Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Red-breasted Merganser

These thin, long-bodied ducks with the thin red bill and shaggy crest are definitely something to be seen.  They are found in small groups and will be observed in salt water in both sheltered coasts and bays.  They are less common inland, but will certainly make exceptions.

These birds are very similar to the Common Merganser who nests in cavities and favors fresh water.  These fish eaters are known as sawbills, as they are so equipped.  The most widespread of all the mergansers, this sexually dimorphic duck is a strong flyer, easily capable of reaching speeds of eighty miles per hour.  Unless it is breeding, it will be usually found at sea both inshore and well offshore.

This late breeder may not have fledged young until September, and it first breeds at the age of two, a notoriously late breeder.  Females incubate as the males tend to leave for points unknown in order to molt.  The species breeds further north and winters further south than the other species of mergansers.

                                                             Red-breasted Mergansers
                                                              Boomer Lake Park, 2017

Generally silent, during breeding times they have usually been found grunting and croaking.

Like the Common Merganser, these diving ducks will herd fish and drive them inland to have an easier time foraging.  They also hunt collectively.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Gadwall

A duck with a rounded head and distant plainer plumage than most, the male is gray with black tail coverts.  Only when one observes the male at a closer range, is the discovery made of his innate beauty with subtle red patches on the forewing and black bordered white speculum seen in flight.  Occasionally the white speculum attribute is missing on the female.

The female resembles a female Mallard but her thin bill is orange only on both sides.

The species is common, sometimes found in the company of the American Wigeon.  If they are located with only their species, it is generally in small numbers.  The Gadwall are dabbling ducks, but not as gregarious as most.

It appears that global warming could shrink the migratory range, simply changing it to an extended version of the winter range over the next several decades.

                                                                    Gadwall Pair
                                                           Boomer Lake Park, 2014

These ducks breed in the north central US, along the Great Lakes and in patches in the northeast.  In Canada they breed in the Boreal Forest and the southwest coastal islands.

Preferring open wetlands, marshes or grasslands with dense fringe vegetation, or even moist fields, meadows, and prairies, this is a hardier species than most.  Not only do they have greater reproductive success, but they also fare much better during drought, as they are such an adaptable species.  Even though the male tends to leave the area during incubation, the female manages quite well without him.

As opportunists, the Gadwall will sometimes steal food from coots and other ducks.  Females will store nutrients via invertebrate fuel over the winter and spring, and she will lay an egg a day for sometimes up to twelve days.

Mallards and Gadwalls will hybridize.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Redhead

Round-headed with a gray-blue bill, a breeding male has an iridescent cinnamon head with a gray body and dark breast.  The non-breeding male is a little more subdued, but the yellow eye will always give away his identity.  The female is a plain, soft brown and the bill will give her away if no male is present.

These are common diving ducks that spend winters in Oklahoma and they tend to tolerate more shallow water than many of the diving breeds.  Most of the population winters in the Laguna Madres of Texas and Mexico, with a smaller group in Apalachee Bay, Florida with a few on the Chandeleur Islands off Baja Mexico, the Yucatan, and the Atlantic coastal region from the Mid Atlantic states southward.

These medium sized red-headed ducks have a steep forehead where the bill meets the head at a steep angle.  They can easily be located in the prairie potholes of the northern Great Plains and intermountain western marshes during breeding season.  These are common brood parasites with the female laying her eggs in the nests of many breeds, oddly even including the Northern Harrier.  Noted in the video is a courtship display where the male will pull his head backward and snap it forward, giving a call reminiscent of a cat.

                                                                       Redheads
                                                             South Padre Island, 2017

Flying faster than most ducks with a shallow and rapid wingbeat, they also fly in an erratic manner.  Gregarious by nature, they will feed with other ducks, even having been known to fly to and land beside decoys.  The red-headed pochards favor grains, grasses and select water insects, mollusks, and small fish.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Horned Grebe

Horned Grebe spring breeding plumage is something that we are not yet privy to in Oklahoma, and this video will show you how beautiful this bird looks.  It got is name from the yellow feathering behind its ears that simulate horns, which it can raise at will.

