Natural
History
Notes
on the Birds
Songbirds 1
Flycatchers
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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
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Open country, agricultural
areas
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Western US
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Breeding
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Nest is built by both sexes in a
variety of locations.
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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: I cannot do better than to
quote the following well chosen words of Mrs.
Bailey (1902b) on the behavior
of this spirited bird:
The Arkansas (Western) kingbird is a
masterful, positive character, and when you come into his
neighborhood you are very likely to know it, for he seems to
be always screaming and scrimmaging. If he is not overhead
twisting and turning with wings open and square tail spread
so wide that it shows the white lines that border it, he is
climbing up the air claw to claw with a rival, falling to
ground clinched with him, or dashing after a hawk, screaming
in thin falsetto like a scissor-tail flycatcher. A passing
enemy is allowed no time to loiter but driven from the field
with impetuous onslaught and clang of trumpets. Be he crow,
hawk, or owl, he is escorted to a safe distance, sometimes
actually ridden by the angry kingbird, who, like the
scissor-tail,
enforces his screams with sharp pecks on the
back.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Open country, agricultural
areas
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Found in most states except
California, Arizona
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Breeding
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Usually built by female in large shrub
or low tree
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About the
Notes from A.C. Bent
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Notes from
A.C. Bent
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Courtship: Ralph
Hoffmann (1927) says that the
kingbird's "mating performance consists in flying upward,
and then tumbling suddenly in the air, repeating the
maneuver again and again, all the time uttering its shrill
cry." Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1920a) says of it: "The
Kingbird executes a series of zig-zag and erratic flights,
emitting at the same time a harsh double scream. This is a
true courtship flight song."
These flights take place at no great
height from the ground: 15 or 20 feet, perhaps, above the
top of an apple tree. The dives are usually short, quick
dips, accompanied by accented notes, and in between them the
wings flutter jerkily as the bird rises again or progresses
a short distance on a level. Occasionally, however, the dip
is much deeper: a long, slow dive. I find in my notes of
July 28, 1909, that I observed their curious flight
evolutions many times. They flew out from a treetop, half
flying and half hovering, then, with wings almost still, but
just quivering, they slowly dropped almost to the ground,
the while jerking out in a high, squeaky, tremulous voice
their ki-ki-ki, etc.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Desert
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Southwest
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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Arkansas Kingbird (T. verticalis) is
an older name for Western
Kingbird.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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This is another yellow-breasted
kingbird, somewhat resembling the Arkansas
kingbird and occupying some of
the western, and more especially southwestern, range of the
latter. The range of vociferaris is not nearly so
extensive as that of verticalis, and its local
habitat is often quite different. The two species are often
found in the same general habitat, especially during the
migration periods, but during the breeding season and to a
certain extent at other seasons Cassin's ranges higher in
the foothills and the mountains than the Arkansas kingbird.
We found Cassin's kingbirds very common, in April and May,
in the lower portions of the canyons, among the large
sycamores, in the Catalina and Huachuca Mountains in
Arizona. Harry S. Swarth (1904), referring to the Huachucas,
says: "I have occasionally, but not often seen the birds as
high as 7500 feet, and found one nest quite at the mouth of
the canyon, 4500 feet; but as a rule the territories
occupied by this species and verticalis during the breeding
season hardly overlap." The majority of the nests he found
were between 5000 and 6000 feet. Referring to its range in
the Catalinas, W. E. D. Scott (1887) writes: "At the higher
Limits of its range in the breeding season: about 9000 feet:
it is much more common than T. verticalis, though the
reverse is true as regards the lower limit of its range:
about 8500 feet: in the breeding season." Dr. Alexander
Wetmore (1920) says that at Lake Burford, N. Mex., "they
frequented rocky hillsides where scattered Yellow Pines
rising above the low undergrowth made convenient perches
from which to watch for insects and look out over the
valleys."
Henshaw (1875) found it frequenting
open country in Arizona and New Mexico, saying, "I have seen
it much on the sage brush plains, though never very far from
the vicinity of timber; and the sides of open, brushy
ravines seem to suit its nature well."
In California, its distribution is
more or less irregular, where it seems to be less of a
mountain species than in other places, for W.
