species profile – Ethical Birder

Whimbrels

June 11, 2018 by John Rakestraw, posted in seasonal movements, species profile

This spring has seen pretty calm weather. While the sunny days may make for pleasant birding, they do not necessarily lead to great birding. It usually takes some good storms to cause a lot of shorebirds to put down on the Oregon coast. But even in leaner years like this one, we are lucky to have good numbers of Whimbrels working the beaches.

I found a flock of about 35 Whimbrels just north of the Seaside Cove and hung out with them for a while. There is a lot of individual variation among the birds; size, length of bill, and coloring. Here are a few.

Spring migration has wound down, but the southbound migration starts in about three weeks so we don’t have to wait long for more shorebirds.

Barred Owl

November 14, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in species profile

We were pleasantly startled to find this Barred Owl perched on our bridge this week. We have heard one on the property before, but this is the first good look we have had. After some crows started giving him grief, the owl moved to a more sheltered perch in a Curly Willow.

He was visible in this tree for two days, but windy weather has since sent him looking for a more stable roosting spot. I hope he stays around. There are certainly plenty of non-native squirrels and other rodents to keep him busy.

Check out the feathered eyelids.

Double-crested Cormorants

March 20, 2015 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, species profile

Double-crested Cormorants always put on a good show along the Willamette River in Portland. For being an all black bird, they really show a lot of interesting details in their plumage. The blue eyes on an orange face are also striking.

This bird is just starting to sprout his crest feathers.

This young bird is still showing his pale gray breast and neck, but the facial skin is getting pretty bright.

This is what it looks like when a cormorant catches a fish that is just a little too big. The bird swam around for quite a while with this odd posture and bulging neck.

Anna’s Hummingbirds

December 7, 2013December 5, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in species profile

With the cold weather we have had this week, the Anna’s Hummingbirds have been staying close to the feeders. Here are some random images from the last few days, all taken through dirty windows.

This male begrudgingly shared the slushy feeder with a female for a while.
The dim light hit this guy’s head feathers just right to reveal the absurdly pink color.

Rusty Blackbird

December 4, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in conservation issues, rarities, species profile

I made another trip to see the Rusty Blackbird that has been hanging out behind the Hillsboro Public Library for the past month. This species nests in boreal wetlands across Alaska, Canada, and the northeastern states. They typically winter in the southeastern U.S., so they are extremely rare in Oregon.

Unfortunately, they are becoming extremely rare in their normal range, as well. Since the 1960s, the population of Rusty Blackbirds has declined by between 85 and 95 percent. Probable causes include the drying of boreal wetlands due to climate change, mercury contamination, changes in breeding habitat caused by logging and farming, changes to bottomland forests in the birds’ winter range, and poisoning of “nuisance” blackbird flocks. Information on the situation can be found here and here.

So even though I have seen Rusty Blackbirds before, and added this one to my Oregon list a few weeks ago, it was worth another trip to appreciate an encounter with a species that has become increasingly hard to find.

Long-billed Curlew, Seaside, OR

September 1, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, species profile

I guided a group of birders to the north coast this week. We saw a lot of good birds, but the rainy weather forced me to keep my camera in the car most of the time. The best surprise of the day was this bird, hanging out in the middle of the high school soccer field in Seaside. As we drove by, I thought we had a Marbled Godwit, but when got out to take a better look, we discovered he was a Long-billed Curlew. This is a common nesting species in southeastern Oregon, but is uncommon along the coast in migration.

This is a young bird, with fresh plumage and a bill that isn’t all that long for a Long-billed Curlew.

Here he is showing the cinnamon buff color under the wings, typical for this species.

I don’t know what he was finding to eat in the soccer field, but he seemed to be content there.

Mexican Spotted Owl

April 28, 2013February 1, 2017 by John Rakestraw, posted in beyond OR, conservation issues, species profile

On my recent trip to Arizona, I had the pleasure of watching this Mexican Spotted Owl preening and snoozing near his nest cavity. Spotted Owl has been a nemesis species for me since moving to Oregon twelve years ago. The subspecies that breeds in Oregon, Northern Spotted Owl, has been in steady decline for decades, as its old-growth forest habitat continues to be harvested for lumber, and its close relatives, Barred Owls, continue to expand their range, eating or interbreeding with the Spotteds as they go. As a result, the locations of Northern Spotted Owls in Oregon tend to be kept secret, to protect the birds from unemployed lumberjacks with shotguns or overzealous birders.

The culture surrounding Spotted Owls in Arizona is very different. Email lists describe the exact location of roosting owls, making it easy for birders from around the country, and around the world, to have a look. The habitat of the Mexican Spotted Owl is not as commercially valuable as the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. The money brought in to southeast Arizona by visiting birders probably far exceeds the value of any timber harvest in this area. So the Mexican Spotted Owl, while still rare, seems to be doing OK while being admired by adoring throngs of birders.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

January 17, 2013 by John Rakestraw, posted in behavior, species profile

On a recent trip to Fernhill Wetlands (Birding Oregon p. 61), I watched this Yellow-rumped Warbler feeding over the water. The air temperature was below freezing, so I believed the bird was searching for insects in the slightly warmer zone near the water’s surface. This theory was challenged on the other side of the lake when the bird was seen foraging on the shoreline, and then on the ice itself. Yellow-rumps are known to feed on arthropods and fruit in the winter, so I can only assume there were some small insects on the surface of the ice.

Yellow-rumped Warbler on the rocks.
Yellow-rumped Warbler on ice. This individual is a member of Audubon’s race of Yellow-rumped Warbler (eye crescents, buffy throat). The Myrtle race also occurs in Oregon in winter, but reportedly seldom feeds on the ground.

Hooded Merganser

May 13, 2012 by John Rakestraw, posted in nesting, species profile

This Hooded Merganser, found at Jackson Bottom Wetlands Reserve, had a brood of 10 little ones. The young birds were spread out over a large area, so I could never get them all in the same frame. They were actively feeding among the emergent vegetation, and a few of them were diving.

Hooded Mergansers nest in hollow trees or nest boxes, just as Wood Ducks do.

Varied Thrush

January 27, 2012 by John Rakestraw, posted in species profile

One consolation to the dreary wet weather of winter is the occasional appearance of a Varied Thrush. These are birds of the shadows, nesting in mature forests of the Coast Range and Cascades. In winter, they move to lower elevations, where they rummage through the leaf litter looking for insects.

Along with a flash of pumpkin orange from their bellies, Varied Thrushes reveal themselves through their odd song. Like other thrushes, Varied Thrushes produce sounds consisting of two pitches at once. This polyphony is made possible by the syrinx, the birds sound organ, located at the branch of the trachea. Since each branch has its own membrane, multiple pitches are produced at the same time. The result is a single buzzy tone, often described as ethereal (or just eerie).

I saw my first Varied Thrush in a back yard in Ohio. While it is always fun to see a vagrant, I much prefer seeing Varied Thrushes in Oregon, either in the deep forests in summer, or in the winter gloom of my Portland yard. Perhaps it is in their native gloom that these colorful thrushes shine brightest.