Rfalconcam Forum

OK...since I think we've spent two days on the letter B (there are a lot of B's), and it's after midnight in the Eastern US, I'll start the letter C!  I feel a little like a character on Sesame Street.  Anyway...

C is for Cedar Waxwing.

I took this photo in the fair city of Rochester, in the gorge during the 2006 falcon watcher's weekend.  It's nice of the local wildlife to give us a thrill when the falcon watching is slow.

Sorry for the rear shot, but I think it's their best side anyway.

Here is a Chestnut-sided Warbler; taken on the shores of Lake Erie during Spring Migration this past May.

And to add to my collection of photos of birds taken from the wrong angle, here is a Collared Trogon.  I saw this bird in the Peruvian jungle...it has a spectacularly beautiful black and white pattern on its tail and wings; it's too bad the photo doesn't show that very well.

And my final entry for tonight (more tomorrow evening unless someone else beats me to it), it the Common Yellowthroat, a beautiful little warbler I see with some regularity in damp places.  This one I photographed, like most of the warblers I've been lucky enough to get pictures of, on Lake Erie in May.

shoot, Patti. I guess I have to post at least ONE "C" that I actually SAW.

OK, then, my picture of eight California Condors at big sur.

yes, they are condors, not fly poop on the camera lens.

and one I definitely did NOT see, but admire; if I met one I would invite it to dinner and try to get to know it better.

Cinerious antshrike
 
the picture below comes from this page:
http://www1.nhl.nl/~ribot/english/thca_ng.htm

where you can also hear his song, if you are a dog.
not exactly, but it's pretty high-pitched.

  Ohhh were still doing B's

Mon and Tues A's
Wed and Thurs B's
Fri and Sat C's

 :hyper: :crazy:

The cinerious antshrike begs to differ, and you don't want to get those bad boys POd. They just look tiny.

Sorry...I assumed since we skipped our second day of A's and spent both Tuesday and Wednesday on the B's, we were ready for C's.  I'll be good and get back to Aafke's original schedule.

It's a tough schedule! Tomorrow C's

Don't worry,it's after midnight now in the Netherlands,it's Friday here.I choose some birds with the B and C together.
Greetings Carla
 PS  In the B topic. :confused:

C is for Clark's Nutcracker, one of my favorite birds!  We see this bird in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains.  They don't migrate, but instead manage to survive a snow-packed Rocky Mountain winter by caching food to eat throughout winter.  In the Northern Rockies, where we usually see them, they cache mainly the high-calorie, highly nutritious pine nuts of the Whitebark pine.  They have a sublingual pouch into which they can gather lots of pine nuts to carry off and hide.  There is some concern about the bird (and other animals, including Grizzly Bears) who depend on the Whitebark Pine, since its populations are being devastated by the pine beetle, who is aided and abetted by climate change.

We took this photo at Yellowstone National Park, but we've seen then many places in the western mountains.

This photo of a Common Raven we took in Bryce Canyon National Park.  He's a member of the same family as the Clark's Nutcracker above!  They all like to hang out at tourist attractions and try to beg free food.

yo! Nutcracker is a corvid? I had no idea.

I choose the cranes, Sandhill like I saw for the first time last year in Florida!  Loved watching this pair and hearing their clacking!   They were BEAUTIFUL!!

Catbird
If you’re convinced you’ll never be able to learn bird calls, start with the Gray Catbird. Once you’ve heard its catty mew you won’t forget it. Follow the sound into thickets and vine tangles and you’ll be rewarded by a somber gray bird with a black cap and bright rusty feathers under the tail. Gray Catbirds are relatives of mockingbirds and thrashers, and they share that group’s vocal abilities, copying the sounds of other species and stringing them together to make their own song.

C is for Canary

My personal canary story...when I was little we lived in an apartment, so we could only have birds and fish.  We had a canary named Bambi.  He used to go everywhere with us and even had his own suitcase with a label, Bambi Jones.  

 Canary singing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpfsYIN9cZ8&feature=related)  

From http://www.canarybird.info/

Canaries are one of the most beautiful birds around. Originating from the Canary Islands (which owes them its name); these small birds can be found both in the wild as well as in almost every pet and bird shop nearby.

They came to Europe by the help of Spanish sailors at the start of the 17th century. The Europeans quickly noticed that the male canary bird is the one that sings (unlike the mute female), and as such started breeding them and selling the males. But quickly, European nations (especially the Italians) managed to allow a larger breeding to occur and these birds started being noticed in many households in the continent.

