Red Crossbill

Red Crossbill aka. Common Crossbill
Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo, California, USA
August 2020
Member of the Finch Family
§A Warp of Crossbills§

~True Bird Fact~ Let's talk about that remarkable bill for a second! It may look a little bit like a cartoon bird that has been hit in the face, but that bill is actually a specialized tool for getting at the type of food this bird most likes to eat- seeds. Specifically, the seeds of coniferous plants, but they do go for other seeds as well. You see the pounds of pressure exerted by a bite down is much greater than pressure you can exert with a mouth opening. This is why it's relatively easy to hold a gator's mouth closed with your hands, but you've got very little chance of getting their grip off of you (was this example too "Florida Man"?). So anyway, this bird needs to be able to pry apart while biting down.

This evolutionary adaptation leads to a lot of very specific behavior- unlike most baby birds, crossbill young eat seeds as well, instead of bugs. Furthermore, different crossbill subspecies have beaks that are slightly specialized for different kinds of seed cones. How much do these birds depend on seeds? So much so that their breeding cycle is not seasonal, but is instead tied to availability of a major source of seeds. This leads to occasional 'irruptions', which is how I was able to see this relatively rare bird locally. When conifer populations don't produce enough seeds, these birds travel south, well outside of their usual range in great number. 

Something else I wanted to note about the crossbill is that whole subspecies thing- there are quite a few of them, and already one (the Cassia Crossbill) has been elevated to it's own species. It seems likely, based on differences in appearance, call, and breeding, that several of these subspecies will be declared their own distinct bird at some point, despite being nearly impossible to tell apart. This information, reader, hangs over me like a Sword of Damocles, taunting me with the information that in the near to distant future I will almost certainly no longer be able to tell what type of bird this is. I will enjoy the Red Crossbill while it lasts.

left-male, right-females

Some additional shots of the beautiful Buddha statue that these birds seem to be congregating around. I think given this information you would be safe in assuming these birds are either 1) Buddhists or 2) Of a divine nature.

It appears to be associated with San Francisco's True Buddha School Veil Parasol Temple, although I'm not totally sure in what capacity. The whole cemetery is very beautiful, so check it out if you get a chance.

Pigeon Guillemot

Pigeon Guillemot
Soberanes Point, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA
August 2020
Member of the Auks, Murres, and Puffins Family
§A Bazaar of Guillemots§

{Etymology Corner} First, Guillemot is pronounced guil·le·mot, which was not at all how I thought it was pronounced. I was saying it like it was, like, a French word, but I don't speak French, so probably wrong twice. Turns out my guess is not completely baseless, because this is a word of French origin. It's a diminutive of the French name William, Guillaume. Why are these birds called 'Little Willams'? No information available. Apparently the 'pigeon' part comes because other Guillemots  were colloquially known as Greenland Doves. I guess the shape and size is sort of pigeon-like? 

~True Bird Fact~ Quite socially advanced for a little sea bird. Guillemots hunt cooperatively. You may know them from cool scenes from Planet Earth where they're coordinating with dolphins or seagulls to corral a bunch of bait-fish using bubbles trapped in their feathers. This is one example, but I know I've seen others. They also pair bond, and engage in romantic behavior with their partners, like singing together, or playfully chasing one another under water. I am sad to report that Guillemots CAN divorce.

Lots of PDA, makes you uncomfortable, but you're kind of impressed
Surprising athleticism
Always does a little bit more than necessary

PS- I got partially took these Guillemot pictures while kayaking off the coast of Monterrey, so here, as a bonus, is a cute picture of an otter. Hang in there baby!

Good Birds, Bad Pics: Mono Lake Edition

 Hello bird fans! As you might have known from my Grouse Grousing last month, I recently took a trip to Mono Lake. It was a wonderful trip, but to be honest, not as bird-bountiful as I might've wanted. It was a little early to catch the big migrations, but still, it's away from home, and that means new birds. Just not, like, a lot of new birds. And certainly not cooperative new birds. So below I present to you some of the finds that I'm happiest about having seen, even if I didn't exactly nail it in the picture department. These days it feels like the busy amateur birder should feel pretty good about having even tried, right?

