Southwest Hummingbirds Part 3: Broad-tailed and Broad-billed

THE HUMMER BROADS

A female Broad-billed Hummingbird, Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, Sierra Vista, AZ; 4/9/2012.

Broad-billed Hummingbird: During my Spring Break Southwestern birding trip, I was lucky enough to make my second visit to the Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservatory, which is considered to be one of the best places to find a wide variety of species of hummingbirds. After I completed a long hike into and out of the canyon, I still had an hour before the grounds closed for the day. So I camped myself on a bench facing one of their many hummingbird feeders. Within that hour I saw four (maybe five) different species visiting the one feeder: A Broad-billed (Above), a Magnificent and Rufous (tomorrow's post), many Black-chinneds, and an unconfirmed possible Blue-throated (my photo was inconclusive, but was probably a Black-chinned).

Val's photo of the beautiful male Broad-billed Humminbird, Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson; 12/27/2012.

While visiting the wonderful Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ, Val visited the hummingbird house, in which resided hummingbird species that could be found in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. She was able to catch several excellent close-ups of many different types, including the Broad-billed (Above).  Males sport a dark green belly and dark blue throat and breast with black wings and dark green back, all off set with a brilliant red bill. Don't ask me why I didn't make it to the Hummingbird House. I was probably out chasing wild birds.
Broad-billed Hummingbirds are common in the southeast corner of the Arizona (i.e.Ramsey Canyon NC) during the summer. Rarely do they venture north, but there are few odd sightings of these guys in California.

Val's photo of a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ; 12/27/2009.

Val photographed a female Broad-billed (Above) at the Hummingbird House as well.


Broad-tailed Hummingbird: The second of the "broad" hummingbirds is the Broad-tailed (Below).

A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Rocky Mt. Nat. Prk, CO; 7/8/2010. Photo taken when I still had my Canon RebelT1i with a Canon 55-250mm lens. I hadn't yet owned my current Sigma 150-500mm lens.

While camping in Rocky Mountain National Park two summers ago, I liked to get up early and before making breakfast, meander around the vast slope, meadow, and creek area to the south of our campground to look for wildlife. One morning, while I was stalking a Mountain Bluebird, I was able to catch a glimpse of a hummingbird that showed itself for only a moment before it buzzed in a high pitch out of sight. My first reaction was a Black-chinned, but upon viewing my photo (Above), the bill seemed too short, and the only other hummer that would be present this far north in Colorado in midsummer, would be the Broad-tailed, and indeed, unless I am mistaken, this what I ID'd it as. Broad-tailed Hummers can be found in dry arid places, especially in and around coniferous forests, which was where I was (check). The male has fairly dark green flanks with an orangish edging to the insides of its tail feathers (check).  In the right light its dark throat would turn a rosy red. The road-tailed range includes Idaho and Wyoming to the north spreading south through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and into Mexico. It likes higher altitudes, but will not go as far west to the Pacific Coast.

A female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (or a female Calliope?), Sonoran Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ; 12/27/2009.

Val also caught a good picture of a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Above) at the Sonoran Desert Museum Hummingbird House.  Initially I ID'd this hummer as a Calliope, as the females of both the Calliope and Broad-tailed are very similar with a green head and back, grayish throat, dark wings and a buffy breast. I decided that it was a Broad-tailed because the wing tips of the hummer (Above) do not reach the tip of the tail, whereas on the Calliope, its wing tips are as long as the tip of the tail, and the Broad-tailed has more white on its breast. And finally, in the photos I've seen of the Calliope, it seems that its bill is thinner than the Broad-tailed, and this hummer looks to have a thicker bill.  However, the eye gave me some trouble with the ID. Calliopes have a white spot behind its eye as does the hummer (Above), while Broad-taileds have a complete white eye-ring.  The bird above doesn't appear to have a complete eye-ring, but shadow and feathers could obscure it. I am still leaning toward the Broad-billed because of the length of the wings.

