Showing posts with label cavity nester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cavity nester. Show all posts
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Saturday, February 18, 2023
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Monday, September 17, 2018
Oklahoma Vagrants: Fulvous Whistling-Duck
pi-piTEEEW or pitheeew
Found in small flocks in shallow ponds or grassy marshes, this colorful duck can be active at night. It also whistles continuously while in flight. They run to take off while in the water, and will stretch the neck and legs down while landing.
This species started coming to Hackberry Flats in 2010 and still does so to the present day, but more often now. It appears that this is the only location in the state that it frequents other than possibly Red Slough, but it was not in McCurtain County in 2018.
The fulvous tree duck is known to wander hundreds of miles in roving flocks, yet unlike the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, they rarely perch in trees.
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
TX 2015
Both diurnal and nocturnal this cavity nester breeds in southern Louisiana and Texas, and has large global range. This rust colored duck with gray bill, long legs, and a distinctive white band is shown across the tail while in flight. Though the are herbivorous, the female will partake of worms, insects, and mollusks prior to egg laying. A quarter of her diet will consist of cereal grains while she is incubating.
They are susceptible to power line collisions and have trouble with pesticides used in rice crops, but despite this, as well as hunting, it still manages to be a species of least concern in its large sweep in the southern hemisphere.
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Bewick's Wren
Three subspecies comprise this species--Eastern, Southwest, and Pacific. The Southwest is paler (grayer), Eastern is unmarked brown with a pale gray belly, and the Pacific has a gray belly with a lengthy white supercilium.
The tail is more often held upward and flicked sideways which will show the white corners, especially when the species is in flight. It is thinner than the Carolina Wren and not nearly as colorful. Its syrinx allows it nearly two dozen melodies depending upon its range.
Preferring river and streamside, hedgerows, parks, farmhouses, suburbia with trees, and open woodland with thick undergrowth, this gentle bird appears tame and is quite approachable. It is rarely more than ten feet above ground while gleaning insects from leaves, tree trunks and branches. It blends into its surroundings quite well, so it could be difficult to see, unless it is a singing male atop a tree.
Bewick's Wren
Boomer Lake Park, Dec. 2016
This cavity nester will choose old woodpecker holes, sheds, abandoned buildings, birdhouses, tree cavities, etc. These sites are similar to those of the House Wren, which is more aggressive and will easily evict the Bewick's Wren if it so chooses.
It is strictly an insectivore, most interested in larvae, spiders, eggs, assorted insects, and small invertebrates.
They reside year round in the west and central states. Once the House Wren has migrated in the fall, Bewick's Wren may choose to overnight in its former nest cavity. What few are in the east will migrate between September and October to early November. It is suspected that both Carolina and House Wrens may have driven it away for the most part from eastern regions due to their more dominant natures.
Saturday, September 8, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Tufted Titmouse
peter-peter-pete!
Uniformly pale gray with gray crest, black forehead and buffy-orange flanks, this common bird is often in mixed flocks including chickadees, nuthatches, kinglets, and other forest birds. Its range has been expanding north over the past half century. This species comes to feeders frequently during fall and winter and is often found in deciduous forests.
Foraging along foliage and branches, as well as seeking insects within bark folds, it is commonly seen upside down while consuming fruit and seeds from trees. Caterpillars are a favorite summer staple. During winter, they enjoy seeds, fruit, nuts, and berries.
This species is monogamous and pairs for life, and both sexes contribute to nest building within a nestbox, old woodpecker hole, or natural cavity. Besides the normal lichen, moss, hair, bark and grass, the cup nest will include snakeskin and fur from raccoons, squirrels, and opossums. Titmice have even stolen dog and human hair on the wing. The female incubates five to seven eggs for nearly two weeks for one or two broods a year.
Tufted Titmouse
Boomer Lake Park, 2015
There is a very small hybrid zone for the Tufted and Black-crested Titmouse, which stabilizes over time. Many of these birds nest just a short distance from where they were hatched. A group of titmice is known as a banditry or dissimulation.
One of five titmouse species in the country, this one does not migrate. Many will stay within a nest cavity through the winter.
Thursday, September 6, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Eastern Bluebird
Jeew, jeew, jeew.
Ever so softly spoken, that sound can be recognized anywhere. One might have to look a bit to see where it came from, but it is truly a happy sound and welcome in any season.
Often observed in back yards, woodlands, farmlands, upon fences, in parks, or in orchards in open grassy areas, this little thrush feeds upon insects or fruit and seeds. They are often in groups combing the area in search of food. As long as there is plenty of food available, they will not migrate.
Very social, yet territorial during the breeding season, they normally raise two to three clutches each season.
Adult male Eastern Bluebird
Boomer Lake Park, 2015
Nest construction is done in abandoned woodpecker holes, telephone poles, snags, dead limbs, or nest boxes with holes no larger than 1.5 inches in diameter. This can be done as early as late February. There should be an adequate perch near the residence, where the entrance should face east or south due to rain exposure in Oklahoma. It takes the female about ten days to build a small cup nest lined with grass, feathers, hair and stems, usually in March. Three to six or seven light blue or sometimes white eggs are laid, which take about two weeks to hatch.
Adult female Eastern Bluebird
Boomer Lake Park, 2015
Both parents raise the young insect protein and a few of the young birds may help to rear the second or possibly, third brood, as a cooperative breeder. Young are gray with a speckled breast.