A Boreal breeder and also found in spotty locations, as a breeder in the northern US, this uncommon bird turns up here in the winter on open larger lakes as well as upon reservoirs more commonly as time progresses.  It is rarely seen on small ponds.  Generally migrating singly instead of in a flock, these waterbirds will move over landlocked areas at night.

It differs from all small grebes by the white bill tip, head pattern, and shape of the head.  It is virtually silent unless on the breeding grounds.  It is called the Slavonian Grebe in Eurasia, where it s very common.

                                                                     Horned Grebe
                                                              Boomer Lake Park, 2016

This grebe will consume some of its feathers to aid in digestion as a filter for the fish bones until they decompose.  Young grebes are fed feathers in the same manner to begin the same health cycle.

Grebes are often shown in educational material as their courtship display is so unusual.  They will rise to a vertical position with erect head feathers while they rapidly move their heads from left to right.  They will both dive for weedy nesting material, then run across the water's surface side-by-side.

The Horned Grebe can usually be observed upon winter habitat right around some of the first good cold snaps, like it was today at Boomer Lake.  It is a couple of weeks early, usually appearing in December.

Birds of the Sea: Common Goldeneye

Smaller flocks as well as gathering in numbers, the Common Goldeneye winters on bays, open lakes, and rivers.  Another cavity nester, the species dives for fish, insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.  They have also been known to use the same nest cavity over the years.

The species has a tall, peaked head, a round cheek patch, and the plumage patterns for the males show its coloration to be mostly white while it visits in the winter.  The female will have a mostly black bill.

A Boreal breeder, this duck can be seen wintering over the better part of the US.  A medium sized sea duck, its Latin name means "bull head," having a similar head shape to the Bufflehead.

Where nest boxes have been offered, there are population increases.  Far more prolific than Barrow's Goldeneye, the Common Goldeneye is a speedy flier known as "whistler," as its wings sound off.  They fly in small compact clusters when they are on the wing.

                                                                Common Goldeneyes
                                                             Boomer Lake Park, 2017

These diving ducks forage solely under water and first breed at the age of two.  However, first year females are on the hunt for nest sites in early summer.  Pair formation usually occurs in later winter, and several males will court the same female, much like the more common Bufflehead.  They perform many of the same rituals, including head pumps, exaggerated takeoffs and landings, etc.

It is suspected that climate change will take its toll upon breeding ranges, making them shrink as well as expanding winter ranges even more.  This cold-hardy migratory bird is aggressive and territorial, and will be highly competitive with food and nest sites.  Their breeding postures indicate the same type of behavior.

Oklahoma Migratory Species Profile: Common Merganser

This merganser is often confused with the Red-breasted Merganser, but is it heavier and has a thicker bill.  The non-breeding adult also has a very contrasting white patch under the chin and at the throat.  In flight, it also shows more body white.

A large duck of mountains, lakes, and rivers, the Common Merganser is a tree, under tree root, nest box, or crevice nester that eats fish or other invertebrates.  They commonly will form a semicircle, forcing fish into the shallower water, making it easier to capture them.  These elegant birds are striking, with an unusual appearance that gives them a name for bad hair days.  They tend to sit low in the water, and besides the attractive colors, they have a serrated bill that they use for holding onto assorted seafood.  These diving ducks will winter as far south as Mexico, and at one time or another spend some of their time within the US keeping away from waters that freeze.




               Common Merganser in Cardiff
                           123rf.com

The male will abandon the family once the young hatch, and the female will stay with them for about a week after they fledge.  There is a photo on the internet that shows a female Common Merganser with 76 young, but most of these were adopted or just temporarily in her care.  A hen will lay up to a dozen or so eggs.  These birds utilize a creche system, which is basically a day care center where a matriarchal female is in charge of overseeing the young.  The sawbill becomes sexually mature at two years of age.

