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Birds |
Over 100 species of birds have been identified in the West 11th Street Park. Woodpeckers are a special treasure.
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Bird Descriptions *- Click on picture to view it enlarged |
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Downy Woodpecker This, the smallest woodpecker in North America, is found across most of the continent. Its range is from coast to coast and from the northern tree line to the Gulf and the desserts and dry grasslands just north of the Mexican border. The female differs from the male only that it lacks the red occipital patch. Both sexes drum on tree trunks or dead limbs to advertise their presence and proclaim their territorial rights. Their agility comes from their small size and allows to feed on smaller branches and farther out on their tips than other woodpeckers. |
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Pileated Woodpecker These crow-sized woodpeckers drum on trees to claim territory and attract a mate; the loud heavy sound is as if the tree is being hit with a wooden mallet. Each mating pair excavates several roosting cavities and may retire for the evening to one of them. The male roosts in the current hollow before the eggs are laid and afterwards incubates them there at night. The male has a scarlet mustache while the female's is black. In flight, both show a large white patch at the base of their primary wings feathers as well as white underwing linings. They eat ants, beetles and a variety of other insects, especially tree-boring ones, acorns, beechnuts, seeds of tree cones, nuts and various fruits. |
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Red-bellied Woodpecker This noisy common woodpecker has adapted to different habitats from southern pine forests to northern hardwoods, scattered trees and urban parks. Their upper parts have black and white barring in a zebra pattern. The "red-belly" comes from a reddish wash low on the belly and between the legs that is difficult to see in the field. In flight, it shows a white rump, white patches at the base of their primary wings and white-barred central tail feathers. The male has a red crown and nape. The female differs in that her crown is gray. They nest and roost nightly in tree cavities. Their wide variety of fare includes insects, seeds and sap from sapsucker drill wells. |
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Red-headed
Woodpecker Unlike many other woodpeckers, it catches most of it food in flight, from the ground or by gleaning it from tree trunks or limbs. It rarely bores holes in trees to probe for insects. However, the male does drill its nest cavity with the help if its mate. In flight, white underparts, large white rump and large white secondary patches contrast sharply with its black tail, wings and back. They eat various insects, spiders, millipedes, centipedes and sometimes take eggs and young from other birds, mice, corn, grains, various grains and berries. From perches on low limbs, they fly to the ground to pick up a prey or nut. The latter, with their shells removed, are stored as meat for the winter. |
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Juvenile
Downy Woodpecker It is the smallest woodpecker in North America and is found on most of the continent. Its unique combination of its small size, white underparts and small stubby bill sets it apart from other members of the woodpecker family. It drums on dead limbs or tree trunks, with good resonating quality, or utility poles or buildings to advertise its presence and proclaim territorial rights. Primarily feeding on insects, their larvae and eggs, it also eats seeds, nuts, berries, spiders and snails. Its small size allows it to feed on smaller branches and farther out on their tips than other woodpeckers. |
| Northern Flicker This large woodpecker is often found in open spaces as it spends considerable time foraging for ants. Females have similar markings to males, lacking only the mustache. Most terrestrial of the woodpeckers, an analysis of the contents of a single flicker stomach revealed 3,000 ants. |
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Eastern Screech Owl Perhaps the best known owl in North America, this small tufted bird is found in a variety of habitats, from wooded lots to urban gardens. It is able to flatten its tufts which give its head a rounded appearance. It becomes active at night and feeds on a wide variety of small vertebrates and and invertebrates including insects, crayfish, arachnids, reptiles, birds and fish. When approached on its roost, it will flatten its body, erect its ear tufts, and close its eyes in an attempt to hide by blending into the background. |
| Great Horned Owl The most widespread owl in North America, and perhaps the most powerful, this owl often attacks animals much larger and heavier than itself. These include domestic cats, skunks and porcupines. Although nocturnal in behavior, it sometimes hunts during the day. Its primarily feeds on mammals but also eats birds, reptiles and amphibians. In defending its nest and young, it will strike at humans who approach too closely. (Photo courtesy of Jay Lee, http://www.baldheretic.com/2007/02/19/photography-weekend-part-2/) |
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Hooded Warbler This bird resides in the understory beneath tall deciduous trees. When the male sings from his perch, often concealed, he may sit almost motionless as he delivers his ringing song. The juvenile female lacks the black on her crown but has dusky lores and white tail spots. Forages low, commonly on ground. Often remains hidden in dense thickets. Hover gleans and catches insects in flight; picks some food off leaves and branches. Eats adult insects, caterpillars, and spiders. Requires shaded forest with well-developed shrubby understory. |
| Yellow Crowned
