Natural
History
Notes
on the Birds
Songbirds Two
Shrike through Gnatcatcher
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About the
categories
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Name
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Common name
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Food
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The main food category.
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Feeding Techniques
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How it acquires its food.
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Habitat
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What kind of area does the bird
live?
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Plumage
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Is there similarity between the male
and the female, between winter and spring, young and adult,
or are there variations in the plumage amongst the species.
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Distribution
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Approximately where it is found in the
United States.
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Breeding
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Unique aspects on how the species
breeds.
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About the Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Special notes on the status or natural
history of this bird.
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Notes from A. C.
Bent
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Selections from the Life Histories of
North American Birds, edited by
A. C. Bent.
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Name
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Food
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Insects,
small mammals, reptiles, and birds
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Feeding
Techniques
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Hunts from a perch; scientific name
refers to their habit of hanging the food that they catch on
a thorn as a butcher hangs meat.
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Habitat
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Open brushy field; edge
habitat
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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Throughout most of the US; scarce in
the northeast
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Breeding
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Nest is built in a shrub or small
tree.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Linnaeus, who is mentioned below, was
a Swedish naturalist who developed the binomial naming of
animal and plant species. He lived between 1707 and 1778.
For more information about him go to Carl
Linnaeus
French mockingbird is a name that was
given to the Loggerhead Shrike in the area around
Charleston, South Carolina.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Among the earliest ornithological
memories of the writer is the search for nests of the
"French mockingbird" amid the myrtle bushes of the back
beach of Sullivans Island, near Charleston, S. C. On this
narrow barrier of sea sand, which has figured so largely in
history since the days when Sir Peter Parker's fleet was
turned away by the batteries of palmetto-logged Fort
Moultrie, many Low Country bird records have helped make
ornithological fame locally. It was a happy hunting ground
for several kindred spirits of schoolboy days, and birds'
eggs were mediums of exchange for various and sundry other
specimens of beach and marsh. In few other areas since has
the writer ever found the loggerhead shrike such a
characteristic bird and will always associate it with this
spot for it was among the first half dozen species of his
"life list." Though having shown it to many others for their
"first" since, long acquaintance with it has not dimmed
interest in its attractive way of life.
Misunderstood and rather frowned upon
by the uninformed, the loggerhead is one of the decidedly
beneficial and valuable birds of its range and its
activities are a natural asset of no mean proportions. As
its name implies, it was described from Louisiana, by
Linnaeus, but the bird is no more typical of that State than
many other parts of its habitat.
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Name
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Food
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Insects,
small mammals, reptiles, and birds
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Feeding
Techniques
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Hunts from a perch; scientific name
refers to their habit of hanging the food that they catch on
a thorn as a butcher hangs meat.
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Habitat
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Open brushy field; edge
habitat
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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Northern part of the country.
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food: Dr. Sylvester D. Judd (1898)
writes of the food of the northern shrike: "During its
winter sojourn it renders a threefold service by killing
grasshoppers, English sparrows, and mice. The birds and mice
together amount to 60 percent, and insects to 40 percent, of
the food from October to April. Grasshoppers constitute
one-fourth of the food, and are equal to twice the combined
amounts of beetles and caterpillars. * * * In the stomachs
of the 67 butcherbirds examined 28 species of seed-eating
birds were found. Of these 3 were tree sparrows, 5 juncos,
and 7 English sparrows; the others could not be determined
with certainty."
In the early days of the English
sparrow in this country, while they were being protected,
northern shrikes became so abundant on Boston Common that
men were employed to shoot them, lest they destroy the
sparrows. In this connection, Dr. Judd remarks: "It is to be
hoped that in other cities this enemy of the sparrow will be
protected instead of persecuted. If there were 6
butcherbirds in each of 20 New England cities, and each
butcherbird killed 1 sparrow a day for the three winter
months, the result would be a removal of 10,800 sparrows.
Since two sparrows could raise under favorable conditions
four broods of 5 each, the increase would be tenfold, so
that those destroyed by the butcherbirds, if allowed to
live, would have amounted at the end of the first year to
118,800, and at the end of the second year to 1,306,800
individuals."
In addition to the three named above,
he lists the following birds that this shrike has been known
to kill: Chickadee, snow bunting, downy woodpecker, vireo,
kinglet, field sparrow, goldfinch, siskin, myrtle warbler,
mourning dove, cardinal, longspur, and horned
lark.
Among mammals, meadow mice (Microtus)
seem to be the most frequent victims, but Judd also lists
the white-footed mouse (Peromysails) and the harvest mouse
(Reithrodontomys). He continues:
Carrion is sometimes eaten. Prof. F.
E. L. Deal, while at Ames, Iowa, In January, 1880, saw a
butcherbird fly over the brown frozen prairie to a carcass
of a cow, where it lit on one of the ribs and greedily tore
off shreds of the flesh.
Active insects are much more liable
than sluggish ones to fall victims to the butcherbird,
because objects which at rest can not he discriminated are
instantly seen when moving. Thus it happens that flying
grasshoppers and running beetles form a large proportion of
the food of this bird. Grasshoppers and crickets
(Orthoptera), which are eaten during every month from
October to April, form 24 percent of the total volume of
food, and for October and November together these Insect
pests form more than half of the food. Compared with
Orthoptera, the beetles (Coleoptera) eaten are of minor
importance, amounting to only 6 percent of the food. More
than half of these beetles belong to the family Carabidae,
the members of which prey upon insect pests. Caterpillars
were contained in one fifth of the stomachs examined, and
during the months of January and February amount to 8
percent of the volume of the stomach contents. Dr. A. K.
Fisher collected in March two stomachs that were full of
caterpillars. Even the bristly Isabella caterpillar is
eaten, an object apparently as edible as a chestnut bur.
