Costa's Hummingbird

I thought he was injured at first.

This Costa's Hummingbird looks to be wearing a gray mask. I imagined him flying into a window, smashing his face and breaking his bill.

It didn't happen that way. Not this time anyway.

Unfortunately, hundreds of millions of birds* die every year just like that.

Windows are an especial threat to birds. They can't imagine glass. But cars, cats, and a loss of habitat are just as threatening.

Picture for a moment the millions of miles of utility wires that criss-cross America. Harmless enough in the daylight, but deadly on a night migration.

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates 174 million** birds die each year by flying into these wires.

Our bird is okay, however. Instead of injury, he is going through a molt. All birds do that once or twice a year.

The gray mask you see are the new feathers' protective sheathes. Inside are the purple feathers that give the Costa's Hummingbird its unique helmeted look. 
 
He's quite capable of flying, feeding, and defending his territory.

And, when his molt is complete, imagine him looking pretty spectacular for this spring's mating season.

Allan

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

* https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/12/07/us/ap-us-bird-friendly-glass.html?searchResultPosition=5

** https://thinkprogress.org/no-wonder-theyre-angry-13-7-million-birds-are-dying-every-day-in-the-u-s-8a73dc6af459/
 

Birds in the Rain

Living 24/7 in the elements has its drawbacks.

The few and far between rains have made this bird's hunt more difficult.

The bedraggled juvenile Cooper's Hawk landed in our backyard rather wet and somewhat dejected after an unsuccessful attack on the Mourning Dove flock.

All animals must deal with the elements. Whether they get stressed by the rain is uncertain.

Curve-billed Thrashers only live in a dry environment where rains are rare.

Luckily, he doesn't have to put up with this indignity that often.

Too much or too little rain doesn't faze a Cactus Wren.

The Cactus Wren rarely drinks water. Instead s/he gets all his water requirements from the insects he eats.

Rain is a threat for the Broad-billed Hummingbird though. At 0.12 ounce, a hail stone could remove this tiny bird from the picture.

Resting on a thorn in the open, this one is making the best of a wet situation.

The Abert's Towhee in a dry land, ground dwelling bird. Pairing up for life to sing in the desert underbrush, they survive on insects and seeds. Slippery rocks won't phase them either.

Hear their sweet song at:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Aberts_Towhee/

As for the wet Cooper's Hawk, s/he might make a meal of any of the previously mentioned birds, with the possible exception of the Broad-billed Hummingbird. There's just not enough there to make that effort.

Six or seven hours later in the afternoon sunshine, he had dove for dinner.

Allan
(Click any picture to enlarge)
Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Not All Birds are COMMON to Everyone

It's hard to be more common than the ubiquitous Mourning Dove. Then again, when seen up close, the Mourning Dove is a respectable stand-out.

Blacks, whites and grays blend with soft shading as a stunning feather pattern appears. To that add a blue eye-ring and you have a beautiful bird.

Widespread and also common is the Gila Woodpecker. The male's red head and yellow belly, along with its piercing arrival and departure calls, grabs your attention.

Hear its shrill call at:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gila_Woodpecker

The Harris's Hawk is a larger and darker bird. Its size will impress you immediately.

Its colors, dark brown to near black to chestnut red, all jumble into a dull sheen.

They hunt together in family groups.

The Great Horned Owl is another large bird common to the desert southwest. Often heard hooting a longing lament on winter nights, they are seldom seen in the daylight.

This one proudly perched in our backyard at mid-morning. She was most accommodating, as we watched each other for a while.

Somewhat colorless except for its bright yellow eye, the Curve-billed Thrasher, a southwestern bird, is widely seen and heard... the definition of common.

What he lacks in color he makes up for in song or maybe whistles.

Hear its unique song at:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Curve-billed_Thrasher

Cooper's Hawk Portraits

The neighborhood Cooper's Hawk lands on our railing twenty feet out our patio door. 

S/he visits several times a day in hopes of scoring a meal. 

I haven't witnessed any carnage lately, (i.e. feathers), so to be in good health, he must be eating regularly some place else.

A breeze from the Big Wash ruffles his young feathers.

I stand half inside the doorway. He certainly sees me. I'm not advancing, but he's not leaving either. I am close enough for portraits.

He turns his head in robotic start/stop motions, taking in every sight and sound. His head reacts to every shutter click. He's that close. He's not fazed.

He gave me a few exciting minutes. He even dropped to the ground and came back to the same spot on the railing.

But then he glides down into the wash and is gone.

I like to think he was tail-waving me good-bye here, though I could be wrong.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

Allan

Soggy Cooper's Hawk

Our resident Cooper's Hawk made an attack on the local bird life, but missed.  An explosion of doves and quails alerted me.

Rain is a rare event here in the desert, so that may have played a part in the miss.

When it flew to the fence, it spread its wings to dry off.

Either its neck was wet or it saw something overhead. As he dried out he relaxed his wingspread a bit.

The hawk regularly hunts this neighborhood, but is usually not this accommodating to pictures. I took all the pictures I wanted at a respectful distance.

Eventually only one wing remained damp.

A moment later a misguided dove landed on the roof in the Cooper's Hawk's sight lines. The Cooper's Hawk took off in a burst of speed.

