Rusty Blackbird Bird – Passerines – 10/1/2012

This male Rusty Blackbird was photographed at Lakeshore State Park on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

A male Rusty Blackbird with a fall and winter coloring

This female Rusty Blackbird was photographed at Northpoint, north of Bradford Beach, on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Rusty Blackbird

The male Rusty Blackbird is mainly black with a yellow eye and is about the size of a Robin. In the fall and winter the male Rusty Blackbird has a rusty coloring with black stripes on the wings and barring on the breast. The female has a tan color in the fall and winter or slate coloring in the spring with a clean breast. It has a winter range of Alaska and eastern Canada, a summer range of southeaster United States. In migration and winter it is usually found in swampy places or wading in very shallow water. In migration and winter it is usually found in swampy places or wading in very shallow water. Its diet is mostly insects and seeds. It was found and photographed migrating through Wisconsin during the fall.

 

 

 

Semipalmated Sandpiper Bird – Small Wader – 5/30/2012

The Semipalmated Sandpiper was photographed at North Point on Lake Michigan in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

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

The Semipalmated Sandpiper is plain in appearance with gray above, a white belly, and a short black bill and black legs. It has a range and breeds in the North America Artic. It is known to make a nonstop 2000 mile flight from eastern Canada to the South American coast at migration. It has a habitat along beaches, mudflats, and tundra along lakes and the coast. The diet is mostly ting aquatic insects and crustaceans. The sparrow-sized Sandpipers are known as “peeps”.