This species is climate threatened, and like many others are expanding their range in a northeasterly direction.

These ducks have been known to swallow large fish nearly a foot in length, and in the winter, these ducks can form large rafts.  They don't move well on land, but when forced to run from a predator, they often take an upright position.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Cackling Goose

The Cackling Goose looks very similar to the Canada Goose.  To the uninitiated, this bird can be easily overlooked in view of the fact that it is with a group of Canada Geese, but such conditions teach us to look closely at every individual.  Hidden within groups tends to be many gems.

This subspecies is most common in the southern Great Plains as well as surrounding states and staging areas in the winter.  There are several subspecies:  Pacific, Aleutian, Minima, Taverner, and Richardson's.  With these all being migratory birds, they are observed in the coastal portions of the High Boreal Forest in the central and northwestern regions as breeding birds.

As always, there will be variations among these geese, not all will be clearly pure species or subspecies and they commonly hydridize.  Facial patches (or chinstraps) and neck rings vary, as do colorations of the breast.  Bill length variations are also extensive with plenty of overlap, but as a general note, the bill length will usually be shorter than the Canada Goose and the head is rounder with a difference in forehead steepness.  This is what separates the Branta genus (black plumage) from Anser (gray  plumage).

                                                                   Cackling Goose
                                                          Boomer Lake Park, Dec. 2014

Adult birds will show a characteristic "U" on the dark uppertail contrasting well with the black, most noted when the bird is in flight.  Overall, the bird is mostly brown with normal differences described above.  However, shades of brown will vary, which determines which subspecies is being noted.

The shortest billed Canada Goose is the Lesser, while the longest billed Cackling Goose is the Richardson's, and both can be found sharing the same space in the center of the country.  Males will tend to be longer billed than females.

Surprising through genetic structures, the Cackling Goose is quite different from the Canada Goose.  Mitochondrial DNA sciences have opened up an entirely different world of information since its advent, with much more coming to light as scientific study broadens within that region.  There will be more coming to light as new studies increase and specialize.

Briefly, these geese breed along tundra ponds, coastal marshes, and steep turfed slops above rocky shores.  They are strictly herbaceous.  Some will nest upon cliffs and others upon slightly elevated sites near water.

Another View of Cackling Geese In this Module:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2014/01/land-of-beauty-time-of-reverence.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ross's Goose

This small goose with a small bill, round head, and clean white coloring is typical of Ross's Goose.
Small numbers tend to be mixed with Snow Geese as well as Canada Geese.  There is also a rare dark morph.

A breeder of the low Arctic tundra, in ponds and marshes, Ross's Goose will nest in colonies with the lesser Snow Goose, nesting upon the ground in sparsely vegetated areas.  Often mistakenly identified as a Snow Goose, this species does not have the usual "grin patch."  They do have a higher pitched call.

Ross's Goose

Boomer Lake Park, 2018

                                                           
                                               

Usually the first to leave the breeding grounds, this bird will winter in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, New Mexico, and in small parts of Mexico in ag fields, fresh water marshes, and shallow lakes.

Confirmed as recently as 1971, there is a very rare blue form of this species.  Additionally, Ross's Goose will hybridize with the Snow Goose to create fertile offspring.

blue morph Ross's Goose

Brooke Miller 2015 in CA

The male has warty nodules at the base of its bill, believed to raise its status within the species.  The female has very few of these, along with a flatter forehead, a shorter neck and is noticeably smaller.

This goose was named after Bernard Ross of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Canadian Northwest Territories.  More of a naturalist than a fur trader, Ross created collections of mammals, birds, and insects, which he forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the British Museum in London.


