses and weed stems, then lines the inside by placing fine grasses and sedges directly on the soil. She may continue adding lining material after laying the first egg. The inside of the nest measures 2.4-4.3 inches across and up to 2 inches deep. In the male’s primary nest, both parents feed the young, and in his secondary nests he may help with feeding to varying degrees. In some nests, the nestlings are fed by more than two attending adults, which possibly include multiple fathers or offspring from the previous year. The young leave the nest unable to fly, and hide in thick vegetation for a few more days until their flight feathers have fully emerged. Families from several nests join together and form foraging flocks. Within about a month the immature birds learn to feed themselves, and the flock departs the breeding grounds soon afterward.

During the breeding season, Bobolinks eat weed seeds, insect larvae, adult insects, spiders, and other arachnids. They feed their protein-dependent nestlings with invertebrates exclusively. They forage for seeds at the tops of nonwoody plants, often perching on the plant itself while extracting the seeds slowly and carefully. They glean insects and spiders closer to the base of the vegetation. During migration and winter, Bobolinks eat wild and domesticated rice, oats, other small grains, corn, tassels, weed seeds, and occasional insects. Normally daytime foragers, they may feed after dark on bright nights during migration, to build fat reserves for their long flight over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Adult bobolinks are preyed on by cooper's hawks, northern harriers, and merlins. Bobolink eggs and nestlings are eaten by garter snakes, sandhill cranes, crows, skunks, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, cats, and dogs.

The male sings a metallic, bubbly, rambling song with a mixture of sharp high notes and buzzy low pitches. He sings from perches and in flight throughout the breeding season, but mostly while establishing a territory and courting females. Each male has 2 song types, each composed of 25–50 notes in a fixed sequence, lasting about 3.5 seconds. Bobolinks use a pink sound all year round to communicate within flocks, and they have several additional calls during the breeding season. Males give chunk, chenk, and see-yew calls when disturbed by intruders, buzzes during courtship display, and staccato check notes while pursuing other males. Females respond to intruders with chunk and quipt notes, and use quiet zeep notes when conflicting with other individuals. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4829343

The phainopepla or northern phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage. Adult males are glossy black with red eyes and large white patches in the wings (visible in flight). Adult females are mousy grayish brown with red eyes; immatures are similar but with brownish eyes.

Phainopeplas are found mostly in desert washes that have mesquite, acacia, palo verde, smoke tree, and ironwood. In the United States, they are widespread in parts of the Sonoran Desert and Mojave Desert, as well as the Colorado Desert in California, usually below 6,000 feet elevation. They nest in these same desert trees and feed heavily on berries of the desert mistletoe, a parasitic plant of these trees. In California, where they are less common, they also occur in open oak-sycamore woodlands, chaparral, boxthorn scrub, and Joshua tree desert, especially where fruit is available. Generally, the species uses washes, foothills, and canyons more than open desert and grassland.

Phainopeplas are thought to be monogamous. They commence courtship in winter. Single males initiate a courtship flight, a circling flight often quite high in the air, where they may be joined by up to 8 more birds in a loose, circling flock. Often this display begins near dusk. As the nesting season approaches, males perform stunning displays over the nest site they choose, flying above it, then spiraling suddenly down with depressed tail and flaring wingbeats that display the striking white wing patches. Males select the nest site, usually in the fork of a tree or inside a mistletoe plant, about 6–16 feet above the ground. Most nests are in natural habitat, but nests in fruit orchards have been reported. Males construct a small, tidy, cup-shaped nest of twigs, stems, and plant fibers, held together with spider silk and lined with hair or down. Females sometimes add part of the lining. Nests measure about 4 inches across and 1.9 inches high, with the interior cup 2.5 inches across and 1.2 inches deep. Females visit several nest sites, where males entice them with courtship feeding (a few berries or insects). Males and females in Arizona defend nest sites and adjacent fruiting mistletoe with chases, threat postures (raised wings and hunched back), and harsh calls. In California, where fruit is more dispersed, males defend only the nest area itself during the nesting season. Where food is plentiful, Phainopeplas sometimes nest in loose colonies, with multiple nests in the same tree. After the nesting season, small flocks often gather where food is plentiful. Loose flocks form during migration into and out of the deserts in fall and spring, but most Phainopeplas are solitary in winter. Phainopeplas spend much of their day on a high perch, watching for intruders.