L. Dawson (1928) says:
"Cassin's Kingbird, at the nesting season, barely exceeds
the upper limit of the Lower Sonoran faunal zone; and it is
not even mentioned in t.he exhaustive reports on the San
Jacinto and San Bernardino mountain regions. It is
apparently of very irregular distribution over the two
California deserts, and in the lowlands of the San
Diego-Santa Barbara region."
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Eastern United States
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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: Professor Beal (1912) says of
the least flycatcher: "It is a typical flycatcher in food
habits, but like most others of the family it does not take
all of its food upon the wing. The writer has seen one
scrambling about on the trunk of a tree and catching insects
from the bark like a creeper." In his study of the food, 177
stomachs were examined taken within the months from April to
September. "The food consisted of 97.83 per cent of animal
matter and 2.17 of vegetable. * * * Hymenoptera are the
largest item, * * * 41.10 per cent. * * * Three stomachs
were entirely filled with ants and four with other
Hymenoptera. parasitic species were eaten to the average
extent of 11.66 per month. * * ~ This percentage is higher
than is desirable."
He lists 67 species of beetles as
identified in the food, but useful beetles amount to only
1.41 percent, and harmful beetles total 19.94 percent. The
average for Hemiptera is 11.12 percent, for Diptera 11.34
percent, for Orthoptera 2.59 percent, and for Lepidoptera,
beth moths and caterpillars, 7.27 percent. "Ephemerids found
in one stomach, dragon flies found in 3, and an unidentified
insect in 1, make up 0.95 per cent. One stomach was entirely
filled with a large dragon fly. Flycatchers are among the
comparatively small number of birds expert enough to catch
dragon flies on the wing, and these insects are too wary to
be taken sitting. Spiders are eaten to a small extent in
every month in the season * * * 2.11 per cent."
Of the vegetable food he says: "Fruit
amounts to 1.83 per cent, and consists of Rubus seeds found
in 2 stomachs, elderberry seeds in 2, pokeberry seeds in 1,
rough-leaved cornel in 1, and fruit skins not further
identified in 4. Various seeds were contained in 6 stomachs,
and rubbish in 3; altogether they amount to 0.34 per
cent."
W. L. McAtee (1926) says that "insects
injurious to woodlands which are eaten by this flycatcher
include carpenter ants, gipsy moths, click beetles, leaf
beetles, nut weevils, tree hoppers, leaf hoppers, and leaf
bugs." To this list might be added cankerworms, or
inchworms, which it catches in the air as the worms spin
down to the ground on their webs. The bird also picks off
many of these and other caterpillars from the leaves while
hovering in the air.
Dr. Dickey writes (MS.) : "Once a
flycatcher performed a singular, spiral flight, a distance
of 8 yards, to pursue over a little glade a speeding beefly
(Bombycillus). They are prone to approach spider webs and
small caterpillars that dangle from silken cords. They lean
out from twigs and cleanse the webs of these desiderata.
They even mount high in dead branches, scan the nooks and
corners, and show by their every movement that they are
finding the nourishment conducive to their sprightliness.
Rarely I observed a flycatcher pass close to the ground,
brush almost the tops of sickle sedges, and snap some stray
bug, then return to an alder branch to devour
it."
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Riparian woods
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Pacific states
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Breeding
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Female builds small grassy
nest
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About the
Notes from A.C. Bent
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Empidonax group - refers to a
genus
of birds that includes 11 species that are all very similar
in appearance. They are very difficult to identify in the
field.
Western flycatcher - a former name for
the Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
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Notes from
A.C. Bent
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Behavior: There seems to be nothing
peculiar in the behavior of the western flycatcher, as
compared with the other small flycatchers of the Empidonax
group. Both parents are devoted to the defense of their home
and family, and the male stands guard nearby while the
female is incubating and drives away any other birds that
venture too near the nest. Mr. Pearse tells me that the
flight is hesitating, like that of the kingbird. I am not
acquainted with the bird in life.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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High desert, sagebrush,
mesquite
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Great basic states - interior western
states
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Breeding
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Female builds small grassy
nest
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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:
Ralph
Hoffman (1927) writes: "It
shares this domain (sage-brush plains) with the
Sage
Thrasher and the
Brewer
Sparrow; the latter glean
their food from the ground or the bushes themselves, but the
Gray
Flycatcher, perched on the top
of a tall sage-bush, watches the air for its prey. When a
Gray Flycatcher is started, it dives from its perch and in
its flight keeps well down among the brush. Its song is more
emphatic and less varied than either the Hammond's or the
Wright's. It has only two elements, a vigorous chi-wip and a
fainter cheep in a higher pitch. These two notes are used in
a variety of combinations, but when once they are heard, the
Gray Flycatcher can be instantly recognized. The call notes
are a sharp whit, like a Traill's and a liquid whilp which
passes into a gurgling note, similar to that of several of
the other small Flycatchers."
