YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Global Search

home + garden

Jim Williams has been watching birds and writing about their antics since before "Gilligan's Island" went into reruns. Join him for his unique insights, his everyday adventures and an open conversation about the birds in your back yard and beyond.

Great live TV of nesting Bald Eagles

Posted by: Jim Williams under Bird biology, Nesting Updated: February 22, 2012 - 5:35 PM

  • share

    email

 Live television broadcast of the activities of a pair of nesting Bald Eagles can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

This is an exceptionally good transmission, no loading time, large clear image, up 24 hours a day, complete with sound. Today, the wind was dominate, whistling through the tree top where the nest sits. Lots of bird song, too. See how many you can identify. I was dead certain on House Sparrows and European Starlings.

The camera and web commentary are provided by the Raptor Research Project. Information is on the web site. There are a few short commercials as you begin. Do not think you are in the wrong place.

Here is a screen shot of the kind of image viewers see. There have been over 218 million web hits for this site.

 

 

 

Falcon spending the winter in Golden Valley

Posted by: Jim Williams under Bird biology, Bird conservation, Bird identification, Bird migration, Bird sightings Updated: February 17, 2012 - 11:00 AM

  • share

    email

A Peregrine Falcon is spending the winter on and near a falcon nesting location high on the east side of the Colonnade building in Golden Valley. The building in immediately north of I-394 just west of Highway 100. My wife and I have seen th bird several times as we drive past. Bettter (and safer) looks are available from the parking lot of the Good Day Cafe located just east of the Colonnade. Falcons have nested for the past several years on a ledge high on the northeast corner of the building. I wondered how unusual it is to have this species spend the winter with us. The usual migration pattern for Peregrines takes them 

I sent an email question to Mark Martell, director of bird conservation for Audubon Minnesota who has studied this species for years. I wanted to know if it was very unusual for a Peregrine to stay this far north in winter. Here is what he wrote me:

"The short answer is-- not that unusual. 


"Some, but not all, urban nesting birds stick around all winter. Probably because there is no reason to leave, they can find shelter, and most importantly food (pigeons, starlings, etc). In contrast, birds nesting on the north shore or along the Mississippi River are likely forced to migrate since their prey base has moved on. Worldwide, peregrine sub-species have different strategies as well, arctic peregrines migrate but those from more temperate climates do not. 

"Since some, but not all, of the falcons stick around, we have wondered if there is a strong genetic component to this behavior. The birds that were introduced into the midwest came from a variety of backgrounds and it may be that those from migratory populations leave while the others don't. Bud Tordoff and I tried to make sense of this a few years ago, but the birds had mixed it up so much we could not make sense of it."

(The insecticide DDT, found in falcon prey as the chemical worked its way up the food chain, caused falcon egg shells to thin so much that they broke under the weight of the incubating female. Falcons disappeared from much of the United States. Once DDT was banned, a reintroduction program was started here. Martell and Dr. Bud Tordoff of the University of Minnesota, were leaders in that effort.)

The first photo shows one of the Colonnade nesting falcons returning to the building with downtown Minneapolis in the background. The image contains reflections from the glass of the window through which it was taken. The second photo shows one of those falcons on its nesting ledge with the remains of a meal.

 

 

 

 

 

Snowy Owl attacked by Peregrine Falcon

Posted by: Jim Williams under Bird interactions Updated: February 13, 2012 - 9:14 AM

  • share

    email

 Snowy Owls and Peregrine Falcons both rule in their habitat. They live separate lives, the falcon on Arctic cliffs when it nests that far north, the owl on flat tundra. They would be expected to rarely encounter each other. On the Chicago waterfront, however, a meeting happened in late January. It gave two extremely fortunate birder/photographers an opportunity they cannot expect to see again. A Snowy Owl, one of the hundreds in the U.S. this winter, visitors from Canada, was minding its own business on the beach, with downtown Chicago in the background. A Peregrine, a nesting resident of the neighborhood, did not want another predator in its territory. A five-minute battle ensued when the falcon attacked the owl. Tke a look at photos of the encounter at http://www.nabirding.com/2012/02/12/when-a-snowy-met-the-locals/

These truly are once-in-a-lifetime photos. 

Not so fast there ....

Posted by: Jim Williams under Bird biology, Bird identification Updated: February 10, 2012 - 12:57 PM

  • share

    email

 A birder named Gregory Harber writes on BirdChat this morning "thata since Pileated is derived from the Latin word, Pileum, one needs to look at the Latin pronunciation, where the "i" is a "long i."  The "long i" in Latin sounds like the "i" in "machine," which of course is an "e" sound.  So technically it is not Pie-lee-ated or Pill-e-ated.  It is i Pee-le-ated.  (He makes reference to Sister Aiden, which suggests a nun, which suggests lessons learned well).

 One again, according to "The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds" by John K. Terres, Parula is pronounced "PARR-you-la".  The word represents the blue hue found on the bird. – Dave DeReamus

 DeReamus also wrote: “Actually, Terres mentions that also.  For "Northern Parula," he writes: "Parula americana (PAR-you-lah   ah-mer-ih-CANE-ah); genus name: from Lat. parula, dim. of parus, titmouse; little titmouse."

"Parulid," Terres writes: "(PARR-you-lid). A popular collective name for any bird of the Warbler---American Wood Warbler Family."

 And, for "Parula (PARR-you-la) blue,” he writes: "A color, blue in hue, of low saturation and medium brilliance.  The Northern Parula warbler is a small grayish-blue bird of the American WoodWarbler Family."

 So, DeReamus writes, the accent is consistently on the first syllable and not the middle one.

All of this is taken from email on the BirdChat network. This discussion began when someone asked for the correct pronunciation of “scaup,” a duck species. I won’t get into that. However, Arthur A. Allen's pronunciation on the old Peterson Field Guide to Bird Songs, was "Skawp". Allen is a historic figure in American ornithology. I suspect most of us don't care. Seeing bird is the challenge.

 

from the homepage

ADVERTISEMENT

recent posts

Post By Category

Movies (2) Animals (2)
Photos (2) Holiday shopping (2)
Bird biology (172) Bird books (38)
Bird conservation (91) Bird feeding (51)
Bird identification (98) Bird interactions (37)
Bird migration (86) Bird personalities (14)
Bird sightings (71) Bird travels (68)
Birds in the backyard (61) Minnesota birding sites (37)
Nesting (41) Photography (2)
Events (1) Birding equipment (16)

ADVERTISEMENT

Connect with twitter Connect with facebook Connect with Rssfeed

Links

inside the StarTribune

Home

Download our prep boys and girls hockey apps

help

Star Tribune offers digital subscriptions

entertainment

In Oscar nods, oldies are goodies

vita.mn

The complete guide to American Idiot

investigators

A showcase of Minnesota’s best investigative reporting

Home

Lottery: Get the latest results