Phainopeplas eat mainly fruit, particularly desert mistletoe berries in fall through spring, as well as boxthorn, elderberry, redberry, juniper, and sumac fruits. They also eat flying insects captured in short, sallying flights or longer, sustained flights. Males and females defend separate winter feeding territories (about an acre in extent). Phainopeplas also glean bugs, beetles, and caterpillars from vegetation. Nesting birds feed young mainly insect prey, which is richer in protein than fruits. Phainopeplas rarely go to the ground to feed but do venture to the ground to gather nesting material. On the topic of preditors, Local snakes, larger birds of prey and carnivorous mammals are the primary enemies to these passerines.

Males sing a many-syllabled rambling song that includes a distinctive whistled wheedle-ah, given throughout the day from regular song perches. The most commonly heard call is a quiet wurp that is given in many contexts. A hard trilling churrrr is used mostly against other Phainopeplas intruding on territory; females give a softer version when soliciting courtship feeding. During nest building, both sexes click the bill rapidly when sitting on the nest, very similar to behavior in waxwings. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

The phainopepla or northern phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens) is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage. Adult males are glossy black with red eyes and large white patches in the wings (visible in flight). Adult females are mousy grayish brown with red eyes; immatures are similar but with brownish eyes.

Phainopeplas are found mostly in desert washes that have mesquite, acacia, palo verde, smoke tree, and ironwood. In the United States, they are widespread in parts of the Sonoran Desert and Mojave Desert, as well as the Colorado Desert in California, usually below 6,000 feet elevation. They nest in these same desert trees and feed heavily on berries of the desert mistletoe, a parasitic plant of these trees. In California, where they are less common, they also occur in open oak-sycamore woodlands, chaparral, boxthorn scrub, and Joshua tree desert, especially where fruit is available. Generally, the species uses washes, foothills, and canyons more than open desert and grassland.

Phainopeplas are thought to be monogamous. They commence courtship in winter. Single males initiate a courtship flight, a circling flight often quite high in the air, where they may be joined by up to 8 more birds in a loose, circling flock. Often this display begins near dusk. As the nesting season approaches, males perform stunning displays over the nest site they choose, flying above it, then spiraling suddenly down with depressed tail and flaring wingbeats that display the striking white wing patches. Males select the nest site, usually in the fork of a tree or inside a mistletoe plant, about 6–16 feet above the ground. Most nests are in natural habitat, but nests in fruit orchards have been reported. Males construct a small, tidy, cup-shaped nest of twigs, stems, and plant fibers, held together with spider silk and lined with hair or down. Females sometimes add part of the lining. Nests measure about 4 inches across and 1.9 inches high, with the interior cup 2.5 inches across and 1.2 inches deep. Females visit several nest sites, where males entice them with courtship feeding (a few berries or insects). Males and females in Arizona defend nest sites and adjacent fruiting mistletoe with chases, threat postures (raised wings and hunched back), and harsh calls. In California, where fruit is more dispersed, males defend only the nest area itself during the nesting season. Where food is plentiful, Phainopeplas sometimes nest in loose colonies, with multiple nests in the same tree. After the nesting season, small flocks often gather where food is plentiful. Loose flocks form during migration into and out of the deserts in fall and spring, but most Phainopeplas are solitary in winter. Phainopeplas spend much of their day on a high perch, watching for intruders.

Phainopeplas eat mainly fruit, particularly desert mistletoe berries in fall through spring, as well as boxthorn, elderberry, redberry, juniper, and sumac fruits. They also eat flying insects captured in short, sallying flights or longer, sustained flights. Males and females defend separate winter feeding territories (about an acre in extent). Phainopeplas also glean bugs, beetles, and caterpillars from vegetation. Nesting birds feed young mainly insect prey, which is richer in protein than fruits. Phainopeplas rarely go to the ground to feed but do venture to the ground to gather nesting material. On the topic of preditors, Local snakes, larger birds of prey and carnivorous mammals are the primary enemies to these passerines.

Males sing a many-syllabled rambling song that includes a distinctive whistled wheedle-ah, given throughout the day from regular song perches. The most commonly heard call is a quiet wurp that is given in many contexts. A hard trilling churrrr is used mostly against other Phainopeplas intruding on territory; females give a softer version when soliciting courtship feeding. During nest building, both sexes click the bill rapidly when sitting on the nest, very similar to behavior in waxwings. Here is a link so that you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4810653

The eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) or eastern screech-owl, is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. Eastern screech-owls are mostly gray, reddish-brown or brown with yellow eyes. They are short, stocky and have large heads with almost no neck. Their wings are rounded with a short, square tail.

