This is a juvenile Harris’s Hawk who stopped by last week. The spotted chest and leggings are why I know it’s a juvie. Adults are solid brown in those places.
On the smaller side of birds are these two House Sparrows.
A Mourning Dove enjoyed the bird bath too and got fluffed up.
A quail couple feasted on the birdseed block.
A Roadrunner took over a bench in the backyard.
Another look at the Harris’s Hawk.
Which birds are your favorites out of this batch of photos?
A Western Willet foraging for food along the California coast. There is also an Eastern Willet, but my photos and focus is on the Western Willet.
Willet —
Tringa semipalmata
Willets belong to the shore birds more commonly called Sandpipers. I see several types of Sandpipers at the beach, but so far the only one I’ve successfully identified is the Willet.
SIZE:
Length: 13.0-16.1 in (33-41 cm)
Weight: 7.0-11.6 oz (200-330 g)
Wingspan: 27.6 in (70 cm)
LOCATION:
From All About Birds
DIET:
Willets forage along the shore, often alone. The tips of their beaks are sensitive and used to find food. They can forage at night as well as in the daytime. They eat crabs, insects, mollusks and worms. They feed along the mudflats, beaches and rocky shores.
A Willet getting a bite to eat along the shore.
NESTING:
Western Willets move inland from the shore for breeding along wetlands, grasslands or fresh water lakes. They nest on the ground and the male will scrape out a nest from the mud or grass. They line their nest with grasses or other soft materials. A typical clutch is four eggs. Males and females incubate their eggs, but the male takes over at night.
Although they are monogamous, they may separate after breeding season and reunite the next breeding season.
CALLS:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Willet/sounds
A Snowy Egret I spotted during our beach vacation near Santa Barbara, California. Photos were taken with my iPhone during a beach walk.
Scientific name: Egretta thula
Genus: Ardea
I learned that herons and egrets both belong to the genus Ardea and that there is no scientific difference between the two. Egrets are white and herons are blue or other colors. That’s it.
The Snowy Egret has white plumage with a black beak and legs. They have a yellow streak on their faces behind their beaks. Their feet are bright yellow and called golden slippers. The brightly colored feet are helpful in herding small aquatic creatures while the Snowy Egret forages in shallow waters.
When they are breeding, the adults grow wispy long plumes which were in demand for ladies’ hats in the 1880s. The plumes were valued at twice the price of gold. Many Snowy Egrets lost their lives because of their valuable feathers.
SIZE and SHAPE:
Snowy Egrets are long, thin herons with a long neck, long legs and beak.
RANGE:
FOOD:
They eat aquatic animals including fish, crustaceans, frogs, worms and insects. They forage in mud flats, along the shore, marshes and tidal flats and eat while standing up.
NESTING:
The male will start building a nest before finding a mate. He’ll select a location at the top of a tree, shrub or vines. When the male finds a mate, the two will finish building the nest together. It’s a shallow oval of grasses, twigs, rushes and moss from 14 to 18 inches across and eight to 13 inches high.
The male and female share the job of incubating their eggs. A Snowy Egret clutch usually has three to five eggs. They also share feeding their chicks. Snowy Egrets do not mate for life, but are monogamous for each breeding season.
CALLS:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/sounds
This is a female Bullock’s Oriole who stopped by our yard for the first time last week. She was very flighty and this is the only photo I captured. She’s hiding in a firestick plant.
Scientific name: Icterus bullockii
Size:
Location:
Bullock’s Orioles can be found in forests, along streams and also thrive in desert washes in Mesquite trees and other desert plants.
Diet:
They eat insects and ripe fruits. Bullock’s Orioles also will stop by hummingbird feeders to drink sugar water. They forage for insects in the leaves and bark of trees.
Nests:
The female chooses a nest site typically 10 to 25 feet up in a tree. She will weave the nest from grasses, twine or wool. The nests are gourd-shaped and range in size from four to 15 inches. They line their nests with soft material like feathers, or “cotton” from cottonwoods or willows. They will work on the nest together, with one working inside and the other on the outside. Pairs will stay together long enough to build their nests and raise their chicks, but will find new mates the following year.