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Riparian woodland
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Western states
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Breeding
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Female builds small grassy
nest
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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: Professor Beal (1912) reports on
the contents of 174 stomachs of the western wood pewee, in
which 99.93 percent of the food was animal matter and only
0.07 percent vegetable. Beetles of 19 species amount to 5.44
percent, of which only 0.95 percent are useful beetles,
ladybird beetles, and predaceous ground beetles.
Hymenoptera,
wasps, bees, and ants amount to 39.81 percent of the food
and were found in 107 stomachs,17 of which contained no
other food. Parasitic species were noted in 8 stomachs and
ants in 10. No trace of a honeybee was found, and he never
heard any complaints against the bird on this score.
Diptera
(flies) seem to be the largest item of the food, amounting
to 44.25 percent. They were found in 162 stomachs, 30 of
which were entirely filled with them. They included horse
flies, snipe flies, crane flies, robber flies, and house
flies. Hemiptera
amount to only 1.79 percent, and no trace of grasshoppers or
crickets was found. Moths were found in 24 stomachs and
caterpillars in 5, making an average of 5.17 percent for the
season. Dragonflies, lacewinged flies, Mayflies, white ants,
and spiders together make up 3.47 percent, the remainder of
the animal food.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Hunts from a perch
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Habitat
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Coniferous forest
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Found in Mexico, but does wander into
southern Arizona
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Breeding
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About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
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The Greater Pewee used to be named
Coues's Flycatcher.
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Notes from A.C.
Bent
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Food
I can find no definite information on
the food of Coues's flycatcher, which probably does not
differ materially from that of the other flycatchers of the
region where it lives; it apparently lives on any kind of
flying insects that it can find, as it can repeatedly be
seen darting out into the air in pursuit of them from its
perches in the trees. Living as it does, so far away from
human habitations, its food habits cannot be of much
economic importance.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Hunts from a perch
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Habitat
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Woodlands
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Eastern United States
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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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Nesting: The nest of the wood pewee is
a dainty little structure, harmonizing so closely with the
surroundings that our eye may easily pass along the limb to
which the nest is bound without detecting it. The nest seems
tiny for the size of the bird, sits close to the branch: the
bottom thin, the walls low and thick, and the outside is
sheathed with bits of lichen.
The site of the nest is generally on a
small limb, often dead and patched with lichens, commonly at
a height of about 20 feet, in or near a level fork well out
from the trunk of the tree.
Bendire (1895) states that the bird
"shows a decided preference for open, mixed woods, free from
underbrush, and frequents the edge of such as border on
fields, clearings, etc., either in dry or moist situations,"
and that "an average and typical nest of the Wood Pewee
measures 2 3/4 inches in outer diameter by 1 3/4 inches in
depth; the inner cup is about 1 3/4 inches wide by 1 1/4
inches deep."
Arthur C. Bent writes in his notes:
"Most of the nests that I have seen have been on horizontal,
lichen-covered limbs of old apple trees in orchards, or on
dead limbs of pitch pines in the Plymouth woods." The
Plymouth woods is a dry, tangled wilderness, extending over
many square miles in southeastern Massachusetts, overgrown
with pitch pines and scrub oak and interspersed with small
ponds.
Dickey (MS.), whose investigations
were largely conducted in Pennsylvania, gives a long list of
trees in which he has found wood pewees' nests. It includes
oaks (white, red, and black), sugar maple, black walnut,
yellow locust, elm, apple, and pear, generally in specimens
of large growth. He has found a nest in a flowering dogwood
tree only 8 feet above ground. He says that willows are used
rarely, but he speaks of one nest in a partly dead willow
tree five feet out from the main stem. Another nest was "in
a stalwart sycamore, six feet through at the butt, in a
horizontal fork 45 feet aloft and 18 feet out from the main
bole."
Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) describes a
nest "saddled on a long straight limb of an elm perhaps
fifteen feet from the ground and about the same distance
from the trunk of the tree. The only foliage on this branch
was a spreading spray of leaves several feet beyond the
nest. One would think that a nest so located would be easily
discovered but such was not the case. While conspicuously
located it was cunningly woven onto the branch and so
thoroughly covered with lichens that I could scarcely
believe it was a nest even after seeing the bird alight upon
it. From below it looked to be simply a lichen-covered knot
or a small fungus growth upon the limb and only after we
were on a level with it did it seem at all
conspicuous."
A. Dawes DuBois, describing in his
notes a deserted nest, says: "Its inner lining consisted
chiefly of stiff, curved, two-branched, wirelike stems
resembling the fruit stems of the basswodd. tree: some of
them 2 inches long. There were about 70 of these. There were
also long, hairlike stems of plant fibers, other coarser
stems, shreds of weed bark, some. 9 inches long, a piece of
spider cocoon, and a 3-inch piece of string. At one spot,
near the center, the branch itself served as the. bottom of
the nest. The body of the structure was built of similar but
coarser materials. No hair was used in this nest. The
outside was well covered with lichens, firmly held in place
by cocoon silk."
DuBois also stresses the point that,
owing to the situation of the wood pewee's nest: i. e.,
directly on the bark of a horizontal limb and often not
supported in a crotch: the nest must be fastened to the
bark. This necessary anchorage is secured by the bird while
building who "repeatedly wipes her bill from side to side
along the limb, making the materials adhere to the
bark."
Bendire (1895) says: "The inner cup of
the nest is usually lined with finer materials of the same
kind, and occasionally with a little wool, down of plants, a
few horsehairs, and bits of thread," and he examined "a
unique nest of this species, taken * * * from a horizontal
limb of an apple tree, about 8 feet from the ground. * * *
This nest, which is well preserved, is exteriorly composed
entirely of wool. * * * It is very sparingly lined with fine
grass tops and a few horsehairs, while a single
well-preserved apple leaf lies perfectly flat and exactly in
the center and bottom of the nest."
Ora W. Knight (1908) reports that the
male "does not seem to do any active work, either at nest
building or assisting in incubation, but I have however seen
him feed the female more or less frequently while she was
sitting."
The wood pewee appears to become
attached to a group of trees and returns sometimes year
after year to build its nest on the same branch. Katie Myra
Roads (1931) gives an instance of this habit when she
reports: "For thirty-five years a Wood Pewee's * * * nest
has been placed in the same fork of an elm tree about forty
feet from the ground.
Eggs: Major Bendire (1895) says: "From
two to four eggs are laid to a set, generally three, and
sets of four I consider rare." He describes them as
follows:
The eggs of the Wood Pewee vary in
shape from ovate to short or rounded ovate; the shell is
close-grained and without gloss. The ground color varies
from a pile milky white to a rich cream color, and the
markings, which vary considerably in size and number in
different sets, are usually disposed in the shape of an
irregular wreath around the larger end of the egg, and
consist of blotches and minute specks of claret brown,
chestnut, vinaceous rufous, heliotrope, purple, and
lavender. In some specimens the darker, in others the
lighter shades predominate. In very rare instances only are
the markings found on the smaller end of the egg.
The average measurements of
seventy-two eggs in the United States National Museum
collection is 18.24 by 13.65 millimetres, or about 0.72 by
0.54 inch. The largest egg of the series measures 20.07 by
13.97 millimetres, or 0.79 by 0.55 inch; the smallest, 16.51
by 12.95 millimetres, or 0.65 by 0.51 inch.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Water areas in arid
habitats
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Plumage
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The
male and the female different plumage.
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Distribution
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Southern California, southern Arizona,
southern New Mexico and Texas
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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: We found this flycatcher to
be rather tame and unconcerned about our presence, flitting
nervously from one perch to another, from some low tree or
bush to a tall weed stalk and then back again, making
frequent sallies after insects, or executing his spectacular
nuptial flights. The male is a bold and fearless fighter in
defense of the nest and rather aggressive against intruders.
Mr.