Almost any habitat with sufficient tree cover will do for this cosmopolitan owl. Tree cavities or nest boxes are essential, and fairly open understories are preferred, but Eastern Screech-Owls live and breed successfully in farmland, suburban landscapes, and city parks. On the Great Plains, at the westernmost edge of its range, Eastern Screech-Owls occur in the uneven traces of wooded land along streams and rivers. Screech-owls cannot survive if all trees are removed, but the species readily recolonizes once trees are replanted, especially if nest boxes are also provided.

Eastern Screech-Owls are chiefly active at night, though they often hunt at dawn or dusk, and occasionally in daylight. These versatile hunters sit and wait in the trees for prey to pass below. They tend to pounce from perches six to ten feet off the ground, occasionally snatching an insect or bat on the wing or hitting shallow water talons-first to snag fish or tadpoles. Most flights are short (less than 75 feet or so). When traveling between perches, these owls often drop, fly straight, then rise again, in a characteristic U-shaped pattern. Eastern Screech-Owls form stable matches, usually one male with one female but occasionally one male with two females. Males defend small territories containing several cavity roost spots. When nesting, the female stays in the nest hole except for brief dawn and dusk excursions. She and the nestlings are fed by her mate, though it is the female who tears the prey into small bits for the babies. At fledging, the young first hop to the ground or nearby branches, using feet and fluttering wings to climb laboriously back to safety. Young gain flight and hunting skills slowly; they depend on their parents for food for 8–10 weeks after fledging. Both parents feed the youngsters at this stage, and adults, especially the females, shelter together with the young in communal tree roosts. Gradually, as the young gain skill, they begin to roost and hunt apart from their parents and siblings.

Eastern Screech-Owls nest in holes and cavities, but never dig a cavity themselves. Thus, they depend on tree holes opened or enlarged by woodpeckers, fungus, rot, or squirrels. They often occupy abandoned woodpecker nest holes. Eastern Screech-Owls readily accept nest boxes, including those built for Wood Ducks or Purple Martins, and sometimes nest in wood piles, mailboxes, or crates left on the ground. The female lays her eggs on whatever debris is at the bottom of her nesting cavity, be it wood-chips, twigs, or the cast-off feathers and droppings from a previous year’s nest. Settling in, she makes a body-shaped depression where her eggs lie.

Eastern Screech-Owls eat most kinds of small animals, including birds and mammals as well as surprisingly large numbers of earthworms, insects, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and lizards. They eat many kinds of mammals, including rats, mice, squirrels, moles, and rabbits. Small birds taken as prey include flycatchers, swallows, thrushes, waxwings, and finches, as well as larger species such as jays, grouse, doves, shorebirds, and woodpeckers. This owl is agile enough to occasionally prey on bats, and can rarely even be cannibalistic. When prey is plentiful, Eastern Screech-Owls cache extra food in tree holes for as long as four days. They also have many natural predators, including many other owl species such as Snowy Owls, Great Horned Owls, and Great Gray Owls. They may also fall prey to a number of mammalian predators such as mink, skunks, and raccoons. Even birds such as crows and jays may make a meal out of an Eastern Screech-owl.

Both males and females sing. Their most common sounds are an even-pitched trill, often called a “bounce song” or tremolo; and a shrill, descending whinny. The tremolo is used by pairs or families to keep in touch and is 3–6 seconds long. The whinny is 0.5–2 seconds long and is used to defend territories. These two songs may be given one after the other. Mated pairs may sing to each other antiphonally, both day and night. Among the Eastern Screech-Owl’s many calls are soft, low hoots; loud, sharp barking calls that indicate alarm or agitation; and, true to their name, screeches—typically given by adults defending nests or fledglings. A three- or four-note chuckle or rattle denotes annoyance, as when a bird is being mobbed. Annoyed screech-owls make a clacking sound by snapping their bill mandibles together. Captured birds may hiss as part of a threat display. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

The eastern screech owl (Megascops asio) or eastern screech-owl, is a small owl that is relatively common in Eastern North America, from Mexico to Canada. Eastern screech-owls are mostly gray, reddish-brown or brown with yellow eyes. They are short, stocky and have large heads with almost no neck. Their wings are rounded with a short, square tail.

Almost any habitat with sufficient tree cover will do for this cosmopolitan owl. Tree cavities or nest boxes are essential, and fairly open understories are preferred, but Eastern Screech-Owls live and breed successfully in farmland, suburban landscapes, and city parks. On the Great Plains, at the westernmost edge of its range, Eastern Screech-Owls occur in the uneven traces of wooded land along streams and rivers. Screech-owls cannot survive if all trees are removed, but the species readily recolonizes once trees are replanted, especially if nest boxes are also provided.

