Common Snipe Bird – Small Waders – 6/23/2014, 4/21/2017

The Common Snipe was photographed at Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area in Montana.

This Common Snipe was photograph by surprise while trying to find the American Bittern on Pennsylvania Ave. between Oakwood and Ryan Roads in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Common Snipe

The Common Snipe is brown with buff and bold zigzag stripes on the back, a striped head, an extremely long bill, greenish legs, and a short orange tail. The range is most of North America. It has a habitat of marshes, bogs and wet meadows. It is a solitary creature of wet fields and bogs. It can often be heard sitting from atop a fence post or dead tree. It has a diet of mostly insects and earthworms found from probing in soft mud.

 

 

Common Tern Bird – Aerialists – 5/21/2015

The Common Tern was photographed at North Beach Park in Racine, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Common Tern

The Common Tern is a small black-capped white gull-liked bird with a gray mantel, red-orange bill (bill with black tip) and legs, and with five outer dark wedge primaries. It has a range of the Northern Hemisphere, and is the most widespread of the terns. It has a habitat of lakes, ocean, bays, and beaches. It has a diet of mostly small fish, and forages mostly by flying over water, hovering, and plunging to catch prey below the water.

 

Common Grackle Bird – Passerines – 5/9/2011-2015

The male Common Grackle was photographed at Wehr Nature Center in Franklin, Wisconsin

The female Common Grackle was photographed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The juvenile Common Grackle was photographed at Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Common Grackle

The Common Grackle is an iridescent blackbird larger than a Robin with a long wedge-shaped tail and a long heavy bill. The male has an iridescent purple head and a deep bronze or dull purple on the back. The female Common Grackle has a duller purple head and a browner, less iridescent on the back. The juvenile Common Grackle is a dull brown with various spotting depending on whether it is male or female. Depending on how the light hits the bird it may look almost black. It has a range of Canada and the United States east of the Rockies. It has a habitat of farmland, towns, groves, and streamsides. It feeds on insects of all types, worms, crayfish, other birds, and vegetable matter, such as berries and seeds. They are often seen nesting in small colonies and perching together in treetops.

 

Common Yellowthroat Warbler – passerines – 5/17/2011

The Common Yellowthroat Warbler was sited and photographed at the Wehr Nature Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Common Yellowthroat Warbler

This male Common Yellowthroat Warbler is the only one I have seen, and the only photo I got. The male is above olive-brown color with a black facemask, a yellow throat, and a whitish belly. There is a white strip marking above the black mask. I didn’t see a female, who is similar except for the black mask. The habitat is swamps, marshes, and wet thickets. The range is the United States and Canada.

You can see the sited location at the Wehr Nature Center, Milwaukee, WI by clicking the link below. The Common Yellowthroat Warbler was sighted this year at the Wehr Nature Center, Milwaukee, WI.

Select this link to see the Common Yellowthroat Warbler site where it was sighted and photographed.