Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Spotted Towhee-- Pipilo maculatus

One of my favorite birds is the Spotted Towhee. Flashy and loud, it is nonetheless not always easy to see because it feeds in the undergrowth rather than in the open. Females are a paler version of the male. This bird above at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary garden was extremely accommodating. He sat on the post for a long time, and kept changing position so that I was able to take pictures of him from almost every angle.

Spotted Towhee.
Photographer Karen McQuade. Copyright, all rights reserved.

Spotted Towhees are members of the emberizine family which includes New World sparrows, buntings, juncos, and towhees. The Spotted Towhee used to be called the Rufous-sided Towhee because--as you can see--they do have rufous sides. However, the species was split into Eastern and Spotted Towhees. Not all towhees are in the same genus, and there have been disagreements and changes of name and genus.

Spotted Towhee.
Photographer Karen McQuade. Copyright, all rights reserved.

Like the California Towhee, the Spotted Towhee scratches through the undergrowth leaf litter by hopping and scratching simultaneously with both feet to uncover food which includes all kinds of creepy crawlers you would find under such litter in the undergrowth. They eat insects, millepedes and even spiders. They supplement with fruit, seeds, and grain from crops and wild plants of all kinds.

Spotted Towhee--note the spots.
Photographer Karen McQuade. Copyright, all rights reserved.

The Spotted Towhee is a western bird. Range extends from Canada south along the Pacific coast into Mexico. The range extends east into Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Texas, Oklahoma, parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and North and South Dakota.

Spotted Towhee from behind. Ready for take off.
Photographer Karen McQuade. Copyright, all rights reserved.

Spotted Towhees live year-round in Orange County. Males can be heard and often seen in spring perched high in a tree singing for a mate. Once they mate they are monogamous. The males are not of the hit-and-run variety. They actually stick around and help. But Towhees have very well-defined gender-related roles. Although the males do stay, bring food, and sometimes collect nesting material, only the female builds the nest and incubates the nest. Once the eggs hatch, the male provides most of the food and the female stays on the nest keeping the nestlings warm. When not actively procuring food and feeding the nestlings, the male guards the nest.

Spotted Towhees often nest near the ground. The female weaves plant matter including grasses, twigs and animal fur into a nest. On occasion a Spotted Towhee nest can be over 10 feet high, but that is not the norm. They sometimes have more than one brood a year, but that too is not the norm.

You can see Spotted Towhees all over Orange County. Spring is the easiest time--especially in the early spring when the males are singing. You can see them anywhere you find undergrowth. Wildlife areas, parks, and backyards. Listen for their call and watch for this beautiful bird while you are out birding in Orange County.

Spotted Towhee--Brief Seranade from OC Birder Girl on Vimeo.

OC Birder Girl Links

External Links and Resources

All About Birds: Spotted Towhee

Great site with lots of information about birds.

Audubon Guide to North American Birds--Spotted Towhee

Audubon's online bird guide.

Bird Web from Seattle Audubon

Birds and Blooms

Birds and Blooms magazine pictures of male and female Spotted Towhees.

Birds of North America--Spotted Towhee

The Birds of North America from Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology is a subscription service that provides detailed information about bird species in North America. If you are really into birding, it is worth it. The introductions to the species can sometimes be previewed for free.

Internet Bird Collections--Spotted Towhee

A great site full of videos, photos, and sounds of birds all over the world.

La Pilitas Nursery--Spotted Towhee

California Native Plant Nursery that devotes part of its website to birds. Located in Escondido and Santa Margarita California.

Macauley Library--Spotted Towhee sounds

The site for bird sounds.

