Category Archives: Bird of the Week

Bird of the Week — Cardinal Fledglings

Posted on by
14

 CLXXI

This is one of two Northern Cardinal fledglings that made an appearance in our yard this past week. He’s with his dad. Although the coloring of the fledgling looks like an adult female, fledglings beaks are gray or black while the adults’ beaks are bright orange.

The Latin name for the northern cardinal is Cardinalis cardinalis.

This is the smaller fledgling. They are gray until about three months when their coloring appears. Until then I won’t know if these are males or females. If they are male they will get splotches of red. If female, they’ll get the orange highlights of the female adult.

This is Mrs., our adult female cardinal and mom of the two fledglings.

We have had a cardinal male and female in our yard for two years. I’ve named them Red and Mrs. I’ve been waiting patiently to see if they’d have a family, and I’m beyond excited to see their fledglings.

The female lays three to four eggs and incubates them by herself for 12 to 13 days. The young leave the nest in about nine to 11 days after hatching. Once they leave the nest, they are called fledglings. Both parents feed their young but often it is the father.

Here’s Red feeding his large fledgling.

Fledglings will often hide in bushes or shrubs while most often the male will feed them for a few weeks. They become fully independent after about a month. I am curious if they will stay in our yard, or will find their own home away from their parents.

UPDATE:

A day after I wrote and scheduled this post, I saw Red with a new fledgling or fledgling number 2 who I call “Mini me”. But it may be a whole new one. Here are a few photos:

The way the baby moved and was so shaky standing while I got photos gave me the idea that it may be Cardinal fledgling number three. I read that eggs are laid over time and they may hatch over several days of even weeks, which is why are different ages.

I have gotten comments on my Next Door app and friends that fledgling number one is the adult female. The color of the beaks, black and orange, plus and seeing Mrs. in the backyard with fledgling number one lets me know for sure that they are separate birds

What do you think of my Cardinal Fledglings? Do I have one, two or three?

Bird of the Week — Curve-billed Thrasher

Posted on by
39

Bird of the Week: CLXX

Curve-billed Thrasher — Toxostoma curvirostre

  • ORDER: Passeriformes
  • FAMILY: Mimidae

I call the Curve-billed Thrasher the bully bird of our backyard. With their curved strong beaks, they often intimidate other birds and take over the bird feeder. Once in the feeder, the Curve-billed Thrasher uses his beak to thrash back and forth through the birdseed. Most of it lands on the ground where our quail gladly gather.

Without our bird feeder, the Curve-billed Thrasher uses its beak to endlessly overturn ground in a sweeping motion foraging for insects, spiders and other food. This is similar to how they approach the bird feeder. They also eat the fruits and seeds of saguaro, prickly pear, and cholla.

Curve-billed Thrashers live in the desert Southwest of the United States and Mexico.

Map from All About Birds.

A Curve-billed Thrasher perching on a pink flamingo.

Measurements (both sexes):

Length: 10.6-11.0 in (27-28 cm)
Weight: 2.1-3.3 oz (60.8-93.6 g)
Wingspan: 13.4-13.6 in (34-34.5 cm)

They have strong legs, a curved beak, long tail and bright yellow orange eyes. The Curve-billed Thrashers in our Sonoran Desert are gray, but further south in Texas and Mexico they have lighter chests and are often speckled.

Curve-billed Thrashers mate for life and defend their territories that are five to 11 acres of desert land. They build nests in cholla or prickly pear cactus where the spikes protect them.

Call: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Curve-billed_Thrasher/sounds

Bird of the Week

Posted on by
43

Bird of the Week: CLXVIII

Gila Woodpecker
Melanerpes uropygialis

  • ORDER: Piciformes
  • FAMILY: Picidae
  • SIZE: The adult is 8 to 10 inches long (20-25 cm) and weights 3.5 oz (68 gm).

We have several Gila Woodpeckers in our backyard. The males (photo above) have a patch of bright red feathers on top of their heads, while the females do not.

I had to get rid of my hummingbird feeder because the Gila Woodpeckers would attach themselves to it and drain it in an hour. The hummingbirds never got a chance.

Normally, they eat insects, berries and cactus fruit. They also like the birdseed I put out for my backyard birds.

They live in the deserts of the southwest US and Mexico. They make their nests in Saguaro cactus digging out a hole and allowing it to dry out for several months before moving in. That makes a solid casing around the nest.

This is a saguaro in our back yard with several nests made by Gila Woodpeckers. After they are done raising their young, they abandon their nest and other birds will claim the cavity nest as their own. Those birds include elf and pygmy owls, flycatchers, Cactus Wrens and other species.

