Activities Part 4

ACTIVITY 1:  Compare pairs of birds using migration maps. /////   Pair 1: Northern Cardinal vs Blackburnian Warbler. /  Northern Cardinal remains in central and eastern and North-Central Mexico throughout the year. While there is some variation at the fringe of the range, there is very little movement (short distance migration) from one location to another.  /   Blackburnian Warbler migrate great distances spending summer in Central and Eastern USA and Canada. While moving south to South America, specifically northern coast of Ecuador, Columbia, and eastern coast of Costa Rica in Central America. This bird summers in Southern Canada from Central Plains to the Eastern Maritime Provinces.  /  In Connecticut I am likely to see a Northern Cardinal any time during the year. Blackburnian Warblers might be seen during migration of May and June or September and October.  This would be the only time that I am likely to see both birds on the same day.  Pair 2: Scarlet Tanager vs Western Tanager / Scarlet Tanager breeds primarily in the Eastern and in Central USA and Southern Canada. This bird migrates through the Central USA onto to Central America. It will overwinter in the interior of Ecuador. It follows the same route during fall and spring migration.  / Western Tanager summers or breeds in Northwestern and Central USA and Southwestern Canada. This bird migrates through Mexico and the Western Coast of USA. Interestingly, there are several small populations of Western Tanager that remain in San Francisco and Los Angles.  /  These two species are unlikely to see or overlap range anywhere as the Scarlet Tanager stays east of the Rockies and the Western Tanager stays west of the Rockies. In Connecticut I am only likely to see the Scarlet Tanager.  /////  Pair 3: Ruby-throated Hummingbird vs Rufous Hummingbird. /  Ruby-throated Hummingbird Breeds in the Mid-West, Plains, and Eastern USA and in Southern Canada. This bird’s breeding range and migration are east of the Rockies. Migration is through the Southern USA to Southern Mexico where this bird overwinters in Southern Mexico, Central America – mostly on the western coast.  / Rufous Hummingbird breeds in British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington. There are some scattered populations in Western states and Northern Mexico. It is primarily a west coast bird. This bird migrates to overwinter in Western and Central Mexico. / These two species may overlap in overwintering grounds in Central and South Mexico. But during breeding season the Ruby-throated Humming bird will only be seen east of the Rockies while the Rufous Hummingbird will be seen west of the Rockies, primarily on the west coast. / In Connecticut I am only likely to see the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. ///// Pair 4: Sandhill Crane vs the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  /  Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  Summer or breeding season is primarily in Canada and in the Maritime Provinces. Migration is through Central USA to overwinter in South Mexico and Central America.  /  Sandhill Crane breeds in northern Canada and on shorelines of the Arctic Circle such as the Bering Sea, Hudson Bay and south to Wiscons, Minnesota, and Michigan. These birds migrate to overwintering grounds from North and Central Mexico with scattered populations throughout the USA such as Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Florida.  /  The ranges of these two birds may overlap during breeding season and overwintering. / In Connecticut, the Sandhill Crane may be seen as a rare vagrant. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher would also be rare.

ACTIVITY 2: Use “Likely Birds” for your area. Part 1: Birds Likely to See. For October in Connecticut – birds I am likely to see.  (1) American Black Duck: tend to be here year round. Fresh, briney, saltwater.   Have seen this bird frequently.  (2) Field Sparrow: year round. Seen in brushy areas of state park.  (3) Blue Jay year round at feeders and in woods. Seen at my feeder year round.   Part 2: Birds NOT Likely to See. For October in Connecticut – birds NOT likely to see. (1) American Redstart have started to migrate from this area.  A few may be remaining, but they are infrequent here during this time. I have seen this bird in the spring and early summer. (2) Baltimore Oriole breed here and can be heard and seen in spring and summer in abundance. Usually seen near water in trees. They have started to migrate in September. I have seen this bird only in spring and summer.  (3) Tree Swallow breeds here in marshes. They gather to migrate in late September and October. I have seen this bird only in the spring and early summer.