Cutworms were found in several instances, but moths were
seldom met with. Ants, wasps, flies, and thousand legs are
sometimes eaten, and spiders constitute 3 percent of the
food; but bugs (Hemiptera) were not detected during our
laboratory investigations, though a cicada supposed to have
been impaled by a shrike was found by Mrs. Musick, at Mount
Carmel, Mo. * * * The present Investigation shows that
beneficial birds form less than one-fourth of the food of
the butcherbird. It also shows that the butcherbird, in
addition to being an enemy of mice, is a potent check on the
English
sparrow, and on several insect
pests. One-fourth of its food is mice; another fourth
grasshoppers; a third fourth consists of native sparrows and
predaceous beetles and spiders, while the remainder is made
up of English sparrows and species of insects, most of which
are noxious.
The amount of insect food taken by the
northern shrike, as stated above, seems surprising. The
stomachs examined must have been taken largely in the
southern extremes of its winter range, or in fall or spring,
for the shrike would not be likely to find flying or
crawling insects in New England or in the Northern States in
the dead of winter; but grasshoppers are often available in
New England in October, and even in some Novembers, and
other insects in March.
Dr. Miller (1931) adds the following
birds to the list mentioned above, as taken by the species,
including both subspecies: Hairy
woodpecker, phoebe,
white-winged crossbill, redpoll, titmouse, bush
tit, and robin.
Charles B. Floyd (1928) adds song,
white-throated,
and fox
sparrows and the
starling
to the list of victims and says:
Several reports are at hand of
unsuccessful attempts to capture White-breasted
Nuthatches, English
Sparrows, Downy
Woodpeckers, etc. In several
cases where a Shrike pursued Nuthatches, the latter escaped
capture by entering a hole in a tree or a nesting-box. The
Downy Woodpecker often out-manoeuvred its pursuer by
constantly turning and dodging in the air rather than by
flying away in an attempt to escape by speed, as do almost
all the other small birds. Twice this winter I have
personally watched a Shrike attempt to capture a Downy
Woodpecker from above. Each time that the Shrike swooped to
strike the bird, the Downy turned quickly in the air at a
sharp angle, the Shrike overshooting its mark. It then
turned with much more effort than the woodpecker, and again
took up the pursuit. So long as they were in sight - and I
saw the Shrike swoop a number of times - the Woodpecker
continued on its way apparently unafraid, and dodged each
attack with ease.
Several observers have seen shrikes
chasing blue
jays or found one of the jays
impaled in the usual shrike fashion. Ora W. Knight (1908)
adds the pine grosbeak to the list of the shrike's victims.
William Brewster (1936) gives the following account of a
shrike in pursuit of a brown
creeper:
When I first saw him, he was in hot
pursuit of one of the Brown Creepers and both birds were
about over the middle of the river arid scarce a yard apart.
The Creeper made straight for the big elm which stands at
the eastern end of the bridge. When he reached it, the
Shrike's bill was within six inches of his tail, but he
nevertheless escaped; for an instant after the two birds
doubled around behind the trunk the Shrike rose to the
topmost spray of the elm, where he sat for a minute or more,
gazing intently downward, evidently watching for the
Creeper. The latter, no doubt, had flattened himself against
the bark after the usual practice of his kind when badly
frightened and he had the nerve and good sense to remain
perfectly still for at least ten minutes. My eyes were no
better than the Shrike's, for it was in vain that I scanned
the trunk over and over with the greatest care. Feeling
sure, however, that the Creeper was really there, I waited
patiently until at the end of the period just named he began
running up the trunk, starting at the very point where I had
seen him disappear. It was one of the prettiest
demonstrations of the effectiveness of protective coloration
that I have ever witnessed.
In the same publication, he vividly
describes the capture and killing of a field
mouse:
As I watched a Shrike it flew from the
topmost spray of a small maple into some alders and alighted
on a horizontal stem about a foot above the level of
surrounding snow but directly beneath; as I afterwards
found, the snow had thawed quite down to the ground, leaving
a trench about two feet deep by three or four inches wide,
into which the Shrike, after peering intently for a moment,
suddenly dropped with fiutlering wings and wide opened
tail.
Within a second or less it reappeared,
dragging out a Field Mouse of the largest size. The moment
It got the Mouse fairly out on the level surface of the snow
it dropped it apparently to get a fresh hold (as nearly as I
could make out it had held it up to this time by about the
middle of the back). The Mouse, instead of attempting to
regain its run way, as I expected it would do, instantly
turned on its assailant and with surprising fierceness and
agility sprang directly at its head many times in
succession, actually driving it backward several feet
although the Shrike faced its attacks with admirable
steadiness and coolness and by a succession of vigorous and
well aimed blows prevented the Mouse from closing
in.
At length the Mouse seemed to lose
heart and, turning, tried to escape. This sealed its fate
for at the end of the second leap it was overtaken by the
Shrike, who caught it by the back of the neck and began to
worry it precisely as a Terrier worries a Rat, shaking it
viciously from side to side, at the same time dragging It
about over the snow which, as I could plainly see through my
glass (I was standing within ten yards of the spot) was now
freely stained with blood. I could also see the Shrike's
mandible work with a vigorous, biting motion, especially
when it stopped the shaking to rest for a moment. When It
finally let go its hold, the Mouse was evidently
dead.
After the shrike had carried off the
mouse in its claws, partly eaten it and hung it in a fork,
Mr. Brewster examined the mouse.
The Shrike had not touched any part of
the body but the skin had been torn away from the entire
neck and the muscles and other soft tissues were almost
entirely gone from the shoulders and sternum to the base of
the skull. The body was untouched and the skull showed no
signs of injury, but the cheek muscles had been eaten pretty
cleanly away as had also the entire throat with the tongue.
Both eyes were whole and in their sockets. This examination
confirmed the conviction which I formed while watching the
Shrike and Mouse struggling together, viz, that the bird
killed the Mouse partly by throttling: that is by choking
and shaking it and partly (perhaps chiefly) by cutting open
its neck on one side. No attempt was made to stun the Mouse
by striking at its skull, such blows as I saw delivered
being evidently intended merely to keep the Mouse at bay
until the Shrike could close with it and get it by the neck
as it finally did.
Mr. Brewster's close observation and
careful description shows what is perhaps the shrike's usual
method of killing rodents, and I can find very little
evidence to the contrary, but Mr. Forbush (1929) says that
John Muir "saw a shrike go down into a gopher hole and drive
out half a dozen young gophers, and hovering over one after
another as they ran, it killed them all by blows delivered
from its powerful bill on the back of each one's
head."