Brewer's Blackbird - Western Birds

A male Brewer's Blackbird, looking for free handouts at an outdoor restaurant, Ventura, CA; 6/19/2011.

After our Wildlife Cruise to Anacapa Island in the Channel Islands National Park, we relaxed at an outdoor restaurant before we resumed our trip back towards the East. A Brewer's Blackbird (Above) made itself welcome at several tables on the patio. The wait staff was continuously chasing it away, but it was pretty persistent.

A female Brewer's Blackbird in a grocery parking lot, Newport Beach, CA; 6/15/2011.

A few days earlier, while we were restocking our groceries for our trip a female Brewer's Blackbird (Above) was very bold in the parking lot, looking for goodies that shoppers might have left behind. Needless to say, Brewer's Blackbirds are not shy and are very opportunistic for their food supply.

A Brewer's Blackbird, Rock Mt. Nat. Park; 7/8/2010.

That is not to say that brewer's Blackbirds cannot survive without human rubbish. They can and do. When we were camping in Rocky Mountain National Park last summer, there were lots of Brewers living off the fat of the land.

Great Blue heron, Ventura, CA; 6/19/2011.

Another bird made an appearance just outside the restaurant at which we were eating. A great Blue Heron (Above) landed on the dock just yards from where we were eating.

Tomorrow I will start posts from birds we saw in Arizona's Petrified Wood National Park.

Sunset of the Day

Well, actually a moonrise. Perfect conditions - a clear sky, a full moon, a still lake and snowcapped mountains contributed to this scene in Yellowstone National Park, WY; 6/11/2006.



Blue-gray Gnatcatcher & Black-throated Sparrow

A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Colorado National Monument, Grand Junction, CO; 6/10/11.

Two other fairly common birds that I spotted on our trip out to California was the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Above), which I spotted at the Colorado National Monument (it is also common back in northern Illinois) and ...

A Black-throated Sparrow, Monument Valley, AZ; 6/11/2011

... the Black-throated Sparrow in Monument Valley, which I spotted in its usual habitat for this sparrow - in very arid areas, such as desert scrub with sparse vegitation.

For more information about these two bird check my past posts:

http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/06/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-late-april.html

http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2010/08/black-throated-sparrow-11.html

Sunset of the Day

I love the purple sky in this Bauman Park sunset, Rockford, IL; 5/30/2006



Crows, Magpies, and Ravens

A Black-billed Magpie, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; 7/8/2010.

On our trip out to southern California, we made a stop at Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, CO. Three of the most commonly seen birds in Colorado and in most of the West, from the Rockies to the Pacific, are the Black-billed Magpie (Above), the American Crow (Below middle two pics), and the Common Raven (Bottom two pics).

A congress of crows sitting on a branch surveying their territory, Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Beach, CA;   

A collective group of crows are also called a "cauldron", a "congress", a "horde", a "murder", and a "muster". I personally love a "murder" of crows, but I have to admit a "congress" of crows is very fitting - a lot of noise and bluster.

American Crow, Silverthorne, CO; 7-6-10

A Common Raven, Petrified Wood National Park, AZ; 6/20/2011.

Two Common Ravens fighting over a pine cone, Newport Beach, CA; 6/13/2011.

A group of ravens has many collective nouns, including a "bazaar", "constable", "rant", "storytelling", and "unkindness" of ravens. I don't make these up. Check the website 

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/104/_/Common_Raven.aspx .

Sunset of the Day

"The Three Gossips" rock formation in Arches National Park, Utah; July, 2005



Dark-eyed Gray-headed Junco (#2)

A Dark-eyed Gray-headed Junco, Lily Pad lakes Trail, CO, 7-6-10.

A Junco that I had never before heard of until I captured it on a picture this summer in Colorado is the Dark-eyed Gray-headed Junco.  After the trip while scanning the images on my memory stick, I thought it looked juncoish, but wasn't sure of its identity until I looked up Juncoes in The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, and sure enough there he was (Above).  I feel lucky to have seen and photographed this little guy because these types of Juncoes are only found in a very limited range - in summer only in the Colorado and Northern New Mexico Rockies at 7,000' to treeline and into high altitude sections of Utah and Nevada.  In winter they migrate a bit south into Arizona, the southern half of New Mexico and the Mountains of Mexico.