ACTIVITY 3:  Compare the summer and winter plumage of two species using the Macaulay Library. /////   Bird 1: American Goldfinch.  Summer Plumage of Males:  Colors are primarily brilliant yellow and black. There are accents of white on wings. Patterns of color include: Black cap, wings, tail; Yellow nape, back, throat, chest, belly, flanks; White on very thin wing bars, rump. Pink bill.  Winter Plumage of Males: Colors are softer yellows with buff, gray, and white. Black wings and tail with more white. Patterns show that Cap is buff; Nape is white; Face is softer yellow and buff. White is on chest, undertail coverts. White wingbars are wider. White also trims the Greater Secondary and Primary Coverts that are also black. Bill is a duller pink.  Summer Plumage of Females: Colors are soft yellows, buffs, dark gray with white accents. Pattern is less striking than male overall with a less brilliant yellow body and face. Buff on cap, nape, and back; White thin wing bars and undertail coverts; Wings and tail are dark, dark gray-black but not as black as male. Bill is pink.  Winter Plumage Female:  Colors are even more muted with most of the body buffy-grayish-green. Buff wingbars which are wider than in summer. Bill is less pink.  /////  Bird 2: Common Loon. Summer Plumage of Males: Colors are primarily black and white. Solid black head and bill; Back is neatly checkered black and white; Sides are black with some white spotting. Neck has white collar with very thin white stripes; Chest and belly are white (seen in flight). Winter Plumage of Males: Colors are browns, blacks, grays. Pattern shows more mottled look on back and sides; Head is brown; Collar has faded; Chest and belly remain white; Back is brown and white speckles, mottled.  Summer and Winter Plumage of Females:  Approximately the same as males during winter.

Activity 4: Sightings at Favorite Birding Spot. I have chosen to focus on waterbirds and shorebirds at Harkness Memorial State Park which is on Long Island Sound.  October Sightings: Canada Goose; American Black Duck; Mallard; Common Eider; Surf Scoter; Black Bellied Plover; Semipalmaated Plover; Greater Yellowlegs; American Widgeon.   April Sightings: Brant; Bufflehead; Hooded Merganser; Red-breasted Merganser; Surf Scoter; Common Golden Eye; Piping Plover; Willet; Greater Yellowlegs; American Black Duck; Mallard; Purple sandpiper; American Widgeon.

Activity 1: I looked up two birds I see a lot in Italy. One is the Eurasian Blue Tit. The map showed pretty much all of Europe in purple. That makes sense, because this is one of the commonest birds in Italy, and I always see them year-round. I then looked up the Black-Winged Stilt, a very pretty wading bird that I've seen every time I've been to Sardinia, as well as near Rome along the coastal wetlands. I was surprised to see that this bird has a HUGE geographic range. Activity 2: Filtering to Lazio, Italy only produced 29 species. Are those meant to be year-rounders? I am still confused about this feature. I have seen most of the birds on this small list. Activity 3: I was just birding in Sardinia and I had quite a hard time, now at the end of summer, distinguishing between non-breeding plumages, especially for peeps and other shore birds. It was good training in that I had to focus more on shape, beaks, feet, etc... other characteristics I might overlook in favor of color. Activity 4: Sardinian wetlands are my favorite spot for birding. But I've only ever been in Sardinia in September and August. I would like to go in April and May and see what migrating birds are passing through. If I understood how to use this map feature better I'd try to determine what species I'd be likely to see!

Activity 1: It was interesting to see that some birds like the northern cardinal do no migrate while others like the scarlet tanager have a long migration south towards Peru and Bolivia.  Another bird has a shorter migration, the sandhill crane only as far as northern Mexico.  Some of the birds fly towards Central America y the northern part of South America.

Activity 2: Most of the birds I see in my neighborhood are resident birds; now all the migrating birds that come to spend the winter here are back to their breeding regions. We should get some from the south of the continent, but I do not really know much about them yet.  Since I have been watching birds, the only migrating bird I have seen is the summer tanager.  I do hope to see more migrating birds in the future, hopefully during the October Big Day.

