Black-headed Grosbeak

                Ah, spring!

This male Black-headed Grosbeak is well dressed for the 2019 find-a-mate match-up season.

He will make a pretty good 'catch', too.

According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds, the Black-headed Grosbeak males
"... share the chick-rearing duties of sitting on the eggs and feeding the young about equally."

(Click any picture to enlarge)

This is not typical male nesting behavior, although males generally provide protection and feed the female during incubation.

She likely would be impressed by the male's sweet whistled song, too.
Hear an audio recording at:   https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-headed_Grosbeak/sounds

It's solely the female's choice and only she know what will make a good mate.

Allan

Credit: 
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds
https://web.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Who_Incubates.html

Turkey Vulture (Zone-tailed Hawk)

                                        Would it be unkind to say only 95% of the Turkey Vulture is beautiful?

Turkey Vultures can be seen in summer throughout most of North America.

They're often seen soaring in circles high in the air with their wings held at a dihedral (V-shaped). 

They're looking for something newly deceased. Or more precisely 'sniffing' for it.  Turkey Vultures find their food by smell. 

Odors rise in Sonoran Desert heat.  It's not long before a death is discovered.  

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: "Turkey Vultures almost never attack living prey."

The sight of Turkey Vultures soaring overhead doesn't frighten animals because they have little to fear from Turkey Vultures. 

But the similarly sized Zone-tailed HAWK (like this one) knows this. They sometimes join the vulture circles to launch their own attacks. 

You've likely seen Turkey Vultures in the sky whether you knew it or not. Their numbers are steadily increasing thanks to a mid-century legislative ban on DDT.

Eating carrion is not for the faint of heart, but Turkey Vultures fare quite well. They seem immune to botulism, anthrax, cholera, salmonella. 

It's residual poisons and lead shot found in dead animals that threaten this beautiful, essential bird.

Allan

Credits:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds,

The Sibley's Guide to Birds 

Red-winged Blackbird

Have you ever meet a Red-winged Blackbird that LIKED YOU?
Red-winged Blackbirds have a reputation for being aggressive... towards PEOPLE.

They will get in your face and raise a racket. It's all a warning to let you know, you're in the wrong place.

Particularly aggressive ones will attack the top of your head and even draw blood, if you stray too close.

A female Red-winged Blackbird rests on a reed. She favors a cattail marsh to build a nest. Woven of plant material near the waterline it's lined with mud.

Her mate's territory may be shared with 5-15 other females if space permits. There is a lot of polygyny* in Red-winged Blackbird society.

It seems for all the bluff and bluster the males project, the females also get around. Genetic tests of offspring in a known territory have shown one-quarter to one-half come from different males.

Zoology a pattern of mating in which a male animal has more than one female mate.

With all this time and energy paid to protection, the Red-winged Blackbirds are surprisingly easy to observe.

They don't fly away.

To the contrary they'll come to you.

And they are not ALWAYS angry.

Sometimes they're calmly reflective.

Allan


(click any picture to enlarge)

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

Bobcat (non-bird story)

Being 'surprised' by a bobcat is a good thing.

I was looking for birds at the Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Arizona, when this strikingly beautiful bobcat strolled out of the weeds.

I had heard of a bobcat that roamed the wetlands, but I had not had the pleasure of meeting her.

Bobcats are at least twice the size of a typical house cat... 13-30 pounds.

This one showed no fear of humans and allowed me to follow her around. I knew she wasn't bothered because she even walked towards me at times. With casual glances, she always knew where I was.

That was being gracious for an animal and wildly unlike the hundreds of birds I so desperately wish to get near.

A riffle of fur outlines the face to give bobcats a unique look.

They get their name from the short wisp of a tail which, oddly and barely, serves a purpose anymore.

(The following two photographs are for those people who enjoy identifying animals by scat left behind. If you wish to skip such information, stop here.)

Allan
(click any picture to enlarge)

I can tell you with 100% accuracy this is bobcat scat.

Northern Mockingbird

It depends on your point of view.

If you believe the Northern Mockingbird is beautiful and interesting or just an average, all too common bird, it may be a situation of location, location, location.

Northern Mockingbirds commonly range below a line stretching from Maine to Oregon.

Above that line... not so common.

(click any picture to enlarge)

Soft shades from dun to grayish-brown and white all combine in this medium sized songbird with a sweet singing voice.

Sounds:
YouTube link to Northern Mockingbird songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTMPaclD6xQ

Watch them diving on insects or singing in the early morning sunshine.

The Northern Mockingbird is well worth of a few moments of your time.

Allan

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