Once I was able to identify this little fellah, I thought he looked similar to a pair of birds (Below) that I photographed on the Colorado trip (a couple of days later) that was in my "unknown bird" file.

Juvenile Dark-eyed Gray-headed Juncoes, Deer mountain Tr., Rocky Mountain Nat. Park; 7-8-10.

The spotty stripes on the flanks of these birds had me confused for some time, until I was able to determine that they were juvenile Dark-eyed Gray-headed Juncoes.  They have all the characteristics except for those unusual flank stripes.

Northern Flickers: Yellow-shafted & Red-shafted

Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker at Rowe Sanctuary, Nebraska; 7-11-10.

We also saw several Northern Flickers at the Rowe Sanctuary, the Eastern version, or the "Yellow-shafted" Flicker.  Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of the male (Above) with its prominent black malar (the stripe between the throat and the mustache line). He always seemed to be behind a branch, too far away, or in a shadow. Good identifying features of a Northern Flicker are its black malar, spotted belly, a red crescent on its nape, a black breast band, its white rump, and when it's in flight the underwings are yellow.

The photo (Below) of the same Flicker was in the shadow of a branch that made him appear as if he was wearing a black cap. Initially when I first looked at the photo I didn't even recognize it as a Flicker.

The shadow on the top of this Northern "Yellow-shafted" Flicker made it look like he was wearing a black cap and hood surrounding a reddish face.  This lighting confused my identification, made it look some kind of a weird cross between a wild turkey and a tree perching bird. If I didn't also have the photo (At Top), I still might have stuck it in my "unknown bird" file.

It's black-spotted belly and breast is a sure give-away that it's a Flicker, as no other woodpecker type bird has such definite spotted markings. Other woodpeckers markings on the belly are more of a barred shaped or plain. The photo (Below) is the female Yellow-shafted Flicker. It's identical to the male except without the black malar.  On this photo you can see the red crescent on its nape and its white rump.

Female Yellow-shafted Flicker showing off its red crescent on its nape and white rump which is identical to the male, but does not sport the black malar.

The Western version of the Northern Flicker is the Red-shafted Flicker (Below). It is identical to the Yellow-shafted Flicker except its malar is bright red instead of black and it doesn't sport the red crescent on the nape. Also in flight, its underwings are more reddish-orange instead of yellow. It seems that most of the time when I see a Red-shafted Flicker, it's uually foraging on the ground, but when I see a Yellow-shafted Flicker, it's usually clinging to a dead branch up high in a tree.

 

A female Red-shafted Flicker; Rocky Mountain Nat. Park, CO; 7-8-10.

Pine Siskin

Notice the yellow markingss on the Pine Siskin's wings and tail; Silverthorne, CO; 7-6-10.

A member of the finch family that can easily be confused with a sparrow is the Pine Siskin.  They have the brown streaks on their breast, belly and flanks much like several varieties of sparrows. Distinct yellow markings (Above, Silverthorne Bike Path, Colorado; 7-6-10) on the wings of male Pine Siskins set them apart from sparrows. And the streaks will set them apart from the American Gold Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. However I have always had a hard time distinguishing between female Pine Siskins and female House Finches, until I get a good look at their beaks. The Pine Siskin's beak is more slender than the House Finch's stubby thick beak.

A Pine Siskin feeding at a bird feeder in a Silverthorne, CO, neighborhood; 7-6-10.

Pine Siskins will spend the winter in the U.S. pretty much from coast to coast, but as the weather warms up, they will migrate North and spend summers in Canada and the Southeast section of Alaska.  However some will stay year round in the cooler altitudes of the Rocky and Sierra Nevada Mountains (Below, Yosemite NP, 6-18-09).  As a matter of fact, it was in the Rockies of Colorado where I saw a small flocks of Siskins in both open forests as well as in towns feeding at bird feeders (Above, Silverthorne, CO, 7-6-10) where there were plenty of trees.