Clark's Nutcracker
Mono Lake County Park, Lee Vining, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Jar of Nutcrackers§ (the other ones are worse)

~True Bird Fact~ Yup, he's named after That Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. I'm not going to do a naturalist profile in this one. I just did one of those. Go read about how birds shouldn't be named after these guys anyway.

Picture Crime: Far away, in shadow. Basically you can barely see it well enough to ID.

Wilson's Phalarope
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, Lee Vining, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Sandpipers and Phalaropes Family
§A Dopping of Phalaropes§
★The Largest Phalaropes★ (of...3)

[Etymology Corner] Phalarope, that's a weird word, huh? It comes from the Latin name of the bird, and it breaks down to mean Coot-footed. So this bird is named after having lobed feet, similar to a coot. Ironically, this member of the Phalarope genus actually doesn't even have the lobed feet. Pretty messed up that the birds have similar feet but one is named after the other. If only the cards had been dealt a different way, perhaps the coot would've been named Phalarope-footed (but this would cause a time paradox, unfortunately). 

~True Bird Fact~ Unlike most birds, the female is the dominant member of the species. She is larger, more colorful, and males watch the nest while she is out finding more partners. Girlboss!

Picture Crime: Far away, in a group, breeding plumage appears to have not quite come all the way in yet. Other birds nearby confuse me and make me less confident in my ID. They could be juveniles, non-breeding birds, or even non-breeding Red-necked Phalaropes.

Brewer's Sparrow
Gem Lake Trail, June Lake, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the American Sparrows Family
§A Ubiquity of Sparrows§

~Interesting Bird Facts?~ None. Hey, it's named after that same guy from Brewer's Blackbird. That's something, I guess.

Picture Crime: Obstructed behind a branch. Slightly out of focus. Sparrow, so, inherently boring. I already forgot which one it is. 

Well, thanks for slogging through those medium pictures. Still, it's 3 birds I didn't know before, and sort of know now. See you next time when we get into some of the birds I got slightly better shots of.

Sooty Grouse

Sooty Grouse
Gem Lake Trail, June Lake, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Turkey, Grouse, and Partridge Family
§A Covey of Grouse§

~True Bird Fact~ The species split recently (2006) from the Dusky Grouse, this bird used to be called the Blue Grouse. Just terrific naming all around.

You know, shockingly, there's not a lot of interesting facts about this grouse. I found it kind of interesting that they largely eat pine needles in winter, and that the kind of pine tree available is basically what determines their range. Is that interesting to anyone? There was one 'fun fact' available online about how many feathers their tail has (15-22, when usually in grouse the number is not variable. Amusing!), one fact about how many eggs they have in a clutch (up to 15, which is, I guess, more than you'd think), one of the facts was that they are the 3rd largest grouse in North America (incredible. impressive). Oh well, I still like them.

 

 All right, let's get to the ~fake bird facts~ then 

Often ridden into war by smaller birds
Very fastidious about her feathers, what with the whole 'sooty' thing, you know?
Prefers a home with many roommates
Truly does not mind that she doesn't have any super interesting ~true bird facts~ about her

Wilson's Warbler

Wilson's Warbler
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, Oakland, California, USA
June 2020
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Confusion of Warblers§

~True Bird Fact~ Most songbirds leave the nest for good once they've fledged. Wilson's Warblers, on the other hand, often return for a night or two. Failure to launch? 

Named for and by:

 

Alexander Wilson
(1766 – 1813)

Called The Father of American Ornithology, and the second only to Audubon in terms of American Ornithology Importance, and that's just in the first sentence of his wikipedia page! Wilson was born in Scotland and his first profession was as a weaver. He took an early interest in poetry and wrote ballads, pastoral pieces, and satirical works about the plight of weavers. These satirical poems were evidently so biting, that he was arrested for a 'libelous and inflammatory' poem about a mill owner. Here's an excerpt, in the original Scots:

Wha cou’d believe a chiel sae trig
|Wad cheat us o’ a bodle?
Or that sae fair a gowden wig
Contained sae black a noddle?
But Shark beneath a sleekest smile
Conceals his fiercest girning;
And, like his neighbours of the Nile,
Devours wi’ little warning
By night or day.