Dr. W. S. Strode (1889) tells the
following story of a mouse-hunting shrike:
Not long since a young farmer invited
me out to his field near town where he was husking shock
corn, to see a 'Mouse Hawk," as he called it, catch mice. On
coming to where he was at work I looked about for the Shrike
but did not see it until he pointed to a tree two hundred
yards away where it sat on the topmost twig. Pretty soon a
mouse ran from the shock, when it came almost with the
rapidity of an arrow, and seizing the mouse in its bill flew
away with It to the woods across the river, but in a short
time it was back again at Its perch on the tree where it did
not remain long until another mouse ran out from the shock.
In order to test the bird's boldness I pursued this mouse,
but undaunted it flew almost between my feet and secured it,
and apparently not liking Its hold it alighted a few rods
away and hammered the mouse on the frozen ground, and then
tossing it in the air caught it by the throat as it came
dawn. He then again flew off to the woods. This proceeding
the farmer assured me would be repeated many times in the
course of the day, and that every mouse would be carried to
the strip of woods just over the river. Subsequently a
chopper told me that be had found a honey locust tree in
this woods that had mice stuck all over it on the
thorns.
The northern shrike has two principal
methods of hunting, watchful waiting and active pursuit. The
former method is the one usually employed, as in the above
accounts, in securing mice; the bird perches patiently and
motionless on some commanding tree, post, or wire, ready to
pounce suddenly on its unsuspecting quarry; mice may be
secured also by hovering over their runways in the fields
and meadows. Grasshoppers, crickets, and other moving
insects may be taken by watching for them, hovering over the
fields, or by active pursuit on the ground, though I have
not seen the latter method mentioned. But birds must be
caught by active pursuit in the air or by chasing them
through the trees and bushes; in the latter case the birds
escape more often than they are caught by seeking the
shelter of dense growth where the shrike is less adept in
penetrating the thickets and dodging through the tangles of
branches and twigs; cedars and other dense evergreens offer
excellent havens of refuge for small birds. Small birds
easily recognize the difference between a shrike and some
other harmless bird, and immediately "freeze" in their
tracks, or seek shelter in the nearest dense
cover.
The shrike is a fairly swift flier,
but is often not able to catch a smaller bird in a
straightaway flight, especially if it resorts to dodging, at
which the heavier bird is less adept. The shrike's usual
method is to rise above its victim and dive down upon it,
felling it to the ground with a stunning blow from its
powerful beak, which often proves fatal by breaking the
little bird's neck or its back. The shrike follows it to the
ground immediately and, if necessary, kills the bird with a
blow at the base of the skull or by biting through the
vertebrae of the neck. Small birds often escape from such
attacks by mounting higher and higher in the air, so that
the shrike cannot get above them, and then suddenly darting
downward into thick cover.
Having killed its bird, the shrike
seizes it by the neck or shoulders in either its bill or its
claws, or both, and flies away with it. Mr. Floyd (1928)
made a number of inquiries on this point and received
replies from 23 observers, 13 of whom reported that the prey
is carried in the bill, I said in the claws, and 3 had seen
both bill and claws used. By some one of these methods the
bird is carried to the shrike's larder and impaled on a
thorn or a sharp stub on some tree or bush, on the barb of a
barbed-wire fence, or some other similar point; often the
bird is hung by its neck in the acute angle of a fork in a
branch or twig. Mice are hung up in the same way, to be
immediately devoured or saved for future reference. The feet
and claws of the shrike are evidently not strong enough to
hold the quarry firmly while it is being torn apart, and
some additional support is desirable; hence this
characteristic habit. If the shrike is really hungry, its
prey is gulped down almost entirely, flesh, feathers, for,
and most of the bones, only a few of the larger feathers and
bones being discarded. These indigestible portions of the
food are disgorged later in the form of pellets, which are
often found where shrikes have been feeding. Edwin A. Mason
sends me the following description of a pellet that he took
from a birdbanding trap where a shrike had been feeding on a
junco: "Including a 10-mm. tip, or tail, the pellet was 40
mm. long and 10 mm. thick, consisting largely of matted
feathers; scattered through the mass could be seen small
pieces of bone, some identifiable as from the skull, one
tarsus with foot attached, and one fragment of bone
obviously from the main body skeletal structure." A very
brief period of time had elapsed between the ingestion and
the regurgitation of the indigestible material.
Mr. Floyd (1928) mentions "several
pellets which measured from half an inch long to one and
one-eighth inches. They averaged three eighths of an inch in
diameter."
The northern shrike often kills more
mice or birds than it can use at once, to many of which it
never returns, and these are left to dry or rot. It has been
known repeatedly to enter a bird-banding trap, kill all the
birds in it, and not eat any of them. It sometimes dashes
into a flock of redpolls or goldflnches, knocking out
several of them, perhaps for the mere sport of killing them.
Mr. Floyd (1928) writes: "A shrike that was seen to enter an
electric-car barn in pursuit of an English Sparrow killed
all the Sparrows in the barn, without thought of itself or
pausing to eat any of its victims.~~ In captivity it will
eat almost any kind of raw meat, will kill living birds and
eat them, or eat dead birds or mice, though it seems to
prefer mice to any other food. It will come to a feeding
station to eat suet or hamburg steak, even when live birds
are in the vicinity. Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1933) says:
"On a warm March day I watched a Shrike fly-catching from
the top of a tree. He pursued a large bee and missed it, but
by a quick turn he caught it. * * * Once I saw two on March
9 hovering about the dry thatch-grass cast up on the beach,
apparently picking up flies and spiders."
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Name
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Food
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Omnivorous; eats what is
available
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Feeding
Techniques
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Scavenger
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Habitat
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Found practically everywhere,
especially where humans are.
