Thrushes at the Hawk Counting Site

Today was a laid-back day at at the hawk-counting site here in Duluth. The birds seen overhead were Turkey Vultures (had one dozen of them fly over), and the other raptors observed today were Bald Eagles at varying ages; all of which were very distant. Some Bald Eagles were adults, some were 1-year olds, and some were in between (most Bald Eagles reach maturity at the ages of 4 or 5 years old. We're just getting out of the long, harsh, winter-like storm that took place over the past three days, and I think nearly all migrating birds are stressing to move out of the area (and for birds that are south of us, move into the area).

This morning I was greeted by a welcoming committee of beautiful little songbirds on the edge of the road. Thankfully they kept their distance when cars approached, and flew into the woods along the hillside, away from the road. The first bird that caught my attention was the ever-singing American Robin. His caroling was so pleasant to hear! When the robin produces the gorgeous and uplifting song of up & down cheerful notes, this is called caroling. This American Robin that I saw was a male, in that it had a dark-slate/black head and backside, with an incredibly colorful, and solid-rufous frontside! Females look similar, but have slightly duller heads and backs, and have a much more "washed" or bleached look to the reddish color on their frontsides. Shortly after I saw him, a female robin flew into the area. This is the first female American Robin I've seen this year. As with most songbirds, male American Robins head north for the spring migration slightly earlier than the females, so that they (the males) can establish the best breeding territory and pick out the most potentially food-rich areas to set up shop! One of the trade-offs of being an earlier migrant among others in a bird's species, is that the earliest migrants are susceptible to harsh weather and cold spells in spring, like many of the songbirds which have arrived over the past week, and endured the rough storm. An adult male American Robin is pictured above. Even through some light foliage, the beautiful robins' colors just glow!

After seeing the American Robins, some smaller and darker-looking birds caught my eye. Dark-eyed Juncos, with their tiny pink bills and white bellies, were enjoying some small tidbits of grit alongside the road, in addition to some Fox Sparrows (the bird from the previous blog post)! It was fun to watch these little songbirds intermingle with each other, and feed on their own terms and space. Then something slightly drabber-looking caught my eye. It lurked through the dense underbrush and thickly-intertwined sticks, which lay on top of the snowmelt-saturated (and leaf covered) soil. The bird made an appearance, and gave a soft "chuck" call. It then began to dig into the ground with it's bill, probing likely around leaves and openings where insects might crawl. It also picked up a few leaves and threw them into the air, to make way for it's food-searching expedition. This bird is a Hermit Thrush!

Hermit Thrushes, as their name states, are a thrush (American Robins are a thrush). There are 179 thrush species worldwide. The Hermit Thrush is usually one of the first thrush species in it's genus, to arrive back up here in the northwoods in the spring (not including robins, which are in a different genus under Thrushes). Hermit Thrushes are wonderful birds to observe... they are very easy-going towards other birds, and typically only have their bursts of territorial-ness towards other Hermit Thrushes. They have a song that is absolutely ethereal; and if you've never heard a Hermit Thrush sing before... I guarantee that you'll have goosebumps when you first hear their song! It's not a perfect in-the-field experience, but here is a high-quality sound recording from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website. Click the link below to visit the site with the Hermit Thrush's song & call:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/sounds

The Hermit Thrush eats primarily insects and berries. Although it is related to the American Robin, you won't see this thrush bouncing around in the grassy lawns in front of people's houses; instead, you might have to take a walk down the road to some mixed woods of deciduous and coniferous trees. The Hermit Thrushes love these mixed woods. Like the classic American Robin's blue eggs, the Hermit Thrush also has blue eggs. Unlike the American Robin which nests in trees, the Hermit Thrush nests on the ground! Instead of having an all sun-exposed lawn, it might be good to provide some shelter and food for Hermit Thrushes throughout your yard. They love large bushes, and have seen them in many large stands of Aspen. Even if you're too far away from a mixed forest, providing some habitat for Hermit Thrushes (and other birds) could be a life-saving experience for these long-distance migrants, and they'll reward you by stopping into your back yard :-)

Hermit Thrushes are a striking bird, in many subtle ways. They have a smooth, blended head and backside of reddish & grayish brown tones, spots covering their upper chest. Below their spots on the upper chest, they have a belly of creamy-white. One of the most distinct characteristics of Hermit Thrushes, is that they have a red tail that is usually more red in color than their back & folded wings. They are a very active bird to watch, not only in the sense that they forage in somewhat bouncy and aggressively manners on the ground, but are even noting the movement in their tail! A Hermit Thrush's tail is constantly moving around in a slow, vertically-bobbing motion. Hermit Thrushes are very inquisitive, and although easily-flushed, they will come out of the brush and foliage to check out nearby happenings, usually before other birds do.

It's so much fun to see migrating songbirds showing where each of us live. There are many more birds to come :) Thanks for reading!
-Erik

The Arrival of Beautiful Sparrows

The first thing I heard this morning (before my bird-ringtone/alarm kicked in), was a song of sweet musical notes coming from just outside my window. The tones of the song were very melodious, easy-on-the-ear, and cute in their own way. The notes in the song weren't steady and monotone, but were rather undulating in pitch; as if trying to sing a series of soft, high-and-low pitched whistles one after another. It's a song that I haven't heard since last year, and instantly brought a smile to my face...

