Gray Jay – Passerines – 6/4/2018

The Gray Jay was photographed at Denali Princess Lodge In Alaska.

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The Gray Jay is a gray fluffy bird about the size of a Robin with a white forehead, black cap, and gray back and wings, a light striped gray breast, and gray legs. The juvenile is darker sooty gray all over with a whitish chin whisker. They have a range of boreal forests of North American, Canada and Alaska. They have a habitat of spruce and fir forests. It has a varied diet of insects, spiders, berries, seeds, fungi, small rodents, small bird eggs, and carrion. They can be fearless, a nuisance, and steal food at campsites.

 

 

Mew Gull Bird – Aerialists – 6/4/2018

The Mew Gull was photographed on Nenano River and spruce tree tops at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge in Alaska, and the bridge crossing on Salvage River East.

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The Mew Gull is smaller than a Ring-Billed Gull with white head, breast and bottom, a gray back, small greenish yellow bill and greenish legs. Its wing tips are black with white spots. It has a range of Northern Eurasia, western North America-that includes the bottom half of Alaska and northwestern Canada. It has a habitat of coastal waters in winter, and lakes and rivers in summer. The diet is mostly small fish along the coasts, mostly insects along inland lakes and rivers, but also eats crustaceans, mollusks, earthworms, small rodents, young birds, berries, and grains. Nest may be on high ground, on top of a stump, or in a dense low spruce up to 20ft above the ground-all near water.

 

 

American Black-Billed Magpie Bird -Passerines – 6/23/2014

The American Black-Billed Magpie was photographed in Glacier National Park in Montana United States.

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The American Black-Billed Magpie is a large, slender, black-and white bird with a long wedge-tipped tail and stout black bill. Large white patches flash in the wings. It has a range of Eurasia and west northern America. It has a habitat of rangeland, brushy country, conifers, forest edges, farms, and streamsides. It has a diet of rodents, insects (grasshoppers, caterpillars, flies, beetles), eggs, berries, seeds, nuts, and other vegetable matter.

 

Gyrfalcon Bird – Birds of Prey – 5/24/2018

The Gyrfalcon was photographed at Granville Island in Vancouver, British Columbia.

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This white phase Gyrfalcon is barred on the back side and spotted below, and is the largest of falcons that reigns on desolate coasts of the high Arctic. It has a range of Arctic regions; circumpolar. It’s habitat is Arctic barrens, seacoasts, and open mountains. They feed on mainly birds and some mammals. Gyrfalcons may vary in color phase from blackish, gray, and white. Most Gyrfalcons remain in the far north all year; only a few come as far south as Canada border in winter.

 

Atlantic Black Guillemot Bird – Swimmers – 5/29/2018

The Atlantic Black Guillemot was photographed at the cruise ship dock in Juneau, Alaska.

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The Black Guillemot, during the summer, is a small black ducklike bird with a large white shoulder patch, bright red feet, black pointed bill, and orange-red inside of mouth. In winter it is pale with white underparts and a barred back, with black wings having the white patch.. It has a range of the North Atlantic sector of Arctic south to New England, USA. It has a habitat of inshore waters of the ocean rocky shores and islands. They mainly eat fish and crustaceans, some mollusks, insects, and plant material.

 

Eastern Phoebe Bird – Passerines – 4/27/2012 to 6/5/2017

This Eastern Phoebe was photographed on Greer Creek Road, Marshfield, Missouri.

These immature Eastern Phoebes were photographed on a bush outside our ding room window as they were being trained for flight and feeding.

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The Easter Phoebe is a gray-brown sparrow sized flycatcher without an eye-ring or strong wing bars with a white chest and a flattened black bill. It has a range of East of the Rockies in the United States and from Central Canada to southern United States. It has a habitat of streamsides, bridges, farms, woodland edges, and roadsides. They feed on mostly insects, by watching from a perch and flying out to catch them, and some berries. It can be noted as it is perching with a bobbing tail, and it has a sharp chip sound. It is one of the earliest migrants that spring is at hand.

Select this link to see the map area where the Eastern Phoebe was photographed

 

 

 

Broad-Winged Hawk Bird – Bird of Prey – 12/29/2017

This Broad-Winged Hawk was photographed in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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The Broad-Winged Hawk is a small hawk (about the size of a Crow) with brown back and head, a tanned patterned chest, a white tail banding about as wide as the black, and with white wing linings. Its range is southern Canada and eastern half of United States. It winters in Central and South America. It has a habitat of coniferous forests, and groves often near water and/or clearings. It feeds on small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds. It hunts small prey from a perch in the woods.

 

 

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

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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.