Activity 4:

My favorite birding spot right now is a marsh near a park connected to a river near Lake Superior. I would expect to see and hear a lot of red-winged blackbirds which have been the dominant bird there recently. I would also expect to see Canadian geese, gulls, crows, mallards, and maybe some swans. 6 months out would be October. Based on looking at the hotspot in E-bird, I would expect to see more of the same and the most likely new birds to be pine siskin, dark-eyed junco, and American gold finch.

Activity 3:

In summer the American Goldfinch appears much more of a vibrant yellow. It has a clear black cap and an orange beak, while the winter foliage has no cap and a subdued black beak. They both share the similar black and white pattern on their tails though.In Summer, the common loon has a distinctive all black head and beak along with a stripped collar and a high contrast white and black body. These all seem to separate it quite a bit from it’s winter foliage. However, they still share their red eyes, white chest, and a similar pattern on their back, although the winter foliage is much more subdued and lower contrast.

Activity 2: 3 Year round birds: The black capped chickadee is one of the birds I’ve seen the most over the last couple months here in Northern Michigan. They are always singing and chirping up a storm and playfully flying from branch to branch around the forest. The Blue Jay is another year-round bird I see occasionally throughout the winter, and often hear it’s harsh call. Lastly is the Mourning Dove. In Merlin’s range map they are just on the precipice of year-round and breeding in my area. I often see them at a local bird feeder and love hearing their call.

3 Seasonal birds that are likely: The Red Winged Blackbird. I saw a flock of these birds in a tree near a local marsh a couple weeks ago. They were hiding their colors a bit while in the trees, but you could still see them peeking out. They are only in my area during breeding season. The Canada goose is another likely bird, and that isn’t surprising to me. I have seen them coming in swarms lately and now they are everywhere. They are only here during breeding season. The Common Grackle is another likely seasonal bird in the area, but one I haven’t identified seeing yet. Looking at their picture they look a lot like a crow to me, so I think I partly write off most mid-size black birds as crows, but probably need to start taking a closer look.

Activity 4: My favorite birding spot is my front yard! I have a finch feeder, feeder with black oil sunflower seeds, and a suet feeder currently up. I do not have the suet feeder up in the summer, therefore, I am seeing downy, hairy, and red bellied woodpeckers more frequently than I will in 6 months. In addition to this spot, I love to go to my local park. Currently, the birds I see most often are cardinals, tufted titmouse, starlings, carolina chickadees, mallards, canada geese, and robins. In 6 months I expect to see more egrets and blue herons in the pond area, as well as wood ducks. In addition to this, I expect to see both male and female red winged blackbirds which like to frequent the area. I love how as the seasons change I notice different birds!

Activity 3: The American Goldfinch has a bright yellow back during breeding but becomes duller and darker brown/olive color in the winter. The Common Loon's neck collar is more prominent during breeding, the black coloring is also much darker. They fade to a duller gray color with a more gradient neck than a collar in the winter.

It is interesting seeing the Goldfinches and Loons in winter and in summer.  The colours are so much more vibrant in the summer months.

I love hiking and birding at the RBG in Burlington Ontario. Some birds I have seen even now in the winter include the hooded merganser and screech-owl, American tree sparrow, and downy woodpecker.     In 6 months, I accept to see some of those birds still, but also will hope to see the American Robin, Wood thrush and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  Can't wait to see.

Activity 4: My daughter and I just visited a favorite birding spot for us. It’s a mudflat/marshy area on the NJ coast. It is a stop-over for lots of water fowl. We saw at least 16 species while we drove the 8 mile nature loop - at least 1/3 of them were new to me this year! Some of them (Brant, Snow Goose, and Northern Pintail) are here briefly as they migrate or longer during the non-breeding season. Others (American Herring Gull, Mallard, and Great Blue Heron) are here year-round.

I have been to the same preserve in the summer and seen Purple Martin and nesting Osprey. I am looking forward to returning to see what else I might find.

