The ABCs of birds - letter C

[anneintoronto]

Cormorant addendum

Double Crested Cormorants at Mystic Harbor, Connecticut.

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  

[Aafke]

Wow, you all doing a great job, nice stories, great pictures, but I'm sure there are more people with memories of pictures from birds starting with the letter C.
Tomorrow we will have the letter D.
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

C is for Common Sandpiper
One day I was in a birdwatching cabin and a Common Sandpiper was very close to the cabin. He walked over a kind of tube but it was slippery and he almost fell, luckely he had wings.
greetings Aafke

[Aafke]

C is also for Common Tern
I really love the Common Terns, specialy in May when lots of them are brooding and feed their babies and learn them to fly. I can look at them for hours mostly together with my sister.
The babies are sooo fluffy and cute.
Greetings Aafke

[~Ruth]

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.

[Donna]

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

[gayle]

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

[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

[anneintoronto]

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!

[gayle]

C is also for Common Tern

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

[dale]

While hiking on the beach with several friends, when a common tern was spotted,  someone would say  "Look, there is a comintern!"  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.

[gayle]

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

[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

[MAK]

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

[gayle]

Crested Caracara

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