It is important to note that singing canaries do not just make random sounds, but rather they have their very own song patterns that no other birds can match. They are often sub classified as 'American singers', 'Persian singers', 'Russian ringers', 'Spanish Timbrados', 'Waterslagers' and 'Rollers'.

I call Cockatiel!  I'll get a picture posted when I get home.   :wave:

C is for the Common Grackle

The 32 cm (13 in) long adult has a long dark bill, pale yellowish eyes and a long tail; its feathers appear black with purple, green or blue iridescence on the head, and primarily bronze shine in the body plumage. The adult female is slightly smaller and usually less iridescent; their tails in particular are shorter, and unlike the males, do not keel in flight and are brown with no purple or blue gloss. The juveniles are brown with dark brown eyes. (Wiki)

We don't often see a Grackle in downtown Toronto, so I was thrilled to see one in August!



Anne in Toronto

C is for Casqued Oropendola -- a very strange looking bird that I saw in the Peruvian jungle.  They were hard to miss because they are very vocal (sort of like visiting a swamp in North America full of Red-winged Blackbirds).  There were bunches of them together in a nest tree, with each pair having a long woven basket nest hanging from the end of a branch.

C is for Curl-crested Aracari, another bird from Amazonian Peru.  Many birds in the Amazon jungle spend their time high up in the tree canopy, where it's not always easy to see them from the ground.  I took this photo from a high canopy tower in the Tambopata reserve built for the purpose of looking down into the canopy.  This bird is in the toucan family, and they're primarily fruit eaters, as this pair is demonstrating.

Cormorants

I will mention several types of cormorants in the United States.  The most widespread  is the Double Crested Cormorant.  It winters along all the coasts and breeds in the interior of the US and Canada.  The wingspan is 38”.  It is distinguished by two tufts on the crown in breeding season, white in the western population and dark in the eastern one.  It has an orange beak and an orange throat patch.  The kink in its neck is visible when in flight.

Brandt’s Cormorant may be found along the Pacific Coast.  Wingspan is 48”.   It has a band of pale feathers around a bright blue throat patch in breeding plumage.  They are abundant on off shore rocks.

The Pelagic Cormorant has a wing span of 39” and its range is the Pacific Coast.  It is dark and glossy all over.  Pelagic is something of a misnomer as it is found coast side.

The Red Faced Cormorant’s range extends westward from Alaska through the Aleutions.  And, yes, its face is red.  Wingspan is 40”.

The Great Cormorant is found on the Atlantic Coast principally north of the Chesapeake.  Wingspan of 63” and it has a white throat patch.

ID photographs are from Cornell.  Tufts image bears the photographer's name.

Gayle

And here's a contribution from the Galapagos.  We took these photos on the island of Fernandina.  This is the Flightless Cormorant, also known as the Galapagos Cormorant.  Due to the absence of land-based predators (until human arrival brought rats, dogs, cats, etc.), these cormorants no longer need wings to escape.  Since their wings don't give them any evolutionary advantage, they're gradually losing them.  As you can see in the photo of the single cormorant, their legs and feet are incredibly thick and strong; they use their legs for propulsion in the water rather than wings.  They still maintain the habit of holding their pitiful residual wings out to dry, like other cormorants.

The first photo is a single cormorant, the second photo is a pair with a chick in between (and another bird on a nest behind them).

C is for Cowbirds: My sis took this pic in her yard in 2007



These birds feed on insects, including the large numbers that may be stirred up by cattle. In order for the birds to remain mobile and stay with the herd, they have adapted by laying their eggs in other birds' nests. The cowbird will watch for when its host lays eggs, and when the nest is left unattended, the female will come in and lay its own eggs. The female cowbird may continue to observe the nest after laying her eggs. If the cowbird egg is removed, the female cowbird may destroy the host's eggs,

I love Cranes also, this is from my sis.

Mom Dad and 2 babies.

Baby  :baby:

Catbird  meow  (sis again) This species is named for its cat-like call. Like many members of the Mimidae (most famously mockingbirds), it also mimics the songs of other birds, as well as those of Hylidae (tree frogs), and even mechanical sounds. Because of its well-developed songbird syrinx, it is able to make two sounds at the same time. The alarm call resembles the quiet calls of a male mallard.

Last one, I think  ;) Cardinal: 

Mr and Mrs at my sisters birdbath.

Mr.

Mrs.