Dawson (1923) witnessed the
following rather peculiar behavior: "In watching the antics
of a certain Vermilion dandy, I saw him resort twice to a
tiny fork on a horizontal branch, remote from any possible
proximity of a mate, and indulge in a very peculiar set of
motions, bowing and turning, and lying supine with
outstretched wings and dangling feet. Careful reflection
showed the act to be an outcropping, through suggestion, of
what we call a secondary sex character, viz., a
demonstration of the nest-building instinct, excited by the
presence of an especially attractive site."
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Desert, brush, chaparral, dry open
country
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Western states
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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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Field marks: In general appearance the
ash-throated flycatcher most closely resembles our common
eastern crested
flycatcher, but the two are
not likely to occur in the same region. A flycatcher
resembling our eastern bird, but much paler in coloration,
with a large, brown, bushy head, a conspicuous white throat,
and a long, reddish brown tail, perching in an upright
posture on some low tree or bush, is sure to be this
species. It is smaller than the Arizona crested, as well as
paler, and larger than the olivaceous flycatcher. The two
western
kingbirds have black or dark
brown tails and brighter yellow under parts, as well as gray
breasts.
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Name
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Food
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Insects
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Feeding
Techniques
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Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
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Habitat
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Desert, brush, chaparral, dry open
country
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Plumage
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The
male and the female have the same plumage.
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Distribution
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Western US
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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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This large phoebe, clad in pleasing
shades of gray and brown, sharply contrasted with its black
tail, replaces throughout a large portion of western North
America our familiar eastern phoebe, which it resembles in
many of its haunts and habits. It is as much at home among
the western ranches as our eastern bird is about our New
England barnyards, equally fond of human company, and often
building its nest on or about, or even in, the rancher's
buildings. It is a wide-ranging species, breeding as far
north as central Alaska and as far south as northern Mexico.
It is a summer resident only in the northern portion of its
range, where it is one of the earliest arrivals in the
spring, but it is found all winter in southern California,
Arizona, and New Mexico.
Say's phoebe is a bird of the open
country, the prairie ranches, the sagebrush plains, the
badlands, the dry, barren foothills, and the borders of the
deserts, where it can forage widely over the stunted
vegetation, or perch on some low bush or tall weed stalk to
watch for its insect prey. But it is also found in the
mouths of canyons or rocky ravines, perched on some
commanding boulder as a watchtower. It has no special
fondness for watercourses, or for rich agricultural lands,
and is seldom seen in heavily timbered regions. As the
deeply shaded retreats are more favored by the somber-hued
black
phoebe, so are the open, sunny
places more suited to this sandy-colored species; perhaps
each is less conspicuous in its normal habitat.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
|
|
Habitat
|
Open country near water; edge habitat;
parks
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
California to Texas
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Pseudotsuya (sic) taxifolia - sic
refers to the fact that the author of this section
incorrectly cited the scientific name of the Douglas Fir
tree which is Pseudotsuga taxifolia.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
This species and the vermilion
flycatcher are the only
members of their family that may be considered substantially
nonmigratory throughout most of their ranges within the
United States. Their seasonal movements appear to be more in
response to local conditions than to any general migratory
urge. In many parts of southwestern California the black
phoebe is the one resident flycatcher, Say's
phoebe and Cassin's kingbird
occurring mainly as winter visitants, and the remaining
species as summer visitants or migrants. The black phoebe is
only sparingly distributed over the interior or more arid
portion of its territory, because of the scarcity of its
preferred types of habitat Although the black phoebe is for
the most part a bird of the lower altitudes in California,
it is reported by various observers to nest occasionally at
elevations of 4,000 to 6,000 feet, and Major Bendire (1895)
writes: "Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, United States Army, informs me
that he found a pair breeding at the reservoir from which
the town of Tombstone derives its water supply, in Millers
Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, southern Arizona, on July 31,
1894. This is located in the Douglas spruce zone
(Pseudotsuya
[sic] taxifolia), at
an altitude of about 8,000 feet." The general withdrawal of
the majority of the birds from the valleys or plains into
the foothill canyons in spring, as noted by Bendire in
southern Arizona, is undoubtedly represented to a certain
extent throughout the entire range, but only in a limited
degree on the Pacific slope.