More Photos of Ross's Goose:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-bar-gets-raised-one-notch.html

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2017/02/and-then-there-was-distinction.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ring-necked Duck

A common winter bird of Oklahoma, the Ring-necked Duck winters on lakes, rivers, ponds, yet very rarely on salt water.  A breeder of the northeast, Boreal Forest, around the Great Lakes, and along western mountains, this striking duck is best identified by the crown at the peak of the head and the ring around the bill.  The male's coloring is also very handsome.  The female has a distinctive white eye ring and a strip at the facial end of the bill.  She is various shades of brown with a gray face.

This diving duck is gregarious and will mix with many other diving ducks on wintering lakes.  Many times they will be observed with scaups.  They will fly directly up from the water without having to get that running start like many other diving ducks.

male Ring-necked Duck

Boomer Lake Park, 2015

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These are the likeliest of North American ducks to ingest lead shot from the bottom of wetlands, making them very susceptible to lead poisoning.  This is another reason to advocate the eradication of lead shot, as it has a strong effect on our diving duck population.  However it is difficult to remove what has already been deposited in the waterways. 

The ring around its neck is almost never seen.  It is a faint brownish band around the base of the neck, likely seen most commonly by duck hunters.

Pair formation begins in winter.  The pulling back and thrusting forward of the head and rapid nodding of the head will be noted during this time, directed at females of the species.

Climate change predictions indicate that this bird will winter over most of the continental US and breeding areas will be heading in a northerly direction.

This small- to medium-sized diver has an apparent white wedge shaped coloration at the shoulder, which is readily visible while the bird is in flight.

Some of these neotropical migrants will go to Central America and the northern Caribbean.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ruddy Duck

A stiff tailed duck of winter, the Ruddy Duck male arrives before the female when it is time to breed.  Commonly found in the open waters of lakes, sheltered coves, and ponds in a tight cluster, these small, yet robust ducks will sometimes mix with other species.

These prairie pothole, southern Rocky Mountain, and intermountain western breeders construct nests in bulrush and cattails over water.  The diving ducks feed upon seeds, other vegetable matter, as well as protein, especially during breeding season.

The least number of overwintering birds is in the interior of the country, where they lethargically appear to be at rest most of the time.  Similar to what would be a bathtub rubber duck in appearance, in order to become airborne they run across the water.  It is suspected that these birds migrate at night.

                                                          Ruddy Duck in mid-Dive
                                                          Boomer Lake Park, 2015

The Dark-headed variant (nominate subspecies or Andean Duck) breeds in northern Mexico and commonly is found in Mexico and Guatamala in the winter.  It is a common resident of the Caribbean, and is also seen in South America where it is both common, as well as rare in the Andes vicinity.

Sometimes remaining locally longer than normal, the males will be observed in their breeding plumage, which includes a bright blue bill, nearly fluorescent white check patch, and a shiny chestnut colored body.  The breeding female is a dull brown with white cheek patch, and a dark cap.  During the winter, the female has a dark line across the cheek with a dull cheek patch, brown body and crown.  The adult male is a little brighter than her in his non-breeding plumage.

With legs that sit far back on the body, they do not move well on land.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

White stripe from bill to belly, less red than black on the head and males' throat, bold white upperwing coverts, and that will likely equal a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker wintering bird.  Even rarely, one might even discover the adult black-crowned female.  With a similar call to a flicker with the wick-a-wick-a, and Queeh-yah, one will soon spot this uncommon bird, if it is heard.  It is usually less active than many other woodpeckers, and will tap quietly.  Its small, shallow holes are usually in line vertically, where they will feed upon sap and the insects contained therein.

These woodpeckers have strong, straight bills.  In winter they can be found in orchards, favoring deciduous trees.  It will hybridize with the Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsuckers of the west in appropriate zones.

This woodpecker is sometimes considered a pest, as its feeding habits are known to seriously damage trees due to frenzied feeding practices.  They will gird trees, meaning that they will remove an entire ring of bark around a tree that insects will permeate.

