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

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

Arizona Birds in Snow

I know!

Posting birds in SNOW in late February is going to prompt yawns and scorn from Wisconsinites, but these are DESERT birds not normally seen in snow.

A male Pyrrhuloxia (aka desert cardinal) cracks down on a newly uncovered seed.

It snows at the higher elevations in Arizona during a normal winter, but this low-down snow blanketed our house at just under 3000 feet. Snow is expected at 5000-8000'... not often at 3000'.

The birds didn't seem to mind though. They went about searching and scratching as they usually do, not affected by the weather.

A female Pyrrhuloxia poses in knee-deep snow (if birds had knees, that is) having no trouble uncovering food.

A male House Finch presents a peanut to his mate. In the early morning 20 degrees, it is quickly accepted.

Birds adapt well to large swings in temperatures. Their back is covered in multiple layers of feathers to trap warm air. Combined with a downy underbelly they manage quite nicely.

You often see birds in colder weather fluffed-up, looking larger than you'd expect. This extra bulking up maintains warmth for a desert existence.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

A juvenile Costa's Hummingbird searches an emu bush for any flowers not yet covered in snow. He was finding some, but he was working ten times as hard to find his early morning meal.

A Verdin, on the same emu bush, looks for aphids, scale and larvae attached to the branches.

A White-crowned Sparrow waits his turn at the feeder while closely watching for raptors.

I only have seed eating-birds to show you today, but there are many other desert birds. Where seed-eating birds congregate, a raptor, like a Cooper's Hawk, is always a possibility.

The pecking order at the food site is determined mainly by size or other physical attributes. Birds of equal proportions get along grudgingly.

Still, the largest weapons almost always prevail.

The Canyon Towhee (sparrow family) sports a necklace of brown spots and a central dark spot. Canyon Towhee are a common southwestern desert bird and a typical ground feeder.

A buff crown with a similar under-tail are the main distinguishing marks.

A female Northern Cardinal (southwestern) with her crest up is excited about something... snow?

This male Northern Cardinal (southwestern), also with his crest up, seems to take exception to the likes of a Mourning Dove.

These two are close in size and strength, so starting a fight over who has the right to do what and with which and to whom is muted.

Snow in Arizona is exceptional. It's especially enjoyable knowing it will be a short lived event.

Allan

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

Cooper's Hawk

A loud 'thud' alerts me to the surprise attack of a Cooper's Hawk. The low-flying Cooper's Hawk is targeting Mourning Doves feeding late one afternoon.

Panicked, one Mourning Dove flies into the sky's reflection on our patio window. Striking it, the dove is stunned, but unhurt and gets away. 

The hawk ends the chase and comes to rest on the patio railing.

Catching his balance on the slick railing is challenging though.

He searches for a firm grip along the railing... none found.

It's all slippery!

When he's just about to lose it and tumble over the side, he catches his balance again.

OK, now it's working! But this hunt is over. He might as well move on.

Surprise is the Cooper's Hawk only chance of catching a meal and he certainly WAS a surprise to the doves, just not surprising enough.

Sill, he's surprisingly elegant in his many profiles.

Allan

White-winged Dove

I never really got what Stevie Nicks was singing about in her 80's hit song, 'Just Like the White-winged Dove,' although it gave the dove's name recognition one hell of a boost.

The song certainly went unnoticed by the bird,
but it grew to an annoying earworm for me.

The White-winged Dove's range in the USA is limited, albeit expanding. They are common in the states which border Mexico.

Tens of thousands of White-winged Doves are shot each year, notably in Texas, as sporting targets.

A slightly larger bird than the more widespread Mourning Dove, the White-winged Dove has adapted to humans and mingles with other seed eating birds at your backyard feeder.

As a vegetarian, seeds and grains make up most of the dove's diet.  A few small stones are also ingested to aid the gizzard in grinding up those tough main courses.

Bright red eyes against soft blue set off this finely feathered brown bird.

White crescents outline the wings and give the White-winged Dove its name.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

They're increasing in numbers, against many challenges.

Having a 'hit' song has no practical value for the ground foraging White-winged Dove. Keeping your cat indoors would be a big help though.

Allan

Credits: 
Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
Texas Parks and Wildlife Management
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_of_Seventeen

Cooper's Hawk

Surprise is a predator's most worthy asset.

Being one with your environment helps make predation happen. Resting motionless on a monochrome backdrop, a Cooper's Hawk watches for a dining opportunity.

Soaring quietly overhead is another stealthy approach to finding a meal.