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|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
|
|
Habitat
|
Wooded areas; edge habitat
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Eastern US
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
I have left until the last the
consideration of the use of the castoff skins of snakes
about which so much has been written. Almost everyone who
has written anything about the crested flycatcher has
touched on this subject. There can be no doubt that such old
skins are often, perhaps generally, found in the nests,
though they are usually found in small pieces and are often
entirely lacking or replaced with something else of similar
texture.
Fully 25 percent of the nests that I
have personally examined have contained no pieces of
snakeskin or any similar material. Mr. Vaiden tells me that
"from a total of 37 nests examined in the past 30 years,
snake skins have been found in only 14." On the other hand,
Prof. Brooks (MS.) says of one nest: "The birds had
evidently been unable to find the pieces of snakeskin, which
they are accustomed to place in their nests, but in this
case they had substituted three pieces of the yellowed
outside skin of an onion. This is the only nest I have ever
seen that did not contain at least one piece of snakeskin. I
have identified the sloughed skin of the pilot blacksnake
(Elaphe obsoleta), the black racer (Coluber
constrictor), the common watersnake (Natrix
sipedon) and one of the little green snakes. I saw in a
nest a piece of snakeskin that bore the unmistakable
checkerboard pattern of the housesnake (Lampropeltis
triangulum) ."
In my experience the snakeskin is
usually found in small pieces, more or less imbedded in the
body of the nest or in the lining, but in some cases it is
conspicuously displayed on the rim or left hanging in a long
strip outside of the cavity. This has led to the
oft-repeated theory that it is used as a "scarecrow" to
frighten away predatory mammals, birds, reptiles, or other
enemies. Frank Bolles (1890) was evidently convinced of the
truth of this theory by the following circumstantial
evidence, of which he writes:
In one instance, at Tamworth, New
Hampshire, I found a nest with one egg in it but with no
snake skin visible. I found it about 7 A.M. one beautiful
day in early July, 1888. I touched the egg and handled the
nest slightly. Shortly before sunset I looked a second time
into the hollow limb where the nest was placed, and was much
surprised, in fact somewhat startled, by what I saw. Forming
a complete circle about the egg, resting, in fact, like a
wreath upon the circumference of the nest cavity, was a
piece of snake skin six or seven inches long. The part which
had encased the head of the snake was at the front of the
nest and was slightly raised. It may not be wise to found a
theory upon a single fact, but from the moment I saw that
newly acquired snake skin, placed as it was, I made up my
mind that the Great Crested Flycatcher uses the skin to
scare away intruders.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
|
|
Habitat
|
Thickets along water areas
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Southern Texas
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
The Great Kiskadee is listed as the
Derby Flycatcher in Bent.
finny prey - fish
"kingbirding an unlucky black vulture"
this refers to the Kiskadee harassing a Black Vulture as a
kingbird would do by diving at it. The Eastern
Kingbird's scientific name is
Tyrannus tyrannus, which refers to its agressive nature.
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Behavior: In flight the "bull-headed
flycatcher," as it is sometimes called, somewhat resembles a
kingfisher; it has even been referred to as a yellow-bellied
kingfisher; the resemblance is even more striking as it sits
quietly over some stream or pool, watching for its finny
prey, or dives into the water to sieze some minnow or water
insect. But, when not thus engaged, it is an active, noisy,
nervous, and irritable bird, always ready to pick a quarrel.
Mr. van Rossem (1914) writes:
In the city of San Salvador are a
great many birds which are without doubt non-breeders (as
only two nests were found in the city proper), even though
they are mostly in pairs. These individuals, having nothing
better to do, contrive to keep things lively by scrapping
not only with each other but with anything that happens to
attract their attention, such as a stray house-cat or a
wandering hawk.
