Great White Heron - Ardea herodias occidentalis

We are accustomed to seeing white wading birds in our south Florida back yard lake. The most common of these is the White Ibis. Adults are mostly white, with black wingtips.

Not herons but rather more closely related to spoonbills, they have strikingly red bill and legs.

 

During mating season, around the middle of winter, the males squabble to establish dominance.



Tactile feeders, the ibis probes into the mud and clamps down upon prey. This one just caught a crayfish.



Egrets are also common. Great Egrets might be seen at any time. They are sight feeders and either wait patiently or stalk for prey such as small fish, crustaceans and insects. 



They are quite wary, and I find it difficult to obtain a closeup. Note the long bright orange-yellow bill and all-black legs.



The smaller Snowy Egret appears sporadically. A  more restless feeder, it quickly traverses the shoreline in search of food. Its bill is black and its "golden slippers" contrast with mostly black legs. It startles prey by stirring the water with its yellow feet.



Even smaller is the Cattle Egret, distinguished by its short yellow bill and dark legs. Rather than hunting in the water, it searches our garden for insects and lizards.



The Cattle Egret develops rusty plumes on its head and breast during breeding season.



We usually have Little Blue Herons on the lake, but most are dark adults. During their first year they are white, and we must take a closer look to postively identify them. Deliberate hunters, they seem to be near-sighted as they walk slowly with their bills almost touching the water (or the grass, as this one is after a dragonfly). Greenish legs and a light bill with a dark tip are distinctive features.



Less common, especially in recent years, is the Wood Stork. A tactile feeder, it slowly moves along with half-open bill. Like the Snowy Egret, it stirs the water with its feet, which are bubble-gum pink.



Rare indeed is the visitor which occasioned this post. Look closely and compare it with the white waders described above. 



It is a "Great White Heron,"  a subspecies of the Great Blue Heron. Admittedly, I almost passed it off as a Great Egret when I first saw it across the lake. However it seemed bulkier and had a habit of roosting in one spot for a long time, even up to an hour, so I took a closer look. This was my first photo, which confirmed my suspicions.



Known to breed in Cuba and some of the Caribbean Islands as well as the Yucatan Peninsula and on islands off the coast of Venezuela, the Great White Heron's North American range is almost exclusively limited to the Florida Keys and the tip of the Florida south of Miami. 

Its upper mandible is dark, contrasting with the orange lower bill, quite identical to the common "blue" form of the Great Blue Heron.This bird's thighs are light, and its lower legs are darker but not black.





This bird was earlier considered to be a variant color morph of the nominate Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias herodias), but is actually a distinct subspecies, Ardea herodias occidentalis. The blue and white subspecies occasionally interbreed. 

Since Great Egrets are sometimes misidentified as Great White Herons, I had the unusual opportunity to photograph both individually from the same distance, walking across a lawn on the opposite side of the lake. Both photos were taken at a range of 140 meters and nearly the same angle. They exhibit the larger size and more robust body of the Great White Heron.

Great White Heron at 140 meters:



Great Egret at 140 meters:

  

The Great White Heron prefers coastal waters and rarely ventures north of its habitual range, but has been documented along the Atlantic into New England and even Canada. Inland sightings are quite rare. Our home is 18 miles away from the ocean, and this was the first one to visit our yard.

The Great White Heron spent much time on our back lawn, visiting five days over a nine day period in the middle of August . It came so close that even after I backed away I could not fit the entire bird in the video frame!

It's Not Just About the Birds

Tricolored Heron

I got into birding through my love of nature photography. After moving to Florida birds became my chief photographic subject. I fell in love with their beauty as well as the challenge of learning to find and identify them.  To this day, when I go out into nature, my top priorities are birding and bird photography.  But over the last few years, I've also become fascinated with other forms of wildlife that I sometimes encounter while birding.  I'm still a bit of a novice at non-bird wildlife, but at risk of deviating too far off this blogs topic of the fun of birding, I thought I'd share a little bit of the non-bird wildlife I've been enjoying learning about.

I love butterflies.  Especially when the birding is slow, it's fun to see what may be fluttering about. At first my process was to photograph first and then consult field guides later.  Recently, though, I discovered a wonderful website, e-butterfly.org.  It's the butterfly equivalent of eBird, and it has encouraged me to learn more about butterflies.

Zebra Swallowtail

Zebra Longwing

Dragonflies have been a bigger challenge for me.  Thankfully, there's a wonderful site called odonatacentral.org. You can record your sightings, but there is also a section to help you identify dragonflies and damselfles.

