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!
Bird o’ day Archive
Poecile sclateri. Originally uploaded by Pablo Lèautaud. 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
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)
Red-Shouldered Hawk Originally uploaded by Nikographer [Jon] [away] The bird for today is the Red-Shouldered Hawk, also known as Buteo lineatus. It lives in the forest, particularly near water. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology it is likely the most vocal hawk. You can hear it here. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red-shouldered_Hawk_dtl.html#sound An interesting fact or two by Cornell Lab of Ornithology about the Red-Shouldered Hawk: * Although the American Crow often mobs the Red-shouldered Hawk, sometimes the relationship is not so one-sided. They may chase each other and try to steal food from each other. They may also both attack a Great Horned Owl and join forces to chase the owl out of the hawk’s territory. * By the time they are five days old, nestling Red-shouldered
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
Bald Eagle – Alaska Originally uploaded by Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton A bird of prey. The National Bird of the United States of America. I chose the bald eagle for today’s bird of the day because it is the 2008 election day. We MUST move forward from the past eight years and today will be the start of this new journey. If you live inside the U.S. and are a citizen, please DO NOT FORGET TO VOTE. It is very important. The Bald Eagle is now off the endangered list, YAY! It is a big bird. It is 28-42 inches in length with a wingspan of 66-96 inches, 5 feet 5 inches to 8 feet wide! WOW! Impressive. It weighs in at about 6 1/2