Activity 4:

My favorite birding spot is a stop over for many migratory birds in spring and winter. Depending upon the migration and the birds' needs, some may stay through the whole season to have their babies or stay until they migrate again. The area is also home to many birds that live there year round, this means that I right now I see a wide variety of "regulars" and visitors. With the winter migration, I am seeing more duck and warbler species, terns, pelicans, and other migratory birds I Cann't remember right now. I am also seeing the residents sparrows, gulls, cormorants, herons and egrets, and grebes. In six months, I will probably see the finalization of spring migration and many birds stay to have their babies in the area. As spring migration ends in six months, I will still see the regulars as well.

Very good

I am doing Activity 4

My favorite birding spot is my own backyard as we have several feeding stations set up.  Both my husband and I have commented that we have more wildlife than we see at nearby parks.

Currently I am seeing:

• Northern Cardinals


• Ruby-throated Hummingbirds


• Carolina Chickadees


• Turfted Titmice


• Mourning Doves


• Red-tailed Hawks


• Red-bellied Woodpeckers


• Blue Jays


• American Robins


• Grackles


• Starlings


• Eastern Wood-Pewees


• Carolina Wrens


• Rose-breasted Grosbecks


• White-breasted Nuthatches


• Acadian Flycatcher


• Turkey Vultures


• Canada Geese (We have had a mating pair a quarter of a mile from our house at the lagoon.  They are currently forming in a family group for migration.  We saw them with about 20 other geese just down the road at a pond this week.)

In six months, I  expect to see:

• Northern Cardinals


• Carolina Chickadees


• Turfted Titmice


• Dark-eyed Juncos


• Mourning Doves


• Red-tailed Hawks


• Red-bellied Woodpeckers


• Downy Woodpeckers (and possibly other woodpeckers as well.  It depends on the year.


• Blue Jays


• Grackles


• Starlings


• Carolina Wrens


• Nuthatches-- both White-breaster and Red-breasted


• House Finches


• Goldfinches


• House Sparrows


• Song Sparrows


• Red-winged Blackbirds.

Activity 4: I walked to my favorite spot in the woods yesterday and was surprised to find so many active birds in this heat.  But I was in the woods and it was probably ten to fifteen degrees cooler.  Within minutes Merlin picked up the Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Hooded Warbler, White-eyed vireo, Red-eyed vireo, Carolina wren, Bobwhite, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, Robin, Purple Martin, Mockingbird and the American Goldfinch.  I heard the Red-tail hawk and its young piercing the early morning.  I scrambled to find the birds with my binocs.

In a couple of months the warblers will have migrated south and the Red-tail young may stay around but may not call as much.  The Yellow breasted chat will head to Central America or Mexico. The Red-eyed vireo will head to the Amazon Basin in South America. The White-eyed vireo may or may not migrate. The Indigo bunting will remain, along with the Carolina Wren, Bluebird, Tufted Titmouse, and the mockingbird. But the Blue Grosbeak will head to the Carribean and the Purple Martin will travel to South America. If these birds could could tell us their tales....

Activity 4: My favorite birding spot has a pond, a marsh, and a wetland. Currently I find a lot of tree swallows, three kinds of ducks, many red-winged blackbirds, mourning doves, Northern Cardinals, three kinds of woodpeckers, killdeer, and yellow warblers pretty regularly. According the bar chart for this location, the mallard ducks, mourning doves, Northern Cardinals, woodpeckers, and killdeer will still be around in the winter. The red-winged blackbirds will disappear briefly in the winter, the tree swallow should be gone after July, and the warblers should be gone soon. In the winter the Dark-Eyed Juncos and the Tree Sparrows will return.

Activity 3: With respect to the American Goldfinch, it is much brighter in the summer although some of the photos seem to show some molting as well. In the winter, it still has some suggestion of yellow but much more muted so that it blends into the drab winter scenery better. The brighter yellow summer plumage may help it attract a mate but also it much easier to hide in the bright green leaves of summer.

