Small and Cute

This week’s photo, taken April 22, 2024 from the pier in Edmonds, WA, features a BONAPARTE’S GULL in breeding plumage.

Besides being the smallest of North America’s most common gulls, the Bonaparte’s also ranks as one of our cutest gulls. At least that’s one person’s opinion.

If you thought this gull was named after the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, you’d be wrong, but you might receive partial credit for that guess. It’s named for Charles Lucien Bonaparte, a French ornithologist who also happened to be Napoleon’s nephew.

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Red-necked, for Sure

This week’s photo, taken April 15, 2024 from the pier in Edmonds, WA, features a RED-NECKED GREBE in breeding plumage.

This time of year, the Red-necked Grebe’s name tells it like it is; however, that’s not the case during the winter months when this large grebe lacks its reddish neck color.

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Fast and Furious Foragers

This week’s photo, taken March 18, 2024 at Yost Park in Edmonds, WA, features a HUTTON’S VIREO.

The Hutton’s Vireo, found in western North America, is remarkably similar in appearance and behavior to the more widely found Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Both are small birds that forage in trees, often hovering briefly – like a hummingbird – while searching for insects. Both have white eye rings, and both sport similar colors.

The Hutton’s Vireo has two wing-bars, a small thick bill and gray feet. The Ruby-crowned Kinglet usually shows only one wing-bar; it has a small, thin bill, and reddish feet (ruby slippers?).

Of course, these hyper birds rarely sit still long enough for close inspection, so perhaps the best identification clue for these fast and furious foragers is the black bar that’s visible beyond the wing-bar on the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. If you don’t see a black bar, you might be looking at a Hutton’s Vireo.

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Another Week, Another Woodpecker

This week’s photo, taken April 1, 2024 at Yost Park in Edmonds, WA, features one of the less common woodpeckers in this area – RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER.

Red-breasted Sapsuckers drill horizontal rows of holes in trees, creating sap wells that are frequented, of course, by sapsuckers, and by some other birds, including hummingbirds. The sapsuckers, and the other bird species, also feast on the insects that are attracted to the sap.

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Big Woodpecker

This week’s photo, taken March 28, 2024 at Yost Park in Edmonds, WA, features a PILEATED WOODPECKER.

Today, I enjoyed a four-woodpecker day at Yost Park, including Downy, Hairy, Northern Flicker, and the biggest of them all – Pileated.

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In the Mood

This week’s photo, taken March 20, 2024 at the marsh in Edmonds, WA, features a RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

This male Red-winged Blackbird is definitely in the mood for mating. To broadcast its presence to females in the vicinity, it flies slowly to its landing spot in the marsh, all the while vocalizing loudly and flashing its brightly colored shoulder pads for all the world to see.

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Champion Divers

This week’s photo, taken March 13, 2024 at the marsh in Edmonds, WA, features a BELTED KINGFISHER.

Kingfishers almost always perch above water, so they can be ready at a moment’s notice to dive into water for a meal.

As do Olympic divers, kingfishers enter the water head first; however, they are not judged the same as Olympians. It’s not important whether kingfishers enter the water with their toes pointed or that they minimize the amount of splash on contact. What matters is that they return to the surface with a fish in their bill, and they usually do, That’s how they score maximum points, and that what makes them champion divers.

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Making a Point

This week’s photo, taken October 4, 2023 at the marsh in Edmonds, WA, features a PINE SISKIN.

Pine Siskins show up in the Pacific Northwest mostly in the winter months, but their frequency can vary greatly from year to year. After I saw a total of two in all of 2022, I have spotted much bigger numbers during the fall and winter months of 2023/2024, sometimes in flocks of 100 or more.

Pine Siskins are small finches that can be difficult to identify, especially if they are foraging in tree tops, which they often do. They show varying amounts of yellow on their wings, a lot of brown streaking and a notched tail. The bill can be a most helpful identification detail. The end of a Pine Siskin’s bill forms such a sharp point that it seems if a Pine Siskin were to poke you with its bill, it might puncture your skin.

Don’t be too concerned, though. I’ve never heard of a siskin attacking a human. At least, not yet.

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Dark Hoods

This week’s photo, taken February 14, 2024 at Yost Park in Edmonds, WA, features a very common and very camera-cooperative DARK-EYED JUNCO.

A member of the sparrow family, the Dark-eyed Junco shows much plumage variation, depending on where it resides on the North American continent. Here in western North America and relatively close to the Pacific coast, the vast majority are the “Oregon” subspecies, known for their dark hoods. Living my entire life near the west coast of either California or Washington, I have rarely seen a Junco other than the “Oregon” variety.

All Dark-eyed Juncos have light colored bills and white outer tail feathers, and they really show off those white tail feathers in flight. So, if you see a small, active bird in your yard and as it flies you notice a flash of white at the tail, you are probably looking at a Junco.

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Wild About Hairy

This week’s photo, taken February 7, 2024 in Yost Park in Edmonds, WA, features a HAIRY WOODPECKER.

Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers look amazingly similar. Although the Hairy is larger, it can be difficult to identify which woodpecker you are observing, unless both species are present together. However, the Hairy’s bill is longer, nearly as long as the length of its head. That detail is perhaps the best way to separate the two species.

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