Pine Warbler Bird – Passerines – 5/17/2011 to 12/30/2017

The male Pine Warbler was photographed at Wehr Nature Center on 4/28/2015.

The female Pine Warbler was photographed at Wehr Nature Center on 5/11/2016.

The immature Pine Warbler was photographed at Wehr Nature Center on 5/17/2011.

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

The male Pine Warbler has olive-gray uppers with a yellow slightly streaked breast, dark legs, and white under parts, with white striped dark wings. The female Pine Warbler is similar colored to the male but duller. The immature Pine Warbler is drab all over with white wing bars. It has a range of eastern North America. It has a habitat of open pinewoods and pine barrens. It feeds on mostly insects, seeds, berries, and will come for suet at bird feeders.

In December 2017 eleven male Pine Warbler photos were added that were photographed in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

 

 

Hairy Woodpecker Bird – Nonpasserines Land Bird – 5/16/2010 to 5/13/2015

The male Hairy Woodpecker was photographed at the Wehr Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The female Hairy Woodpecker was photographed at the Bong State Recreational Area in Kansasville, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Hairy Woodpecker

Select this link to see comparison Downy Woodpecker photos

The Hairy Woodpecker are checkered and spotted with black and white and a white back, breast and undersides. The male has a small red patch on the back of the head. The Hairy is like a large Downy and it has a bill larger in comparison to the Downy’s. The Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers are the only Woodpeckers with a white back. It has a range from Alaska and Canada to Panama. It has a habitat of forests, woodlands, river groves, and large shade trees. It feeds mostly on seeds and insects. It is less common and likely to show up in suburbs and city parks.

 

 

Peregrine Falcon Bird – Birds of Prey – 8/12/2010

The Peregrine Falcon was photographed at the Wisconsin State Fair from the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon is crow size with slaty-back, light chest barred and spotted below. It has noted heavy black sideburns, pointed wings and a narrow barred tail. It has a range nearly worldwide. It has a habitat of open country, cliffs, and sometimes cities. It feeds on mostly birds, and is a reason birds scatter when it is around. It is one of the world’s fastest birds and is noted with power-diving from great heights to strike prey. It is regarded by falconers as one of the noblest and spectacular of all birds of prey. It is an endangered species.

 

 

Northern Saw-Whet Owl Bird – Birds of Prey – 8/11/2015

The rehabbed Northern Saw-Whet Owl was photographed at the Wisconsin State Fair from the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Saw-Whet Owl

The Northern Saw-Whet Owl is a very small tame-like Owl brown in color with white braces on the back and brown streaking below, and with a pale buffy facial disc. It is fairly common but hard to spot in nature. It has a range from southeast Alaska, Canada, western and northeast United States to central Mexico. It has a habitat of forests, conifers and groves. They roost in dense cavities or in dense vegetation. Their diet is mostly small rodents, and swoop down on their prey at night from a high perch. These birds have exceptional hearing and vision at low light and night.

Select this link to see info on the Saw-Whet Owl

Select this link to see other info on Saw-Whet Owls

 

 

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.

 

Veery Bird – Passerines – 5/12/2012-15

The Veery was photographed at Wehr Nature Center in Franklin, Wisconsin during bird migration.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Veery

The Veery is a uniform brown or tawny cast above with no strong eye ring and few or indistinct spots on the breast. It has grayish tones on the flanks. It has a range of southern Canada, and north and central United States. It has a habitat of damp and deciduous woods. It concentrates in woods with leafy understory and streams. It feeds on mostly insects and berries.

 

Swamp Sparrow Bird – Passerines – 4/26/2014

This Swamp Sparrow was photographed at the Wehr Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Swamp Sparrow

The Swamp Sparrow is a dark rusty sparrow with a dull gray breast, an outlined white throat, and a rusty-reddish cap. It has a range east of the Rockies from Canada to the Gulf Coast. It has a habitat in marshes with tussocks, bushes, or cattails, and sedgy swamps. The diet is mostly insects and seeds. It is usually a solitary sulker in dense cover.

 

Spotted Sandpiper Bird – Small Waders – 5/17/2012

The Spotted Sandpiper was photographed at the Wehr Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

During fall and winter, and when not breeding, the Spotted Sandpiper does not have spots on the breast.

 

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Spotted Sandpiper

The Spotted Sandpiper is olive-brown above with a spotted white breast, a white line above the eye with a white ring, and a white wedge shape near the shoulder. It has pale fleshy legs. As it walks on shores of streams, ponds, and marshes, it bobs the rear half of its body up and down in an odd teetering motion. It has a range from Alaska, Canada, to the central United States, and along, and along the coasts. It has a diet of insects, crustaceans, small fish, and other invertebrates.

 

Ruby Crowned Kinglet Bird – Passerines – 4/16/2013

This Ruby-Crowned Kinglet was photographed at the Wehr Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The female Ruby-Crowned Kinglet is similar to the male except for the missing scarlet crown patch

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Ruby Crowned Kinglet

The male Ruby Crowned Kinglet is a tiny stub-tailed birdlet with olive-gray color above, strong wing bars, a broken white eye-ring, and a scarlet crown patch. The female is similar to the male except for the scarlet crown patch missing. The male scarlet crown patch may usually be concealed, but is erect when excited. They have small slender bills. They have a range from southern Alaska, Canada, United States, to Guatemala. The habitat is mostly at conifer trees, but during migration they are found in other dense deciduous trees. The diet is mostly tiny insects. They are difficult to photograph as they are constantly flicking their wings and flittering about within dense surroundings.

 

Great Horned Owl Bird – Birds of Prey – 5/1/2010

This Great Horned Owl was photographed at Wehr Nature Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This Great Horned Owl was photographed with a VHS video in Muskego, Wisconsin in 1988.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl is either red-brown or gray in color with large tufts. It varies regionally from very dark to very pale and has a white throat bib. It habitats in North America in forests, mixed woodlands, streamsides, open country, shady suburbs, and city parks. It roosts during the day in high perches, and is active at night. It has no regular migration but may wander long distances in fall and winter. It’s diet is varied, mostly mammals and birds. May begin nesting very early in the North-late winter.