Calls:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bullocks_Oriole/sounds
We had a new bird visit our yard last week. I’m grateful this Brown-crested Flycatcher stopped by because I had run out of birds for Bird of the Week.
Scientific Name: Myiarchus tyrannulus
SIZE:
8 to 9 inches (21 to 23 cm) long, with a wingspan of 12 to 13 inches (30 to 33 cm). It weighs roughly 1.1 to 1.6 ounces (32 to 45 grams).
RANGE:
Brown-crested Flycatchers are large flycatchers who range from southwestern United States to Argentina. They are migratory birds.
NESTING:
Brown-crested Flycatchers nest in woodpeckers’ holes in Saguaro and Organ Pipe cactus. They choose the former nests of larger woodpeckers like the Gilded Flickers and Gila Woodpeckers, which are common where we live. Smaller species such as the Ladder-backed Woodpeckers have nests with too small of holes for the flycatcher. They will also use woodpecker holes in forests, brush and along streams and in large suburban trees.
The male and female flycatchers stay together for a season only, but often return to the same nesting area and may even use the same woodpecker hole again. They line their nests with fur of rabbits, rats, opossums, badgers, horses, and cattle, as well as feathers from ravens, nighthawks, White-winged Doves and chickens. They also have been known to use snake and lizard skins.
FOOD:
Their primary diet is insects including large ones like cicadas, beetles and grasshoppers. They also fly and catch flying insects such as butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, and dragonflies. Other bugs they eat include caterpillars, spiders, ants and termites. Their diet includes berries and wild fruits.
They catch flying insects mid air as they fly or forage for insects as they perch on trees and plants.
CALLS:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-crested_Flycatcher/sounds
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
The Cactus Wren is the state bird of Arizona, where we live. I was curious why. If it was up to me, I’d have selected the beautiful bright red Northern Cardinal.
According to Arizona State Parks, the Canyon Wren became Arizona’s state bird in 1931 because it embodies the unique spirit, toughness, and beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
SIZE:
It is the largest species of wren:
COLOR:
It’s a speckled brown bird with a white stripe across and above red eyes, to the sides of the neck. They have light cinnamon sides and their backs are brown with heavy white streaks. Cactus Wrens have white chests with dark speckles. Males and females look alike, but juveniles are slightly paler and have brown eyes.
PERSONALITY:
Cactus Wrens are not timid and love to perch on cactus or forage for food out in the open. I often have a Cactus Wren perching on a chair outside my window. He stares at me unafraid as I’m on my laptop.
FOOD:
They mostly eat insects, seeds and vegetable matter such as fruit pulp. They don’t need to drink water but get their hydration from cactus fruit and insects.
NESTS:
They weave football shaped nests with one entrance from grasses and twigs inside the safety of cholla cactus or other protective bushes. The male may make several “dummy” nests and the female will choose one to lay her eggs. They mate for life.
CALL:
I have heard the loud gravelly sound of Cactus Wrens months before I saw one.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cactus_Wren/sounds
RANGE:
They are found throughout the Sonoran Desert and other arid regions of Arizona. Also found in Southern California, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.
A Harris’s Hawk landed in a tree in our backyard. We haven’t had one stop by for months, although I see them soaring overhead. I could hear his call and I spent a bit of time trying to spot him behind branches. The link is to a Youtube video of Harris’s hawks in flight with their sounds. I wouldn’t want to mess with those claws or beak!
This is a compilation of my favorite photos that I took this week.
Papa quail shares the birdseed block with a few of his babies.
A White-winged Dove perches on a flamingo buddy.
Bully bird Curve-billed Thrasher lands on the cactus statue before scaring everyone away from the birdseed block.
An adult House Finch feeds it’s juvenile.
Red watches over the rain meter during a Monsoon week.
Do you have a favorite photo? If so, which one?
What fun plans do you have for the weekend?