A favorite lookout is a tall flag pole
or similar point of vantage, and this is taken possession of
to the exclusion of all other birds, most especially of
their own kind; in fact, the advent of another pair onto
their preserve is the signal for a battle royal which
generally ends as it should: in favor of the home team. From
dawn till an hour or so after sunrise, and in the cool of
the late afternoon and early evening, they are most active
and noisy. Their call notes can then be heard in every
Quarter of the city and the birds themselves are most in
evidence, snatching flies over heaps of refuse in the
gutters, hawking about the plazas, or 'kingbirding' an
unlucky Black
Vulture. Activity, though, is
by no means confined to these periods. Birds may be found at
almost any hour of the day.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Hunts from a perch
|
|
Habitat
|
Wooded habitats with
openings
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Primarily found in western
states
|
|
Breeding
|
Nests in tree
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Behavior: The olive-sided flycatcher
seems to prefer the solitudes of the forests to the vicinity
of human habitations; the experience with it in Berkeley,
California, was however, a notable exception to the rule. In
its wilderness home each pair establishes a definite
territory from which it drives away any other individuals of
its own species and often shows hostility to some birds of
other species. Verdi Burtch tells me that Clarence F. Stone
saw a scarlet
tanager drive one of these
flycatchers from one of its perches; but the flycatcher
returned later and drove the tanager away. It would probably
attack any hawk, crow, or jay that came too near its nest,
thoough no such case seems to be recorded. On the approach
of a human intruder, it starts its alarm note, quip, quip,
quip, repeating it constantly as it flies nervously about ,
alighting first on one tree and then on another within its
chosen territory. From such actions the collector realizes
that the nest is near and begins to hunt for it. If he
climbs the tree to examine or rob the nest, the bird's
activities are intensified; both birds may now attack the
intruder, flying about excitedly, snapping their beaks,
screaming incessantly, and even darting down at and almost
striking the man's head. Some less bold birds are content to
perch on nearby trees and scold, with crests erected, bills
clicking, and tails wagging.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
Searches for food from a perch and
then flies out to catch the insect.
|
|
Habitat
|
Woodland edges; parks,
farms
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
Eastern US
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
Pigeon Hawk is an older name for
Merlin.
Liponyssus sylviarum = Northern Fowl
Mite also Northern Feather Mite
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Enemies: Perhaps the most serious of
the phoebe's enemies are the parasites that often infest the
nests and debilitate or kill the young birds. Manley B.
Townsend (1926) speaks of a nest "containing four newly
hatched young." "A week later," he says, "on examining the
nest, I found only the desiccated bodies of the young birds.
The nest was swarming with parasitic insects." Lewis O.
Shelley (1936a) adds his testimony on this subject: "The
first nestings are invariably pretty free from parasitic
pests, but second nestings may be literally overrun with
mites and possible third broods will often be forced
prematurely into leaving the nest. I am of the opinion that
mites invariably prevent Phoebes from raising a third
brood."
Harold S. Peters (1933) found the mite
Liponyssus
sylviarum in the plumage of a
phoebe sent to him by P. A. Stewart from Ohio.
Frederic H. Kennard (MS.) adds the
raccoon to the phoebe's enemies. He says: "May 2, 1925. A
raccoon broke up our phoebe's nest on the post of our
woodshed last night. Eggs and nest lay several feet from the
bottom of the post this morning. I had always supposed a
screech
owl was guilty in past years,
but on making a close examination today, I found claw marks
and a hair from a coon's belly stuck to the bark of the
post."
William Brewster (1936) describes thus
a dramatic incident in the life of a phoebe:
A male Pigeon
Hawk suddenly appeared from we
hardly knew whither and with the speed of an arrow glided on
set wings, on a slightly declining plane, directly at the
Phoebe.
That trustful little bird, swaying at
ease on his slender perch, seemed so wholly unconscious of
his fearful peril that we all thought him lost, but when the
Falcon was within a foot of him he did the only thing that
could possibly have saved him, viz, dropped like a ripe
fruit nearly to the ground and then started directly for the
barn cellar. The Hawk overshot him scarce more than four
feet and, stopping and turning about with truly marvelous
quickness, followed and overtook him before be had gone
three yards but the Phoebe doubled short and abruptly and
the little Falcon, apparently disgusted at his ill success,
darted off down the hill-side towards the eastward, giving
us a fine view of his ashy-blue back. Only a few minutes
later the Phoebe was back on the same perch again. The whole
episode was most impressive: happening as it did, at what
might be called the very threshold of the Phoebe's home and
during a rarely beautiful and peaceful May
afternoon.
George Nelson tells me that at his
home in Lexington, Mass., house wrens sometimes interfere
with the breeding of his phoebes by. flinging the newly
hatched birds from the nest. The phoebe is "one of the very
commonest foster parents of the young Cowbird.
