Stellar’s Jay

Originally uploaded by Life of David

The Stellar Jay, another bird found locally, is today’s bird of the day. It’s scientific name is Cyanocitta stelleri. It is common throughout the U.S. but I love it. I like to look at them. They are interesting and beautiful.

They like seeds, nuts, berries, fruit, invertebrates, eggs, other bird’s nestlings (GASP!), acorns, conifer seeds and other things like them. It will join you for a picnic, if you bring the right food.

You can read more about the Stellar Jay, even hear its call, here.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Stellers_Jay.html

GBH

Originally uploaded by sproutter

The Great Blue Heron…one of my favorite birds, albeit I have so many. This bird is so beautiful. I remember the first time I seen one. I was mesmerized by it and ever since, I’ve been on the lookout for it whenever I am near its habitat.

Also known as Ardea herodias in the scientific world, this bird is the largest heron in North America. It can be from 36 to 55 inches from head to tail and has a wingspan of 66 to 79 inches! Many inches of awesome. =)

It has a scratchy, throaty call. You can hear it here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Great_Blue_Heron.ogg

It eats small fish mostly but it will also eat shellfish, insects, rodents, amphibians (such as frogs), small birds *gasp* and reptiles. It likes to eat alone and is an excellent fisher.

I really love these birds.

Bewick’s Wren

Originally uploaded by sproutter

Another birdy found in Washington State, the Bewick’s Wren, (Thryomanes bewickii). I read this species is the only one in the category Thryomanes and that there is a subspecies called the Seattle Wren. I think you can guess what tomorrow’s bird of the day will be… =)

It is a small bird who likes to live in urban areas, near houses and once found throughout the eastern part of the U.S., it is mostly located in the western part now. They speculate this is because of the tricky ways of the House Wren. I seen one of these eating something near the peanuts I fed the crows this morning.

It is about 5 inches and likes spiders and insects. Maybe that is what it was eating. =)

American Avocet

Originally uploaded by Wayne Weber

I did a search for bird of Washington State and found this bird, the American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana). It is found around marshes, beaches, ponds, and shallow lakes. It gets to be about 18 inches tall, about the size of a toddler. =)

Straight from Cornell Lab of Ornithology, here are some cool facts about the American Avocet:

# In response to predators, the American Avocet sometimes issues a series of call notes that gradually changes pitch, simulating the Doppler effect and thus making its approach seem faster than it actually is.

# Nesting American Avocets aggressively attack predators, sometimes physically striking Northern Harriers or Common Ravens.

# A female American Avocet may lay one to four eggs in the nest of another female, who then incubates the eggs. American Avocets may parasitize other species’ nests too; single American Avocet eggs have been found in the nests of Mew Gulls. Other species may also parasitize avocet nests. Avocets have incubated mixed clutches of their own eggs and those of Common Terns or Black-necked Stilts. The avocets reared the stilt hatchlings as if they were their own.

# American Avocet chicks leave the nest within 24 hours after hatching. Day-old avocets can walk, swim, and even dive to escape predators.

White Breasted Nuthatch

Originally uploaded by iceberg_ca

White Breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) was an adorable bird we came across in our search for Anna’s hummingbird. In the photograph we looked at it was upside down. So cute!

The White-breasted nuthatch eats insects out of tree trunks and branches, as well as seeds, acorns and hickory nuts. They live in trees, in small holes. It is about 5-6 inches long with a wingspan of 8-11 inches and weighs in at about 1/2 to 1 ounce.

There are 9 subspecies of the White Breasted Nuthatch. One of these subspecies, the Sitta carolinensis aculeata, are found in Washington State! YAY!

Anna’s Hummingbird

Originally uploaded by lselman

Calypte anna, also known as Anna’s Hummingbird, flew into the bird of the day by flying into the tree right by my railing while we were feeding the crows the other day. We spent about an hour identifying it and now we know for certain, it was an Anna’s Hummingbird. How adorable it is… and this photograph is an amazing shot of a mom feeding her chick. They are sweet.

Anna’s hummingbird is known as a medium sized hummingbird at about 4 inches long with a wingspan of 5 inches and only weighing between 0.11 and 0.21 ounces! This is a tiny little bird but apparently not so tiny in comparison to other hummingbirds.

I got the following cool facts directly from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

* In the first half of the 20th century, the Anna’s Hummingbird bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The planting of exotic flowering trees provided nectar and nesting sites, and allowed the hummingbird to greatly expand its breeding range.