Night Heron At home in coastal mangroves, inland swamps and riparian woodlands, this short-necked, stocky heron has a gray body and a large black head boldly marked with a white cheek patch and white crown with yellowish tints on the forehead. During the breeding season, males and females have long white occipital plumes on the back of the head. In flight, the long yellow legs protrude well beyond the white tail. While mostly nocturnal, it is often active during the day. Exhibits a strong preference for crustaceans, although it eats a variety of other aquatic organisms from fish to shellfish. |
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Red-Tailed Hawk This hawk is found in more habitats than any other North American buteo and, consequently, is the most common hawk on the continent. This species has five races: a pink-tailed Great Plains race known as "Krider's Red-tailed, krideri; the eastern borealis; the southwestern fuertesi; the western, calurus; and the rare "Harlan's Hawk" or harlani, once considered a separate species, which is very dark with a white-based tail. In flight, all adults show a dark brownish mantle and a dark brown bar on the leading edge of the underwing. All juveniles have a dark brown tail with a black band. Because it perches low on woodland edges and along roadsides, this is the most conspicuous and easily observed hawks. It eats small to medium sized mammals, reptiles, amphibians, grasshoppers, spiders, earthworms, some fish and an occasional small bird or bat. It carries small prey to a perch; partially eats larger prey on the ground. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Ballard. |
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Canada Warbler This Warbler sings frequently from the dense forest undergrowth it favors, or from an exposed perch just above it, with a jumbled warbling song that defies a fitting mnemonic. It actively forages for insects by flushing them from the foliage and chasing them. Males have been observed in "anticipatory feeding" offering insects to the unhatched eggs in the well-concealed nest on the ground. This early fall migrant often heads southward before many other warblers begin their migration. The male's whitish eye ring forms spectacles. |
| Ovenbird The female build a small oven-shaped nest, with a side entrance, in the leaf litter under tall deciduous trees. Unlike many warblers, it does not often forage in live vegetation. Instead, it walks on the ground, foraging among the leaf litter and twigs, its wings partially drooped and its tail cocked upward and sometime quickly raised and slowly lowered. Most singing is done from an elevated perch and the song of one territorial male initiates a response song from each neighbor, which in turn initiates other to do so, until a wave of Ovenbird songs sweeps across the woodlot. |
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Rose-breasted
Grosbeak (Female) This bird's clear notes are delivered in robin-like phrases, but the song is sweet. Males sing constantly, even while sparring to win a female. In flight, females flash yellow wing linings. Their rich melodious song phrases are interspersed with call notes. They forage in trees, shrubs and on the ground. Their diet consists of seeds, insects, caterpillars, tree flowers, fruits and berries. Males and females rub bills to display affection during courtship. |
| Scarlet Tanager
(Female) No other bird in North America has the breeding male's unique plumage of a rich scarlet body with black wings and tail. By contrast, the female has dull green upperparts, blackish wings and tail and lemon-yellow underparts. Juveniles and the first fall males are similar in appearance to the adult female. They may forage for food on the ground, but more often than not, high in the tops of trees. They frequent drier forests, often pine and pine-oak. Insects, including wasps and bees and caterpillars are in their diet, as are berries and fruits. They glean from branches and foliage and frequently hawk insects. |
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Cooper's Hawk Sometimes called the Blue Darter or Chicken Hawk by farmers; however, studies show that poultry are only a small portion of its diet. It was named after William Cooper, the first person to collect one of these birds and have it identified. Like most hawks, the juvenile has heavily streaked underparts and brown upperparts, whereas adult show blue-gray upperparts. Females are larger than males and both show a glue-gray back. In flight, the long tail appears rounded. They will not allow similar Sharp-shinned Hawks in the same woodland. They attack poultry, other birds, small mammals and take songbirds out of their nest. They sometimes carry their prey to water and kill it by drowning. Hunts by waiting in ambush or by dashing in swift low flight through wooded lots, surprising prey and catching it with talons. |
| Magnolia Warbler Often fanning its tail to show its broad white sub-terminal band and yellow rump, this bird nests in coniferous forests. Males sing from conspicuous perches or while foraging. Often spreading its tail, it busily gleans insect from branches and foliage. Occasionally will hawk them in flight. Eats insects, larvae, caterpillars and spiders. Young are brooded by the female and stay in the nest 8-10 days and fed by both sexes. Have one brood per year. |
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Least Flycatcher A common summer breeding resident in North America and the smallest of the eastern empids, it is perhaps the most often-encountered flycatcher in the East. During the breeding season, the male makes a noisy territorial display, calling more than 60 times a minute while chasing other flycatchers in its territory. It has brown to olive wash on its upperparts, a conspicuous eye ring and wing bars. Often changes perches and flicks its tail and wings a lot; jerks its tail strongly upward. Chases ecologically similar American Redstart out of its nesting territory. Perches to spot prey and then catches in in the air while flying. Eats a wide variety of insects, some spiders and a few berries and seeds. |
| © Friends of 11St Park |
Date of last edit: 01 Oct 2007 |
Created by: ARGEE PUBLICATIONS |