Eastern Towhees are sparrows and an exception to the sparrow look of ‘Little Brown Jobs’. Eastern Towhees and Spotted Towhees of the western North America were considered one species, Rufous-sided Towhee, until 1995. Famous for their “drink-your-tea” song, a group of towhees are called a “teapot”. Common and frequently heard across their range, but not […]
Read More
Rusty Blackbirds have the steepest population decline of any North American songbird: 85-99% depending on location over the last 40 years. That’s why having them visit our yard is a special treat and a sign that bringing the yard back to a state more closely resembling the piedmont forest that was once here is paying […]
Read More
The first scenes to come to mind for many of us when we read ‘apex predator’ are megafauna hunting across vast expanses (in a documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough) – Lions and Leopards of Africa, Gray Wolves of the Yellowstone Basin, Brown\Grizzly bears of Alaska, or Orcas of the Pacific Northwest coast. Let’s face […]
Read More
This is a Barred Owl that visited our yard yesterday. Based on ‘smaller’ size, a male, I think. In most species, males are larger than females . This is called ‘male-biased size dimorphism’. Owls & other raptors tend to be exceptions. Males tend to be the smaller of the pair.There are multiple theories of why […]
Read More
It’s mid-September, the heat has finally broke, and Female and immature Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are putting on the last few grams to get them across the Gulf of Mexico. It seems that one criteria for deciding if it is time to go is they can’t see their feet 🙂 As a bonus, this is the time […]
Read More
Looks like a hawk. Scavenges for carrion like a vulture. Is actually a falcon. Common in open grasslands, rangelands, and scrubby areas of South & Central America, a small population, about 1,000 individuals, lives in the similar dry prairies with scattered palm cabbage of south-central Florida. Most of which are within large private cattle ranches. […]
Read More
Cedar Waxwings are winter resident fruit specialists here in metro-Atlanta. But because they are late nesters & can be short-haul migrants, going only as far north as the high-elevations of the North GA mountains, they will hang around gorging on spring\early summer berry crops. Native serviceberries are a favorite. Waxwings will gather in small flocks […]
Read More
Prothonotary Warblers should be known, in my opinion, as the field mark appropriate, easier to remember & pronounce, Golden Swamp Warbler. This is another example of obscure 18th century conceitful naming. Prothonotaries are papal clerks that wear yellow robes. Yellow being the only common characteristic & certainly not a connection known by common folks, especially […]
Read More
Established in 1931 to protect habitat for migratory birds (and as we now know Monarch Butterflies) in the Big Bend Region of Florida’s Gulf Coast, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is one of the oldest refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Located 25 miles south of Tallahassee and just east of Florida’s Forgotten Coast […]
Read More
In field guides, this species is listed as Swainson’s Thrush, with a note that they are often called Olive-backed. And a case can be made for Salmonberry Bird, at least for the population on the NW coast of the U.S. and the coast of Canada’s Inland Passage. I’m going with Olive-backed because it could be […]
Read More