Kookaburra (Laughing Kookaburra, Australia)

The cheeky, bright-eyed Laughing Kookaburra will make YOU laugh.

Locally known in Australia by its last name only, the Kookaburra is an entertainer.

At dawn and dusk the Kookaburra sings out a cackling, laughing tune to announce his territorial rights. It's a social behavior often sung in unison by family members.

A Kookaburra alone in captivity does not sing.

An adult female can reach eighteen inches from tip to tail and weigh about a pound.

The Kookaburra is a meat eater. They dine on a variety of vertebrates and invertebrates with an occasional taste for snake.

Grabbing a small snake behind its head, a Kookaburra first takes it for a ride.

After dropping it from on high, she then confidently retrieves her meal.

(Sexes look alike)

The Kookaburra is not a shy bird. Unlike most birds, they tolerate human presence and are quite approachable. This pair, sitting in a gum (eucalyptus) tree in Cardinia Reservoir Park, Victoria, Australia, allowed me to intrude upon their sunset solitude with only a brief nod in my direction.

Although the sign reads 'Do Not Feed the Birds' at Badger Creek Holiday Park, Healesville, Victoria, some guests still do.

The Kookaburra will gladly accommodate a human desire to be entertained by flying down to accept an offering.

There are many places in Australia where you could wake up to the chortling of the Laughing Kookaburra, as they are widespread and common.

If you get the chance, don't pass it up.

Allan

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

You can view a youtube video of a captive Kookaburra singing in the San Diego Zoo at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA0-YAoo9Q

Credit: National Geographic
Credit: birdlife.org.au

Spotted Towhee

Spotting a Spotted Towhee is not that easy. They tend to hide in the underbrush and reveal only for good reason...food mainly.

The Spotted Towhee is a bird of the western United States...quite common, but secretive.

Males and females look alike, although the male is more boldly spotted. The spotted pattern is thought to be an adaptation evolved to mimic the sun's dappled reaches of the underbrush.

This male Spotted Towhee searched the patches of ground exposed by the retreating snow.

Seeds and berries make up his diet in winter...summer includes insects and invertebrates.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

Perched proudly on a red twig dogwood, this male Spotted Towhee is at home on Mt. Lemmon, Arizona.

It is noonday at my brother Kenn's cabin...8000 feet.  As snow melts reluctantly at this altitude, looking for a mate in early February may be futile, but he is in good form already.


In spring the males rise to sing in the tree tops in hopes of attracting a mate. He sings long and loud during the pairing process.

If successful, he'll return to the security of the thicket to raise a family.

The Spotted Towhee is a striking specimen of a sparrow. You may never get to see one east of the Mississippi River...rather unfortunate. So, for people living in the eastern half of the United States, please accept my opinion that this is one beautiful bird.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds, David Allen Sibley

Say's Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike

The golden, dry vegetation of the Southwest compliments a Say's Phoebe's own coloration, as this phoebe braces into a whipping wind.  A small, slender songbird, common in the West from Northern Alaska to Southern Mexico, the Say's Phoebe is comfortable around people. This one had his eyes fixed on a prize.

At the leading edge of a Catalina Mountain stream, insects scurry to get out of the way of the slowly advancing water. That's where the Say's Phoebe stakes out a hunting ground.










Flying at the water's edge, it is only a matter of time for an insect to reveal itself.

Flying insects and small crustaceans make up his diet. The Say's Phoebe can hover in place to pluck insects from vegetation or snatch them in the air.

This Loggerhead Shrike interrupted the phoebe's meal with a half-hearted attack, but they are not real enemies.

The Loggerhead Shrike is only slightly larger. The shrike managed to chase the phoebe off his perch, but not far away.

The two maintained an agreed upon margin of separation, as they worked the same leading edge of the river.

The Say's Phoebe is a bird that says,
"Come take notice of me.  I'm a slender, cinnamon songbird, approachable and colorful."

Good advice!

Allan

Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

The Sibley Guide to Birds

Green-tailed Towhee

Reddish on the top and greenish on the bottom, the Green-tailed Towhee impresses, if you get to see one.

They are not wildly colorful birds...rather muted in fact. Because they are so secretive, you're lucky to find one in the wild. The Green-tailed Towhee is a bird of the understory...those dark, tangled, inaccessible reaches of the underbrush where predators find it hard to navigate.

But the Green-tailed Towhee must reveal himself on occasions in a search for food. Noticeably uncomfortable and wary, the Green-tailed Towhee bobs and dips as he scratches the leaf litter for food.
The ground is a dangerous place for a bird.

At home in the Rocky Mountains States, the Green-tailed Towhees (sexes alike) will raise their family in the United States, although they winter in Mexico.  In spring the male rises from the underbrush to claim a territory by singing in the treetops. But, most time is spent at ground level feeding on insects in summer and seeds in winter.

They can raise their rufous crown slightly to challenge an offender, but they are reclusive birds, content to stay in the shadows...venturing only into safe surroundings.

