Barn Swallow

Following Barn Swallows in flight is a head-bobbing, neck-swiveling, and frustrating task.

With rapid wing beats plus darting and diving, they scoop up airborne insects.

In tawny soft shades of white and rusty orange, these beautifully outlined birds put on a high speed precision flying show for your entertainment.

Weighing in at 0.7 ounce he's mostly wings and tail.  With his quizzically rounded head and not much of a neck, he still manages to attract a mate.

This pair has taken over a spot on the Horicon Marsh Visitor Center.

Before there were buildings for Barn Swallows to co-opt, they lived in caves.

Nowadays they live on manmade structures almost exclusively... barns, bridges, sheds, etc.

A cobalt blue head is the Barn Swallow's crowning feature. If you're patient, one might oblige you with a full frontal portrait and allow you the necessary time to take him all in.

Allan
Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Common Yellowthroat

Common he may be in name, but the Common Yellowthroat deserves more respect. 

Yes, Common Yellowthroats are widespread and numerous, but also secretive. You might never see one without making an effort.  A brushy hiking trail near a marsh is a good place to start looking for a Common Yellowthroat…a favorite spot.

He’s a stocky little warbler of color, contrast and melodic voice.

This Common Yellowthroat flew to me as I watched from the dappled shade of the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve. 

He was unaware of me. 

I took his picture.

My camera flashes made him twitch, but he didn't fly away.  

He sang out in a sharp clear voice, a wichety-wichety-wichety song, to proclaim all this marshland was his.

The male Common Yellowthroat is largely dull
olive-green, but that contrasts nicely against a bright lemon-yellow throat. The female wraps herself in shades of light grey with just a hint of a yellow.

A black mask covers the male's face giving him a sinister look he really doesn’t deserve. 

A 1^st year male is just now getting his distinctive black mask.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

Horicon Marsh, May 30. 2011

This somewhat confused Common Yellowthroat has been duped into raising a Brown-headed Cowbird’s chick.  

A female Brown-headed Cowbird surreptitiously laid an egg into the nest of this yellowthroat in hopes of getting the yellowthroat to hatch it. The ploy worked. The little yellowthroat struggles to find enough food to satisfy his huge freeloading foster child.

Parasitism is a bizarre approach to parenting, but it works. The cuckoo bird is even more famous for using this tactic.  

Brown-headed Cowbird egg, pierced and ejected

Normally, the Brown-headed Cowbird’s egg is larger and hatches faster. The more aggressive cowbird chick gets the most food and pushes out the yellowthroat chicks. 

Some songbirds recognize these attacks and eject or pierce the brown-speckled cowbird egg. If unable to remove the alien egg, they might rebuild a new nest right on top and start over.  

Strangely, some birds never recognize the odd egg. 

By failing to recognize the big alien chick, they spend valuable time raising a Brown-headed Cowbird chick at the expense of their own species' propagation.  

Interestingly, the cowbird chick, having never seen her real parents, nor taught the tactic, will grow up to carry on this parasitic trait as an adult.

Allan

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

If you want to see a lot of birds, now is the time to go looking.  Any trail, stream or path is likely to present you with a new bird, now that the fall migration is on.

Birds that don’t usually live here are passing through on their way south. Also noticeable are the large flocks of Common Grackles and European Starlings.  Smaller and more colorful birds are arriving daily too. 

The Rose-breasted Grosbeak is one of those.  I saw this one along the Ozaukee Interurban Bike Trail feasting on buckthorn berries…food for the trip.  He is a first year male, just getting his signature rose-colored breast. 

This female Rose-breasted Grosbeak was in one of the ravines of Milwaukee’s Lake Park.  I’ve been to Lake Park many times, but rarely descended into the ravines to explore them.  There are many ravines and well-worn paths to take you down.  It’s surprising how quiet it becomes thirty feet below street level.  There is evidence of bird-life all around you.  That is where I found this Rose-breasted Grosbeak, up-close and personal.

 

This male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was defending his territory in the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge last June.  He was quite vocal and challenged me at the time, but he, too, was only twenty feet off the trail. 

Binoculars bring the birds in closer and they raise your enjoyment factor considerably.  It’s also a way of being in a beautiful place with a purpose.

Allan