Well-Known Birds

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Rock Pigeon

·        The bird is also known by the names of feral pigeon or domestic pigeon.

·        The Rock Pigeon has a restricted natural resident range in western and southern Europe, North Africa, and into South Asia.

·        Its habitat is natural cliffs, usually on coasts.

·        The Rock Pigeon is 32–37 cm long with a 64–72 cm wingspan.

·        The white lower back of the pure Rock Pigeon is its best identification character, but the two black bars on its pale grey wings are also distinctive.

Mourning Dove

·        The bird is also called the American Mourning Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove.

·        It ranges from Central America to southern Canada, including offshore islands.

·        Habitats include various open and semi-open environments, including agricultural and urban areas.

·        Mourning Doves are light gray and brownish and generally muted in color. Males and females are similar in appearance.

·        The Mourning Dove is a medium-sized, slender dove approximately 31 cm (12 in) in length.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

·        The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is 7-9 cm long with an 8-11 cm wingspan, and weighs 2-6 g.

·        Adults are metallic green above and greyish white below, with near-black wings. Their bill is long, straight and very slender.

·        The breeding habitat is throughout most of eastern North America and the Canadian prairies, in deciduous and pine forests and forest edges, orchards, and gardens.

·        Nectar from flowers and flowering trees is its main food, but its diet also occasionally includes insects and tree sap taken from woodpecker drilling.

Blue Jay

• The crest on its head can be used to detect its mood.  A fully raised crest means the bird is angry or agitated, while when it bristles outwards and looks brush-like, the bird is frightened.
• The jays feathers are not actually blue, the color comes from light refraction from the internal structure of the feathers
• Blue Jays can learn to mimic human speech

American Crow

• Can be distinguished by the common raven by size and by the fish crow by call and distribution
• They are an average of 18 inches in length making them smaller than the common raven
• The crow is omnivorous.  It feeds on carrion, scraps of human food, seeds, eggs, fish, and various grains
• The bird is severely affected by the west Nile virus, with their population dropping by 45% since 1999

Common Nighthawk

·        The adults have dark with brown, grey and white patterning on the upperparts and breast; the long wings are black and reveal a white bar when in flight.

·        The tail is dark with white barring; the underparts are white with black bars..

·        The adult male has a white throat; the female has a light brown throat.

·        Their breeding habitat is open country across North America.

·        They catch flying insects on the wing, mainly foraging near dawn and dusk (crepuscular), sometimes at night with a full moon or near street lighting.

Chimney Swift

·        In flight, this bird looks like a flying cigar with long slender curved wings. The plumage is a sooty grey-brown; the throat, breast, underwings and rump are paler. They have short tails.

·        Their breeding habitat is near towns and cities across eastern North America.

·        These birds live on the wing, foraging in flight. They eat flying insects. They usually feed in groups, flying closely together and making a high-pitched chipping noise.

·        Their population may have increased historically with the introduction of large chimneys as nesting locations.

Red-Winged Blackbird

• Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found that the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents
• The male Red-winged Blackbird fiercely defends his territory during the breeding season.  He will attack much larger animals, including horses and people.
• One male can have up to fifteen females making nests in his territory, but one quarter to one half of “his” children were sired by other males.

Common Grackle

• The Common Grackle commonly engages in anting, allowing ants to crawl on its body and secrete formic acid, possibly to rid the body of parasites
• They are omnivorous, eating insects, minnows, frogs, eggs, berries, seeds and grain, even small birds
• he range of this bird expanded west as forests were cleared. In some areas, they are now considered a pest by farmers because of their large numbers and fondness for grain

Brown-Headed Cowbird

• A female cowbird makes no nest of her own, but instead lays her eggs in the nests of other bird species, who then raise the young cowbirds
• Brown-headed Cowbird females can lay 36 eggs in a season
• These birds forage on the ground, often following grazing animals such as horses and cows to catch insects stirred up by the larger animals