I guess you had to be there. He was also, it should be noted, that he was a very bad weaver, and eventually quit and moved to America, after languishing in poverty.

His career turned to teaching, and eventually he met the naturalist William Bartram, who awakened his true passion. Birds! He resolved to publish illustrations of every bird in North America. He did pretty good at this task, at least better than his weaving, traveling widely, and eventually publishing a nine volume work, including 268 birds, 26 of which were new to his audience of western naturalists. He died young from, and I quote "dysentery, overwork, and chronic poverty." He seems like he was a pretty cool dude, and has a lot of birds named after him. He also seems to have been a direct inspiration for Audubon himself, both in his style of illustrating and his publication.

Wilson's illustration of Red-bellied, Pileated, and... Ivory-billed Woodpeckers

However, bird fans, I am not content to let this topic rest here. There's been a lot of debate in the bird world lately about eponyms and honorifics, and whether birds should really be named for their 'discoverers'. I try to make a little point of this each time I profile a naturalist- that these birds were not truly "discovered", only given new, western names. There were people here before them, and the birds were plenty discovered already. And some of the people who have birds named after them turn out to be truly heinous. There's a lot of overlap, it turns out, between ideas of discovery and exploration and ideas of colonialism and manifest destiny. This includes some naturalists I've written about here, and frankly, I didn't know how bad they were. This is my bad, but racism doesn't often make it into the wikipedia summary, it turns out.

There's been one major recent success for this movement, the renaming of McCown's Longspur to Thick-billed Longspur. This one was named after a confederate general (yikes emoji). So yes, some bird names might be changing, if they are named after particularly bad people. But you can also make the broader argument that it's much simpler to just keep bird names descriptive and do away with honorifics all together. The naming of species after a western discoverer is inherently a colonialist practice. And while we'll lose some potentially 'good ones' like Wilson here, his contributions to birding will not be erased if he no longer has the birds directly named after him. (Although again, who knows, about Wilson. I'm not about to read a whole biography looking for problematic elements). If you agree with this view point, there's a petition that you can sign. I have. Maybe in the future we'll just call this bird the "green black-capt flycatcher", as Wilson originally called it in 1811. Well. Maybe we won't call it that. But something else. Stay tuned.

9 Black Birders to Watch

Hi, hello, hey! You may have noticed that there are some things going on in "The World". You know, that place that birds live? Granted, there are actually quite a few things happening right now. Today, specifically, I'm talking today about the police murder of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests and social uprisings that have ensued in it's wake. In fact, the killing of George Floyd is nothing new, reminding us all of similar killings that have happened, really, as long as a militarized United States police force has existed and interacted with Black people. This most recent one, though, kicked off waves of both political action, and increased scrutiny on the racism that Black people face across multiple fields and interests. This, as you might assume, has extended to birding as well.

Black bird watchers have always faced increased barriers to participation in our wonderful hobby- from condescension and racism from enfranchised birders, to racist bird names, to the outright threats to life and limb that they experience just by being outside in public spaces. Birding's big moment of racial introspection actually started on May 25th, the same day that George Floyd was murdered. Christian Cooper, a highly regarded birdwatcher, was harassed by a white woman while he was birdwatching in Central Park. He asked her to leash her dog, as is the rule in that section of the park, and the woman, Amy Cooper, threatened to, and then did, call the police on him, telling them that there was "an African American man threatening her." Given what would happen later that day in Minneapolis, and what has happened for decades, it's easy to see that a phone call like that amounts to a serious attempt to physically harm. Fortunately, Chris recorded the exchange, and it went viral.