In regions where both species are common, fully 75 percent
of the nests contain eggs of both kinds," according to
Friedmann (1929).
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
Insects
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
See below
|
|
Habitat
|
Open country
|
|
Plumage
|
The
male and the female have the same plumage.
|
|
Distribution
|
South-central US
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
oak mott - a small stand of oaks on a
prairie
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
Behavior: When first seen sitting on a
bush or telephone wire, with its long tail tightly closed
and hanging straight down, the scissortailed flycatcher
impresses one as a trim, neat bird of soft, pleasing colors
and quiet mien. Or, as one flies in direct flight from one
tree to another, with its long streamers trailing out
behind, there is no indication of the flight gymnastics of
this aerial acrobat. But, sooner or later, the observer will
be treated to an exhibition, well worth watching, which has
been so well described by Mrs.
Florence
Merriam Bailey
(1902a) as follows:
One of his favorite performances is to
fly up and, with rattling wings, execute an aerial seesaw, a
line of sharp angled VVVVVVs, helping himself at the short
turns by rapidly opening and shutting his long white
scissors. As he goes up and down he utters all the while a
penetrating bee-bird scream ka-quee - ka-quee - ka-quee -
ka-quee - ka-quee , the emphasis being given each time at
the top of the ascending line. * * * The head of a family we
saw on the Nueces River one day was guarding his mate at the
nest when another scissor-tail invaded his preserves. The
angry guardian flew at him in fury, chasing him from the
field with a loud noise of wings. At the first sound of
combat the brooding bird's head appeared above the nest and
hopping up on the rim she watched the chase with craned neck
till the intruder with her lord and master close at his
heels faded into white specks in the blue.
Another day we saw a scissor-tail in
pursuit of an innocent caracara who was accidentally passing
through the neighborhood. The slow ungainly caracara was no
match for the swift-winged flycatcher and with a dash
Milvulus pounced down upon him and actually rode the hawk
till they were out of sight.
She writes of seeing a scissortail
overtake a lark
sparrow, which was pursuing an
insect on the wing, and snatch the coveted morsel "from
under its bill." She and her husband found these flycatchers
really abundant in parts of the mesquite prairies of
southern Texas. "Near Corpus Christi we once counted
thirteen in sight down the road." But the largest number
they ever saw together was in an oak mott between Corpus
Christi and Brownsville, where these birds were roosting for
the night. "At sundown, when Mr. Bailey shot a rattlesnake
at the foot of a big oak in camp the report was followed by
a roar and rattle in the top of the tree and a great flock
of scissortails arose and dispersed in the darkness. They
did not all leave the tree, apparently, even then, although
some of them may have returned to it, for when daylight came
to my surprise a large number of them straggled out of the
tree. How one oak top could hold so many birds seemed a
mystery. Before the flycatchers dispersed for the day the
sky around the mott was alive with them careering around in
their usual acrobatic manner making the air vibrate with
shrill screams. Mrs.
Margaret Morse Nice (1931a)
witnessed the pretty picture of a flock of these beautiful
birds taking their evening bath; she writes: "On a day in
mid September a dozen or more of these lovely birds gathered
in the little willows growing in a small pond; one by one
they swooped down to the water, but came up without quite
touching it. Finally one brave bird splashed its breast into
the water, whereupon they all followed suit, sometimes
singly, sometimes two or three at a time, darting down
quickly: a sudden dip into the water and then up again. The
colors on their sides and under their wings shone pink and
salmon and ruby in the late afternoon light. It was a rarely
beautiful sight: the exquisite birds in their fairy-like
evolutions."
The scissor-tailed flycatcher is a
swift flier; its powerful little wings vibrate so rapidly,
almost a blur to the human eye, that its stream-lined body
is propelled through the air with speed enough to overtake
quickly the slower flying hawk or crow that ventures too
near its territory; with vicious attacks from the dynamic
little warrior the big intruder is driven from the scene,
only too glad to beat a hasty retreat.
|
|
Name
|
|
|
Food
|
|
|
Feeding
Techniques
|
|
|
Habitat
|
|
|
Plumage
|
|
|
Distribution
|
|
|
Breeding
|
|
|
About the Notes
from A.C. Bent
|
|
|
Notes from A.C.
Bent
|
|