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Florida's Birds: Trees and bushes birds One great way to learn about birds is through local newspapers. On January 18, 2005 the Brandenton Herald gave this report on the Florida Scrub Jay. Boat-Tailed Grackle American Crow Northern Mockingbird Common Myna Northern Cardinal Blue Jay Palm Warblers Pine Warblers Red-Bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Black Hooded Parakeet Black-Throated Blue Warbler Pileated Woodpecker - Red-Winged Blackbird Yellow Rumped Warbler American Redstart - Boat-Tailed Grackle Males are 16" to 17" tall with females a little smaller at 12" to 13". The Common Grackle is smaller and the female lacks the paler breast. It's sound is a harsh jeeb-jeeb-jeeb without whistles and clucks. This bird was thought to be a variation of the Great-Tailed Grackle until it was discovered that they don't interbreed. femalemale American Crow Crows are very common birds that are completely black and reach the size of 16 to 21 inches.Crows gather in large numbers in winter to sleep in communal roosts. Young crows do not breed until they are 2 years old and often not until they are 4 or more years old. They stay with the family and help raise the young that follow so a family may include several generations. They are wide spread over the US and have a breeding range covering nearly all of canada. They can be found nearly everywhere except in the very far north of canada and in the deserts of the US. Crows have been the hardest hit from the West Nile virus and their loss in some areas have been severe. They need a variety of habitats including open fields for feeding and scattered trees for roosting. They are omnivorous and eat waste grain, earthworms, insects, carrion, garbage, seeds, amphibians, reptiles, mice, fruit, bird eggs and nestlings. Cornel Lab Bird Guide Listen to the song of the Common Crow Northern Mockingbird Florida's State Bird "This bird's beautiful song is richest on warm, moonlit nights in spring, when the bird may spend hours giving amazing imitations of other species. The songs of 36 other species were recognized from the recording of one mockingbird. Mockingbirds are strongly territorial. Mockingbirds require open grassy areas for their feeding; thick, thorny, or coniferous shrubs for hiding the nest; and high perches where the male can sing and defend his territory." eNature Guidebooks Mockingbirds are about 10" in length, with a 15" wingspan, grayish upper portions, white under sides, and white patches on the tail and wings. The mockingbird is omnivorous. About half its diet consists of arthropods, including beetles, ants, bees, wasps, and grasshoppers, but it will also eat earthworms and small lizards. These aggressive feeders can often be observed chasing down a grasshopper on a lawn, running, hopping and lunging at the prey, or flying just above the ground maneuvering behind a large wasp. They are also fond of zebra butterflies, the state butterfly. Mockingbirds are monogamous, usually for the length of a breeding season, and occasionally mates for life. The average lifespan is eight years. In the spring mockingbirds perform swift, acrobatic flights, male chasing female, often accompanied by the exchange of soft "hew" calls, repeatedly perching next to each other and taking off again. They will often build several nests in low bushes between 3 and 10 feet off the ground. Mockingbirds are fiercely territorial and will attack just about anything that comes into their territory but they have also been known to recognize individual people and selectively attack some and not others. Mockingbirds have fantastic songs! They will mimic songs and parts of songs of other birds, other animals such as dogs and cats, humans, mechanical sounds, and even the sounds of other mockingbirds. Listen to the song of the Mockingbird Mockingbirds are all around us here in Florida and their songs are rich and varried. No two Mockingbirds have the same song. Common Myna The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that "The Common Myna is native to southeastern Asia but has been introduced onto almost every tropical or subtropical oceanic island and Australia, where it is mostly found in open country and human environments. In Florida, populations remain small and widely scattered and tend to prefer shopping mall parking lots (Florida BBA). Mynas are ominivorous and feed on fruits, seeds, insects, and human food (Long 1981). They nest in tree cavities, buildings, crowns of palms, large signs, and broken lights.: Red-Winged Blackbird Red-Winged Blackbirds eat seeds and grain and as well as insects. "Although they will also nest in hay fields, swamps, and other wet upland habitats, Red-winged Blackbirds are primarily associated with freshwater marshes. Males that have successfully claimed territories mate with 2 or 3 females; in drier regions, where marsh insects may be more plentiful, the usual ratio is 3 to 6 females per territorial male. Up to 15 females have been observed on the territory of a single male, but the territory owner may not necessarily father all of the young on his territory. Females sometimes mate with several partners during a season or even during a single nesting attempt. Males don't breed until they are two years old, and they must secure and defend a territory to mate successfully." Excerpt from Red-winged Blackbird on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site. This is a great site for information! Video of a Red Wing Black Bird (12mg) Display and sound. Northern Cardinal This is a favorite bird of many people and is the state bird of 7 states. Cardinals are very territorial birds. Males will fight anything that comes into it's area, including it's reflection in car