Here's the tweet, by his sister, that kicked things off

And here's a good article about what happened next

What's really interesting, however, is how the Black birding community responded. Very quickly, a couple of key figures (who we'll talk about in a moment), organized a series of online events designated #BlackBirdersWeek

Participation was enormous. There are many articles, some of which were written by Black participants in the event, which I'll link to at the end of the post, if you want to read more about how it went. It was a week that, for me, was inspiring and encouraging. At a time when every day seemed to bring a new piece of bad news for the non-white people of America, it was a relief to be able to log in to Twitter and see people sharing their love and passion for birds, even despite all the obstacles they have faced to do so. It was also a week where I got a lot of awesome new people to follow. And that's what today's blog is about- I'll be recommending some Black birders to follow on twitter, although I'll link to their content elsewhere as well. Some I've known about for a long time, and some I was only just exposed to through this recent online event. Either way, they produce some incredible bird content.


@Tykee_James
One of the co-organizers of Black Birders Week. Here here is talking about it for The Franklin Institute He also hosts a podcast on the Anchor network called On Word for Wildlife.

The BEST bird picture I have to #PostABird for #BlackBirdersWeek - the non-migratory, non-native, but almost ubiquitous European Starling. This one seems to ponder: "Why am I am here? And how can I make the most of it"...I can honestly relate to that pic.twitter.com/IuUHFFn4TW

— TykeeJames✊🏾 (@Tykee_James) June 1, 2020

@ChidiPaige
Scientist and board game designer. Has a bird identification based game called Bird Wiser

I got a lot of questions about this picture. So throwback to an Osprey banding field trip to Patuxent River Park-Jug Bay Natural Area in Maryland with @NewarkMuseum youth birding team years ago. We banded ospreys, identified their gender and weighed them. Just amazing! #PostABird pic.twitter.com/3PGq0hwZoh

— Chidi Paige (@ChidiPaige) June 1, 2020

@Kitundu
Incredible photographer, instrument maker, and artist.  This a premium follow if you like beautiful images. Bay Area local as well. Check out his webpage

I’m just going to post from time to time to break up your twitter feeds with something less apocalyptic than the news of the day (as long as you are not a ground dwelling rodent). Young Red-tailed Hawk with a freshly caught gopher. Alta Plaza Park, San Francisco. #urbanraptors pic.twitter.com/gXsSdEKpUB

— Kitundu (@birdturntable) June 2, 2020

@AlHendiify
One of the greatest display names, just a good poster.

The animophs been lowkey ready to ride pic.twitter.com/CzoNIvYCTp

— David AttenBruh (@AlHendiify) June 17, 2020

 
@Ranger_Bri
One of the co-organizers. Naturalist and science educator

Surprise! It's Day 2 of #BlackBirdersWeek and we want you to get involved! We challenge everyone to #PostABird!

Snap a pic on your phone or camera of any local bird and share with me and @BlackAFinSTEM. Blurry pics are ok! Here's my Killdeer to kick it off😏 Lets see yours! pic.twitter.com/yVtFpcZDk3

— ranger bri🌻🐴🦉🦋 (@Ranger_Bri) June 1, 2020

@bellzisbirding
Another one of the co-organizers, another one of the all time great display names . Wildlife biologist

My sweet sweet quail children from grad school. Yep I’m a quail person 😂 I love galliforms #PostABird pic.twitter.com/L5DPag3a2u

— Richard Cissel (she/her) (@bellzisbirding) June 1, 2020

@hood_naturalist
Corina Newsome, one of the co-organizers. Quite a few publications on her website, so check that out. Here's a great interview with her from The Cut, Black Birding is About Hope

Welcome to DAY TWO of #BlackBirdersWeek!

Today is the #PostABird Challenge, and we at @BlackAFinSTEM want EVERYONE on board! Share a bird pic or bird fact with hashtag #PostABird.

