Ornithology (Bird) Thread

[Dinadan]

Nice photo, Scott. I may be wrong, but based on my purely personal experience, I think the Swallowtail Kites are some of the first birds to head back to South America. Seems like by late summer they and the Mississippi Kites are pretty much gone.

[wlf]

Love this thread. Thanks all for the beautiful pictures. I must start photographing the birds around here. We have several woodpeckers and others I don’t know.

Charlie, my Papaw took me up the holler when I was little to show me a hummingbird’s nest that hung down like a sock and had mud as part of the exterior. I was so little I don’t remember the intricacies, probably around 63 years ago.

It was on the way up the holler to the rock barn, made under a giant overhanging rock. It had 2 or 3 stalls with mangers, a hay loft, and ample room otherwise. It sat above the branch, which was the water for the animals.

[treefarmer]

What bird do y'all think this is?
The camera needs to be elevated a tiny bit to see the top of the snapped off pine tree. Can't see enough of it's head to ID the critter.
Treefarmer

What do y'all think, could it be a Pileated Woodpecker?

Can't see enough head to tell.

[Steve Warden]

The bands on the wings don't look right for a pileated woodpecker.

[stockman]

A Change of subject, I was wanting to know if you all had Humming birds this summer. Ours have not returned, I live in S.E. Kansas. Don't know what could have happened to them.

Harold

[Quick Steel]

Possibly hit hard by rains and storms?

[Dinadan]

What bird do y'all think this is?
The camera needs to be elevated a tiny bit to see the top of the snapped off pine tree. Can't see enough of it's head to ID the critter.
Treefarmer

Looks like a Sharp Shinned Hawk to me. I am basing that on the flat bottom of the tail and overall appearance in the first photo and the posture in the second photo.

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Here is a fuzzy photo of a bird that is quite common but rarely seen here in my part of the Southeast: the Yellow Billed Cuckoo. The common name for this bird is Rain Crow. I know it is common because I hear them calling just about any morning that I am in good habitat. They seem to especially like a river swamp, and when I take my kayak out on the river in the summer I always hear them.The one I photographed was in my back yard. For a bird that is so common, they are good at keeping out of sight.

[Quick Steel]

Great capture Mel. I have seen one Cuckoo in my life.

[doglegg]

As far as I know I have never seen one Mel. Thanks.

[Steve Warden]

This little guy has been hanging out at the feeder with the birds for the last couple of months.

[Steve Warden]

A little titmouse this morning.

[doglegg]

Steve it looks as though you have a couple of politically correct rodents who have self identified as birds.

[Steve Warden]

Haha! The squirrels used to bug me, but I'm coming around. All creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all.

The feeder is a Squirrel Buster. Spring loaded open for the birds, drops down to close the feeder holes if a squirrel gets on it. They try every once in a while, but soon realize they're not getting anything from the feeder. You see how low it hangs; they pretty much ignore it.

[Quick Steel]

Was surprised to see a lone House Finch at the birdbath. We had none show up this winter while in 1918 they were abundant.

[Steve Warden]

You're an old dude, QS!

[Doc B]

But...with a good memory!!!

[doglegg]

I've read that house finches are like that. We have had years where there were a multitude and then this year just a few.
When you have a lot I think it is called and 'infusion".

[Quick Steel]

Yeh, well, 1918 was a rough year too. As I recall. But it was a very good year for House Finches.

[bighomer]

I got hummers out the ying yang, trying to fill the feeders yesterday one was right at my hand, like saying come on ole man I'm hungry, I have quite a lot of finches too. The birds in general have made a come back around here this year it seems.

[Doc B]

Well...I just downloaded these pictures from my game camera. Looks like I need to reset the time / date. Would have been in the last 2 weeks. I wasn't even sure what was pictured here. We see red-tailed hawks frequently and occasionally see larger hawks. From my googling...it appears these are 2 Harris's hawks...that just got dinner. Frequently I see whistler ducks, come in to the feeder, to get the corn. It appears one became dinner...

[philco]

Doc that's an amazing series of photos.

[doglegg]

Absolutely wonderful and amazing. Congrats.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Speaking of large raptors, I watched one of those montage videos yesterday of critters preying on lesser critters and there was a series of events showing a large bird snatching mountain goats off of cliffs. Sometimes, they literally flew away with a goat that appeared to weigh more than they, other times they just knocked the goats off their perch and let them fall to their deaths.

It was impressive.

Charlie

[bighomer]

A couple of years ago I was driving to town and as I top a hill I saw a duck with a hawk right on his tail and they were flat boogying as they neared a tree line the hawk evidently hit him and the duck tumbled into the woods, I don't know the outcome but expect that dinner was served. Here's a smaller bird although she may not know it, if they were as big as eagles they'd rule the world.

[Dinadan]

Those Harris Hawk photos are really something, Doc! Just very cool action photos. I took the liberty of slightly enhancing the last photo: you can really see the rufous shoulders and legs, which are a Harris Hawk field mark.