Piping Plover Bird – Small Waders – 5/2/2017

Two Piping Plovers were photographed at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The Piping Plover is a small pale bird, the color of dry sand, with an incomplete dark ring around the neck, and throat, belly and undersides white, with yellow legs, yellow beak with a black tip. In winter the legs and bill are dark. It has a range of south Canada to northeast and central United States. It has a habitat of sand beaches and tidal flats. It has a diet of insects, marine worms, and crustaceans. It moves about in quick fashion and abrupt stops, and is hard to see when on the sand when foraging by pecking.

 

 

Great Black-Backed Gull Bird – Aerialists – 11/29/2015

The adult Great Black-Backed Gull was photographed at McKinley Marina in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The 3rd winter juvenile Great Black-Backed Gull was photographed at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Select this link to see photos of the Great Black-Backed Gull

The Greater Black-Backed Gull has black back and wings, and white underparts with pink legs and is the largest gull Young gulls have contrast brown, paler on the head, tail, and under parts.. This 3rd winter immature Gull still has a black tip on the beak. It is larger than a Herring Gull and the smaller Lesser Black-Backed Gull. It has a range of mainly northern North Atlantic United States. It has a habitat of mainly coastal waters, estuaries: a few on large lakes. The diet includes carrion, fish, mollusks, crustaceans, marine worms, insects, rodents, berries, and the adults young and eggs of other birds. It is primarily a bird of the Atlantic coast and seldom seen inland except on the Great Lakes.

 

 

Lesser Black-backed Gull Bird – Aerialists – 2/18/2017

The Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Northridge Lakes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The Lesser Black-backed Gull has slightly light dark gray-black back and snow-white belly, streaking on the head and darker around the eyes, with pink (younger) and yellow (older) legs, streaking on head and darker around the eyes, and is distinguished by yellow legs after the third winter. The juvenile has a black bill, pink legs, and streaking on the belly. The range is Northern Europe, but may be found migrating in North America. It has a habitat at beaches, bays, coasts, and garbage dumps. The diet includes fish, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, marine worms, and refuge in dumps. It has not been proven to nest in the United States. North American records are of the Britain/Iceland population that is indicated by a lighter black back. When seen they are few in number, and usually only for a short time.

 

 

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Bird – Nonpasserine Land Bird – 9/26/2014 to 12/29/2017

The adult male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker was photographed at Lake park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The adult female Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker was photographed at Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, North Carolina

The immature Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker was photographed at Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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The male Yellow-Breasted Sapsucker is patterned dark gray above and light gray below with a distinctive white wing patch, and with a red forehead and throat patches. The female is similar to the male except it has only the forehead red patch and the upper and under has a light brown tint. The immature has no or slight red patch and may have no or slight brown tint. It has a range of Canada to the Southern Appalachians. It has a habitat of woodlands, aspen groves, orchards, and other trees. It feeds on insects, tree sap, berries, and fruit. Sapsuckers drill orderly rows of small holes in trees for sap, and visit them periodically to obtain sap.

 

 

 

Thayer’s Gull Bird – Aerialists – 2/18/2017

The Thayers’s Gulls were photographed at the Northridge lake in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on a mostly frozen lake

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The Thayer’s Gull is similar to a Herring Gull with gray back and white lowers, pink legs, bill with a red spot, slate gray primaries, round white or smudgy head, and a purplish-red orbital ring around pale yellow to dark brown eyes. It has a range of Arctic Canada and winters on the Pacific Coast. It has a habitat of coastal waters and bays. It feeds on animal and vegetable substances of small fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and berries. It’s closely related to the Iceland Gull and is difficult to tell from the Iceland and Herring Gulls.

 

 

Greater White-Fronted Goose Bird – Swimmers – 3/10/2017

The Greater White-Fronted Goose was photographed at McKinley Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The Greater White-Fronted Goose is a gray goose with a white patch on the front of the face, a pink bill, speckled belly, white flank line, and orange feet. It has a range of the Arctic circumpolar. It has a habitat of marshes, prairies, fields, lakes, bays, and tundra, and mostly in open country. It feeds mostly on plant material.

 

 

Ovenbird Bird -Passerines – 5/4/2013

The Ovenbird was photographed in a Lake Park gully in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The Ovenbird Warbler is olive-brown above with stripes below, a white-eye ring, an orange patch on crown, and pinkish legs. It is usually difficult to see and is heard more often than seen. It has a range of South Canada, and the United States east of the Rockies. It has a habitat near ground in leafy deciduous woods and during migration in thickets. It has a diet of mostly insects, and some seeds. The name comes from reference to the bird’s nest, a domed structure with entrance on the side, like an old-fashioned oven.

 

 

Grasshopper Sparrow Bird – Passerines – 5/3/2017

The Grasshopper Sparrow was photographed at Lake Park north of Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see a photo album of the Grasshopper Sparrow, next select slideshow

A little sparrow of open fields with a short sharp tail, flat head, yellow shoulder, and with a crown that is median striped with chestnut and black. It differs from other sparrows of the prairie in having a relatively unstriped buffy breast. The bird’s song is similar to the sound of a grasshopper. It can be found from Southern Canada to the Southern United States in prairie type habitats. Its habitat is grasslands, hayfields, and prairies. Its diet is mostly insects and seeds. It almost always forages for food alone.

 

 

Wood Duck Bird – Swimmers – 5/9/2011 to 5/7/17

The breeding male Wood Duck was photographed in September at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The female Wood Duck was photographed at Greenfield Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The non-breeding male Wood Duck was photographed in September at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The juvenile Wood Ducks were photographed at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The fussy chick Wood Ducks were photographed with the female wood duck at Greenfield Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The male breeding Wood Duck has a highly colored face pattern with sweptback chest, white belly, dark back with dark squared of tail, and all with unique rainbow iridescence. The female Wood Duck is dull colored with a gray crested head with a white-eye patch. The non-breeding male Wood Duck is a brown color with dark head that has a white bridle on the throat. They have a range of south Canada to northeast, and central United States eastward and northwest. They have a habitat of wooded swamps, rivers, and ponds, mainly those surrounded by shading woodlands overhanging the water. They have a diet of mostly seeds of aquatic plants. It has no close relative except for the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia.

 

 

Clay-Colored Sparrow Bird – Passerines – 10/10/2010 to 5/14/2017

The Clay-Colored Sparrow was photographed at Bender Park in Oak Creek, Wisconsin

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The Clay-Colored Sparrow is a small pale brown sparrow with a plain breast, a light crown stripe, an outlined ear patch, brownish rump, and a clean gray nape. It has a range from west and central Canada to north central United States. It has a habitat of scrub, brushy prairies, and Jack Pines. It is found perched in thickets. It has a diet of mostly seeds and insects. It is very close in looks to a Chipping Sparrow and is hard to distinguish.