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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Throughout the US
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Breeding
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See A.C. Bent notes below
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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"recrudescence of the amatory
instinct" basically means the reawakening of the desire to
mate, which is being considered as some birds start singing
again in the fall, months away from their breeding season.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Courtship in birds is expressed in
three ways, namely in display, dance and song. * * * The
courtship song of the Crow consists of a rattle, a quick
succession of sharp notes which have been likened to the
gritting of teeth. That this is a courtship song and not
merely one of the bizarre expressions of this versatile
bird, is shown conclusively by its association with
courtship display and dance. Like all bird songs it is
commonest in the spring, but may occasionally, as in the
case with many bird songs, be heard at other times,
especially in the fall of the year, when it is explained by
the "autumnal recrudescence of the amatory instinct."
Although the song is generally given from a perch, it may
also he given on the wing, constituting a flight song,
although there is no other difference in the character of
the two songs.
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Name
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Food
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Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Will sometimes eat carrion
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Habitat
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Mountainous areas
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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The western US
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Breeding
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Builds nest either on a cliff or the
top of tall tree. May use the same site for a number of
years.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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The Common Raven is a very intriguing
bird. Bent mentions their social structure below. Bernd
Heinrich is one writer who has explored this bird in two
books, Ravens in Winter and Mind of the Raven.
More information can be obtained from the USGS
page.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: The flight of the raven is
so fully described under the following subspecies that it is
hardly necessary to say anything further about it
here.
It shows great mastery of the air in
its majestic flight; it can stand almost motionless in the
teeth of a gale, hover in the air like a sparrow
hawk, or take advantage of the
upward current on a steep hillside to rise and circle like a
large hawk. Mr. Pearse tells me that when these birds were
so abundant there, there was a regular flight line night and
morning to and from their feeding grounds toward the
mountains in the interior of Vancouver Island; they always
passed over sometime before dark and would return in the
morning at a corresponding period after sunrise. They never
went by in a flock, but in small parties of eight or more,
once as many as 40. They probably had some roost in the
interior. Baird,
Brewer,
and Ridgway
(1874) mention a roost discovered by Captain Blakiston near
Fort Carlton; his "attention was first drawn to it by
noticing that about sunset all the Ravens, from all
quarters, were flying towards this point. Returning to the
fort in the evening by that quarter, he found a clump of
aspen trees, none of them more than twenty-five feet high,
filled with Ravens, who, at his approach, took wing and flew
round and round. He also noted the wonderful regularity with
which they repaired to their roosting-place in the evening
and left it again in the morning, by pairs, on their day's
hunt. They always left in the morning, within a minute or
two of the same time, earlier and earlier as the days grew
longer, on cold or cloudy mornings a little later, usually
just half an hour before sunrise"
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Name
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Food
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Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Opportunistic
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Habitat
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Generally found around the coastal
areas.
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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Southeast, especially around the coast
and other water areas
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: The fish crow does not
differ materially in its habits from its better-known and
larger relative. Its flight is similar, but it is quicker
and more given to sailing, giving a few flaps of its wings
and then sailing along for a short distance. It often poises
in the air, hovering on rapidly beating wings, as it scans
the ground or water beneath it for possible food. When a
number of these crows are together, they often indulge in
circling maneuvers, flying around in a confusing formation
and then straightening out and proceeding on their way.
Audubon (1842) writes:
While on the St. John's river in
Florida, during the month of February, I saw flocks of
Fish-Crows, consisting of several hundred individuals,
sailing high in the air, somewhat in the mamer of the Raven,
when the whole appeared paired, for I could see that,
although in such numbers, each pair moved distinctly apart.
These aerial excursions would last for hours, during the
calm of a fine morning, after which the whole would descend
toward the water, to pursue their more usual avocations in
all the sociability of their nature. When their fishing,
which hsted about half an hour, was over, they would alight
in flocks on the live oaks and other trees near the shores,
and there keep up their gabbling, pluming themselves for
hours. Once more they returned to their fishing-grounds,
where they remained until about an hour from sunset, when
they made for the interior, often proceeding thirty or forty
miles, to roost together in the trees of the lobtolly
pine.
Fish crows are more sociable and more
nearly gregarious in their habits at all seasons than are
their northern relatives. They are seldom seen singly; they
often nest in small colonies or groups; and wherever there
is food to be obtained, especially in the vicinity of heron
rookeries, they are always to he found in large numbers. But
the biggest aggregations are to be found in the winter crow
roasts. M. N. Gist, the warden at the Orange Lake rookery,
estimated the winter crow population at that locality as
50,000, some of which may have been Florida crows, according
to Mr. Howell (1932), who adds: "At Goose Creek, Wakulla
County, in January, 1920, we observed long lines of Fish
Crows every morning shortly after sunrise, flying westward
along the beach from the direction of St. Marks Light.
Several residents of the neighborhood told us that the birds
roosted on beaten down tracts of rushes and drift in the
marshes along the lower course of the St. Marks River. At
Panasoffkee Lake, Crows are said to roost in large numbers
in willow bushes in the marsh at the edge of the lake. At
Lake Monroe, February 18, 1897, Worthington saw a flock of
about 2,000 Fish Crows going to roost in rushes"
At North Island, S. C., early in
December 1876, Maynard (1896) saw a great flight of fish
crows that he thought were migrating. "They were evidently
migrating for they came down the coast in an almost unbroken
stream and continued to fly all day. I think I saw more pass
the island than I ever saw before. It did not seem possible
that there could have been so many of these Crows in
existence for they could be counted by tens of thousands."
This may have been merely a local movement, for the birds
might have been seeking shelter from the hard, cold
northeast wind that was blowing at the time; and fish crows
are known to spend the winter much farther north.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Opportunistic
|
|
Habitat
|
Desert
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
In Bent the Mexican Jay is referred to
as the Arizona Jay with the scientific name of Aphelocoma
sordida. It then became known as the Gray-breasted Jay until
the current name (2004) of Mexican Jay.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
This is the northernmost race of a
Mexican species that extends its range into southern Arizona
and southwestern New Mexico.
