Day 67: Northern Flicker

Last weekend, as I was chillin' on our living room couch, I saw a bird land on a tree that I didn't quite recognize. Grabbing my binoculars, I realized that it was a Northern Flicker, another species of woodpecker! Soon after, a second flicker joined the first, which was even cooler. We see flickers every once in a while in our yard, but it's always exciting.

The Northern Flicker is a common, primarily ground-foraging woodpecker that can be found year-round throughout the wooded regions of North America. Adults are brown with black bars on the back and wings, black patches on the upper breast, and black spots on the belly. Males are identified by a black or red stripe at the base of the beak (almost like a mustache).

Flickers are the only woodpeckers that frequently feed on the ground, and their primary food is insects. Ants alone can make up 45% of their diet.

Day 66: Canvasback

The Canvasback is a large diving duck that is only found in North America. 

Male Canvasbacks have a deep chestnut-red head and neck, a black chest, white back, and long black bill. Adult females also have a black bill, with a light brown head and neck and a darker brown chest. The sloping profile of the Canvasback helps birders to distinguish it in the field.

Canvasbacks are omnivorous and feed mainly by diving, sometimes dabbling. They mostly eat seeds, buds, leaves, tubers, roots, snails, and insect larvae.

Day 65: Common Loon

On our last trip to the Ocean City inlet, we got some good photos of a Common Loon, another type of loon that can be seen off the Maryland coast (I've already told you about the Red-throated Loon).

The Common Loon breeds in northern North America and parts of Greenland and Iceland. They winter all along North America’s Pacific and Atlantic coasts as well as in Europe and Iceland. Breeding adult Common Loons have a black head, white underparts, and a checkered black-and-white mantle. Non-breeding birds (which is what we saw) are brownish with a white chin. The bill is held horizontally and is one way to distinguish the Common Loon from the Red-throated Loon (which holds its bill at more of an angle).

Particularly during the breeding season, the eerie call of the Common Loon is recognized as a symbol of the wild North. The territorial yodel of the male loon can be heard from lakes across Canada to the very northern United States. Here's a link to some loon calls.  

Day 64: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful here in Bethesda, so Jared and I did some hiking and birding close by at a marshy area known as Hughes Hollow. We had hoped to see a few new birds to add to my year list, but were not having a lot of luck. As we were nearing the end of our walk, we suddenly saw two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (one of the birds I was hoping for), right in front of us! These medium-sized woodpeckers gave us quite a show for a good fifteen minutes, both feeding voraciously from one tree. I was just hoping to catch a glimpse of one, so seeing two for such a long time was really special.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers create shallow holes (sap wells) in the bark of trees and feed on sap that flows into them. They make an elaborate system of such sap wells and maintain them daily to ensure sap production. Our two sapsuckers would start at the bottom of the tree and work their way up, feeding from the holes they had made, then fly down to start at the bottom again. It was almost like a dance, the way they would do this over and over again.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers breed in the northern U.S. and Canada. During the winter, they can be found in the eastern parts of the U.S., Mexico, and Central America. Sapsuckers play an important ecological role in the communities they inhabit. Many animals make use of sapsucker sap wells to supplement their own food intake with sap itself or with insects attracted to the sap. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird, common here in Maryland, appears to be closely allied with sapsuckers. This hummingbird has been known to make its nest near sap wells and may even time its migration to coincide with that of sapsuckers.

Day 63: European Starling

The European Starling is native to Europe and Asia, but has been introduced to North America, South America, and Australia. The spread of this bird in North America was quite epic. According to the Birds of North America online, "The success of the European Starling in North America is nothing less than phenomenal. Although estimates vary, it is commonly believed that a total of about 100 individuals was released into Central Park, in New York City, in 1890 and 1891. The entire North American population, now numbering more than 200 million and distributed across most of the continent, is derived from these few birds. This is arguably the most successful avian introduction to this continent." I knew they were prolific, but I had no idea to what extent!

The presence of the European Starling in North America has had a major impact on other bird species. Often, it will out compete other birds for nesting cavities. They are known to mingle in huge flocks, which can be quite a sight to see when birds start flying.

The European Starling has shiny black plumage, glossed purple or green, and speckled with white. We see them all of the time in Maryland, and we've had some hit our suet feeder pretty hard recently.

Day 62: American Robin

Everyone will recognize today's bird, the American Robin. I love robins; they have a striking red-orange breast that makes them stand out from the rest of the garden-variety yard birds. Robins have taken root in American culture, from songs and lyrics to the color "Robin's egg blue."

A robin's diet is highly variable, changing from earthworms in spring and summer to fruit in the colder months.

Fun fact: The American Robin is a known reservoir (carrier) for West Nile Virus. While crows and blue jays are often the first noticed deaths in an area with West Nile virus, the robin is thought to be a key host, and holds a larger responsibility for the transmission of the virus to humans. This is because while crows and jays die quickly from the virus, robins survive the virus longer, hence spreading it to more mosquitoes, which then transmit the virus to humans and other species.

Day 61: Horned Grebe

Last weekend on our trip to the eastern shore, we stopped on the coast to look for an Eared Grebe (normally found in the eastern U.S.) that had been reported. While we didn't end up seeing the Eared Grebe, we did get some great looks at Horned Grebes. We counted nearly 30 Horned Grebes in the water, and a few floated right up to the dock where we were standing (to my great excitement).

Horned Grebes breed in Canada and migrate south during the winter to both coasts of the U.S. Breeding adults have beautiful plumage, with brownish-yellow earlike tufts on the sides of their faces. In Maryland, we see them in winter plumage, which is mainly gray-black with white on the lower half of the face and neck and a black cap. They also have bright red eyes that are a little creepy looking.

The Horned Grebe is an excellent diver and hunts for fish underwater.