The Common Loon has a much greater contrast in the black and white in the summer. The more muted dark grey of winter blends in better with the water and would be harder to see. Again, I wonder if the more contrasting blacks and whites helps it attract a mate.

Activity 2: Three birds that live in Michigan year around are the Blue Jay, the Black-Capped Chickadee, and the Northern Cardinal. Three birds that only live here in the summer are the House Wren, the Yellow Warbler, and the Baltimore Oriole. These are all fairly common birds during the correct season.

Activity 1:

I found it interesting that birds often times migrate in a clockwise direction. In particular I noticed that pattern with the Rufous Hummingbird. I did not find it as noticeable with other species. I was also struck by the Sandhill Crane migrating across the Bering Strait to Russia. While I view the continents as divided in my mind, the world appears much rounder to birds. When exploring some of the other species, I was surprised to see that Barn Swallows exist on six of the continents. While the oceans were a significant barrier to humans they seem to be less of a barrier to some species of birds.

Activity 4 is one I look forward to trying. In my bird garden, I usually see Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, House Finches, and woodpeckers in the winter. However, I have been lucky enough to spot Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks in the spring and summer!

Activity 2,3:  Three year-round bird species in my area are the Black-capped Chickadee, the Mallard, and the Herring Gull.  Three species that are part time residents are the Yellow Warbler, the Snowy Egret, and the Horned Grebe.  I have only seen the Horned Grebe in his non-breeding plumage that is very plain compared to his breeding plumage (from which he gets his name.) Here is a photo of the Horned Grebe in Dec. 2023.  The breeding Horned Grebe has a long golden tuft behind a red eye, & is more colorful neck & body.



Activity 4:  My favorite birding spot is a small state park on the ocean.  Right now I can see Double- Crested Cormorants, Laughing Gulls and Purple Sandpipers.  They will all be gone by winter, but in December & January I should be able to see a Common Loon in winter plumage, a Long Tailed Duck & a Red Breasted Merganser. This photo is a Long Tailed Duck.

I chose activity 3.

The goldfinch's black and white wings pretty much stay the same year round.  Even in the bleak of winter, the male still has a 'cast' of yellow in his feathers.

The loon changes completely!  The big clue for me is the distinctive shape of the bird.

Activity 3

I compared the summer and winter plumage of the American goldfinch and the common loon.  Both male birds looked much more striking in the spring and summer, which would be the time to attract a mate.  In the winter, their colors were much more subdued, which would enable them to blend in better with their habitat and avoid predators.

I use merlin a lot for sound ID and the picture ID if I get a good one.  First time I used the likely birds function and found it very interesting.  I went through several of the birds I have been seeing regularly at my feeder like the dark eyed junco, bluebirds, cardinals, house finch as well as some of the herons I see around a pond on my walks.  I never knew that the dark eyed junco is only in my area during breeding season and that the great blue heron actually is year round.  I definitely would not have guessed the great blue heron is year round.  I plan to start using this function when I identify any new bird to learn more about it's migration patterns.

Activity 1: the first pairing was as I expected - the Northern Cardinal stays within the same general area year-round while the Blackburnian Warbler migrates. The last pair was very unexpected. Both go north to breed with the Sandhill Crane going up into the Arctic - though they also live in Florida year-round. Retirees, I guess.

Activity 2: Most of the birds shown in Merlin as "most likely" are also year-round, even when I change the setting to "year-round" (blue jay, northern mockingbird, red-bellied woodpecker to name three - and I see them daily). The top three seasonal birds, who visit us only in the winter (Tampa, FL), are the palm warbler, the yellow-rumped warbler, and the grey catbird. I have seen all of these seasonal birds but I only discovered a month or so ago that I figured out what the palm warbler looks like here in their non-breeding season. I had been dismissing that identification because they weren't as yellow as they looked in most of the pictures I had seen. On a recent local Audubon walk I learned about the yellow-rumped warbler (or "butter butt" as a member of the group called it). The catbird I had heard and identified using Merlin before.