Behavior
The Arizona Jay is one of the most
interesting birds of the family, unique in more ways than
one. It is the only one of our jays that is markedly
gregarious at all seasons, traveling about in scattered
flocks of 6 to 20 or more birds; even in the breeding season
it lives under semicommunal condiotns, with mutual interst
in all the nests in the community, helping to build and
defend its neighbors' nests and young, shrieking loud
invectives at the intruder, with much bobbing of heads and
twitching of tails. All this is in marked contrast with the
solitary and secretive habits of other jays during the
breeding season. Mr. Swarth (1904) writes of its
behavior:
Noisy, fussy and quarrelsome as all
the jays are, I know of no other species which possesses to
such an eminent degree the quality of prying into all manner
of things which do not concern it, and of making such a
nuisance of itself in general, on the slightest provocation
or on none at all, as the Arizona Jay. *** A
Red-tail
or Swainson
Hawk sitting on some limb,
furnishes a little excitement until he removes to some
quieter locality; but the crowning joy of al is to find some
wretched fox or wild cat quietly ensconced on some broad,
sheltered, oak limb. In such a case the one that finds the
unhappy victim takes excitement on hand; and it is nothing
unusual to see thirty or forty birds gathered about the
object of their aversion, letting him know in no undecided
terms just what their opinion of him is. It is a curious
sight also to see a dozen or more gathered around some large
snake, which they seem to fear nearly as much as they hate.
On one occasion I had an excellent opportunity of watching
about twenty Arizona Jays protesting at the presence of
rather a large rattlesnake which wfas leisurely travelling
down a dry watercourse which passed our camp. The jays
seemed imbuded with a wholesome fear of their wicked looking
antagonist, and though they surrounded it, kept at
respectful distance; they were not as noisy as they often
are, but kept uttering low querulous cries, quite different
from their usual outbursts. Some of the boldest lit a short
distance from the snake and strutted before it in a most
curious fashion, head and body held bolt upright, and the
tail pressed down on the ground until about a third of it
was dragging. *** Besides his vocal outbursts, the Arizona
Jay makes when flying a curious fluttering noise with his
wings, loud and distinct enough to be heard some little
distance producing a curious effect; especially when, as
often happens, a troop of them comes swooping down some
steep hill side to the bottom of the canyon. Though wary and
cunning to a marked degree, so that it is usually impossible
to get within gun shot of them, still their curiousity leads
to their destruction; for it is a simple matter for the
collector, by hiding behind a bush and making any squeeking
or hissing noise, to get all the specimans desired.
Bendire (1895) says: Their flight
appears to me far less laborious than that of the
California
Jay. It reminds me of that of
some of our Raptores, rising now high in the air, partly
closing their wings, and then darting suddely down, then up
again, and repeating these movements for some time.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Opportunistic
|
|
Habitat
|
Chaparral; oak forest
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Southwestern US - California to West
Texas
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
There are many accounts of
interactions with the members of the Corvidae family of
birds. The Corvidae family includes jays, crows, ravens,
mapgies, and nutcrackers. All of these species demonstrate
aspects of intelligence and a willingness to engage with
humans.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
This jay seems to have a sense of
humor or a fondness for play. Joseph Mailliard (1904) gives
an amusing account of the behavior of California jays with
his cats, stealing their food and teasing them. While a jay
is attempting to steal food from a cat, "each has the
measure of the other, and while a cat is watching, it is
rarely that a jay approaches within reach of its business
end, though it will do all it can to make the cat jump at
it, or at least turn away. Grimalkin has learned to keep her
tail well curled up when feeding, as a favorite trick of the
jay is to give a vigorous peck at any extended tail and,
when the cat turns to retaliate, to jump for the prize and
make off with shrieks of exultation. To find a cat napping,
with its tail partially extended is absolute joy to one of
these birds, which will approach cautiously from the rear,
cock its head on one side and eye that tail until it can no
longer resist the temptation, and, finally after hopping
about a few times most carefully and noiselessly, Mr. (or
Mrs.) Jay will give the poor tail a vicious peck and then
fly, screeching with joy, to the nearest bush"
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger
|
|
Habitat
|
Brushy woods
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
In the US it is only found in the very
south tip of Texas
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Throughout Bent's life histories there
is the constant concern towards the loss of habitat. He and
his fellow writers are aware that the land is being rapidly
carved up. Most of these writings were done more than 60
years ago.
Texas Kingfisher is a former name for
the Green
Kingfisher.
Derby Flycatcher is a former name for
Great
Kiskadee.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
This brilliantly colored jay brings to
that favored region of the lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas
a touch of tropical color that adds much to the many thrills
one feels as he meets for the first time the many new forms
of Mexican bird life to be found only in that unique
region.
As I sat on a log near the edge of a
stream in a dense forest along one of the resacas
near Brownsville, I caught my first glimpse of a green jay,
a flash of green, yellow, and blue, as it flitted through
the thick underbrush and the trees above me. In spite of its
brilliant colors it was surprisingly inconspicuous among the
lights and shades of the thick foliage. I had just been
admiring the dainty little Texas
kingfisher that flew down the
stream and perched on a fallen snag, had been lulled almost
to sleep by the constant cooing of the many whitewinged
doves, and awakened again by
the loud calls of the gaudy Derby
flycatcher. The curious
chachalaca
and the red-billed pigeon had their nests in the vicinity,
and there were a host of other interesting birds all about
me, but the green jay was the gem of the forest.
I am wondering how much longer this
bird paradise will last, for I have read that huge tractors
have been uprooting the forest trees, clearing up the
chaparral, and plowing up the rich land to make room for the
rapidly growing citrus orchards and other expanding
agricultural interests. Thus will soon disappear the only
chance we have of preserving on United States soil this
unique fauna and flora; and all these interesting birds will
have to retreat across the Mexican border, leaving our fauna
that much poorer.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger; forages in trees and on the
ground
|
|
Habitat
|
Coniferous forest habitat
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Western US
|
|
Breeding
|
Builds large nest in a tree
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Alfred M. Bailey (1927)
writes:
They are robbers of the first order,
and steal anything edible about camp. I do not know whether
we are able to give birds credit for a sense of humor, but
if we do, then the Jays surely must come in for first place.
