Wilson's Warbler

 The Wilson's warbler is a small new world warbler. They breed across Canada and the western United States. The typical breeding habitat consists of open woodlands, with plenty of undergrowth, typically ponds, lakes or bogs. The nest is built primarily by the female. It is cup shaped, made of vegetation, and lined with grass or hair. It is usually placed on the ground in the grass or under a bush or sometimes low in a bush.  

 Like most warblers Wilson's warblers are primarily an insect eater, gleaning insects from trees and undergrowth or catching them in flight. Since their are no insects in Canada during the winter they migrate south to Mexico and Central America. Their wintering grounds consists of a variety of typically secondary growth habitats such as tropical forests, thorn-scrub, mangrove undergrowth, riparian forests, and coffee plantations.

Scarlet Tanager

 The scarlet tanager is an American passerine. They breed through out the eastern half of the United States and parts of southeastern Canada. During this time they feed primarily on insects which they typically glean from th trunk and branches of trees at the top of the canopy. They will also catch flying insects in the air, like a flycatcher, and occasionally eat some fruit.

The scarlet tanager gets its name from the bright red color of the male. The females are yellow in color with the same black colored wings that the male has. In the fall males will molt and change from their bright scarlet colored plumage to a yellow color similar to the normal female plumage. The bird above was photographed in mid molt. The tanagers will then migrate south, flying over the Gulf of Mexico to winter in Northern South America. Their they will join mixed feeding flocks of tanagers, flycatchers and other tropical birds.  

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

 The ruby-throated hummingbird is the most common hummingbird found in North America. They are the only hummingbird that breeds in the eastern half of the continent, most of which is included in their breeding territory. During the winter they migrate to southern Mexico and Central America.

 Hummingbirds have very short legs. This makes it very difficult for them to walk or hop. Typically they hover or fly to get from one spot to another. While hovering or flying their wings can beat at approximately 53 times per second.

Pileated Woodpecker

The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America. That is unless you believe that the ivory billed woodpecker, which has not had a verified sighting in about 40 years, is not extinct. they are found in wooded areas of the eastern half of the United States, the Pacific Northwest and the boreal forests of Canada. They prefer an old growth forest habitat with a good number of larger trees. They are non-migratory and stay on their breeding territory all year long. They are very defensive of their territory and will often drum, pound their beaks loudly on a hollow tree, to warn other birds to stay out. They also have a loud call, that sounds like laughing or cackling, that can also be a warning to invaders. During the winter they are a little more forgiving and will let other pileated into the territory to feed.  

Pileated woodpecker primarily eat ants and wood boring insect larva. They do this by excavating large holes into trees and then using their long tongue to slurp up their prey. Pileated excavations are easily identified because they are typically larger than other woodpeckers and often somewhat rectangular. Frequently song birds and smaller woodpeckers will feed inside pileated excavations. They will also eat fruit, berries and nuts. They will sometimes forage on the ground through dead leaves or on fallen trees, where there are a lot of insects. If you are lucky they may even come to a suet feeder, especially during a rough winter. 

Pileated begin nesting in April. The male will make a nesting cavity, usually in a dead tree, in hopes of attracting a female. It can take weeks for him to excavate the cavity. The hole to the cavity is an oblong shape and the inside is unlined except for leftover wood chips. Pileated typically have one brood per year which consists of a clutch of 3-5 eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs which take between two to three weeks to hatch. Both parents care for the young which are born helpless and without feathers. After they raise the young the pileated woodpeckers abandon the nest. They will not use the same nest again in the future. These abandon cavities provide nesting habitat for many other types of birds including wood ducks and owls. Pileated will also sometimes nest in man made nesting boxes.

Olive Sparrow

 The olive sparrow is found primarily in Mexico and Central America. The northern portion of their range does stretch into southern Texas which is the only place in the United States where they can regularly be found.

 They are a somewhat secretive bird which are usually found in dense under growth. Their preferred habitat consists of chaparral and thornscrub thickets.They eat a combination of seeds, insects and larvae, which it gleans from the undergrowth and ground.

 Olive sparrows do not typically migrate. Their nesting season is from march to September. They build their nest low to the ground in a shrub or cactus. The nest is usually dome shaped and made from sticks, bark, grass and leaves. They usually lay from 2 to 5 eggs per year.