                                                             Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
                                                      Northwest Payne County CBC, 2017

Even though the lemony belly can be difficult to observe on perching birds, one's chances will be better on maple, aspen, and fruit trees, due to their strong sap production.  Due to its continual work with seeking sap, these woodpeckers tend to help feed insects, hummingbirds, bats, porcupines, butterflies, and warblers with their overzealous work.

The Spanish woodpecker will readily avail itself to back yards for suet, sugar water, jelly, and small pieces of sweet desert, like donuts or Danish.

Look for a photo of an immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker here:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2016/01/first-of-year-spectacular-shots.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Brown Creeper

This small, thin brown songbird has a curved bill and creeps along on horizontal branches or upward on trunks of trees.  It is usually solitary, but is known to frequent areas with other songbirds, like chickadees, woodpeckers, kinglets, titmice, or nuthatches.

The American tree creeper is the only member in its family, and it uses its long stiff tail for balance while searching for insects within the bark of trees, where its cryptic coloration serves it well.  It has a high pitched and piercing call, tending to spiral up a tree.  It then flies back down to earth and repeats the process on the same or a different tree.

                                                                     Brown Creeper
                                                           Boomer Lake Station, 2015

Out of the breeding season, they can often be found upon deciduous trees.  The creeper enjoys mature forest with large trees, but surprisingly, is often a victim of window strikes.  The songbird is sometimes used to determine the health of a forest ecosystem by its presence.  Forest management is being changed to increase the numbers of these birds, as well as their comrades, the Marbled Murrelet and Northern Spotted Owl.

The male shares identical plumage with the female, yet he is larger.  There are gray, rufous, and brown morphs within the species, as well as three distinct subspecies.  The Mexican subspecies is found in southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona.  Eastern birds are paler, short billed and larger, while the western birds are smaller, longer billed, and darker.  Each subspecies shares different dialects.

This neotropical migrant will winter as far south as Central America, yet many spend winters in the central part of the US.  Never expect one of these songbirds at a feeder.

They are Boreal Forest and northeastern and western breeders.

For the Brown Creeper and Species It Surrounds Itself With, See:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-birds-say-that-spring-is-here.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Golden-crowned Kinglet

see-see-see-see-chit-chit

Even tinier than the Ruby-crowned Kinglet with a bold eye stripe and more gray-green, the Golden-crowned Kinglet is a bird of the conifers.  They tend to be in small groups in the company of Brown Creepers, chickadees and other woodland birds.

They have dark wings with two black patches beneath the second wingbar.  The only real difference between the male and the female is the color of the crown, should it be flared.  The female will show a yellow crown and the male sports red-orange in the center of his crown.

               

They can be found is a wide array of habitats, with the favorite being in the evergreens.  However, other possibilities are along tree-lined streams, in orchards, parks, lowland deciduous woodlands, as well as within the Ponderosa pine forest.

Their food includes tiny insects, spiders, sap, eggs under leaves, and they will take fruit occasionally.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Golden-crowned Kinglet

                                                                                              audubon.org

Another very energetic songbird like the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, this diminutive sprite is a Boreal Forest breeder, which usually manages two large broods (lays 8-9 eggs, sometimes as many as 11) per season, and has expanded its range to spruce-fir forests of the northern US.  Another bird expected to change its breeding habitat, to more northern regions due to climate change, this Boreal breeder usually stays high in the canopy, even in winter.  The species can handle -40 degree temperatures.

Each of the kinglet's nostrils are covered by a single feather.  Know the song, as it is difficult to observe with its constant movement, but it will respond to a pish.  However, never pish in the dead of winter, as this can cause a bird's well-being to suffer with the cold.

Kinglet is synonymous with crest.  The Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglets will sometimes hybridize.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Spotted Towhee

Sweet-sweet-teeeeeeaaaaa!

Larger than sparrows with a long tail, dark head, rufous flanks, and white spotting, the Spotted Towhee has several subspecies.  We have our Great Plains, the southwest has their Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest has theirs.  These are all self explanatory, and later, there will be discussion on the Eastern Towhee, which also comes to Oklahoma.