I have watched a pair of these fellows tease a spaniel. They
would alight in a path, only to be chased away by the dog,
and they kept returning so often as to completely exhaust
him; then, when the dog refused to chase them longer, they
would alight over his head and talk to him,: undoubtedly
they were cursing him, until he finally got up and walked
away. The same performance was carried on daily. This
species is not particularly in favor among hunters, for when
one is quietly crossing a muskeg
in the hope of jumping a deer, it is the usual thing to have
a couple of Jays open a serenade, and then keep just ahead
of the hunter, talking all the time.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
See below; has a wide choice of food
items
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
|
|
Habitat
|
Scrub area
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Central Florida
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Food: The Florida jay maintains the
family tradition for a rather wide choice of food, deserving
the term omnivorous, but leaning toward selections of animal
matter to an extent of somewhat more than 60 percent, The
tendency of this bird to become familiar with humanity and
accept its offerings leads to the inclusion of many items
that would not otherwise appear, notably such food as bread,
cake, and peanuts, which are invariably accepted with
apparent avidity. Any such food, however, is highly
artificial in nature and should not enter strictly into any
summary of normal consumption. So strongly has the bird
become entrenched in many parts of its range as a
semidomestic species that these items are mentioned because
of their frequent offering and equally accepted
status.
Dr. Clarence Cottam, of the U. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, has kindly furnished me with a
detailed account of the stomach findings of 16 specimens of
coertdescens taken in January, March, April, May, and
September. The conclusions from this study reveal that the
food is: "Animal matter 60.63 percent. plant matter 39.37
percent. gravel 6.38 percent, trace of feathers." The
breakdown of the above is worthy of note. Though the exact
percentages are not given, the findings include the remains
of grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, termites, burrower-bugs,
squash bugs, leafhoppers, earwigs, beetles, weevils,
butterflies, moths, caterpillars, cutworms, bees, wasps,
ants, anglewings, flies, millipeds, and centipedes. Also
included were spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, mollusks,
snails, turtles, frogs, and lizards. Vegetable matter was
represented by wheat (Triticum), crowfoot grass
(Dactyloctenium aegyptium), acorns (Quercus), purslane
(Portulaca), milkwort (Polygala), huckleberry (Gaylussacia),
blueberry, cranberry (Vaccinium), and fogfruit (Lip pia).
Portions of vegetable debris and indeterminate matter
(mast?) and wood pulp were also present.
Audubon (1842) states that the seeds
of the saw palmetto are a favorite food, so much so, indeed,
that "no sooner have the seeds of that plant become black,
or fully ripe, than the Florida jay makes them almost its
sole food for a time." lie adds that the method of feeding
is like that of the blue jay, for coerulescens "secures its
food between its feet, and breaks it into pieces before
swallowing it, particularly the acorns of the live oak, and
the snails which it picks up among the sword palmetto."
Nuttall (1832) also gives the seeds of the saw palmetto as
being eaten "largely"
Bendire (1895) adds another item in
his summary of the food as "offal." He also mentions wood
ticks specifically, as does Maynard (1896), the latter
stating that "upon examining the contents of its stomach,
found that it was filled with ticks or jiggers which infest
the skin of all quadrupeds in this section of Florida."
These references to ticks substantiate, without saying so,
of course, the observations of N. B. Moore on the habit of
this jay of alighting on the backs of cattle and securing
ticks in that manner. "Jigger" is the universal name of the
redbug in the southeast, an even worst pest than ticks in
many ways.
Another food habit of this jay, not
hitherto mentioned and something of an indictment against
the bird, is its fondness for the eggs and young of other
birds, and even of poultry. Just how much this is indulged
in does not seem clear, but there is certainly abundant
evidence that predation of the sort occurs. Bendire (1895)
states that this jay is "charged with being very
destructive" in this way. A writer whose name I am unable to
determine, but whose initials are C. S. C., writing in the
Chicago Field, says that they "eat and drink with poultry,
having an eye on eggs and young chickens." M. M. Green
(1889) states: "Stomachs of two shot contained insect food.
The birds' bills were smeared with yolk of eggs. Several
people told me that the jays were nest robbers." Nuttall
(1832) notes that it "destroys the eggs and young of small
birds, despatching the latter by repeated blows on the
head"
Grimes (MS.) says: "I know they like
crickets for I saw a male pass up four, one after the other,
to his sitting mate. * * * In the fall and winter they feed
to a large extent on the little acorns of Chapman's
oak"
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger; forages in trees and on the
ground
|
|
Habitat
|
City parks, suburbia, parks
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Eastern United States
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Nesting: Bendire
(1895), in his excellent account of the blue jay, says: "It
prefers mixed woods to live in, especially oak and beech
woods, but for nesting sites dense coniferous thickets are
generally preferred; oaks, elms, hickories, and various
fruit trees, thorn bushes, and shrubbery overrun with vines
are also used, the nests being placed in various situations,
sometimes in a crotch or close to the main trunk, or on the
extremity of a horizontal limb, among the outer branches.
They are placed at distances from the ground varying from 5
to 50 feet, but usually below 20 feet. * * * I believe but
one brood is usually reared in a season, but in the South
they may occasionally raise two"
Describing typical nests, he says:
"The nests are generally well hidden, and are rather bulky
but compactly built structures, averaging from 7 to 8 inches
in outer diameter by 4 to 4 1/2 inches in depth; the inner
cup measures about 3 to 4 inches in diameter by 2 inches in
depth. Outwardly they are composed of small twigs (thorny
ones being preferred), bark, moss, lichens, paper, rags,
strings, wool, leaves, and dry grasses, the various
materials being well incorporated and sometimes cemented
together with mud, but not always; the lining is usually
composed exclusively of fine rootlets. Occasionally the Blue
Jay will take the nest of another species by
force"
John R. Cruttenden writes to Mr. Bent
from Illinois: "A peculiar habit of this bird is to line its
nest with a piece of cloth or waste paper. This is true in
the majority of nests placed near dwellings or in the city,
undoubtedly because of the more abundant supply of materials
in the city, although the habit is not unusual in nests
situated away from man. Henry Mousley (1916) reports:
"Evidently the Blue Jay betakes itself to very secluded
spots during the breeding season, as I have only succeeded
so far in finding one nest, in May of the present year
(1915), and had never seen the bird before during the months
of June, July and August." Mr. Mousley is speaking here of
his experience in Hatley, Quebec. Farther to the south, in
New England and the Middle Atlantic States, however, the jay
commonly breeds in thickly settled regions, often near
houses, as the following observations show.