Marl Pennant

Seaside Dragonlet

Halloween Pennant

By far my favorite website for insects is bugguide.net.  They have a fantastic online guide to help you identify just about any bug you might find in the U.S.  And even better, you can submit photographs for identification.  This allowed me to find out that the digger wasp in the photo below is of the species Sphex jamaicensis.

Digger Wasp with Katydid

It's not hard to distract me from birding for a few minutes at the sight of a turtle. They are fascinating creatures.  To help me learn how to identify turtles, I've been making use of http://www.empireoftheturtle.com/florida_turtle.htm and http://www.wildflorida.com/florida_turtles.php

Gopher Tortoise

Peninsula Cooter

There's another website that I've found helpful for lizards. It's called http://www.wildflorida.com/florida_lizards.php. My personal favorites are the Five-lined Skink and Six-lined Racerunner.

Five-lined Skink

Six-lined Racerunner

There are also some wonderful mammals to see. A good site for mammals is http://www.wildflorida.com/florida_mammals.php.

Bobcat

River Otter

The Midwest Woodpecker Drill Team

What's that drumming sound? A question often asked here in the Midwest. A resonant drilling noise can be heard on shingles, gutters, house siding, utility poles, garbage cans and dead trees. The culprit ... woodpeckers!  Below I feature several members of the Midwest Woodpecker Drill Team.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker (female)

Downy Woodpecker (male)

The downy is North America's smallest woodpecker. They are one of the most widespread species and a common sight at parks, woodlands, as well as other locations.

A large portion of the Downy Woodpeckers diet consists of insects, the likes of caterpillars, beetle larvae and ants. They also eat fruits, seeds, and sap from sapsucker woodpecker drill wells. These woodpeckers visit backyard feeders often to dine on black oil sunflower seeds, suet and steal sips from hummingbird feeders.

Female Downy Woodpeckers forage on large branches and tree trunks, males seek prey on the smaller limbs.

During breeding season, both the male and female downy pair will work together on a nest hole. This task can take from 1 to 3 weeks. The excavated cavity is then lined with wood chips.

The female and male look identical except the male sports a vibrant red occipital cap.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker (male)

Pileated Woodpecker (female)

Pileated Woodpeckers are large woodpeckers measuring 16.5 - 19.5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 27 - 30 inches.

These red-crested birds feed primarily on ants, termites, beetle larvae, tree-boring bugs and other insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. Acorns, nuts,  tree cones and various fruits are also on their menu.

When seeking food, Pileated Woodpecker are known to excavate impressive rectangular holes in trees. These holes can be a foot or more long and reach deep inside the wood. Round holes are used for nesting.

Males do most of the work when excavating the nesting cavity, especially at the beginning. When the hole is nearing completion, the female will assist in the work.

Pileated Woodpeckers can be quite clamorous. Their vocal calls and drumming can be heard from up to a half a mile or more away.

Males can be distinguished from the females by their scarlet mustache (females have a black mustache) and red forehead (females have a black forehead).

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker (male)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (female)

Red-bellied Woodpecker (juvenile)

Though, noticeably red-headed, the rosy blush seen on the lower portion of the belly gives the Red-bellied Woodpecker its name. Males have a red crown and nape, whereas females have a gray crown and red nape.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers are commonly seen in the eastern half of the United States and can be found in open woodlands, forests and parks.

They consume vast numbers of wood-boring beetles, grasshoppers, spiders and other insects. They will also feed on acorns, nuts, pine cones and fruit. Occasionally they will eat bird nestlings, tree frogs, lizards and small fish.

This boisterous woodpecker can extend its long tongue about 2 inches beyond the tip of its beak. The bird produces a sticky spit and uses its barb-tipped tongue to extract prey from tree crevices. Red-bellied Woodpeckers will store seeds, corn, nuts and insects in tight bark crevices to be consumed at a later date.

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpecker

The handsome Red-headed Woodpecker with its striking plumage has many nicknames. The "flying checkerboard", "patriotic bird" and "shirt-tail bird", to name a few.

Of all the woodpeckers in the United States, Red-headed Woodpeckers are the species least likely to drill for food. They will often catch insects on the wing, as well as fly to the ground to nab prey. Like the Red-bellied Woodpecker, they store food in bark crevices for future consumption. There are reports of these handsome woodpeckers caching live grasshoppers and beetles into tree cracks and covering them with wood or bark. Red-headed Woodpeckers also eat a variety of insects, fruits, and seeds.

