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White-Breasted Nuthatch
Have you seen the white-breasted nuthatch crawling up, down, and around a tree? They are searching for insects, larvae, and seeds hidden in the bark. These birds visit our backyard and feeders often.
Scientific Name: Sitta carolinensis.
Family: Nuthatch.
Length: 5-3/4 inches.
Wingspan: 11 inches.
Distinctive Markings: Males and females look similar, with a short tail, bluish-gray back and wings, black cap and white breast.
Nest: Hair, fur and shredded bark built in natural cavities and birdhouses. Lays five to 10 white eggs with multicolored markings.
Song: Nasal “yank-yank-yank” call.
Habitat: Area with plentiful trees.
Diet: Insects and larvae; pine, fir and maple seeds; mountain ash and juniper berries; oak, beech and hickory nuts.
Backyard Favorites: Sunflower seeds, unsalted peanuts, birdseed mix and suet.
One of the Sequoia trees in our backyard has become the favorite spotting perch for several local birds of prey. Everyday a hawk or other bird of prey sits at the top of this tree for several minutes, looking for a meal I suppose.
I believe this bird is a Black-Shouldered Kite. I was thrilled to get a photo of this bird in flight.
Kites are graceful birds of prey. They are falcon-shaped, with pointed wings. Their diet consists of large insects, reptiles, and rodents.
One of my blog readers, Ellis Myers, commented that “Your bird is a White-tailed Kite (Elanus leucurus). It was formerly known as Black-shouldered Kite, but the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Black-shouldered Kite of Australia.”
Thanks for the information, Ellis.
I was using my Western Birds – Peterson Field Guide, copyright 1990 to identify the bird. Your information is more up to date. The White-tailed Kite designation is in my Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America but the images show the kite as a pale gray bird. My bird had sparkling white plumage.
Sibley Guide To Birds Now on eNature.com
The entire award-winning Sibley Guide to Birds is now available online at eNature.com. Features such as multiple images of birds that show their various life stages and clear comprehensive text, the Sibley Guide is the premier guide to the birds of the United States.
Yesterday was an extraordinary bird watching day for me! Even though the Project Feederwatch bird count season is over, I continue to fill one of my feeders for spring and summer birds.
I had three male Black-headed Grosbeaks and one female Black-headed Grosbeak visit my feeder yesterday. I originally thought there was one male bird and one female bird until I saw three male birds late yesterday afternoon. Black-headed Grosbeaks are common here during the breeding season.
A Spotted (Rufous-sided) Towhee was hopping around and scratching under the feeder. This species of bird is ground foraging and is found in our area year round. The Spotted Towhee has similar coloration to the Black-headed Grosbeak and a bird watching novice might mistake one bird for the other. However, a closer look would reveal the differences. The Grosbeak has a light-colored thick over-sized bill used for cracking the shells of seeds, while the spotted Towhee has a dark-colored slender bill. The Grosbeak is a stocky cumbersome bird. The Spotted Towhee has a slender body with an up-tilted tail. It hops around scratching among the dead leaves.
A White-breasted Nuthatch, a year round resident of our area, was eating seeds at a hanging feeder. During the winter they are often seen eating suet. The Nuthatch eats insects and seeds and is often seen climbing head down on a tree trunk.
A Black Phoebe, also a year round resident of this area, was picking up pieces of coco fibers from the deck. The Phoebe is a flycatcher and eats mainly flying insects. They do not visit the seed feeders but are occasionally seen in the yard.
Other usual visitors were Oak Titimouse, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Housefinch, California Towhee, Mourning Dove, Steller’s Jay, and Western Scrub Jay .
The little Oak Titmice have been very active now that spring has arrived. Their call is the loudest bird sound in our backyard. It amazes me that such a tiny bird can make so much noise. It is mating and nest building season. I saw one emerging from the titmouse nest box in our backyard this week. They dart to the tube bird feeder, grab a seed, and then fly to a nearby tree branch where they hold the sunflower seed with a foot as they eat. They are very quick and I was pleased to get a photo.
I put out peanuts in the shell for the squirrels, the Western Scrub Jays, and the Steller’s Jays. One day a little titmouse pecked at the shell of a peanut with its tiny bill. Then, with its bill stuck in the peanut it flew away. The peanut was almost as big as the bird! Unfortunately, I did not get a picture.
An Oak titmouse is a small gray bird with small a tuft on its head.
- Size: 5 3/4 inches long
- Weight: 10-21 g (0.35-0.74 ounces)
- Sexes look alike
- Cool Facts
- The Oak Titmouse sleeps in cavities, nest boxes, or in dense foliage. When roosting in foliage, the titmouse chooses a twig surrounded by dense foliage or an accumulation of dead pine needles, simulating a roost in a cavity.
- The Oak Titmouse mates for life, and pairs defend year-round territories. Most titmice find a mate in their first fall. Those that do not are excluded from territories and must live in marginal habitat until they find a vacancy.
- The Oak Titmouse, unlike other members of the family, does not form flocks in winter.
Can you find the two titmice in this picture?
Thursday, April 2 we had a large Cooper’s Hawk fly through our backyard and land in a tree. I was amazed at how large the bird was. It landed on a tree branch with its back to me and then turned around so that I could see the streaks on its breast side. These hawks fly through our yard preying on feeder birds.
Here is more detailed information about the Cooper’s Hawk.