* The dive display of the Anna’s Hummingbird lasts about 12 seconds, and the male may fly to a height of 40 m (131 feet) during the display. He starts by hovering two to four meters (6-13 feet) in front of the display object (hummingbird or person), and then climbs in a wavering fashion straight up. He plummets in a near-vertical dive from the top of the climb and ends with an explosive squeak within half a meter of the display object. He then makes a circular arc back to the point where he began. On sunny days the dives are oriented so that the sun is reflected from the iridescent throat and crown directly at the object of the dive.

* On rare occasions, bees and wasps may become impaled on the bill of an Anna’s Hummingbird, causing the bird to starve to death.

Another interesting fact about Anna’s hummingbird..it sings during courtship. This is unusual for hummingbirds. Sweet serenader.

You can hear his song here. (Courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

You can see a video of Anna’s Hummingbird (and learn more about it) here. (Courtesy of Indiesticks.com)

I found the Mexican Chickadee (Poecile sclateri) in my National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America. I was looking for a hummingbird we wanted to identify. We feed some crows everyday and when we put out the peanuts for them the other day we noticed a hummingbird in the tree near our railing. This was very exciting for us! We may be getting a hummingbird feeder soon! YAY! =) Ok, back to the Mexican Chickadee. While flipping through the book I passed by it and wrote it down. I just had to include it as today’s bird of the day because it is a puff ball.

It is a songbird. YAY for songbirds! They are about 5 inches long and have about a 7-8 inch wingspan, weighing only about 1/4 of an ounce to not even half an ounce as adults. So, it is pretty small in relation to the other birds we’ve researched but we know there are smaller, like the hummingbird we found (Anna’s hummingbird).

The Mexican Chickadee lives in the wooded highlands in Western, Central and Northeastern Mexico, Southeastern Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico.

Grosbeak the Rose-Breasted type

Originally uploaded by ut.law97

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) is the bird of the day! =) I read about him in the book, A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders And Their Quest To See It All by Luke Dempsey.

It prefers to live in “open deciduous woods” and can be found in Canada and the Eastern part of the United States. It has more recently began to extend its range towards the west because of “misguided fire prevention policies which have created habitat on the Great Plains.”

The Rose breasted Grosbeak eats insects, seeds and berries. It prefers a thinner nest, so thin you can often see through the nest to the eggs from below it. (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

And the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak helps in the incubation process, helpful little fellows! “Both sexes sing quietly to each other when they exchange places. The male will sing his normal song while near or actually on the nest.” (Cornell Lab of Ornithology).

You can listen to this colorful bird sing here.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Rose-breasted_Grosbeak_dtl.html#sound

Common Grackle

Originally uploaded by Ken Blackwell

The Common Grackle, Quiscalus quiscula, is today’s bird of the day. Hurray. Aren’t they pretty little birds?

I found the following on Wikipedia about this bird:

The breeding habitat is open and semi-open areas across North America east of the Rocky Mountains. The nest is a well-concealed cup in dense trees (particularly pine) or shrubs, usually near water; sometimes, the Common Grackle will nest in cavities or in man-made structures. It often nests in colonies, some being quite large.

This bird is a permanent resident in much of its range. Northern birds migrate in flocks to the southeastern United States.

The Common Grackle forages on the ground, in shallow water or in shrubs; it will steal food from other birds. It is omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds, grain and even small birds.

This bird’s song is particularly harsh, especially when these birds, in a flock, are calling.

The range of this bird expanded west as forests were cleared. In some areas, it is now considered a pest by farmers because of their large numbers and fondness for grain. Despite a currently robust population, a recent study by the National Audubon Society of data from the Christmas Bird Count indicated that populations had declined by 61% to a population of 73 million from historic highs of over 190 million birds.

The White-billed crow (creative commons)

The White-billed crow can only be found in central part of the Solomon Islands. They are officially called Corvus woodfordi. It is a stocky short bird who prefers the forest. It has a squared off tail and a big head. It has a distinct deep and curved pale ivory colored bill with a darker tip, resembling the coloring of wing tip shoes to me. =) Overall it is glossy black with a purplish-green gloss to the head and purple gloss to the rest of it. The iris of the White-Billed Crow is pale gray or white and the legs and feet are black.

The White-billed Crow lives in small families and together they look for insects and fruit to eat.

There is not a lot known about its breeding habits and behavior since it lives so far up in the trees and doesn’t come down much to be observed.