These good looking large sparrows are common in brushy habitats including the undergrowth in open forests and shrublands, but are a secretive species staying within cover.  They scratch heavily within leaf litter, seeking seeds and insects, using the two-footed method to scratch simultaneously with both feet.

Since 1995 this species was separated from the Eastern Towhee, both species once called the rufous-sided towhee.  They share a very narrow hybrid zone in the northern Great Plains.  These birds will show a white patch at the base of the primaries, and their call can be a blend of the two species or sound like either of the two, so it is imperative that one pay close attention in this part of the country.  However, bear in mind that juvenile birds can emulate a hybrid during early winter, though it is rare.

                                                                    Spotted Towhee
                                                       Mount Lemmon, AZ-- Spring 2018

As omnivores, this towhee will eat nearly anything, but during the breeding season it will eat more insects and arthropods, mainly as the young require protein for good growth.

They also have about the largest range of any towhee, found over the southern portion of the western Canadian provinces and over half of the US.  They also do not flock.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Hermit Thrush

The beautiful Hermit Thrush can be identified from other spotted thrushes by its complete narrow white eye ring, as well as its contrasting reddish tail.  It chooses drier and brushier habitat than most of the other thrushes, foraging upon the ground and can generally be located in habitat similar to the Swainson's Thrush.

There are three distinct subspecies, which include the Taiga or Eastern, Interior West, and the Pacific.  The hardy Eastern birds have thicker bills with pale buffy tips on greater coverts, stocky, and brightly colored.  Interior West are pale and grayer with very limited red wash on the flight feathers.  The Pacific are more spotted than the Eastern, thinner billed than all of them, with white undertail coverts.

The voice is like that of most spotted thrushes, an ethereal flued whistle without the clear rising and falling, which is due to the syrinx, the double vocal organ at the base of the bird trachea.  The thrushes have some of the most advanced organs in the world, leading to a dual sound, much like the ability of the twelve string guitar.

                                                                   Hermit Thrush
                                                NW Corner Payne County CBC, 2017

The most hardy of the thrushes, this passerine migrates earlier in the spring and returns to its home base later in the fall in late September-October.  It is likely the only thrush to be found in most of the US in the winter.  Those that do migrate will be in flight overnight, except the Pacific Northwest, which usually remains there.  This thrush is more related to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-Thrush than to its own US family members, and usually can be found singing from a high perch.

Often found during the Christmas Bird Count, this unusual bird of never ending wonder has been described in many written works.

East of the Rockies, this bird is usually a ground nester, and West of the Rockies, it nests in trees.  This neotropical migrants finds its way as far south as Central America in the winter.

To See Interior West Hermit Thrush and Birds of Arizona:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/05/birding-on-shoestring-wilds-of-arizona.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Ruby-crowned Kinglet

                                                             Courtesy Timothy Barksdale

One of the smallest birds, this nervous-appearing, constant wingflicker in continual motion possesses olive-green plumage with a pale eye ring, thin dark bill and legs with pale feet.  Often confused with a warbler, this solitary bird often joins chickadees, titmice, warblers, and other small songbirds of the wood.  When agitated or excited, the adult male will flick its bright red crown.  It also has a dark bar on the base of its secondary feathers and appears to be a warbler or a tiny flycatcher with its rapid movement.

It has a loud, complex, and highly variable confusing song, and lays the largest clutch of eggs for its size, numbering up to a dozen. This songbird breeds in the western mountains of the US and the northeast, but mainly attends nests in the Boreal Forest of Canada.  It breeds high within spruce-fir forests which lends difficulty to its breeding habits.  They do favor mixed forest and old growth habitat.  The adult male arrives first upon breeding territory and leaves last in the fall, even later than the juveniles of that season.