A medium-sized hawk of the forest, the Cooper’s Hawk specializes in eating birds and small mammals. It is built for fast flight through the obstacle course of trees and limbs.
Description
- Size: 39-50 cm (15-20 in)
- Wingspan: 62-90 cm (24-35 in)
- Weight: 250-597 g (8.83-21.07 ounces)
- Medium-sized hawk.
- Tail long, rounded, and barred.
- Wings short and rounded.
- Back dark gray or gray-brown.
- Underparts barred reddish and white.
- Dark crown contrasts with nape.
- Legs yellow.
- Eyes orange or red.
- Tail ends in white tail band.
Sex Differences
Sexes similar in plumage; female larger.
The Cooper’s Hawk is found year round across the United States.
Reproduction
Nest Type
Open bowl of sticks lined with bark flakes and occasionally rimmed with green vegetation. Placed in main crotch or against the trunk of a live tree. Often placed on top of old crow, squirrel, or other hawk nest.
Egg Description
White to bluish white.
Clutch Size
Usually 3-5 eggs. Range: 1-7.
Condition at Hatching
Helpless and covered in white down.
Cool Facts
Dashing through vegetation to catch birds is a rather dangerous lifestyle. A recent study found that 23 percent of all Cooper’s Hawks examined had healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula or wishbone.
A Cooper’s Hawk captures a bird with its feet, and will squeeze it repeatedly to kill it. It does not bite the prey to kill it in the fashion of falcons, but holds it away from its body until it dies. It has been known to drown its prey, holding a bird under water until it stops moving.
Large numbers of Cooper’s Hawks can be seen on migration, especially at hawk watches such as Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania; Cape May, New Jersey, Goshute Mountain Range, Nevada, or Braddock Bay, New York. Autumn movements generally begin in late August and continue through early November. Young Cooper’s Hawks tend to migrate about a week earlier than adults, and females tend to go earlier than males by a few days.
| Weather and Effort: April 1 and 2, 2009 | |
|---|---|
| When did you watch your feeders? | Day 1: morning afternoon Day 2: morning afternoon |
| Estimated cumulative time: | 1 to 4 hours |
| Daylight temperature: | 1 to 10° C (33 to 50° F) low Over 20° C (over 68° F) high |
| Daylight precipitation: | None |
| Total depth of ice/snow cover: | None |
Checklist for FeederWatch California Region Birds
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 2 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 3 |
| Western Scrub-Jay | 3 |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 1 |
| Oak Titmouse | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| California Towhee | 2 |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 7 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow | 3 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 2 |
| House Finch | 8 (0 with eye disease) |
| American Goldfinch | 1 (0 with eye disease) |
Visit Project FeederWatch for more information and to find out how you can become a citizen scientist and count the birds you your own backyard!
| Weather and Effort: March 25 and 26, 2009 | |
|---|---|
| When did you watch your feeders? | Day 1: morning afternoon Day 2: morning afternoon |
| Estimated cumulative time: | 1 to 4 hours |
| Daylight temperature: | 1 to 10° C (33 to 50° F) low 11 to 20° C (51 to 68° F) high |
| Daylight precipitation: | None |
| Total depth of ice/snow cover: | None |
Checklist for FeederWatch California Region Birds
| Mourning Dove | 1 |
| Anna’s Hummingbird | 4 |
| Steller’s Jay | 1 |
| Western Scrub-Jay | 3 |
| American Crow | 1 |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 1 |
| Oak Titmouse | 1 |
| California Towhee | 2 |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 9 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow | 3 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 3 |
| House Finch | 4 (0 with eye disease) |
| American Goldfinch | 2 (0 with eye disease) |
Visit Project FeederWatch for more information and to find out how you can become a citizen scientist and count the birds you your own backyard!
Route 44 eagles on the Caltrans Eagle Cam
www.turtlebay.org
The eagle pair has been very succesful hatching three eaglets. They hatched March 17, 19, and 22. The parents are being very diligent in feeding and caring for them. As the eaglets grow, you will notice that they are out from under the parents more often.
Notice that as they feed, they rip off food and gently place the food at the eaglets’ beaks.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Pheucticus melanocephalus L 8 ¼” (21cm)
Photo by Lang Elliott
An adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
The rose-breasted grosbeak is a songbird of the eastern deciduous woodlands. Spending much of its time in the treetops, the beautiful male rosebreast is often heard before it is seen. The rich melodic warbling song of the rose-breasted grosbeak is often described as sounding like a robin that’s had singing lessons. When not singing, rosebreasts often utter a call that sounds like a squeaky eeek! In flight, male rosebreasts flash a pinwheel of black and white, and if you look carefully, you’ll see that both sexes have salmon-pink in the “armpit” region under their wings.
Above information from BirdWatchersDigest.com
In the past five years we have had two sightings of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (an eastern bird) at our backyard feeders. A maturing male bird visited our feeders during late winter, spring, and summer about four years ago. This winter a juvenile male was sighted once at our feeders and a few times by our neighbor.
The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is easily identified. It is black and white, with a large triangle of rose-red on the breast and a thick pale bill. The female shows little resemblance to the male bird with the exception of the large thick bill. The female is streaked like a large sparrow and recognized by the large “grosbeak” bill.
As the male bird matures the pale rose-red triangle on the breast becomes a very distinct bright rose-red triangle.
