Green Jay

 The green jay is a resident of Mexico, Central and northern South America. The Mexican and Central American population is separated from the South American population and differ in size, color and call. It is possible that in the future it may be discovered that they are actually separate species or at least different subspecies.

 Green jays typically prefer riparian thickets and other dense forested areas in humid climates. The exception to this is in south Texas. South Texas is the only place in the United States where green jays can be found. In Texas they inhabit mesquite thickets, native scrub and open park lands. These birds where photographed in Texas at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and Bentsen State Park respectively.

Ferruginous Hawk

The ferruginous hawk is a large raptor found in the western plains of North America. They are a member of the buteo genus of hawks. Buteos are soaring hawks that are distinguished by their long wings and short tails. They ferruginous hawks are the largest hawk in North America and the second largest buteo in the world.

The common name ferruginous comes from the Latin word ferrgin which roughly means iron rust. This is of course in reference to their rusty red colored feathers. The ferruginous hawk is one of only three North American raptors, other than owls, that have feathers that extend down their legs to their toes. The other two raptors are the rough-legged hawk and the golden eagle.

Sunset Palms

Eastern Screech-Owl

 The eastern screech-owl is a small owl that is found in the eastern half of the United States, south-eastern Canada, and north eastern Mexico.  They can be found in a variety of different habitats including suburban and metropolitan areas. The main priority for habitat is available cavities, since they are a cavity nester. This can be a tree cavity or a man made cavity such as a nesting box. Like most owls they stick on their nesting territory through out the entire year and do not migrate during the winter unless their is a shortage of prey.

Like most raptors there is no difference in color between male and female eastern screech-owls.females are typically larger than males however it is difficult to tell by size with out one of the opposite sex to reference. However, as you can probably guess by these photos, there are two different color variations of eastern screech-owl. About 70% of the population is gray, like the wild owl in the first photo. The other 30% are red like Mestaae above. Mestaae is an educational raptor at The Raptor Center. The percentage of red screech-owls is higher in the east with only about 15% red at the western edges of their range.  

Sandhill Cranes in Flight

Each year thousands of sandhill cranes stop by the Platt River, in central Nebraska, to feed and rest during their spring migration north.