Frederic H. Kennard (1898) writes: "We
have a pair of Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) in
Brookline, Mass., that have this year built their nest in a
most conspicuous place, between the stems of a Wistaria vine
and the capitol of a pillar, supporting a piazza roof. This
piazza is in almost daily use, and the path leading
immediately beside it is also used constantly." Charles R.
Stockard (1905), writing of Mississippi, says: "With the
exception of the English Sparrow the Blue Jay is probably
the most abundant bird in the State. The shade trees
bordering the streets of towns, the groves near dwelling
houses, trees along road sides, orchards, pastures, and pine
woods as well as thick woods, are nesting localities of this
bird. One nest was placed in a tree crotch not more than six
feet from a bed-room window, thus one might look out on the
bird as she sat calmly upon her eggs, and later she was not
noticeably nervous while feeding her nestlings before an
audience of several persons who observed the performance
from the window"
I remember some years ago seeing a
nest containing eggs in a situation with no concealment
whatever: on the cross-beam of an electric-light pole. The
pole stood near a flight of steps used continually by
pedestrians in crossing over the tracks at the main railroad
station in Lexington, Mass. From the steps I might have
touched the sitting bird with an umbrella. Needless to say,
the nest was soon knocked down, presumably by
boys.
On June 12, 1942, in Tiverton, R. I.,
Roland C. Clement showed us a most unusual blue jay's nest
under the overhang of a cutbank beside a woodland road,
which held at that time a brood of nearly fledged young. As
be did not get a chance to photograph it, he has sent us the
following description of it: "The recessed face of the
cutbank in which the nest is placed lies only 10 feet from
the farm road, the cut itself being about 6 feet high and
its concavity amounting to about 10 inches two feet below
the overhanging brink. In this sheltered recess two stout
oak roots of 1 inch diameter reach out horizontally into
space, intersecting past their exerted centers, and in this
crotch our adaptable jays have firmly anchored an otherwise
typical nest. The nest is thus about 4 feet from the ground
below and, though not absolutely secure from molestation by
terrestrial predators which could probably clamber up to it
without undue difficulty because of the moderate incline of
the bank, it is indeed inconspicuous among the pendant roots
and rootlets of the vegetation above, which presently
consists merely of shrubs such as Corylus and
Myrica.
"The nest itself is well and firmly
woven of long, pliant dead twigs of various species,
including some spiny stems of Smilcix and a few cuims of
coarse grass, as well as a long strip of paper; and it is
lined with fine rootlets, probably those of the brake fern
(Pteris), which abounds nearby. The nest cavity is 4 1/2
inches long, parallel to the bank, and 4 inches
wide"
Mrs. Harriet Carpenter Thayer (1901)
watched the family life of a pair of blue jays at a nest at
close range and states that the male aided in making the
nest and that both birds incubated, "each relieving the
other at more or less regular intervals. And the bird at
play did not forget its imprisoned mate, but returned now
and then with a choice bit of food, which was delivered with
various little demonstrations of sympathy and
affection"
Jays are very quiet about their nest.
I knew of a nest near the center of the city of Cambridge,
Mass., and if I had not happened to see the nest, I should
not have suspected that jays were breeding near.
Bendire (1895) quotes W. E. Loucks, of
Peoria, Ill., as saying: "A nest of a pair of
Robins,
built in an elm tree, was stolen and appropriated by a pair
of these birds. It was fitted up to suit their needs, and
eggs were deposited in it before the eyes of the angry
Robins"
A. D. Dubois sent the following note
to Mr. Bent: "While listening to the Memorial Day exercises
in the auditorium at Chautauqua Grounds (a large pavilion
with open sides) I noticed a jay which flew in from the side
and up to a nest in one of the roof trusses, where it fed
its young and flew out again. This is the first jay's nest I
have ever found in a building of any kind"
Dr. Samuel S. Dickey (MS.) reports
that nests found by him have been in the following trees: 20
in white pines, 18 in hemlocks, 2 in red spruces, 2 in
intermediate firs, 12 in white oaks, 5 in alders (Alnus
incano and rugosa), and one each in a pitch pine, sour gum,
Cassin's viburnum (only 3 1/2 feet from the ground), and
flowering dogwood.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger; forages in trees and on the
ground . See below.
|
|
Habitat
|
Coniferous forest
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Primarily in the northwest, but also
found in coniferous forest going into New Mexico
|
|
Breeding
|
Nest is built by both sexes and placed
close to the trunk of a tree.
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Formerly known as the Canada Jay (See
below in Bent)
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Behavior: The most striking and
characteristic traits of the Canada jay are its tameness or
boldness, one could almost call it stupidity, and its
thieving propensities. Its tameness often makes it an
interesting and a welcome companion in the lonesome woods,
but its boldness, coupled with its thieving habits, has
caused many travelers to regard it as a nuisance. Manly
Hardy expressed it very well when he wrote to
Major
Bendire
(1895)
They are the boldest of all our birds,
except the Chickadee, and in cool impudence far surpass all
others. They will enter tents, and often alight on the bow
of a canoe where the paddle at every stroke comes within 18
inches of them. I know of nothing which can be eaten that
they will not take, and I had one steal all my candles,
pulling them out endwise one by one from a piece of birch
bark they were rolled in, and another pecked a large hole in
a cake of castile soap. A duck which I had picked and laid
down for a few minutes had the entire breast eaten out by
one or more of these birds. I have seen one alight in the
middle of my canoe and peck away at the carcass of a beaver
I had skinned. They often spoil deer saddles by pecking into
them near the kidneys. They do great damage to the trappers
by stealing the bait from traps set for martens and minks
and by eating trapped game; they will spoil a marten in a
short time. They will sit quietly and see you build a log
trap and bait it, and then, almost before our back is
turned, you hear their hateful "ca-ca-ca" as they glide down
and peer into it.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger
|
|
Habitat
|
Mountainous coniferous
forest
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Western US; See below in
Bent
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
The scientific name of the Clark's
Nutcracker (in 2001) is Nucifraga columbiana which is
different from the scientific name that Wilson used, Corvus
columbianus. This demonstrates that ornithologists realized
that the Clark's Nutcracker is not a member of the genus of
crows, Corvus.
