Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: White-eyed Vireo

Spit, and see if I care.  Spit! 

Along edges of woods, sitting low while hidden within vegetation, this small, olive drab gray bird has bright yellow spectacles on the gray head.   It is a denizen of second growth forest, riparian streamside thickets, and old fields.

Having a very distinct white iris, more often heard than seen, the solitary bird is often considered to be a warbler or kinglet.  It flicks its wings open and is stocky and active, usually found in the southeast quadrant of the country.

Simple enough song was illustrated, was it not?  Don't let this bird fool you, for it can sing some of the most complex songs.  Males are quite capable of more than a dozen songs, comprising six to ten highly variable elements.  Explosive and spunky, its little head shyly peers out of thick shrubbery, and occasionally, it will actually show itself quite well.

                                                               White-eyed Vireo
                                                          Estero Llano Grande, TX 2017

Favoring spiders, lacewings, moths, butterflies, beetles, and the like, it will slowly hop about in shrubbery to glean these insects.  Larger prey will be pinned down with a foot to be controlled.  During nonbreeding season, they will consume berries from sumac, poison ivy, pokeweed, and wax myrtle.

Nests are low to the ground at approximately three to eight feet in forks of small trees or shrubs.  They are suspended from horizontal forks and held together with spider silk, like many other vireo nests, but are more conelike, similar to warbling vireo construction.

Males are just as diligent as females to raising young, and he is a good protector and provider.

Many of the species are parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird, and they will not have time to tend their own young, which will die.

These are breeding birds of eastern Oklahoma.  They are early migrants and thickets are just beginning to leaf out when they are ready to nest.

082618 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/columns/birding-today-human-neglect-threatens-birds/article_3355058a-a8eb-11e8-a57b-4f7661abe1ed.html

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.

082618 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-they-can-t-all-be-early/article_39f9bd24-2a30-58f9-95ee-842f27e67c08.html

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Common Nighthawk

Easily seen around fields, ponds, lakes, and other open clearings, the Common Nighthawk has a familiar peent, peent, peent that you will easily learn to recognize.  Even though "hawk" is in the name of this bird, it is not a hawk, but a nighthawk in the nightjar family.  In comparison to nightjars, they have smaller heads, long pointed wings, and are seen during the day, as opposed to only being noticed at night or twilight (crepuscular).

Seen all over the continental US, they are solitary birds and form groups when migrating or foraging.  They are quite conspicuous during daylight hours, but once they are at rest upon the ground on upon a tree branch, their cryptic coloration keeps them very well hidden.

The most remarkable thing about the bullbat is the tiny bill, which can open into a gaping cavern.   During courtship, males also perform a stunning aerial display for females.  The bullbat performs steep dives with downflexed wings and ending in a rush of air that creates a booming sound.  It can be heard in the above video, which is one reason why it was chosen to illustrate this piece.

                                                                Common Nighthawk
                                                                 Aransas NWR, 2016

The bugeater often takes advantage of the attraction of insects to street- or stadium lights.  They are almost exclusively insectivores, though it is rare that they may consume vegetation.

There is no nest that is built, as the two eggs are lain directly upon flat ground in the forest.  The female can move them several feet from the original position.  Both sexes incubate in day and night shifts, as well as tend to the needs of the young.  Feeding is done by regurgitation, and the young are kept on a night shift.  Eggshells are removed or consumed to keep predators away from the area.

Even if a carnivore is in close proximity, the nest will rarely be abandoned.  If so, it is done with much fanfare and consternation.  Domestic animals, snakes, owls, hawks, crows, coyotes, raccoons, etc. are the usual culprits.

Pesticides and the lack of gravel roofs are contributing problems to localized declines.  Many rubber roofs now have gravel pads for this reason.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Barn Owl

An uncommon raptor that nests in old barns, caves, or occasionally dense trees and other abandoned structures, this night owl usually roosts during daylight hours.  Flying on silent wings, the solitary hunter glides over marshes, brushy areas, agricultural lands, and open grasslands of Oklahoma.

Generally heard only at night, the dark-eyed wonder tends to hiss and screech.  A ghostly appearing and silent bird, the ghost owl hunts for mice and voles and they are able to see very little movement in the night.  Since they can see in the ultraviolet spectrum, they easily observe the urine trail of rodents, which they are able to easily locate.

White owls swallow their mice, voles, or rats whole, then they cough up pellets twice a day.  One can earn a great deal from these pellets, especially ecosystems, which is another topic altogether.

                                                                       Barn Owl
                                                              Osage County, OK 2016

Surprisingly, the females are showier than males, making this raptor a dimorphic species.  A top quality female will be more reddish- and more heavily spotted on the breast.  This may have something to do with the fact that they are less susceptible to parasitic flies and other disease.  This quality appears to keep the male more attentive to the nest and it inhabitants when the young hatch.

Sweet heart owls become mature for nesting in their first year, so if there is an owl in your area and there is increased screeching, chances are good that breeding activity is in order.

Nest boxes can attract a breeding pair of these unusual owls, since they do not build their own nests.

This is a valuable resource for building nest boxes if you live in the right location or have access to one.  You could even donate a box to a bird rescue organization or a national wildlife refuge.  Loss of habitat always has a negative effect on birds.

https://modernfarmer.com/2014/05/build-barn-owl-nest/

It is imperative that in order to do their jobs effectively that mankind cease the use of rodenticides and other detrimental poisons to other living raptors.  Once in the body of the affected animal, the poison will not only eliminate the unwanted pest, it will also eradicate raptors such as these.  Help a Barn Owl and other birds today.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Long-billed Curlew

                   
Usually solitary, this uncommon denizen of the grasslands uses its long, decurved bill to probe deeply into mud and sand for crabs, and also enjoys shrimp when out of the breeding season.  During this period of time, it will also be located in mudflats, wetlands, flooded fields under six inches deep, beaches and tidal estuaries.  A rare visitor of the Oklahoma panhandle, the species once was seen in other northwestern counties.

This nesting bird, nicknamed sicklebill or candlestick bird, of the short grass prairie, does not need water nearby and will forage chiefly on grasshoppers, earthworms, and other invertebrates.  Breeding habitat can also include combinations of sage and cactus on gentle hills, agricultural lands, or grazed mixed grass prairie.

                                                              Long-billed Curlew
                                                            Cimarron County, OK

Small flocks will arrive on breeding grounds and foraging and core areas are then established.  These are often sandy areas, and flight displays and calls will be given above these locales, which will alert one to a nesting ground.  Area meadows are also used to forage within, and flight displays will also be observed here, as well.  This extended territory will be defended and unwanted strangers will be removed.

Nest sites are damp hollows or long sloped riparian areas.  Curlews will nest in loose colonies and the nests are often by dried cow dung for purposes of concealment.  There are four or five eggs in the nest, and they are single brooded.  Chicks are precocial, so they can move about on their own power in a short amount of time.

After families are raised, the flock will depart by the first half of August and winter in southern coastal areas from central and western North America.

In flight, the largest shorebird will show rusty wing patches.  It struts instead of walks, and the impossibly long decurved bill is an identifying feature.  Graceful and with a purpose, it has pale cinnamon underparts.


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