Here are a male and female hanging out on a tree. Gila Woodpeckers are monogamous and mate for life. They have strong head and neck muscles so they are able to withstand the shock of pounding their bills into trees and other materials. Often we hear them pecking the metal top to our fireplace.

With their black and white zebra striped back and their loud call, they are easy to spot or hear.

Here are recordings of their call from All About Birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gila_Woodpecker/sounds

The birds in my backyard use the pink flamingo as a perch.

Bird of the Week — Roadrunner

Posted on by
50

CLXVII

Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

Our largest cuckoo, this bird is characterized by a long tail, streaked appearance, frequently erected shaggy crest, and a blue and orange bare patch of skin behind the eyes. It is capable of running very rapidly across the ground (15 mph) and rarely flies. Like all cuckoos, the Roadrunner is a zygodactyl bird (it has 2 toes pointing forward and 2 toes backward).
–Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum


Roadrunners are found in Southwest United States and Northern Mexico. They prefer arid semi-arid areas. They do not migrate, maintaining territories in California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and parts of Utah, Colorado, and Mexico.

They eat mostly animals, anything they can catch including rodents, lizards, scorpions, frogs and birds and eggs. Fruit, seeds and other plant material make up for 10% of their diet.

Size:

  • Length: 20.5-21.3 in (52-54 cm)
  • Weight: 7.8-19.0 oz (221-538 g)
  • Wingspan: 19.3 in (49 cm)

Sounds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Greater_Roadrunner/sounds

Photos of the Week

Posted on by
51

“Something to talk about.” Red and friends.

These are birds and the squirrel that I photographed in the last week or two. I never get tired of watching and photographing them. I am not posting the quail babies or momma and papa quail, since Wednesday’s Bird of the Week was all about quail.

This is my favorite photo I’ve ever taken of Mrs. I posted it on a photography group I follow on Nextdoor and it was selected as the featured photo of the week. Someone commented and asked me how I knew it was a Mrs. and not a Mr. Well, as you can see Red looks a little bit different than Mrs. I think people who aren’t familiar with Northern Cardinals don’t recognize the female as one.

This is a Harris’s Antelope Squirrel heat dumping. Stretching out and lying on his tummy is how they cool down in the heat.

Our backyard bully, the Curve-Billed Thrasher.

Another bully bird, a Gila Woodpecker.

A House Finch resting on a cactus.

My second most favorite photo of Mrs. I love her olive-green color.

Red is wondering why he has to share birdseed with the squirrel.

I love Bonnie Raitt and this is a great song. I’ll never forget the news story in 2025 when she won her 13th Grammy for “Just Like That.” The reporter wrote about how an “unknown” won Song of the Year.

Happy Friday! What are your plans for this weekend?

What is your favorite photo and why?

Bird of the Week

Posted on by
55

Bird of the Week: CLXV

My bird of the week is the Northern Cardinal with the scientific name Cardinalis cardinalis. We have a cardinal couple who have visited daily for more than a year. I’ve named the male “Red” and the female “Mrs.”

Yesterday, I had a close encounter with Red. I slept in and was late filling the bird feeder. As I sat drinking coffee by a window, Red flew a few inches from the window and stared at me. He flapped his wings hovering in place. I got the message. He sat above me on a tree branch as I filled the feeder and was the first bird to hit the feeder.

If Red wants food, he isn’t shy. Usually he sings loudly at me. But approaching the window for my attention was a first.

Cardinals are song birds and they have distinctive songs and calls. Here’s a LINK to their sounds from All About Birds.

Mrs. doesn’t have the bright red coloring of the males. Female cardinals are tan with olive tones and highlights of red-orange on their crest, tail and wings. Their bill is a bright coral. Males are typically brilliant red with a black mask. There is a rare genetic mutation that causes cardinals to be bright yellow. There’s only been a few sightings in the wild of yellow cardinals.

Cardinals are located in North America from the southwest, parts of Mexico across the US to the entire east coast. Their size, according to All About Birds, is length: 8.3–9.1 inches (21–23 cm) weight: 1.5–1.7 oz (42–48 g) and wingspan: 9.8–12.2 inches (25–31 cm).

Fun facts about Cardinals:

Male and female cardinals mate for life.

They are-non migratory and are year-round residents — even in the snow.

Cardinals are territorial and will chase other male cardinals away.

Early settlers in North America from Europe named the cardinals after Catholic cardinals because their bright red plumage reminded them of red robes worn by clergy.

Many people believe that cardinals represent a visit from a loved one who has passed away.

I’m thrilled to have Red and Mrs. take up residency in our backyard. I hope to see fledglings someday. But in the meantime, they are my favorite subjects to photograph.

Thanks to fellow blogger from Down Under Bushboy for suggesting I join the Bird of the Week challenge.

What facts about Cardinals were new to you? Do you have any to add?