Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Yellow Warbler

Sweet-sweet-sweet-little more sweet!

Familiar sounds from a familiar bird that is seen early for migration, many times in late July or August.  Wet brushy habitats (second growth) will assure your success on viewing this little beauty, especially around willow and cottonwood thickets, as well as orchards and hedgerows.

Present in most of the country in spring or fall, the Yellow Warbler will be certain to please you with its lovely song and characteristic demeanor.  It forages on stems and leaves of trees and bushes.  Males will forage higher than females, who seen to prefer a more laid back style of gleaning their insects and spiders.

                             
                                                                 Male Yellow Warbler
                                                  in breeding plumage, Boomer Lake Park

This wood warbler arrives on the breeding ground is late April or May.  Though a rare breeder in Oklahoma, it will breed occasionally in the north central or northeast portions of the state.   The Brown-headed Cowbird parasitizes many of this species, yet it remains plentiful.  The warbler simply builds a second tier upon the nest, lays more eggs, and goes about its business, sometimes as many as six times.

They have one or two broods a year, and the monogamous pair build a cup nest of grass, moss, lichen and spider silk lined with softer material.  This can be found in an upturned tree fork or in a dense shrub or bush.  Females will sometimes help themselves to nest material from other nests, taking about four days to manage construction.  The male does little to contribute to this endeavor, and he will even feed young occasionally.  He is busy protecting the female, nest, and territory from interlopers.

                                                          Female Yellow Warbler
                                                    Boomer Lake Park--Heron Cove

The species has simple needs for territory.  It only requires about a half acre of real estate, high singing posts, sufficient foraging areas, and plenty of concealment.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Cooper's Hawk

Peak migration for hawks is usually in late September, so now is the time to brush up on your ID skills.  You will be comparing species that could be side by side, and you could see a dozen or two every minute.  The largest conflict is between Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, and the jury could still be out on those sightings.

The adult Cooper's hawk will be wearing a dark cap and will have a paler nape.  It also has white undertail coverts conspicuously displayed in flight, and since the Northern Goshawk is not seen in Oklahoma with any regularity, you will have a Cooper's.  It is also best to focus on the rounded tail shape and long length.  Their flight is a flap, flap, glide, not constant flapping.  Also observe head size and the leading edge of the wing.  An adult male Coop will also have gray cheeks.  They will also be more apt to be found on a fencepost than a Sharpie.

                                                              Adult Cooper's Hawk
                                                                Boomer Lake Park

As an accipiter, they have relatively short rounded wings and long tails.  They are bird and small mammal eaters, and they could be found in your front yard or the deep woods.  They can pour on the speed or they can glide into your feeders with very little warning.  If you hear a bang on your front storm door and find a dead bird, the culprit is likely the Cooper's Hawk.  Wingbeats are also choppy and stiff.

The two age classes are adult and juvenile, or first year.  The first year is buff-white with thin, chocolate streaks and could be found only on the breast or upper belly.

                                                              Juvenile Cooper's Hawk
                                                                 Flying Off with Gull
                                                                   Boomer Lake Park

We all know that the hen hawk is larger than the Sharpie, but you must not rely on size, because they are rarely side by side.  Know the other characteristics that have been outlined with practice, and you'll not go wrong.

A breeder of the mature forest, nests are in large deciduous trees at the crotch or next to a trunk in a coniferous tree.   The chicken hawk prefers deciduous trees in many cases.

                                                                                       

                          Cooper's Hawk

                       Liana Winters Smith

 Single brooders from April through July in Oklahoma, the male selects the nest site, and builds most of the structure.  He remains attentive to her needs from courtship through the nestling process.    Young birds fledge after a little more than a month, and they remain dependent for another month.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Orchard Oriole

The Orchard Oriole (an icterid) is a blackbird, as many other birds that sport black in their coloring.  They are uncommon in areas with isolated tall trees or where there are scattered shade trees, orchards, parks, and farmsteads.  Grasslands will also be considered if suitable nest sites are in the vicinity.  They prefer being in habitats with water, a solitary species, and glean insects and larvae and will take fruit and nectar at birdfeeders.  They are also attracted by trumpet shaped flowers for nectar.

A deep russet or burnt orange color, the male will sing at treetops to attract the yellow-green female, and is the smallest of the orioles.  Females make themselves attractive to males by head bowing, begging with rapid wing fluttering and a high whistle, and seesawing by alternately lowering and raising the head and tail.

                                                                     Male Orchard Oriole
                                                                       Boomer Lake Park

Experienced males will reach the breeding grounds first, followed by females, then the first year males.  These passerines do not compete with the Baltimore Oriole, possibly considering it an ally.  They will share large trees (oaks) with Eastern Kingbirds, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, American Robins, and other birds.

                                                               Juvenile Orchard Oriole
                                                                     Boomer Lake Park

Nests average about twenty feet high in crotches or forks of broadleafed trees, but willows or cottonwoods may also be used due to good shade.  It is a hanging basket made of woven fibers, but tends to be wider than deeper than the Baltimore Oriole.  They are single brooded, breeding from May through July in Oklahoma.

Females will occasionally be confused with New World Warblers, especially if the tail has been lost due to a predator's action.

                                                              Female Orchard Oriole
                                                                  Boomer Lake Park

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Very limited as an Oklahoma breeding species even now, the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is located in diverse habitats.  Sometimes it is found in saline or fresh water, but is usually seen in quiet, tree lined river habitats.

This bird is not as nocturnal as could be considered, and can be quite active during daylight hours.

It roosts in trees like other herons, often hidden from view within foliage.  It can also be found on the ground in dense reeds or shrubs and will usually forage upon crabs, mussels, fish, crayfish, and other crustaceans.  They favor edges of ponds or streams while walking in the water at twilight or early morning.  They are dependent upon the tide in mudflats.