The dove got away again and the Cooper's drifted down into the desert... hungry.

Allan

Black Phoebe

I'm always excited when I 'discover' a new bird. I haven't  discovered anything really 'new,' it's just a new bird for me.

And finding a Black Phoebe isn't that easy.

A narrow band of California's Pacific Coast and the southwest's border region is the Black Phoebe's only presence in America. Even then, only in wet landscapes.

This Black Phoebe was either in a mid-morning stretch or showing off to another Black Phoebe nearby.

Black Phoebes look alike and these two were spending a lot of time together.  I'm guessing they were a pair.

Black Phoebes are monogamous. Pairs have been recorded staying together for five years while raising two, even three, broods a season.

Fly catching is in their nature and this Black Phoebe had snatched a dragonfly.

S/he struggled with it for quite a while since the struggle meant a substantial meal.

S/he flipped, tossed and whacked it around... softening resistance.

It went down slowly, wings and all, in a series of swallows.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

Then pair bonding resumed.

I'm not sure who was impressing whom here.

Hear their song at:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe

Getting to see this 'new' species is special... noteworthy.  Only 9000 more to go.

Allan

Credits:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/earth/ask-a-scientist-about-our-environment/how-big-is-the-bird-population

Cooper's Hawk (may be disturbing)

Our resident Cooper's Hawk was having a difficult moment.

Coughing up a pellet isn't a pleasant experience, judging by this juvenile's contortions.

It's just necessary.

Twisting, bending and bowing all combined to make the petulant pellet appear, so it was all worth it.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

This all happens seconds before a smaller unwitting bird lands right in front of him.

Wings collapsed, the young hawk drops to the ground, out of sight...

...only to rise with his next meal.

Allan

Roadrunner

The bird showed minimal interest in me as s/he trotted past at a modest Roadrunner speed. They can reach 20mph if the situation demands.

The path was wide and he took the center of it. I couldn't have been happier with his demeanor and lack of concern.

Roadrunners are meat eaters. Eating mostly small mammals, lizards and insects, they patrol the ground for their food. Ground-nesting birds are fair game for this carnivore.

Unlike most birds, it's uncommon to see a Roadrunner in a tree, but it happens.

Being weak fliers, they prefer to run down their prey and are quite adept at killing rattlesnakes.

Speckled in a random brown pattern, he dresses in sunshine this cool morning.

November nights are cold so allowing the sun inside his feathers warms his body faster.

The messy undercoat is there for warmth...

...while the blues, greens and gold are to impress the opposite sex.

Sufficiently warmed, he's off on a hunt. Two feet long and traveling on two feet, he must be aware of coyotes. As fleet as he is, coyotes are twice as fast...40mph.

And coyotes are in the area too.

(click any picture to enlarge)

Allan

Credit:
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Yellow-headed Blackbirds

When the Yellow-headed Blackbirds flew into Sweetwater Wetlands, my latest nemesis bird issues were over. Every birder has a nemesis bird... a bird that maddeningly avoids you. Before this it was the Belted Kingfishers or any member of the kingfishers family who'd fly away one step before I stopped.

Dozens of Yellow-headed Blackbirds swirled into the cattail lagoons today.

Maybe being on-site when they arrived was the secret to capturing these elusive birds.

It's their nature to sleep in the safety of the reeds, but you might see them in large numbers in agricultural fields.

I watched them group-up, disband and regroup again and again for reasons unknown.

Having eluded me for years, I was unaware of their white wing patches that are so obvious now in flight.

They eventually left for the day and that was okay with me. So now they'll have to perturb a different birder.
(Click any picture to enlarge)
Allan

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

Three Harris's Hawks

When doves, quail and all else exploded from the bird feeder, I imagined the local Cooper's Hawk had made another surprise visit over our house.

Grabbing my camera, I went to capture the 'remains.'

No remains, no Cooper's Hawk, but three Harris's Hawks were perched at the gable end of our neighbor's house... empty handed.

I'm fairly sure they saw me standing below, but for the longest time they didn't mind my interest in them.

When one adult flew away, it was quickly followed by the other.

That left, I believe, a juvenile, judging by the crying and screaming.

S/he, too, was free to leave, but remained minutes more... leaving hungry.

They are welcome back any time, however dinner here is pot-luck.

Allan
(Click any picture to enlarge)

Red-bellied Woodpecker

It's widely reported and easily believed that birds get a substantial dietary benefit from the many, many backyard bird feeders people put out, especially the seed-eating birds.

The Red-bellied Woodpeckers in my observations are a good example of that.

Seeds and nuts are not a complete diet, but counting the number of trips made to the feeders daily, they are getting substantial nourishment from peanuts, raisins and tree nuts.

Insects and invertebrates discovered naturally should complete their diet.

As for the 'red belly' he supposedly sports, I've only seen one Red-bellied Woodpecker, (a few years ago now), that actually lived up to his name.

Even then the 'red' on his belly came nowhere near the red on his head and nape.

This female had her turn at the banquet table, so now rests to digest.

I've read that European Starlings bully Red-bellied Woodpeckers for their nesting sites. I've also seen Blue Jays squabbling with Red-bellied Woodpeckers for food at feeders, but the Red-bellieds are getting their share, too.

Allan

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