National Geographic--Spotted Towhee

Oklahoma City Audubon--Spotted Towhee

South Dakota Birds and Birding

The Texas Breeding Bird Atlas

USGS--Spotted Towhee

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Woodpeckers of Orange County, CA

Common Woodpeckers in Orange County, California

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker, male. Photographer Michael L. Baird Wiki Commons

Downy Woodpecker

Female Downy Woodpecker. Donna Dewhurst, Photographer. USFWS Digital Library

Northern Flicker--Red-Shafted

Acorn Woodpecker

Uncommon Woodpeckers

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker, female. Photographer Donna Dewhurst. USFWS Digital Library

Lewis' Woodpecker


Lewis' Woodpecker. Dave Menke, Photographer. USFWS Digital Library

Northern Flicker--Yellow-Shafted

Northern Flicker--Yellow-shafted Note the black mustache and the red on the back of the head. Photographer, Karen McQuade

Seasonal Woodpeckers--Fall and Winter--
Uncommon

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker by Marlin Harms Wikicommons

Red-naped Sapsucker

Red-naped Sapsucker from Calibas at Wiki Commons

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Dominic Sherony Wiki Commons

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Egrets and Herons on Dry Land

Great Egret hunting on dry land.

Periodically, I get questions ranging from curiosity to alarm upon finding herons or egrets far from lakes, streams or estuaries. Herons and egrets are so closely associated with water that many people do not realize herons and egrets are more than water birds. In addition to hunting in large bodies of water, you will also find herons and egrets of many kinds feasting in small creeks at creek apartments, small backyard ponds, and agricultural fields, berms, freeway offramps,also in grasslands where there are no bodies of water. In addition to fish, amphibians, and mollusks, Herons and egrets also eat insects, small reptiles, and small mammals such as rats, gophers, and moles. They can be found on land far away from obvious sources of water.

Snowy Egret on the Grass at Clark Regional Park

However, there is more water around than you may think, and sometimes the heron or egret you see is not very far from water at all. People are not always aware of parks with small lakes and streams. In Orange County there are numerous parks which have lakes and streams that are stocked with fish. The same is true of Los Angeles. But there is another water source birds frequent other than lakes, rivers, and oceans that animals frequent: the watershed.

Great Egret in the grass at San Jacinto Wildlife Area.

Rain and the runoff from the water we use flow to the ocean. We don't often think about how it flows there. But like a body's circulatory system, the land we live on has a system for getting rid of excess water that does not sink into the ground and fill up the aquifers. It is called the watershed.

Originally it was a natural system of small streams and rivers. However, we have lined most of the watersheds in cities and suburban areas with concrete. You may not realize that Orange County's 350 miles of regional flood control channels and drainage branch through your city and down to the ocean. In fact, you are probably so used to seeing it that it does not register at all. The drainage system that flows through our cities and towns supports a lot of wildlife including herons, egrets, shore birds, fish, coyotes, and much, much more. If you stop and look down into that fenced drainage ditch, you may be surprised to find ducks, geese, egrets, herons, and shorebirds.

Great Egret

Coyotes and other animals use the watershed to travel in much of Orange County through drainage ditches, canals, streams, and rivers. They disappear into the drainage ditches and reappear somewhere entirely different. So the egret or heron you see flying so far from water in reality is never very far from a drainage ditch, canal, stream, or river. How do the fish get into the drainage ditches, canals, streams, and rivers? Well, lots of ways, but one way is on the feet of the birds. Birds fish in a place that either naturally has fish or is stocked with fish, and the fish eggs stick to their feet. The birds fly off and then land in a new water source with no fish. The fish eggs fall off their feet into the new stream, lake canal, or drainage ditch, and voila! A new water source now has fish in it.

Great Blue Heron hunting in the grass on the mesa at Bolsa Chica

Herons and egrets forage most commonly in the water or near it, but sometimes egrets and herons forage for small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians on dry land. They have a lot of variety in their diets, so don't be surprised to find egrets and herons on the hill top, in a field, or hunting on the grass on your local freeway offramp. They do hunt on dry land. They will fly through your city where you know of no lake or stream. They are usually near some water, but even if they weren't there is no cause for alarm. They hunt on dry land, too. Enjoy them where you see them. Egrets and herons are beautiful in the water or on dry land. Enjoy watching them wherever you live in Orange County.