                                                   Adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
                                                               in breeding plumage
                                                      Estero Llano Grande NWR, 2017


Night-Herons usually nest in small colonies and groups, atypical of other herons.  They are generally near or over water.  Both parents will feed their young, usually via regurgitation or dropping food directly in the nest itself.  When the young are old enough to learn how to forage, this instruction is usually done at night.

These birds are thinner than the Black-crowned Night-Heron with a dark, thin bill.  Juveniles have small white spots, whereas the Black-crowned will have broad blurry streaks and larger white spots on the wing coverts.  The immature Yellow-crowned takes nearly three years to molt into full adult plumage.

                                             Second Summer Yellow-crowned Night-heron

                                                       Boomer Lake Park, Sept. 2016

                                                                     (Heron Cove)

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Painted Bunting

A sweet, ongoing warble that sounds like graffiti, graffiti, spaghetti for two, and that is the sound of the male (or immature male) Painting Bunting.  The male receives his handsome dress no earlier than his second year of life.  This uncommon beauty is located along forest edges, wooded ravines, shrubby river bottoms, or in tall trees, and it is very at home along riparian forest.  If you have ever heard that song, you will never forget it.

One of the most beautiful and colorful birds, this splash of radiance is found from May through July in the better part of Oklahoma, except the panhandle, which lacks forest and brushy thickets.

Males are very territorial and will battle other interlopers while females are arriving in the area.  They have been known to wound or kill other males, and if the female should be caught up within a fracas, she can also risk injury.  This species favors invertebrates, and will even remove prey from spider's webs in order to feed.  The males are relentless during spring.

                                                                Male Painted Bunting
                                                                 Boomer Creek, 2015

Often parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird, this member of the cardinal family is known collectively as a mural or palette of buntings.  When males migrate to warmer regions for the winter, they still retain their beautiful plumage and do not molt into drabness.

Due to loss of habitat, the species is declining in both the US and Central America.  They may still be trapped as cage birds in the illegal trade south of our country, and have a near threatened conservation status.

If you have had any of these birds in your back yard, they will visit feeders, and you'll be even more fortunate if you have the perfect habitat for a nesting pair.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Swainson's Hawk

A lanky hawk of the west, desert, prairie, and farmland, the Swainson's Hawk is one of four buteos with four notched primaries (as opposed to five).  They are uncommon and hunt from the air, a perch (still-hunting) or even upon the ground, running after their quarry.  They generally feed on reptiles or small mammals in summer, then resort to grasshoppers, locusts, and other invertebrates for the remainder of the year.

Known as the locust or grasshopper hawk, this handsome bird was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist.  Swainson felt like many of us do when it comes to living things.  They were an inherent passion.

Suspected to have a migration range of 14,000 miles, this raptor is likely the longest traveler in the family of hawks.  Wintering in Argentina or Southern Brazil, immature Swainson's Hawks can see their way to southern Canada by late March and their migration can peak from mid-April forward.

Having diverse and somewhat unusual eating habits, this hawk will take Mallards, fledged Lark Buntings, incapacitated Sage Grouse, toads, salamanders, whip snakes, the American Kestrel, young Short-eared Owls, and several others.  They are also known for hunting upon freshly plowed fields for rodents, and are opportunistic feeders, as well.

These birds come in a light, intermediate and dark morph.  Oklahoma has the lowest percentage of dark morphs, while California has the highest.  They can behave similarly to the Northern Harrier by flying low to the ground at times.  Wingbeats are deep and loose, and they will soar with wings in a dihedral angle, or an angle between two intersecting planes.  They glide like an Osprey would.  These are all tell tale signs of how to spot the bird on a hawk watch.

Last year, while visiting the Oklahoma Panhandle, these were relatively common, perching on telephone poles and fence posts.  This photo came from that area, with the sun behind the bird.

                                                                Swainson's Hawk
                                                            Cimmaron County, OK

Another interesting point, also from last year, was during monarch migration.  A notation was made on a butterfly site to go outside and look up, which I did.  I saw no monarchs, but observed fifteen Swainson's Hawks heading southbound.  It was one of the most remarkable sights ever seen, especially with the way that the light struck the underwings and their breasts in late afternoon, as they simply glowed.

Swainson's will hybridize with Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, but it is questionable if Ferruginous Hawks are in the mix.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Common Yellowthroat

Witchety-witchety-witchery-witchery-witch

This song signifies the Common Yellowthroat, a warbler that isn't always out in the open.  It deliberately makes itself scarce, if it is in the vicinity of its nest.  They will often hop out of the nest and run along the ground to keep its location under wraps.

The male wears his black mask well and has a bright yellow throat.  These warblers are often in the confines of marshes, weeds, reeds, within willows, brush, and tall grass.  There are four regional types that differ to some degree, mostly in assorted coloration, but size matters, too, when it comes to these males.  There is also a minor difference in dialect.  Groupings include the Eastern, West, Southwest, and Pacific varieties.  They prefer wet areas, but have been seen in drier locations, as well.

                                                         Male Common Yellowthroat
                                                            Boomer Lake Park, 2014

These warblers are quite frequently on the move, flitting from grass to plant and back, climbing up and down weed stems, catching insects in midair.  Flights are short, and the female is rarely observed.

Wood warblers such as these will dine upon seeds, insects, spiders, and assorted larvae.  The nest is built by the female on the ground, usually under assorted vegetation or leaves, or within a short distance from the ground with what resembles a roof.

                                                    Juvenile Male Common Yellowthroat
                                                            Santa Ana NWR, TX 2017

It is a widespread species, found all over the country and in southern Canada and Mexico.  It may winter from southern Texas to the northern portion of South America.