                                                               Ruby-crowned Kinglet
                                                      Boomer Creek Park, January 2016

In the winter, it prefers thick understory.  Having studied the species extensively in the Boomer Creek area over several years (2015-early 2018), it was found that they will readily habituate to humans.  One particular male would appear when called and was very amicable to numerous photographs, coming very close.  However when disturbed by loud traffic and other abnormal non-forest noises, it would disappear, but return quickly.  It never remained in the area longer than ten days.  Its song consisted of rapid warbles, clear notes, and whistles, lasting approximately six seconds.  Its song is so loud, one expects much larger than a four-inch bird.

The songbird enjoyed small insects and readily investigated old spider egg sacs, as well as red cedar fruit, and sally out after gnats or similar insects.

At Boomer Lake, another individual male bird was observed during the same period in 2016, which had a personality nothing like the original kinglet.  It was shy and retiring, never singing, making observation much more difficult.  It was not in the area longer than three days.

Most birds of the western part of the country will remain there, but many of the northernmost breeders will continue on to southern Mexico or slightly beyond for migration.  Oklahoma's birds can be observed for the entire winter and into early spring.

For More Photos of Ruby-crowned Kinglet, See:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2016/01/as-cool-wind-blows-stars-come-out-of.html

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2016/01/steady-as-westerly-wind-blows.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: American Tree Sparrow

Bold white wingbars, a clear rusty cap and eyeline with a bicolored bill and a distinct dark breast spot, the American Tree Sparrow sings a clear warble and its good looks will draw you in.

This common country bird winters in brushy or weedy habitat near trees, in back yards, and marshes.  Prone to mix with other sparrows in the winter, it will form large flocks that wander far and wide. Why it is named the tree sparrow is odd, as it is a bird of low shrubs.  They will beat tall weeds with their wings until the seeds fall to the ground outside of breeding season.  At that time they also subsist on berries and seeds.

The medium sized sparrow, as it is commonly called, has a long thin tail and often fluffs itself to make it appear larger.  Migrating late in the fall and early in the spring, these birds are near to or ground nesters, often lining their nests with ptarmigan feathers for both warmth and comfort.  They have adapted well to urban environments out of the breeding season and make full use of human resources.  They will eat scattered millet from the ground, and have been confused with the Chipping Sparrow, so know their arrival/departure dates.

                                                       
                                                               American Tree Sparrow
                                                                   allaboutbirds.org

Their breeding and wintering ranges do not overlap, having remarkably wide ranges between breeding season and their equally large winter range.  The key to find them is to look for them near low points.

The winter sparrow has a large breeding range between the tundra and boreal forest transitional zone in shrubby habitat.

If you wish to attract these beautiful birds to your back yard, forego the raking and keep a section of your yard unkempt.  Many sparrows enjoy scratching upon the ground for food, as do the remainder of their family like towhees and juncos.  Have a water source nearby, as well as untrimmed bushes still holding their dried fruit on the branches.  Also save your seeds by not dead heading your spent flowers for additional food.  Also build a brush and/or rock pile from the garden, forego pesticides, and plant natives in order to attract native birds by contacting your local forestry service, a good source.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Harris's Sparrow

This is the largest sparrow in the US with a pink bill, white belly and the adult has a strikingly lovely black face and throat.  One of the easiest sparrows to identify, and a common Oklahoma winter bird, this is just a small part of the inclusive Great Plains wintering venues.  While here during the coldest of the seasons, it will be in brushy areas, near riparian corridors at woodland edges and will sometimes be in the presence of Dark-eyed Juncos, Song, White-throated, or White-crowned Sparrows.

This beautiful bird was named after Edward Harris, an amateur ornithologist, by none other than Audubon, who did not realize that this same bird was named by Thomas Nuttall.  It was designated by him as the Mourning Finch.

Harris's usually sings from a high perch, which will immediately differentiate it from the also wintering area Lapland Longspur, which stays strictly on the ground and shows rufous greater coverts.  The migrant sparrow will usually arrive in the Great Plains as early as late October, but most commonly in November or December, then depart in late February for northern areas as high as the Grand Boreal Forest.

