A Few Colorado Birds

We're still trying to get through our Colorado photos before moving back to more local posts.  After this post on some of the birds that we saw, I anticipate one or two more posts before returning to Indiana.

Black-billed Magpie

Although many birders travel to remote places of the world to see showy birds like Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao), there are plenty of showy, common birds right here in the United States.  Take, for example, the corvid above - the Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia).  In addition to the attractive royal blue, black, and white patterns, this very common bird of the western United States has a conspicuous tail that makes up half the length of the bird!  Black-billed Magpies are expanding their range eastward.  Like their American Crow, Blue Jay, and Common Raven relatives, Black-billed Magpies are smart birds.  They can sometimes be found landing on large mammals to eat the ticks off of them, or to remove ticks and cache them for later.  Insects that are hiding under rocks or logs beware... the Black-billed Magpie will flip objects to find prey.  They will also steel food from other birds, and are said to use scent to find food.  Around humans, Black-billed Magpies can be quite bold; Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reported them coming into tents and taking food from human hands.

Western Meadowlark

The song of the Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) has to be one of the most complex and musical of all of the western grassland and agricultural field birds. So characteristic and unique is the Western Meadowlark and its song that it is the state bird of six western states (only outdone by the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, the state bird of seven states).  Until the late 1800s, the Western Meadowlark and Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna) were considered a single species.  In 1888, using observations recorded in 1805 by Meriwether Lewis, including that the bill shape, tail shape, and song of the western variant of the "Oldfield Lark" was different from those of the eastern variant, John James Audubon described and published the new species.

Golden Eagle

One of the most majestic of the western birds is the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).  I call this a western bird, but they are found to the Atlantic Coast in Canada, and they winter throughout the northern half of the eastern United States as well.  In addition, Golden Eagles are found in Eurasia and parts of Africa.  Mammals, fish, and birds of all sizes had better be on alert when a Golden Eagle is around; the list of prey of the Golden Eagle is diverse and includes fish, prairie dogs, hares, rabbits, ground squirrels, marmots, jackrabbits, cranes, swans, livestock, deer, seals, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, coyotes, badgers, and bobcats.

Townsend's Solitaire

Although the Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi) isn't the flashiest of birds, seeing two individuals of this species was one of the birding highlights of our trip.  Found mostly in the western 1/2 to 1/3 of the continent, occasional individuals of this species wind up in northwest Indiana almost every winter.  Although they feed on different berries and insects in the summer, during the winter Townsend's Solitaires feed almost exclusively on female cones of junipers (Juniperus spp.).
 

Slate-colored Fox Sparrow

At our home in northern Indiana, we have seen Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) feeding on the ground under our feeders in the winter.  The Fox Sparrow that we see in the eastern United States is the Red Fox Sparrow, aka Eastern Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca iliaca).  We weren't even aware that there were different forms of this species prior to our trip, so we were delighted to identify the bird in the photograph above as a Slate-colored Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca schistacea), the form that breeds from Brittish Columbia to Nevada and Colorado.  The two other forms of Fox Sparrow (Sooty Fox Sparrow [Passerella iliaca unalaschcensis] and Thick-billed Fox Sparrow [Passerella iliaca megarhyncha]) both have much narrower geographical ranges than the two former forms.

Nevada Raptors

When I was initially asked if I would be interested in going to Nevada for work to do raptor surveys, my first thought was "Ferruginous Hawk!" I have always wanted to see this large, snow white-breasted Buteo, but living east of the Mississippi River there is little chance for me to see one along my day-to-day routine. During my two weeks in the Sagebrush State, we had numerous Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) sightings, including one bird that was present in nearly the same location on our drive down Route 50/93/6 almost every day. Ferruginous Hawks can often be found on the ground or on low perches. The individuals that we saw were nearly all light morph birds; Ben Hess was lucky enough to see a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk during his time in Nevada the three weeks before I was there.


For the three weeks before I arrived in Nevada, Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) were seen in abundance on our site every day, as reported by Ben. During my two weeks, however, they were replaced by the smallest falcon in North America, American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). We did not see any Prairie Falcons, but instead saw four or five American Kestrels each day, primarily in the late afternoon hunting from high perches or hovering.


Another raptor that I expected to see plenty of in Nevada was Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni). Unexpectedly, however, we did not see any Swainson's Hawks during the first half of my trip, but by the end of my trip we were seeing three to five each day. As with many of the other Buteos, there are light and dark morph Swainson's Hawks. The bird in the photograph below appears to be an adult of the intermediate phase.


Below is a photograph of what I believe to be an adult of the dark phase Swainson's Hawk. Note the dark face; the light and intermediate phases have white faces.


One of our highlights had to be seeing the juvenile Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) pictured below soaring over our site. These are enormous birds, reaching up to 30 inches long with a wingspan of over six feet. Juveniles usually show the characteristic white patches on the tail and wings.


I believe that the Golden Eagle below is also a juvenile, as I can still see the white tail patch. Note the small head in relation to the body, another characteristic of the Golden Eagle. The name of this species comes from the golden nape that is present on individuals of all ages and that can somewhat be seen in the photograph below. Also note the feathered legs on the bird in the photograph below.


Throughout much of the eastern United States, the "default" raptor that is seen along roadsides is the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis); this could not be said for the areas I saw in Nevada. Red-tailed Hawks that we see most commonly in Indiana are said to be the eastern subspecies (B. j. borealis). In Nevada, we most frequently saw the western subspecies (B. j. calurus).


Even within the western subspecies, there are light, dark, and intermediate phases. The bird in the photograph above is the light morph; the one in the photograph below is the dark morph. Thanks to Brian Wheeler for help with identifying this dark morph western Red-tailed Hawk. The dark morphs of all of these Buteos can be very difficult to identify, especially for someone not familiar with the western species in general.


Stay tuned, as I hope to post more photos from my trip to Nevada soon, if I can find the time.