mirrors and windows. Mated birds will share song phrases. Young cardinals look a lot like the female bird but have a dark bill. Cardinals are found in lightly wooded areas with open areas, such as parks. Though their number and range have increased in the last 200 years they are becoming a 'species of special concern' in California. femalemale Listen to the song of the Cardinal Here's a secret that surprises many people... You can call Cardinals in to where you are by copying their song. They're very territorial and will come up to where you are just to see if you are another Cardinal that needs to be chased away. Blue Jay Blue Jay's are fairly common birds. They prefer evergreen and pine forests but can be found everywhere. They are 9 to 12 inches long. They are very aggressive and noisy birds and will drive other birds away from their territories. They will hide food for the winter. They eat fruits, nuts, seeds, insects, mice, frogs and small birds and eggs from other nests. Blue Jay populations have been declining as forests and woodlands decline. One of their main sourse of foods is the oak tree and it's decline has had an impact on them. Listen to the song of the Blue Jay Warblers are tough to identify. I didn't have these correct at first. But with the help of Giff Beaton I think I have them right now. Pine Warbler, Palm Warbler, Or Yellow Rumped Warbler? Palm Warblers: Olive-drab, streaked, ground-feeding warbler with bright olive rump, bright yellow undertail and distinctive habit of wagging its tail. Underparts vary from yellow to dull whitish, depending on age and geography. Winters in Florida and breeds in Canada. They are often the first birds to arrive back in Canada in the spring. It also nests on the ground which is unusual among warblers. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds. Most of these birds where photographed in mid March at one location. They were all on the ground in a lightly wooded area with clear and open undergrowth and bark bedding. They were with many others and they appeared to be looking for and eathing something on the ground. Pine Warblers: Unstreaked olive above with yellow throat and breast, faint streaking below, white belly, inconspicuous eye-stripe, two white wing bars. Female similar but duller. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds. Breeds in southern Canada, the eastern half of the United States, and in the Bahamas. In winter, their range shifts outward into the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. In Florida, Pine Warblers are common residents. Florida has 2 breeding subspecies: D. p. pinus in the Panhandle and D. p. florida in the peninsula. Florida's Breeding Bird Atlas We're guessing this is a Pine Warbler because of it's wing bars but at the same time it looks very much like the Palm Warbler in a dullish white phase. Yellow Rumped Warbler Yellow Rumped Warbler's is about 5 to 6 inches long. Yellow rumped Warbler's eat beetles, insects, farvae, flies, mosquitoes, gnats, spiders and aphids. They breed in Canada, Alaska and the western US and winters in the southern US down to Central America. In winter it feeds on fruits and berries. They like berries from the wax myrtle and poison ivy plant. The Yellow Rumped Warbler is one of the most common warblers seen and is very important as it eats many harmful insects. These birds were photographed at different dates and locations; one in the spring and one in the fall. Odd how they were both caught with their wings held down. Is this the usual way for them to perch or are they displaying that cute little rump? You never know if what you're seeing is something no one has ever seen before. A very long time ago I and my family were watching our Purple Martins odd behavior. We had a Purple Martin house in the center of our large mowed lawn and Martins filled it every year. This year, as we watched, they were flying from the house to a nearby tree where they were landing, plucking leaves and flying back to their nests with the leaves. We never saw them do this before so didn't think they were lining their nests with the leaves. We know plants have chemicals and we guessed the birds were using the leaves to repeal pest insects. Now we hear that they've discovered birds do this. Again, many years ago, we watched a sparrow caring for and feeding a young robin that was following it around. They use to think that just certain birds laid eggs in other birds nests. Now we hear that they are beginning to think that this happens much more frequently than believed. You never know if what you're seeing is something no one has ever seen before. It doesn't matter if you're sitting at your back door and watching birds from your porch. It doesn't matter how much you know or how little you know. All you have to do is open your mind to the details. Left A hole carved out of a dead tree stump. Right Woodpecker holes in a tree. These were large holes. Hear a Red Headed Woodpecker Call Woodpeckers sound fairly close to this sound file though each species is a bit different. Hear the Red Headed Woodpecker drumming Woodpeckers "drum" on wood to establish territory. Red-Bellied Woodpecker According to enature.com The Red-Bellied Woodpecker is "a common woodpecker over much of the South, the Red-bellied is scarcer farther north but has expanded its breeding range northward in recent decades. Like most woodpeckers, it is beneficial, consuming large numbers of wood-boring beetles as well as grasshoppers, ants, and other insect pests. It also feeds on acorns, beechnuts, and wild fruits. It is one of the woodpeckers that habitually stores food. I have watched these woodpeckers obtain some food I have tossed out, fly up to a high broken tree stump and try to fit the food into