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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY
CONTENTS
PART ONE
THE FACTS
OF BIRD LIFE
8
12
16
PART TWO
MALLARD
GREAT BLUE HERON
RED-TAILED HAWK, BALD EAGLE, AND TURKEY VULTURE
KILLDEER
HERRING GULL
ROCK PIGEON AND MOURNING DOVE
GREAT HORNED OWL
150
156
162
168
174
180
192
CEDAR WAXWING
YELLOW WARBLER
CHIPPING SPARROW
TANAGERS
NORTHERN CARDINAL
BLACKBIRDS AND ORIOLES
AMERICAN GOLDFINCH
HUMMINGBIRDS
WOODPECKERS
PEREGRINE FALCON
PHOEBES
APPENDIX
BLUE JAY
198
204
205
206
AMERICAN CROW
TREE AND BARN SWALLOWS
CHICKADEES AND NUTHATCHES
HOUSE WREN
BLUEBIRDS AND ROBINS
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
in midwinter demonstrates his ability to get everything he needs with time and energy to spare.
Northern
Mockingbird
Sky dancing,
performed here
by a pair of Bald
Eagles, is an
essential aspect
of courtship,
synchronizing
hormonal levels.
10
2 WEEKS OLD. This female is brooding one of her nestlings under her
3 WEEKS OLD. The same owlets now have more barred body plumage
and the first feathers that will become the horns. The slightly downier
one in front was probably the last hatched of the brood.
4 WEEKS OLD.
With its mother
in their nest in a
coniferous tree,
a Great Horned
Owl nestling
hisses and snaps
at an approaching
intruder. By
now it can feed
itself with prey
brought by the
adults, although
its mother may
continue to tear
larger prey and
feed it in small
pieces for another
week or so.
67
HUMMINGBIRDS
Annas Hummingbird
male
70
LEFT
PAIRING UP
hummingbirds are highly territorial during the breeding season,
focusing around a food source. The male doesnt form a pair
bond with females drawn to his territory; he remains with each
only for courtship and copulation, after which the females nest
and raise the young themselves.
despite the lack of a pair bond, females who happen to
nest near a males territory may benefit from his presence.
Female hummingbirds are larger than males, and when they
flare the white patches in their tails, the males sometimes seem
deferential, allowing them access to flowers that the male has
been defending against other competitors. But females are perfectly competent to build the nest, incubate the eggs, and raise
and feed the young without male assistance.
To entice females to mate, male hummingbirds perform
conspicuous dive displays high in the air soaring more than
100 feet, plunging toward the ground, pulling up and snapping their wings, singing buzzily all the time. They may repeat
the entire display as many as 40 times in one bout. The female
watches, and copulation often follows.
hUMMi NGBirdS
A Ruby-throated
Hummingbird
female incubates
her eggs. Notice
how well this nest
blends in with the
supporting branch.
71
Northern Flicker
(yellow-shafted)
male
NORTHERN FLICKER
The state bird of Alabama, the Northern
Flicker spends a lot of time on the ground,
but its a woodpecker through and through.
The wing and tail feathers of birds from the
eastern half of the continent have brilliant
yellow shafts; those from the West have
red shafts.
82
EGGS. Like other woodpeckers, flickers deposit their eggs directly on the
nest floor, with no nest material other than the woodchips left over from
excavation. The nine eggs in this nest are an above-average clutch. Both
adults incubate for 11 to 13 days.
84
4 DAYS OLD. Five flicker nestlings reach up, begging and waving their
tiny wing buds as the female feeds them. Their eyes are still closed, but
the beginnings of feather tracts are visible as dark areas against the pink
skin covering their wings, and one nestling shows the start of a tail.
PEREGRINE
FALCON
Peregrine Falcon
adult male
86
An adult Peregrine
Falcon (at top)
carries a freshly
killed Rock Pigeon,
while its fledgling
flies up screaming
to take the prey.
Within 10 days of
their first flight, the
young falcons chase
after their parents,
begging for food by
giving wailing calls.
FLIGHT PATH
Peregrine Falcon young are semi-altricial, with no clear point
when they change from nestlings to fledglings. Some chicks
may wander away from the nest scrape at only 10 days old,
but most remain close for at least 24 days. Perhaps to encourage exploration and movement, the parents often deliver food
some distance from the chicks. in nestboxes on buildings, the
young falcons may start clambering along windowsills and
ledges, occasionally making tentative jumps. Peregrines make
their first flight when 35 to 42 days old.
Females gain weight more rapidly than males, but males
develop more quickly and usually fledge a few days to a week
before their sisters. The males smaller size and greater dexterity help them avoid accidents; female fledglings are found
grounded more often than males.
PereGriNe FAlC oN
91
EGGS. This Eastern Bluebird nest contains the typical four eggs, but
clutch size may vary from two to seven eggs, usually pale or sky blue in
color, but occasionally white. Bluebirds may produce as many as three
broods per season.
8 DAYS OLD. Four nestlings beg, showing bright yellow gapes edged
with white, their mouths becoming redder closer to the throat. Their eyes
have opened and their feathers, especially on their wings, are growing
rapidly, although their heads are still downy. They now can maintain their
own body temperature, and so are seldom brooded during daytime.
WEEK 2. Inside the nest, four bluebird nestlings beg from their mother.
The pinfeathers on their wings show they are in their second week of life.
The young are fed more in early morning than later in the day.
135
TOP RIGHT
A Cedar Waxwing
holds nest material.
The male and
female bring
material to the
nest site, but she
does most of the
building. Waxwings
may steal nest
materials from
other birds nests,
including those of
Eastern Kingbirds,
Baltimore Orioles,
American Robins,
and Yellow
Warblers.
FAMILY SECRETS
BOTTOM LEFT
A waxwing pair
exchanges a berry.
In their main
courtship display,
the male and female
pass a berry, insect,
or flower petal back
and forth with a
hop. Sometimes the
item is inedible, or
no object is passed,
but the birds
still touch bills
symbolically.
BOTTOM RIGHT
These Cedar
Waxwing eggs
will be incubated
for 11 to 13 days.
Late nesters,
waxwings lay eggs
from June through
early August,
sometimes still
raising young as
late as September.
This timing likely
coincides with fruit
availability.
CedAr WAXWiNG
153
This Yellow
Warbler fledgling
still has tufts
of natal down
on its head and
scattered across
its back, and its
tail seems almost
non-existent, but
it has quite welldeveloped wing
feathers. This
fledgling may
stay with its
parents for up to
three weeks after
it leaves the nest.
YelloW WArBler
161