The first time I was able to identify a Pine Siskin was in Yosemite National Park, CA, on the Cathedral Lakes Trail; 6-18-09.

White-crowned Sparrow (#9)

White-crowned Sparrow singing its familiar song along a bike path in Silverthorne, CO; 7-6-10.

I first observed a White-crowned Sparrow in 2009, while hiking in Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah, in June, and then again in December, in Arizona. Both times the birds were foraging on the ground in a dry brushy habitat. I thought I was lucky to spot these birds as they are not very common in Illinois. However, Sibley’s Guide to North American Birds does list them as spending winters in Illinois. I have not noticed them in our area, but this past summer while spending time in Colorado, White-crowned Sparrows were all over the place: in trees along bike trails (Above, 7-6-10) in town, out in open fields, and even around alpine lakes in the higher altitudes. I had many photo ops with this bird and learned to recognize their song as I heard them singing continuously during the week I was in Colorado. Their orange beak was a great contrast to their black and white crown colors (Below, 7-6-10).

The bright orange beak is an identifiable trait of the White-crowned Sparrow; Summit County, CO; 7-6-10.

Lincoln's Sparrow (#8)

A Lincoln's Sparrow feeds on insects along a creek in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; 7-8-10.

Another Sparrow that I was very lucky to see in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer was the shy Lincoln’s Sparrow (Above, 7-8-10), which shared the same habitat as the Savannah Sparrow (discussed on my 8/23 Post), in a grassy, marshy area.  It was fun to explore this marsh, sloshing through the bog, and crossing creeks . The Lincoln’s Sparrow is not common in Northern Illinois nor the Midwest as a rule, unless it’s migrating through to its Canadian and upper Michigan breeding grounds. They are more common out West especially in the higher elevations of the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas in meadows usually near water. However they are considered very shy hiding in the brushy bogs and often mistaken for Song Sparrows. They are bit smaller in size and have more slender beaks than Song Sparrows, and the dark streaks on their breasts are finer than the Song’s (closer to that of the Savannah’s) and have a more buffy or beige color underneath the streaks (Below, 7-8-10).

You can see the buff or beige coloring beneath the streaks on the breast of a Lincoln's Sparrow; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; 7-8-10.

Hermit Thrush

Whether I am at home in Northern Illinois listening to a Wood Thrush or out West listening to a Hermit  or Swainson's Thrush, in my opinion, the thrushes have some of the most beautiful songs in the bird world. One reason for this is that they have the ability to sing more than one note simultaneously. I am also convinced that they can throw thier voice. I can be in the woods chasing a Wood Thrush and it sounds like I am literally next to it, and still cannot spot its location. Then I hear it in another spot, follow that song, and still not see the bird.  Of course, their brown feathers blending into the forest is probably the real reason I cannot spot them. And when I do, they are too far away, too hidden, or it is too dark to get a decent photo.  Nevertheless, hiking in Colorado, it is the Hermit Thrush that always seems to avoid my viewfinder. They are more prone to be in the open than the Wood Thrush (which always seems to be behind a branch); however, they are very sly at always seeming to be in a position with their back to me or half-hidden behind a fallen log or bush. Of all the attempts of photographing a Thrush, only once I came away with a good picture, and I wasn't even stalking it. I was actually stalking a Coati-Mundi (Below top, 12-27-09) during one of our Winter Break migrations to Arizona, when a Hermit Thrush (Below bottom, 12-27-09) landed on the ground in front of me.. What fantastic luck - getting two wildlife photo ops within ten seconds of eachother. 

Coati-Mundi

Hermit Thrush

I labelled the photographs, just in case you didn't know which one was the Hermit Thrush.