A large portion of the young don't survive their first winter due to both starvation and the cold. They have plenty of predators including rodents, snakes, raptors, invasive birds, and the worst of all, the house cat.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Red-bellied Woodpecker
The Red-bellied Woodpecker is common in mature deciduous forest of most of the eastern part of the US, but that turns to mixed pine forests in the south. The range is moving north, as many other species are, where it responds to bird feeders more often.
churrrr-churrrrr-churrrr!
This woodpecker has a red nape and a rarely visible red wash on the belly, which is odd that it would be named after that minor characteristic. It is more well known for zebra like stripes across its back and the scarlet red nape, with the male's full red cowl. The zebra woodpecker is well constructed with a chisel shaped bill and barbed tongue, which serves it well at extricating its favorite insects from trees. If it finds small fish, nestlings, eggs, fruit, nuts or mice, it will eat them, too. Its food pleasures are unlimited, even down to other species' nestlings, lizards, and acorns.
Adult Male Red-bellied Woodpecker
Boomer Lake Park, 2016
The European Starling will watch from other trees as well as from the cavity tree and take the finished hollow away from the zebra-backs that have spent days on excavating it. Then they will quietly go about constructing another hole in the same tree, either above or below the original, when they find that they are unable to take their first orifice back.
The tongue can extend two inches from the bill in order to extract insects from their hiding places in cracks within tree bark. They prefer snags or dying trees for both foraging and nesting. They opt for eating the emerald ash borer if they can get it, but also rely heavily on beetles and other boring insects.
Female Red-bellied Woodpecker
Boomer Creek, 2016
Woodpeckers in general provide nest holes for several other species that need an abandoned cavity. This includes the Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, wrens, and Eastern Bluebirds. Not only do they use trees, but they will also make cavities in telephone poles or fenceposts. Sometimes they will even drum upon the wooden siding of a residence in order to simply claim territory, shake insects loose, or even make an attempt for a chamber.
Juvenile Red-bellied Woodpecker
Boomer Creek, 2016
Red bellied-woodpeckers and Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, which are more commonly found in Texas, cross the state line and will hybridize in western parts of Oklahoma. If you are in that area, look closely to ascertain what you might have, as the two species are easily confused.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Prothonotary Warbler
Tsweet-tsweet-tsweet-tsweet-tsweet-tsweet-tsweet!
These sounds are familiar in wooded, tick infested swamps with a creek or standing water. It is a clear, metallic song, and you should be able to observe this beauty, close to eye level once it gets to know you.
The male has a bright yellow head and breast with steel blue wings and black eyes and bill. The species was named after Catholic clergy due to its primarily yellow attire.
A cavity nester, the pair will flit in and out of the old woodpecker hole that they have chosen, which is anywhere from seven to eighteen feet almost directly over the water. When it is nearly May in Oklahoma, one waits with bated breath for this beautiful bird.
A New World Warbler, or wood warbler, the prothontary is an insectivore, and he will build several incomplete nests, while the female opts to build the real nest. The birds favor insects and snails, which is why they are in favor of living by water, which tends to attract both of those food sources. They will also eat seeds and rely on nectar, if necessary.
Male Prothonotary Warbler
Red Slough, 2016
One of two cavity nesting warblers, it is often a victim of Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism.
These birds will use nest boxes, an old rural mailbox placed in or by the water, as well as old Downy Woodpecker cavities, and is often in the same area as other species of concern, namely the Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Red-headed Woodpecker. They winter in mangrove swamps and lowland forests of creeks and streams in Central and northern South America.
This photograph was taken after trying to obtain one for a couple of years. The bird was practically two feet away from my knees, perched over standing water in a swamp. It had been calling to me, but due to the darkness, I was unable to see it at first. It patiently waited while I got my shots, then returned to the nest cavity, not far from where I was standing. It was worth the eight ticks to finally get this picture.
Male Prothonotary Warbler
Boomer Creek, 2017
Monday, July 30, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: American Kestrel
The American Kestrel, sometimes called the Sparrowhawk, is North America's smallest falcon.
Often found in fields and pastures, perched upon electrical wires, or fenceposts, they scan open fields for grasshoppers, mice or any other small prey. Kestrels are able to see the urine trails of mice due to ultraviolet sight.
The favored breeding habitat is where sparse trees or groves meet open country, which is not limited to agricultural lands and grasslands.
Usually the most sociable of falcons, males perform aerial displays and feed a female for courting interests. This proves to the female his hunting prowess and ability to provide for nestlings. It also continues to strengthen the pair bond. Females will do most of the incubating and the young fledge in about thirty days.
These falcons are cavity nesters, often using nestboxes, rock crevices, and sheltered platforms if necessary. An average of four eggs are laid, depending upon food availability at two-day intervals, then incubation begins just before the final egg is laid.
American Kestrel, Payne County, OK
They are in Oklahoma all year, and some of their breeding is quite concealed, which explains why they are not often seen in the summer, unless one of the pair is by a roadside seeking food for the female and the young.
This buoyant flier ranges throughout the Americas and is a dimorphic species (sexes differ). Their calls are quite distinctive, as "klee-klee-klee-ke-lee!," which helps to locate them.
The kestrel occasionally is prey for the Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawks, but there was an incident last year with all three sitting on electrical wires, hunting. They were all interested in one mouse, to which the Red-tailed Hawk was victorious. The second mouse was taken by the Cooper's Hawk, and the kestrel was so irritated, he gave the above call, then fled the area.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)