 

Merlin Falcon

 Most people think of an old guy with a beard and a staff when they hear the name Merlin, however merlin is also the name of a species of small falcons. merlins are a circumpolar species, which means that they are found in the Northern Hemisphere in North America, Europe and Asia. In North America they breed in Alaska, Canada and the northern potions of the United States. Most migrate south for the winter into the southern and western United States, Mexico, Central and northern South America. Birds in the Pacific Northwest and along the Pacific coast of Canada and Alaska often stay on the breeding territory all year long.

 As with most raptor the male merlin is smaller than his female counterpart. However unlike most raptors there is also a difference in color between the male and female. The males have more of a blue-gray tinge to the feathers on their wings and backs where the female are brown. The photo above is a male where the other two are females. The females coloration helps to camouflage her while she is on the nest. The male does not spend much time on the nest so he is brighter which probably helps him to attract a mate.

 Merlins are primarily bird eaters. About 80% of the merlin's diet is comprised of small song birds. The birds in the top two photos have caught dark-eyed juncos. They typically catch their prey by running them down in a high speed chase, often coming from below the prey. The other 20% of their diet is made up of small rodents and large insects. The female above captured and was eating a large darner dragonfly.

Long-billed Thrasher

 The long-billed thrasher is a medium sized passerine that is found in south Texas, eastern Mexico and parts of northern Central America. They are typically found in arid, scrubby habitat. where they forage in the scrub and on the ground for spiders and insects. They will also eat fruit to supplement their diet.

 Even though they are called a long-billed thrasher their bill is not very long. There are even other species of thrashers that have longer bills, however the more common brown thrasher overlaps the long-billed thrashers range and the long-billed thrasher does have a longer bill than the brown thrasher. Even though they are a part of the mimid family of birds they are not known for their mimicry. At times though they will leave their scrub hiding places to come out and sing their song, which is long, rich and complex.

Eat or be Eaten

While dragonflies are fierce predators of the insect world they are often also prey. Many are eaten by larger predators such as birds, but other predators are not any larger than the dragonfly. This furrow orbweaver spider has captured a whiteface dragonfly that will feed it well for quite a while. Since orbweaver spiders do not have very good vision they use a web to ensnare prey. Other spiders with better vision, such as wolf spiders, do not use webs for hunting.

Hoary Redpoll

 Redpolls are small northern finches that breed in the arctic and tundra regions. They are circumpolar, meaning that they are found in northern portions of North America, Europe and Asia. During the winter they head south down to southern Canada and the northern United States. They are primarily seed eaters.

The hoary redpoll is related to the common redpoll. Both species inhabit a similar breeding range, although the hoary redpolls range extends further north. Often during the winter hoary redpolls will mix in to flocks of common redpolls. As you can tell by the pictures above, the hoary is the first pic and the common is the lower, both species look very similar. The hoary usually appear more white than their common cousins. 

Ferruginous Hawk

 The ferruginous hawk is a large hawk that lives in the central plains of the United States. They are the largest species of buteo, soaring hawks, living in North America. They are fairly easy to identify because of their size, large mouth, and their rusty red color. The color is where they get the common name ferruginous from. It is a variation on the Latin word ferrgin which means iron rust.

The ferruginous hawk is one of only three diurnal raptors in North America that have feathers that reach all the way to their feet. The other two species, the rough-legged hawk and the golden eagle, have ranges that are further north or in higher elevations than the ferruginous. The breeding range of the ferruginous only extends into southern Canada with many of the birds breeding in the northern half of the range migrating to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico for the winter.

Eastern Towhee

The eastern towhee is a passerine found in the eastern half of North America. They nest from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Coast and as far north as southern portions of Canada. Birds in the northern portion of the range migrate to the southern United States for the winter while birds in the southern portion of the range stay on territory year round.

At one time the spotted towhee, from the western United States, and the eastern towhee were considered the same species and were called the rufous-sided towhee. It was decided that there were enough differences between the two to break them into two different species. There ranges do still over lap in central North America and the species will still interbreed with each other. This is the female eastern Towhee.

Rose-breasted Grosebeak

Dainty Sulphur

 

The dainty sulphur is a small member of the sulphur butterflies. Sulphur butterflies are easy to identify because they are typically mostly yellow in color. The only other primarily yellow butterflies in North America are swallowtails but they are much larger and have "tails" on their hindwings.

 The dainty sulphur is typically found in the southern United States and Mexico, however on some year they invade northward out of their normal range and can be seen as far north as Canada. In 2012 it was an invasion year and I was able to photograph dainty sulphurs around home. Males are often found on the ground in sand or dirt where they are looking for salt which they can present to a female.