Eastern Screech-Owls are chiefly active at night, though they often hunt at dawn or dusk, and occasionally in daylight. These versatile hunters sit and wait in the trees for prey to pass below. They tend to pounce from perches six to ten feet off the ground, occasionally snatching an insect or bat on the wing or hitting shallow water talons-first to snag fish or tadpoles. Most flights are short (less than 75 feet or so). When traveling between perches, these owls often drop, fly straight, then rise again, in a characteristic U-shaped pattern. Eastern Screech-Owls form stable matches, usually one male with one female but occasionally one male with two females. Males defend small territories containing several cavity roost spots. When nesting, the female stays in the nest hole except for brief dawn and dusk excursions. She and the nestlings are fed by her mate, though it is the female who tears the prey into small bits for the babies. At fledging, the young first hop to the ground or nearby branches, using feet and fluttering wings to climb laboriously back to safety. Young gain flight and hunting skills slowly; they depend on their parents for food for 8–10 weeks after fledging. Both parents feed the youngsters at this stage, and adults, especially the females, shelter together with the young in communal tree roosts. Gradually, as the young gain skill, they begin to roost and hunt apart from their parents and siblings.

Eastern Screech-Owls nest in holes and cavities, but never dig a cavity themselves. Thus, they depend on tree holes opened or enlarged by woodpeckers, fungus, rot, or squirrels. They often occupy abandoned woodpecker nest holes. Eastern Screech-Owls readily accept nest boxes, including those built for Wood Ducks or Purple Martins, and sometimes nest in wood piles, mailboxes, or crates left on the ground. The female lays her eggs on whatever debris is at the bottom of her nesting cavity, be it wood-chips, twigs, or the cast-off feathers and droppings from a previous year’s nest. Settling in, she makes a body-shaped depression where her eggs lie.

Eastern Screech-Owls eat most kinds of small animals, including birds and mammals as well as surprisingly large numbers of earthworms, insects, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, and lizards. They eat many kinds of mammals, including rats, mice, squirrels, moles, and rabbits. Small birds taken as prey include flycatchers, swallows, thrushes, waxwings, and finches, as well as larger species such as jays, grouse, doves, shorebirds, and woodpeckers. This owl is agile enough to occasionally prey on bats, and can rarely even be cannibalistic. When prey is plentiful, Eastern Screech-Owls cache extra food in tree holes for as long as four days. They also have many natural predators, including many other owl species such as Snowy Owls, Great Horned Owls, and Great Gray Owls. They may also fall prey to a number of mammalian predators such as mink, skunks, and raccoons. Even birds such as crows and jays may make a meal out of an Eastern Screech-owl.

Both males and females sing. Their most common sounds are an even-pitched trill, often called a “bounce song” or tremolo; and a shrill, descending whinny. The tremolo is used by pairs or families to keep in touch and is 3–6 seconds long. The whinny is 0.5–2 seconds long and is used to defend territories. These two songs may be given one after the other. Mated pairs may sing to each other antiphonally, both day and night. Among the Eastern Screech-Owl’s many calls are soft, low hoots; loud, sharp barking calls that indicate alarm or agitation; and, true to their name, screeches—typically given by adults defending nests or fledglings. A three- or four-note chuckle or rattle denotes annoyance, as when a bird is being mobbed. Annoyed screech-owls make a clacking sound by snapping their bill mandibles together. Captured birds may hiss as part of a threat display. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/4772201

The budgerigar, (Melopsittacus undulatus) also known as the common parakeet, shell parakeet or budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot. Naturally, the species is green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings. Budgerigars are found in open habitats, primarily in scrublands, open woodlands, and grasslands of Australia. The birds are normally found in small flocks, but can form very large flocks under favourable conditions. The nomadic movement of the flocks is tied to the availability of food and water. Wild budgies eat various seeds (as they come into season), fruits, berries, and vegetation. They feed on or near the ground. What they eat varies with food availability during different seasons. Larger birds such as hawks and falcons do prey upon the budgie. Feral cats, rats, and other rodents sometimes raid budgie nests for eggs or hunt the birds themselves. Budgies use a medley of chirrups, whistles, chatter, trills and various other snippets they've picked up (including human speech), in a barrage of bubbling, tuneless put pleasant song. They often sing together, reassuring each other that all is well and everyone is safe. Here is a link so you can listen to this bird too