The bird's song that woke me up this morning was a Fox Sparrow. They are a large and fluffy sparrow, with gorgeous streaks of rufous lining the outer edges of their belly and chest; with the streaks becoming smaller chevrons of bright rufous color as the markings approach the snow-white belly. Their throat is marked in rufous streaks, and they have an elaborate head of a soft gray color, with streaks of reds creates a beautifully distinct facial mask.... almost giving them an appearance of having red mutton chops! They have a bi-colored bill, which means that the bill is made up of two colors... the upper mandible (upper section) is dark gray, and the lower mandible (lower section) is yellow. They also have a relatively large bill for a sparrow, which is useful in providing leverage when it comes to cracking the hulls of some of the slightly larger seeds that this sparrow craves. Some birds, like American Goldfinches, have very petite bills, and frequent seed varieties that are smaller in size; which tend to have a more brittle and thinner outer layer.

For a sparrow, Fox Sparrows are quite long-legged, which gives them leverage for scratching-up seeds within the ground (or right now, the snow). Different sparrows forage for seeds using different techniques; some sparrows, like the Song Sparrow and American Tree Sparrows, typically feed by bouncing around from place-to-place, keeping close watch on the ground as they scan for seeds. Once they find some seeds, they'll crack the outer shell, swallow the inner seed whole, then move on to a new area... letting their grit-filled crops do the "food processing" for digestion. Other sparrows, like the energetic Fox Sparrow, feed by jumping in place, and scratching vertically downward on the ground, in hopes to uncover seeds that may have been covered by light layers of snow, leaf litter, etc (as seen in the video below)! All videos in this blog were digiscoped (recorded through a spotting scope). The little point-and-shoot camera is hand-held as steadily as I can hold it, behind the eyepiece- looking through the scope for a more zoomed-in image. Enjoy!


There are four varieties (or forms) of Fox Sparrow. The variety we see hear in the midwest and to the east coast is the Red form; also known as the Eastern form. The other varieties consist of the Slate-colored, Large-billed and Sooty form, all of which are found out west. The red form we see in the Midwest breeds throughout northern Canada, and overwinters in the southeast portion of the lower 48 states. If you're in the northern Midwest, you can see them visiting feeders for short durations during spring and fall migration.

Another sparrow species which arrived in good time with the Fox Sparrows, was the American Tree Sparrow. Unlike the large Fox Sparrow, tree sparrows are quite petite little birds. They have a very small bill, which is bi-colored in the same fashion as the Fox Sparrow (black on top, yellow below). They are a gorgeous little sparrow, with two flashy white wingbars, and flanks (sides of the body, just below the underwing) of warm tan colors. They have a gray head with a thin red streak going throughout their eye (called an eye-stripe). American Tree Sparrows have a single rufous stripe going from the top to the front of the head (known as a crown). They have a unique marking on their chest, which is a little spot dark gray. Several other sparrows around here have a concentration of streaks in the core of the breast area creating a spot, however the American Tree Sparrow is the sparrow that sports a dark spot that is surrounded by a streakless frontside (as an adult). American Tree Sparrows also have a small white ring that goes around each of their little dark eyes. This facial field mark, also found in Fox Sparrows and a variety of other birds, is called an eye ring.

The American Tree Sparrow breeds throughout the northernmost forests of Canada, and into Alaska. This species is found in the lower 48 states during fall migrating, throughout the harsh winter months, and can be seen heading north during spring migration as they head northward. They are a hardy, gorgeous and fluffy little bird!

Up until today, I had not seen Fox Sparrows or Tree Sparrows here in Duluth, MN. Hopefully these birds will be strong, and be able to withstand the elements as they make their way northward. We're currently going through a very blustery and harsh winter-like spring storm! These photos and videos in this blog entry were enjoyed under my birdfeeders this morning.

Here is a video of a Fox Sparrow eating a sunflower seed, and singing all at the same time!


Here is a video of a Fox Sparrow. As it eats the seeds, listen closely... you can hear the Song Sparrow singing (a slightly less musical-sounding, quicker-paced song), and other nearby Fox Sparrows singing (the more yodeling, flute-like song).



And a video of an American Tree Sparrow - such a cute little fluffball! A Fox Sparrow can be heard singing in the background.


I have been having such an incredible time counting raptors over the past month here in Duluth, and hope to provide some belated, yet interesting tidbits about the fun sightings I've witnessed... of course, including some pictures too!

Thank you for reading my blog, and good birdwatching,
Erik

Duluth Hawk Counting - April 5, 2011

The conditions for counting raptors today in Duluth could not have been more pleasant for raptor-viewing, and were very encouraging to raptors just urging to head north. Today's flight was spectacular; a total of 300 raptors were counted today!

Red-tailed Hawks were the most commonly-observed raptor today. Of the 158 Red-tailed Hawks observed today, three were dark morphs! Today I got to observe the largest kettle of Red-tailed Hawks I've ever seen... A total of 18 Red-tailed Hawks were soaring upwards in a single kettle - two Bald Eagles were mixed in there too. A "kettle" is a migrating group of raptors which is riding a thermal/set of thermals higher and higher. It was so cool to see the groups Red-tailed Hawks migrating up high. I have many pictures taken today during the count, however they'll have a to come in a day or so :-) It's getting late, and I have to be up early for another action-packed day of hawk counting!

I wanted to let you know that today I observed several other new migrants to the area: A single Lapland Longspur gave bubbly trills and the chew-note call as it flew north, as well as observing a Killdeer, 2 Common Grackles. In the early afternoon today, a lone, high-flying Sandhill Crane flew by!

In case you're interested in seeing more about the day's count details, the link below has what you're looking for :-)
http://hawkcount.org/day_summary.php?rsite=543&ryear=2011&rmonth=04&rday=05