Williamson's Sapsucker

I learned about a bird I have never heard of before my Colorado trip earlier in July. While hiking up Deer Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, an obvious woodpecker-type bird landed in a tree not far off the trail, I zoomed in on him and took some photos, not knowing exactly what type of woodpecker it was. Upon research I identified it a Williamson's Sapsucker - thank you David Allen Sibley, author of Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.  (And Thank you to Val for giving it to me as a gift.)

The Williamson's Sapsucker is not a common sight, so I feel lucky to have seen one. It is a very handsome bird with black upperparts, breast, tail and head which is broken up with a white eye stripe and mustache, and a white rump (which is visible when it is in flight) and white stripe up its side. It is the only Sapsucker in North America that has an entirely black back, but what gives it a striking look is its red throat red and yellow belly. Unfotunately, in my pics (Below, 7-8-10) I wasn't able to capture its yellow belly - only a few faint yellow feathers in the bottom photo.

In most species of Woodpeckers or Sapsuckers the sexes have only subtle differences in appearance, usually with the male having red somewhere the female doesn't. Williamson's Sapsuckers are unusual in having the male and female looking drastically different. The two sexes look so unalike that they originally were described as different species. The female looks more like a Flicker with a brownish head. The Williamson's Sapsucker was first described in 1852 by John Cassin, an American ornithologist, who named the female - Black-breasted Woodpecker, before they were discovered to be the same species. The species took its common name from Lieutenant Robert Stockton Williamson, who was the leader of a surveying expedition which collected the first male.

An interesting bit of information - a group of sapsuckers are collectively known as a "slurp" of sapsuckers. That seems to make a bit of sense - "slurp" and "sucker."

Mountain Bluebird

While staying in Silverthorne, Colorado, during the first week of July this summer, Val wanted to take some photos of boats in the Lake Dillon Marina, so on our way to our daily hike, we stopped in a pullout on the side of the road and hiked down to the bike trail that circled Lake Dillon. While she made her way to the Marina, we saw some yellow birds taking flight into a grove of trees in the scrubby bush habitat between the road and the bike trail. I though that this might be a perfect oppurtunity to find some Wilson's Warblers, but the yellow birds turned out to be Yellow Warblers. I couldn't find any Wilson's Warblers, but I did see a pair of blue birds that I mistakenly took for Scrub Jays or Pinion Jays, but as I looked at my photos later I realized their beaks weren't large enough for these two types of Jays. The pair (Below, 7-6-10) were Mountain Bluebirds - male and female. At the time they didn't register in my mind as what I thought Mountain Bluebirds should look like. They looked too scrubby - not blue enough.

A pair of Mountain Bluebirds near the Lake Dillon bike trail

A year ago when I was camping in Rocky Mountain National Park I witnessed a Mountain Bluebird sitting on the tip of young pine tree, but was too far away to capture a decent photo. So this year, when we set up camp in the same Rocky Mountain National Park campground, one of my goals was to get a good picture of a Mountain Bluebird (This was before I realized the photos I took at Lake Dillon were actually Mountain.Bluebirds).  I arose early after our first camping night with the hopes of scouting out the same area where I saw last year's Mountain Bluebird.  As luck would have it, not only did I spot a Mountain Bluebird, but I noticed it was hanging around a particular tree on the slope of the mountain. Then I saw it enter a hole in a distant tree (Below, 7-8-10) and I knew that it was probably a nest.

I made my way closer to the tree and perched myself on a rock about 20 feet from the side of the tree and waited. In less than 5 minutes, not only did the male return, but was joined by his mate, which entered the hole in the tree several times carrying bugs to probably feed her young. She would perch (Below top, 7-8-10) on the edge of the rim for only a second before disappearing into the hole. Then she would stick her head out for a fraction of a second before taking flight (Below bottom, 7-6-10).  After several attempts of trying to photograph the female I finally decided to focus my camera on the hole and wait for her to return and I was finally able to capture her.

The male, however, was bolder and hung around the tree gaurding his family, so he was much easier to focus on to get some good photo ops (Below, 7-8-10).