I consider myself lucky to have finally seen a
Green-tailed Towhee,
after many years of trying to get a decent image of one.

What I've encountered in the past was a green tail flying away from me.

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley Guide to Birds

Canyon Towhee

You have to creep like a cat to see them...the Canyon Towhees.

Not all birds are bright, brilliant and beguiling. Some species are shy, dun colored and receding. They live in the understory and they prefer it that way, too. When they do show themselves, it's a treat.

The Canyon Towhee is a larger member of the sparrow family.

Well-adapted to the sunbaked southwestern states, the Canyon Towhee thrives in a scrub and cactus environment.

Foraging for seeds around rocks and in the desert leaf litter, they pose little contrast to the desert itself...best to go unseen.

Their boldest distinguishing mark is a rust colored under tail, but that, too, remains hidden at ground level.

Their conical bill gives them away as a seedeater.

To uncover the seeds the desert floor provides, the Canyon Towhee grabs a two-footed hold of the ground litter and makes a big backwards leap.

This scraping action reveals seeds and insects hiding beneath. It's this bird's way of smartly picking up a meal.

Unfortunately, this scraping takes place undercover, mostly out of sight.

It's a foraging trait the Canyon Towhees practice well.

Luckily, Canyon Towhee population numbers have remained strong over the past fifty years, despite a human desire for desert living. Sadly, as humans encroach on the desert, they bring their cats with them...many going feral. It's the feral cats that are placing a downward pressure on many bird populations.

Unfortunately, even the secretive haunts of the Canyon Towhee won't protect them from a hunting cat.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

Allan

Credit: 
Cornel Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Hummingbird Wars

At warp speed, hummingbirds do battle daily...Star Wars on the smallest scale.

A male Anna's Hummingbird watches from his treetop perch. He claims ownership of our backyard as his territory and he watches over it closely.

He doesn't like trespassers.

He scans the comings and goings of other hummingbirds who stop or pass too slowly, persuading them to leave before they get hurt.

His weapons are a swordlike bill and an awesome-hot helmut.

He controls his territory with all-out frontal attacks and a take no prisoners attitude.

This Broad-billed Hummingbird was one bird who lingered too long.

He received a high speed escort to anywhere else but here.

In this case the tresspasser escaped to a tree in the front yard, well away from the food at the backyard.

His only retort to this rude treatment was delivered after the fact.

This Costa's Hummingbird was similarly encouraged to leave, but the odds were more even here. The Costa's Hummingbird is capable of standing his ground against the Anna's Hummingbird, resulting in a begrudging agreement to share opposite sides of the feeder.

He's similarly adorned with an fabulous purple helmut and long gorgets, adding a dash of flare and fierceness to his look.

This first-year male Anna's Hummingbird doesn't stand a chance against the older male of his own kind. He takes flight at first sight of an attack.

He is just now sprouting the weapons he needs to defend a territory and attract a female.

Defending a territory takes a lot of energy...nectar.

Plain sugar water provides energy in a 4 to 1 ratio.

Even though I provide plenty of nectar, there seems to be a natural aversion to sharing this wealth of food.

It's a winner takes all world and the strong survive.

Aggression seems so unnecessary to an outsider, but nature plays by its own rules.

As the undisputed master of arial acrobatics, hummingbirds enforce their rules. Weighing in at only a nickel's weight, they maintain the smallest of no-fly zones. With landing gear extended, the male Anna's flutters into the treetop to resume the watch for challengers...whether real or imagined.

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

The bird with the  magic-hat is the   Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Only slightly larger than a hummingbird, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is an entertainer.

This male arrived at our window sill with a thud.

Not just one thud either, but thud after thud as he did battle with his enemy.

His enemy was in the glass...his reflection.

Staring into the glass, he flares his magic-hat in an attempt to look as fit and strong as possible to his rival. Not surprisingly, he's evenly matched with his 4inch, 0.3 oz. reflection. The staring and flaring eventually prompts an eruption of claws and a full frontal attack on the window. 

Thud after thud into the window seems to invigorate the fight in him more than discourage it. 

The battle continues until both combatants tire out. 

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

He turns his back on the problem to think it over.

He is a pretty little bird in olive gray-green tones.

Soft shades of yellow outline his primary feathers and a white ring circles his eye.

And, of course, the red hat that makes him an attractive little packet of energy.

  

He can display as much or as little of his ruby crown as he chooses, depending on his mood.

Nevertheless, the window always matches him stare-for-stare and flare-for-flare, as this is a zero sum game for him.

Not so with windows in general because windows are a major threat to birds. 

Birds see the sky reflected in the glass and often crash headlong into it. 

The cost to the bird, if lucky, is an injury, but millions of birds die this way every year.

Always in motion the Ruby-crowned Kinglet thrives on insects and spiders, aphids and ants. 

Interestingly, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet population has held steady for the past fifty years. They have adapted to the human interruptions of windows in their way. 

The fact that they are small and lightweight may be their salvation. 

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds