Showing posts with label Hummingbird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hummingbird. Show all posts
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Oklahoma Vagrants: Anna's Hummingbird
Larger than many hummingbirds, Anna's males' red throat and crown (and female's red central throat patch) are good distinguishing characteristics. Not seen in many places, this is the most common hummingbird within oak/chapparal habitat of the Pacific coast and it is native.
Range expansion is sending this delightful bird north to British Columbia, where it is becoming common. As a medium sized hummingbird, the broad tail extends beyond the wingtips while seated, and the bill is short and straight.
As collectors of nectar, these hummingbirds are excellent pollinators of an assortment of plants, most notably tubular flowers. Early in the twentieth century, this bird was only found in Baja California as well as California. Exotic plants brought it north, and due to range expansion for the simplest of reasons, it was found to do well in other climates and take nectar from introduced species of plants..
Found in 2010 in Oklahoma at both a private residence in Cherokee County, as well as proven at another residence in the fall in Comanche County, these are the only two instances known on eBird.
Male Anna's Hummingbird
Pima County, AZ 2018
Anna's frequently hybridizes with Costa's Hummingbird. In the 1860s or thereabouts in Mexico, a hybrid was located in Mexico and was named Floresi's Hummingbird. After a number of years, this extremely rare bird was discovered in California and was learned to be a hybrid of Anna's and Allen's Hummingbirds. Nearly three decades later, also in California, the rare Violet-throated Hummingbird was noted as a mix between the Black-chinned Hummingbird and Anna's. Perhaps there will be more to add to this saga at a later date.
The Anna's is believed to consume more insects than any other hummingbird, which most likely adds something to its strong constitution, especially during the winter. It can stay in some areas that no other hummingbirds will go during that season. This fact could also lend to why this bird is so far reaching in hybridization for survival and its sometimes unlikely appearances in other climate zones.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Birding On a Shoestring: Life on the Oklahoma Panhandle
Wilson's Phalarope
Stilt Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Ditto
American Avocet
Wilson's Phalarope
Lark Bunting
Western Meadowlark
Lark Bunting
Long-billed Curlew
Loggerhead Shrike
Pronghorn Antelope
Swainson's Hawk
House Finch
Juvenile Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird
Female Bullock's Oriole
Male Orchard Oriole
Chipping Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Male Pronghorn Antelope
Say's Phoebe
Female Black-chinned Hummingbird
Male Black-chinned Hummingbird
Lark Sparrow
White Tailed Deer (Doe)
White Tailed Doe and Fawn (Left)
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Ditto
Canyon Towhee
Cassin's Sparrow
Rock Squirrel
Mule Deer
Black-chinned Hummingbird Nest
Burrowing Owls
Burrowing Owl
Friday, 05-12 through Monday, 05-15-17
This was a trip that I had been wishing for a little over a year, and when the opportunity arose,
my heart was filled with joy. Photos were obtained from the entire panhandle of Oklahoma, which encompasses Beaver, Texas, and Cimarron counties. It holds a wide range of important ecological regions in the state, which makes it an unusual area for western and eastern birds to converge.
We observed long and shortgrass prairie regions, pinyon-juniper habitat, sagebrush wild lands, brushy chaparral, mesa tablelands, Rocky Mountain foothills and rock mesa faces. With these diverse and desert lands came a remarkable and wide range of mammals and birds, most of which I had never encountered before.
Unfortunately, I managed a quick look at one small lizard common to eastern Oklahoma and Texas and met a common garter snake. I had hope for a prairie rattlesnake, but that wasn't in the cards for
this trip.
Many birds were seen but not photographed, like the Common and Chihuahuan Ravens and Prairie Falcon. The Lazuli Bunting and Marsh Wren were heard, along with the Common Poorwill and Western Screech Owl.
As you can see, many beautiful mammals were captured and many birds indigenous to the region, but many more were not. Perhaps this will create a need for a future trip, but it took nearly a day to get
here. The journey was well worth it, and it enriched my first trip to this most important birding area.
These are lands that must be protected at any cost, for our grassland birds are in danger. We have seen great decreases in their presence over the years and the fight for their survival is great, including the Lesser Prairie Chicken. We must make saving their habitat a prime endeavor and you can help by donating to the cause and not buying homes here or destroying this habitat in any fashion. Please help me help THEM.
Perhaps you will enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. If you have an interest in this area, which I believe you will after seeing these striking animals, you can help by spending time at Black Mesa State Park and the Black Mesa Bed and Breakfast caters to birders at the Black Mesa Tableland region. Many ranchers raise cattle here and are helping to keep the ecological region alive and well. I tip my hat to these people for this and support their efforts.
Red-headed Woodpecker
Turkey Vulture
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Monday, 05-15-17
The grand finale before the return trip home was in Woodward county, just east of the panhandle.
These were all species found at home, so they were just for the fun of it, and one last hurrah. We tried for the Barred Owl, who was not co-operative, but she had young in the nest hole, so it wasn't her fault. Our timing was poor.
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