Male Mountain Bluebird, looking at me wondering what business I might have with his family housed in the tree behind him.

Scrub Jay

Another Western bird form the Jay family is the Scrub Jay. They are more common along the Pacific Coasts of California and Oregon, and are less common inland; however, all of the photos I have of Scrub Jays are from inland habitats. I saw a few of them in my latest trip to Colorado, but did not get any photos. The photo (Below top, 6-9-09) of the Scrub Jay was taken at Grosvner Arch near Escalante, UT.  We had driven for over an hour on Cottonwood Canyon Road (Below middle, 6-9-09), a windy, dusty dirt road, to get to this back country park, but was well worth the time and dust for both the scenery (Below bottom, Grosvner Arch, 6-9-09) and the Scrub Jay.

Scrub Jay on the outhose roof at Grosvner Arch Picnic Area

My trusty Subaru Forester on Cottonwood Canyon Road

Grosvner Arch - sandstone Arch

Another photo of a Scrub Jay (Below, 12-29-05), I took while we were hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon, AZ. At the time I took the pic I thought I had taken a picture of a Western Bluebird, but I have since become a learned man.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet

Another small Mountain bird that nests in conifer forests and forages in low brush is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  I was on the same bike path in Silverthorne, CO, as my 7-27 post of the Mountain Chickadee, when I must have come close to a nesting pair of these cute little Kinglets (only about 4" long) because they were vigorously chattering at me and never really strayed too far away. I have never seen a Kinglet before, and was lucky enough to see both a Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets (as beautiful as the Golden-crowns were, my photos of them were of poor quality); however, I was very pleased with my Ruby-crowns photos (Top Below, female, 7-6-10). In fact, if I didn't get the picture of the male (Below Bottom, 7-6-10) with the little patch of red feathers on its crown, I might have had a harder time identifying it correctly. I lucked out, because the "ruby" crown feathers are not always visible.

Just for the heck of it, I'll post a photo of one of the Golden-crowned Kinglets I tried to capture. I was on a hiking trail that the first two miles meandered through a dark deep conifer forest (on the way to Mohawk Lakes near Breckinridge, CO). There was a a pair of Golden-crowns flitting away high in the tree tops of a pine. They wouldn't stay still and stayed high in the tree. I waited for at least 15 minutes (Val will concur, she wondered where I was as she was far ahead of me on the trail) and probably took 30-40 shots, but the best I could get is below (7-6-10). You can see why I was dissappointed in not getting a better image as the bird is very beautiful with its golden crown glowing in a patch of sunlight. Even trying to process the "raw" image in Photshop and lightening up the pic by quite a large percentage, this is best I can offer. The challenges of bird photography. I don't know why the birds can't land in front of me and sit still. What are they thinking? I am not that menacing looking.

Both species of Kinglets flitted around constantly and would stay put for only a fraction of a second before flying to a new perch. The difference in the quality of my photos is purely proximity. I was only a couple of yards away from the Ruby-crowns, but was a good 100 feet or more from the Golden-crowns.

Mountain Chickadee & Black-capped Chickadee

Another common Rocky Mountain bird is the Mountain Chickadee (Above, 7-4-10), often seen foraging in conifer forests. I shot this photo just yards off a busy bike trail in Silverthorne, CO. She was hanging around a Spruce tree with a couple of her older young.  I just missed getting a pic of her feeding one of her youngsters, which was almost as big as her (Below, 7-4-10). The juvenile is on the left.

In Northern Illinois and throughout the Midwest, the Northern East and West is the common Black-capped Chickadee. They are the same size and have the same habits as the Mountain Chickadee. The main visual difference as you can see the Black-capped (Below, 2-9-10 in our front yard, and Bottom, 2-21-09, feeding on suet cake in our backyard) has a full black cap; whereas, the Mountain Chickadee's cap is broken by a wide white eyebrow (which gives it a more devilish look) and has less white in its wing feathers. The Black-capped chickadee's flanks are more buff colored than the Mountain Chickadee's grayish flanks.