                                                                Harris's Sparrow
                                                          Boomer Lake Park, 2016

These ground feeders will forage for seeds and leftover fruit while they are visiting our grassland ecological regions.  The males will still retain some dominance even during the winter, and it will be noted that the eldest males have the largest facial masks and bibs and are most at home exercising their authority over females and younger males.

Not as frequent a visitor to feeders as some winter sparrows, it will investigate human food sources on the edges of town.  It can be drawn in with protective brush piles, and its sheer size will help it to stand out among the other sparrows, as it will often show itself in the open.   Since this is the only songbird that breeds just in Canada, its range is becoming somewhat restricted, possibly due to logging and degradation of soil caused by fire.

Our own George Miksch Sutton found the first nest of Harris's Sparrow in Manitoba in 1931.

A gathering of Harris's Sparrows is collectively called a poll.

Learn Sparrows with Photos:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2015/12/sparrowing-along.html

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2017/04/a-little-action-between-purple-martins.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Swamp Sparrow

pete-pete-pete-pete-pete, chip! or  Zeeeeeeee!

Common at pond edges or in wet marshes around cattails, shrubs, prairies, salt marshes, or grass, the Swamp Sparrow can be found in old fields or other wet areas during times of migration.  They will mix with the Song Sparrow, and usually stay low under thick cover.  Do not expect this bird at your feeders, though stranger things have happened.

The throat is usually unstreaked and there are blurred streaks upon the buffy gray breast, and a light belly with solid rufous wing coverts.  Even though it has a red crown, its bulky build should not suggest a Chipping Sparrow, as it rarely comes out in the open and stays within a different habitat.  Remember GISS, general impression, shape, and size as a rule for sparrows.  Also note that is has gray cheeks and eyebrows, another defining characteristic from the chippie.  Northern and western birds are lighter in color than the eastern and southern birds.

                                                                  Swamp Sparrow
                                                           Boomer Lake Park, 2015

These songbirds breed in boreal Canada, as well as northern and eastern parts of the US.  Wintering in the eastern part of the country, they make their way to Oklahoma frequently, as well as south to Mexico.

If one is able to photograph the bird, note its longer legs than most sparrows.  This enables it to forage in shallow water.  They usually begin their song early in the day and can even be heard during a nicely moonlit night.

Numbers have been declining in parts of its range, naturally due to loss of habitat, as well as degradation and ill health of its favored waterways.

This bird will clearly be expanding north in its ranges, most notably for winter limits.

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Vesper Sparrow

Half the state will see the Vesper Sparrow as a winter resident (in the southern half) and the northern half will see it as a migrant.

As a short grass prairie breeder it often perches on barbed wire or small trees, not mixing with other sparrow species in the Northern US and Canada.  In the winter, it can be found in loose flocks upon agricultural fields or dry and sparsely vegetated pastures.  It is best to look for them in full song at that time, as they are at their least shy during the breeding season.

Rarely observed, it has a small red shoulder patch, thin white eyering, flashes white outer tail feathers while in flight, and sings a sweet series of trills within the vespers of twilight.

They will quickly settle in abandoned farm fields and old mines as they revert to their forest stature.

These ground dwellers and nesters scratch upon the ground and take frequent dust baths.  After the breeding season, they will migrate south and forage with mixed sparrow species that include Brewer's, Savannah, and Grasshopper Sparrows, as well as the Lark Bunting.

                                                                  Vesper Sparrow
                                                          Boomer Lake Park, 2015

Populations are declining to some degree due to likely loss of grassland habitat, frequent mowing of fields, early harvest, and hedgerow removal.  Certain populations could become threatened or endangered due to this continued activity in the eastern ranges, but in general, they are still a species of low concern.  They enjoy meadows with open soil, stubble fields, and grassy areas above sandy beaches.

They are rather early spring migrants and return later in the fall.  They usually have been peaking in May and October.