different crevices of the dead tree. Downy Woodpecker According to The Animal Diversity Web Downy woodpeckers are smallest woodpeckers native to North America at about 6 1/2 inches long. They are found throughout North America, from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland, extending south to southern California and Florida. They usually do not migrate. During the winter male and female Downy Woodpeckers forage for food differently. Males tend to feed in the tops of the trees while females feed lower down in the middle and lower sections of trees. Downy Woodpeckers are often confussed with Hairy Woodpeckers. One way to tell the difference, besides the Downy being small, is that the Downy has a beak shorter than it's head whereas the Hairy Woodpeckers beak is the same length or longer than it's head. Pileated Woodpecker The Pileated Woodpecker is 15 inches large. These are large distinctive birds. The pileated woodpecker lives in Canada from British Columbia east to Nova Scotia. It can be found in most areas of the eastern United States.The pileated woodpecker eats insects, fruits and nuts. A large part of its diet is made up of carpenter ants and beetle larvae. It uses its sharp bill to pull bark off a tree to expose ant colonies. It uses its long, sticky tongue to poke into holes and drag out the ants. It also digs out large rectangular holes in trees to create roosting and nesting spots and to expose insects! This isn't a very good picture but might help you to identify the Pileated Woodpecker in flight. In 1995 an employee from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration went to Wal-Mart and bought six plastic owls to protect the space shuttle from woodpeckers. Zygodactyl feet are feet with two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward. Parakeets, parrots and woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet. Doves Doves need dense cover near open areas. They are ground feeders, but will use any feeder they can land on. They build their nests on flat surfaces, including the ground, but don't use nest boxes. They are notoriously poor nest builders. Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Thanks to Giff Beaton who corrected me on several bird identifications. Instead of having the bird as a Ring-necked Dove (Above left) as I had it he pointed out that this is actually a Eurasian Collared-Dove. This is even more interesting! According to eNature.com (which, btw, often has the Audubon Society's Field Guide discriptions word for word.) this bird was "originally a Mideastern species, the Eurasian Collared-Dove has extended its range dramatically into western Europe since about 1930. It was inadvertently released in the Bahamas in the 1970s then spread to South Florida, probably by natural means, in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Florida birds were initially mistaken for feral populations of Ringed Turtle-Dove (S. risora), a domestic cage bird with no natural populations anywhere in the world. This mistake was soon corrected, and the species was officially recognized in the U.S. in the 1990s." It looks like this bird is fast going the way the European Starling did with way too many birds, no real predators to keep populations down and becoming a pest. Black Hooded Parakeet The Black Hooded Parakeet is an introduced bird. They are not yet known to be breeding but will probably be the next exotic bird species to become widely established in Florida. This bird is native to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina. You can find the Black Hooded Parakeet in both urban areas and in native pinelands. They feed on palm fruits and pine seeds and nest in tree cavities. Black-Throated Blue Warbler These birds are 5 to 5 1/2 inches. Clean-cut with upper parts blue-gray, throat and sides are black. The belly is white. They have a white wing spot that is not always visible. The Black-Throated Bue Warbler lives in the northern U.S./Canadian border from northern Minnesoda to New York and across the southern half of this range in Canada. It winters in the Gulf states and the Greater Antilles. This bird is said to the the tamest and most trusting of the warblers. If you move very slowly they may be approached to within a few feet. American Redstart The American Redstart visits Florida as it migrates between it's South American winter ground to it's midwestern and northen summer grounds in the U.S. and Canada. It eats insects and some fruits. It'll flash it's wings and tail to startle insect prey. Like the Cardinal it's not easy to see or catch a photo of it in the thick trees. The photo we have is blured and dark but you can see this Redstart has caught a dragonfly. The Audubon Society field Guide to North American Birds says that the Redstart's song is five or six high-pitched notes or two-note phrases, ending with an upward or downward inflection. Like: "chewy-chewy-chewy, chew-chew-chew" Birds and other animals survive by not being seen. This, of course, makes it difficult to photograph. <-- This could have been a female Red-winged Black Bird but I wasn't fast enough on the trigger! And this is a female Cardinal. She's a bit bashful. --> Hey! Did you think this was easy? Check out the otter. Night was falling and the cypress swamp was getting dark. We slung our cameras and headed back to the car. A few birds still rustle and sing but most know we're there and have moved on. We hear a slight swish and an otter's head quickly peeks up from under a log. A hurried snap of the camera and it ducks under the board walk. We see glimpses of it as it moves through the swamp but its gone quickly. What a treat! All photos, including birds and other wildlife photography © by Gilbert Henry Return to the main Bird page.