This is one of the species that is
named after Lewis and Clark who first identified
them.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Lewis's
woodpecker and Clark's
nutcracker were named for the two famous explorers who made
that historic trip to the sources of the Missouri River,
across the Rocky Mountains and down the Columbia River to
the Pacific coast, as they were responsible for the
discovery of these two unique and interesting birds. Capt.
William Clark, who was the first one to mention the
nutcracker, referred to it as "a new species of woodpecker";
and Wilson
described it as a crow, Clark's crow, Corvus columbianus.
These impressions are not to be wondered at, for its flight
and some of its actions are much like those of woodpeckers,
and it resembles the crows in much of its behavior. John T.
Zimmer (1911) remarks: "It reminded me of nothing so much as
a young Red-headed Woodpecker in that its flight was
markedly woodpeckerlike and its grayish body and head and
its black wings and tail with white on secondaries gave it,
at least superficially, a very close resemblance to the bird
mentioned." The first one I saw, while I was crossing the
Rocky Mountains in a train, reminded me very much of some
large woodpecker bounding across a valley. Its names, both
scientific and common, are all well chosen, indicating its
feeding habits, its discoverer, and the place of its
discovery.
The nutcracker is a mountain bird,
ranging from 3,000 feet up to 12,000 or even 13,000 feet,
according to latitude and season; its breeding range seems
to be mainly between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, or from the lower
limit of the coniferous forest up to timber line. It is
quite widely distributed in the mountainous regions from
southern Alaska and southwestern Alberta to northern Lower
California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Omnivorous
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Scavenger
|
|
Habitat
|
Open country
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Western US
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Formerly called the Black-billed
Magpie. The American Magpie has been split from the
Black-billed Magpie which is now identified as living in
Europe.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Behavior: The general manner of a
magpie is that of a bird well able to take care of itself.
It is extremely suspicious yet is inquisitive to a high
degree. It takes alarm quickly and rushes away from
threatening danger, but it responds to kindness and is
easily tamed.
Much of a magpie's time is spent on
the ground in search of food. The walk is somewhat jerky,
but it has been characterized as being graceful. The tail is
slightly elevated and is constantly twitched. When the bird
is in a hurry the ordinary walk is sometimes varied to a
series of hops. Small droves of magpies were watched by
Fisher (1902) as they caught grasshoppers every morning in a
field near Mono Lake, Calif. Their agility in dodging and
circling showed how mistaken persons are likely to be in
forming an estimate of a bird under ordinary conditions.
"Usually nonchalant and absurdly dignified in their
demeanor, these birds could at times assume the utmost
interest in their occupation, and dart with surprising speed
here and there"
Bendire's
(1895) comments on flocking in this bird were that:
"Although more or less quarrelsome, it is social in
disposition and likes to be in the company of its kind. I
have frequently seen from twelve to thirty feeding together
near a slaughterhouse or some other locality where food was
abundant; but such gatherings are oftener met with in late
fall and winter than during the season of
reproduction"
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Name
|
|
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Food
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Omnivorous
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Feeding
Techniques
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Scavenger
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Habitat
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Open country
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Plumage
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Male
and female have the same plumage
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Distribution
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Central valley of
California
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Breeding
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Both sexes build domed nest of twigs
high up on a tree limb.
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Bent's discussion is another good
example of the difficulty that we have always had on
deciding what a species is and is not. When is a species a
sub-species, and when is it a species by itself?
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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California contains within its borders
the whole range of the yellow billed magpie. Localities
occupied are known with exhaustive detail. They are
restricted to that part of the State west of the Sierra
Nevada from Shasta County, at the north end of the
Sacramento Valley, southward to Ventura and Kern Counties,
and are chiefly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys
and the coastal valleys south of San Francisco. The area
occupied is less than 150 miles wide and extends for about
500 miles from north to south.
The yellow-billed magpie is obviously
a close relative of the black billed magpie. Some persons
like to think of this relationship as subspecific; others
consider the two kinds as distinct species. Probably it
makes little difference which way we think of them so long
as we recognize the nature of the characters and ranges of
the birds, insofar as they represent the true relationship,
for it is scarcely possible to prove the correctness of
either opinion. The most nearly obvious distinctions have to
do with the possession of the yellow pigment, which shows in
the bill, claws, and some places in the skin of the
yellow-billed form, and its generally smaller size. Some
differences in habits also may be seen on close study of the
two birds. The ranges do not overlap; in fact, the gap
separating them is about 50 miles wide at its narrowest
place.
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Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Foraging along the ground
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Habitat
|
Open country
|
|
Plumage
|
Male
and female have the same plumage
|
|
Distribution
|
Throughout the US
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Bent touches on part of the nature of
flocking. There sometimes seems to be a collective
consciousness amongst the birds in the flock:"Their flight
is light and easy, with a somewhat undulating motion; and
the flocks are rather loose and irregular, yet they are
apparently all in touch with each other and guided by a
common impulse. "
Gregarious means having an affinity to
being with others of the same kind. Various species are
social and various species are not, and there are species
that are social in particular seasons.
Sibilant - producing a hissing sound.
One species that specializes in
getting Horned Larks to leave the ground and fly into the
air is the Prairie
Falcon which preys on Horned
Larks in particular.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Behavior: As we see them in winter
northern horned larks are decidedly gregarious, occurring in
flocks that range in size from half a dozen to a hundred or
more birds; they are seldom seen singly or in pairs as in
their summer haunts. As we walk across some flat salt marsh
near the shore, or some bare stubblefield farther inland, we
may be surprised to see a flock of these birds arise from
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