Male and female Red-headed Woodpeckers are identical in plumage (sexually monomorphic).

Though some are permanent residents, Red-headed Woodpeckers migrate during the day and for short distances.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (male)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (female)

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers drill holes into the inner bark of a tree in search of sticky sap. Using their short bristly tongues, they lap up the oozing fluid.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are considered keystone species. Squirrels, bats and many other animals and birds depend on the sap holes, as well as the protein-rich insects they attract, for sustenance.

When harvesting sap, these woodpeckers excavate two kinds of holes. They drill deep, round holes that flow sap continuously, and shallow, rectangular holes which need to be maintained to keep the sap flowing.

Besides sap, these migratory woodpeckers will eat insects attracted to the drill wells, berries, fruits and tree buds. Spiders and ants are also on their menu. They occasionally can be seen drinking sugar water from Hummingbird feeders.

The female looks similar to the male but has a white throat and paler underparts. 

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted)

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted, female)

Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted, male)

The main staple of a Northern Flickers diet is ants. These woodpeckers are often seen in open spaces, digging in the dirt and using their barbed tongue to capture large quantities of ants. Flickers also eat beetles, a variety of insects, fruits and seeds. When attempting to capture prey, they can extend their long tongues up to 2 inches beyond the tip of their bills. 

Northern Flickers use their drumming technique to attract a mate, and also as a form of communication in territory defense.

The flickers plumage coloration allows it to blend in well in the forests and woodlands where it lives.

Males can be distinguished from the females by the presence of a black mustache. Northern Flickers have a black crescent bib on its upper chest, a prominent red chevron on the back of its crown and a white rump.

Of the five Northern Flicker subspecies, there are two distinct geographical groups. The Yellow-shafted Flicker form can be found in the east and northwest. The Red-shafted Flicker form can be found in the western United States.

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker (male)

Hairy Woodpeckers look very similar to Downy Woodpeckers but there are noticeable differences. The Hairy Woodpecker has a larger, longer bill and the white outer feathers of the black tail lacks spots or bars. They are also larger in size and have more slender bodies than the downy.

Like the Downy Woodpecker, males have a bright red patch on the back of their heads, females lack this patch.

These birds can be found in all types of forests, they also frequent gardens and residential areas.

The Hairy Woodpecker enjoys a great assortment of foods, especially insects. They are partial to caterpillars and Gypsy Moths. Other insects consumed include ants, beetles, grasshoppers and spiders. Nuts, seeds and some fruits are also on their food list.

The male does the majority of the nest cavity excavating, but the females will contribute. The female lays 3 -6 eggs and incubates them during the day. The male takes over the task in the evening.

~ ~

Posted by Julie Gidwitz ~ Nature's Splendor - http://naturessplendor-julie.blogspot.com/

To All the Birds I Loved Before

Gambel's Quail at Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ

To all the birds I loved before

Who flew past my windows or my door,

Black-capped Chickadee in Andover, MA

You’ve made me feel at home,

I dedicate this poem,

House Finches in Corona de Tucson, AZ

To all the birds I loved before.

 

Western Kingbird at Lakeside Park in Tucson, AZ

To all the birds I like to spot,

And may I say I’ve seen a lot,

Great Egret at Reid park in Tucson, AZ

You bring me so much bliss,

I know I’ll always miss,

Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Lisbon Falls, ME

 all the birds I loved before!

Cattle Egrets and White-faced Ibis near the Salton Sea, CA

The winds of change are always blowing,

And I keep moving far away,

Brewer's Sparrow at Michael Perry Park in Tucson, AZ

But with every state I live in,

I see more birds everyday!

 

Wood Thrush in Central Park, New York

To all the birds I count each day,

You make me smile while you play,

White-winged Dove and Mourning Dove in my backyard in Tucson, AZ

I love to see you fly

Or bathe before my eyes,

Rufous, Broad-tailed, and Magnificent Hummingbirds on Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ

You are the birds I loved before

Cactus Wren in Tucson, AZ

And I can’t wait to see some more!

~Kathie Adams Brown (August 6, 2014)

Willet at Reid State Park in Maine

I had a little fun this month playing with that old Willie Nelson, Julio Iglesias song, To All The Girls I Loved Before. I used it as a pattern but totally changed the words to fit my birding passion! I hope it makes you smile! I am having fun Birding in Maine!

You can always see more birds and read more poetry at my blogs:

• Kathie's Birds
• Kathie's Poet Tree