Cormorant addendum

Double Crested Cormorants at Mystic Harbor, Connecticut.

Gayle

Cranes, Sandhill

While I have many images of cranes, they are pre-digital and I am not up to all that scanning, so here is a lovely photograph I received from the International Crane Foundation.

Gayle

So many types of Cormorants!  I see one type, as I drive into Hamilton on the 403 -- there are hundreds of them!  They are odd flyers, with their wings coming from the centre of their torsos...  And, of course, they kill off trees by the hundreds with their pooh...  There is real concern down on Toronto's Leslie Spit, as the cormorants are destroying trees at several nesting sites and are thus threatening that nesting population...  I know one of the unfortunate nesters was a group of Herons -- not totally sure what type...green, I think.  I can see the row of trees where they sit from my balcony -- no leaves...  I haven't heard that anyone's come up with a solution yet...

Thanks for all the pictures Gayle and Patti!
Anne in Toronto  

C - Chickadee.  A friend of mine buys those little white worms to feed his backyard friends.  When a youngster visits he lets them hold a little cup with a couple worms in it.  He whistles and soon a chickadee will land on the cup to take a worm.  Great lesson for little kids.

How cool is that? I think Chickadees are so darn cute. Thanks

Crested Caracara

The Crested Caracara is a fierce looking member of the falcon family.  It looks like it would take on anyrhing, but, in fact, it is principally a carrion eater and it is often seen in the company of vultures.  Its range is South and Central America and extends to the U.S. and Florida.  I have seen it several times in Baja.  It prefers open lowlands or savannas.  Its nest consists of a collection of sticks.  In that area of  Baja, platforms are constructed atop power poles, similar to those for osprey, for their nests.

You can listen to the calls and see videos from the Macaulay Library here:  http://macaulaylibrary.org/search.do

Photographs by Peregrine Fund.

Gayle

Coot, American

How many times have you seen a bunch of black birds on the surface of a pond at a distance and think,"Aha, interesting ducks?"  And you get closer and discover they are ordinary old coots!  (Not to be confused with eccentric old men.)  Coots are ubiquitous. I even found them in the Orkneys. They are duck-like, but are not ducks.  They are actually swimmung rails.  About the only interesting thing about them is they have lobed toes and partially webbed feet.

(As an aside, I had a childhood friend whose nickname was Coot.  I thought it was a disparaging handle given him by cruel boys.  After his death, his sister said he gave himself the name.  How weird is that?)

Gayle

C is for Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with mottled rufous, white, and black upperparts. Head, neck and breast are a rich rufous while vent, undertail coverts and underwings are white. Black bill is long and slightly decurved. The legs and feet are black. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats. (whatbird.com)

I used to love watching the Curlew Sandpipers when I was at my consignment gardening plot.  There would be an adult and 3 or 4 little ones dashing along the grass paths, in one straight line, at great speed and with great intent!  And the little ones were exact duplicates of the adult!  Right down to the tip of their toes!!  I never did figure out the purpose of all this dashing around...except maybe to gain strength or work up an appetite!  They weren't eating or soon to take off...  Too cute!

Anne in Toronto



Curlew Sandpiper up to his knees!

This brings back happy memories.  While hiking on the beach with several friends, when a common tern was spotted,  someone would say  "Look, there is a comintern!"  A long ad libbed shaggy dog story would ensue.  Comintern was an organization started by Lenin, Communist International.  We maaged to turn terns into polital creatures with ulterior motives!

Gayle

Yes, common terns are known to be always prepared to fight, by all available means, including throwing fish, for the overthrow of the unintentional beachball and for the creation of an international Sternidae republic!

um...speaking of revolutionary and reformist wings, is it SUNDAY yet?

Maybe not on the left coast, but here in the midwest it IS.

on the other hand, here is a chaffinch I photographed in New Zealand.

Coots Redux

I found some coot photographs last night.  They were made at the Sacramento Wild Life Refuge in the Central Valley of California.

Gayle

Cormorant Fishing

Some cultures, principally Japanese and Chinese used cormorants to catch fish for humans.  Read about here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cormorant_fishing

Gayle

 :o  What the...   The people that fish this way ought to have a snare put around their freakin' necks!!! :snarl:

On the National Geographic' "Migration" episode tonight, a Striated Caracara, one of the rarest raptors in the world was featured.  Also known as Johnny Rook, it is found in the Falkland Islands.  It was shown preying on the eggs and chicks of the rockhopper penguin

Gayle