The Cooper's Hawk is mainly a bird hunter. Typical prey includes doves, pigeons and starlings, but robins, jays and even chickens are also targets.

Though mostly in the West, small mammals like bats, chipmunks, squirrels and hares round out the Cooper's Hawks' diet.

This juvenile Cooper's Hawk looks healthy and well-fed, still, he concentrates on something of interest in the Sonoran Desert behind our home in Tucson, AZ.

Rainfall is rare in the desert, yet it happens.

Coping with the indignities of a wet feather coat once in a while comes with the territory.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

This juvenile Cooper's Hawk is a frequent visitor on our patio.

Surprisingly, as I write this a Cooper's Hawk startled the birds on our platform feeder into panic flight. I looked up quickly enough only to see a Cooper's Hawk dart through the scattering birds. I missed the capture, but watched as a cascade of dove feathers floated back to earth.

The hawk had a meal.

It was the cycle of life playing out once again on a sunny Sunday morning.

Allan

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

Curve-billed Thrasher

By observation alone, I suggest the Curved-billed Thrasher is a bit of a bully. My observations hold no scientific weight, as it's only my opinion. Still you might agree, he has a bent to intimidate.

It's unknown how other birds see the Curved-billed Thrasher's demeanor and formidable appearance, but most birds give way when a thrasher arrives on the scene.

Not antisocial, rather 'anti-sharing', the Curved-billed Thrasher prefers to dictate who will share the bounty where one exists.

As a large songbird armed with an outsized bill... a sizable weapon... the outcome of conflicts is predictable.

Birds like this Mourning Dove back off when push comes to shove.

An insect eater with an 'attitude' best describes this southwestern desert dweller.

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Greater Roadrunner

   Born to run...perhaps rather preferring not to fly, a Greater Roadrunner is quite a challenge to catch.

Running with head and tail nearly parallel to the ground, the roadrunner uses its long tail as a rudder for balance.

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

A roadrunner is a meat eater. In this case it's worm meat, but you get the idea.

Typical menu items include small mammals, snakes, lizards, centipedes, scorpions and even other birds.

          When threatened, the roadrunner displays a vivid orange and blue crescent behind each eye.

The colors inform other birds, as it did this Mourning Dove, that landing too close is unwise.

No further argument was necessary...the dove left.

Males and females look alike. They re-establish their lifelong bond each spring through rituals of dance and bowing. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Mating is equally orchestrated: the male roadrunner leaps onto his partner’s back while holding a mouse or other food offering, which both partners grasp as they copulate. Afterward he circles his mate, bowing, cooing and flicking his tail in a stylized display.

Born to run, yes, but the belief that the roadrunner always gets away from Wily E. Coyote is a cartoon myth.

Coyotes can easily outrun a roadrunner and are major threats to them.

Still, over a million roadrunners are estimated to live in this world. Sixty-two percent of them live in the Southwestern United States.

From Southern California and now expanding all the way east to Louisiana, the Greater Roadrunner is a survivor.

Allan

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

Cooper's Hawk vs Mourning Dove

A ghostly bird image marks our patio window.

Windows remove millions of birds from this world every year. It's a modern danger birds don't see or understand until the last moment...often too late.

This crash resulted from of a high speed chase by a Cooper's Hawk.

Moments earlier a flock of Mourning Dove was cautiously collecting seeds among the rocks. The hawk's arrival was low and fast. Suddenly, they exploded in all directions. The hawk simply targeted the nearest and slowest.  This unfolded right in front of me...only the window glass separated us.

The Cooper's Hawk failed to capture a Mourning Dove in the air...the window nearly did her in.

She lay injured on the patio bricks delirious and drooping, not knowing what just happened. The hawk returned to pick her up, but saw me through the glass, fluttered in the air for a moment and flew away.

In this case, my presence was tipping the balance of nature in the dove's favor. Still, I chose not to remove myself from this event.

The hawk landed on a railing to assess the chances of reclaiming his prize.

If this is a male Cooper's Hawk he was likely only hunting for himself. But someday he must provide food for a mate while she sits on eggs for a month, and later to feed his family. This could be three months of continuous hunting for him. Missing a meal then could be serious.

He decided on his own to leave.

The Mourning Dove staggered to temporary cover under a chair. We both knew she was badly hurt. She had a neck wound and a damaged wing.

She remained in hiding throughout the next day. I put out food and water for her, but I don't know if she helped herself to it.

Nature was running its course.

A little food and water is all I'll do to further affect an outcome that happens thousands of times each day.

Allan

(Click any picture to enlarge.)

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