Fun fact: Turkey Vulture stomach acid is so strong they can eat anthrax and not get sick! (#tb) pic.twitter.com/DdZg7AIw4X

— Corina Newsome (@hood_naturalist) June 1, 2020

@1blackbirder
J. Drew Lanham. Writer, poet, and academic. Check out his books, and his many articles across the internet. 9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher for Orion Magazine, from 2013. Drew has a number of good articles on this topic, here are a few more.

The lives we lead inspire the words we write and read. Actually wrote this two days before Christian Cooper's Central Park encounter. Thinking on so much. Birds, race and place. A racist plague. Yep #BirdingWhileBlack is indeed a thing. Read on please.https://t.co/qGnywcAjUH

— J. Drew Lanham (@1blackbirder) May 27, 2020

@JeffreyMWard
Jeffrey Ward, one of our birding celebrities. In fact, Jeffrey is famous enough that I have made a .gif of him. You know who else this is true for? David Attenborough only.

Birds! I made it my goal about 4 years ago to learn about what I can do to protect them and their habitats. #actuallivingscientist pic.twitter.com/WEGphUfc4L

— Jeffrey Ward (@JeffreyMWard) February 5, 2017

So there you go. It's not a complete list, or a perfect list, but it's a place to start. I hope you'll join me in working to make birding a more inclusive hobby. If you're white, like I am, it's worth taking the time to reflect on your privledge, and what you can do to include anti-racist action both in your life, and in your hobbies and interests.

Additional Readings

The Realities of Being a Black Birdwatcher on CNN, which quotes many of the people mentioned above

Chris talks about his experience on NPR

Sandra Guzman on the dangers of birding while Black

9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher by J. Drew Lanham for Orion Magazine, from 2013. Drew has a number of good articles on this topic, here are a few more.

Audubon's Report on Black Birders Week
Audubon also hosted a few sessions on Birding While Black on their Facebook page. Here's session1 and 2

Everyone Can Watch the Birds, in National Geographic, about Black Birders Week

Why Every Environmentalist Should Be Anti-Racist by Leah Thomas for Vogue
https://twitter.com/melodyMcooper/status/1264965252866641920?s=20

Update 2/16/21: A sad post-script on this blog. This list originally included Jason Ward, as I expect any list of this type would have at the time of publishing. Recently, credible allegations of sexual assault by him have come to light, largely care of Aisha White. She also has a twitter, and you can find ways to support her there. This is an incredibly sad and disappointing turn of events, as Jason was a very visible advocate for birds/birding, and turned out to be abusing his position, and actually making the hobby less safe. He's now removed from this (incredible insignificant) blog post because I no longer want to be directing people to his work/account.
https://twitter.com/melodyMcooper/status/1264965252866641920?s=20

Townsend's Warbler

Townsend's Warbler
Hilltop Lake Park, Richmond, California, USA
December 2019
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Fall of Warblers§

~True Bird Fact~ When wintering in the south, mostly in Mexico, these Warblers thrive on a diet heavy with the secretions of 'scale insects', a sweet substance called 'honeydew'. This is such a good source of food that Warblers will set up and defend territories around trees and plants infected with the insects. Birds already eat bugs, so this is not really a step up in grossness, if you think about it, but still, I hate this fact. I think it's because I hate these bugs- I think they trigger my trypophobia (side note- why, when you search for a phobia, does google instantly show you a million image results of the thing you are phobic of??)



This is also a Proper Name Bird (PNB), so you know what that means- that's right, it's time for another.... Naturalist Profile

John Kirk Townsend

(1809 - 1851)

Like many creature-discoverers from this time, John was not a trained biologist. He was a physician and pharmacist who just knew the right people. He discovered (normal disclaimer that these animals were all plenty 'discovered' already by the native people who lived in this country) this bird and many other animals on an expedition from Pennsylvania over the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. It sounds like a great trip, tbh, especially right now. While he got some good birds, like this guy, and the Townsend's Solitaire, he seemed to focus on small mammals and has like 7 named after him. Can I interest you in a Townsend's pocket gopher, a Townsend's chipmunk, or a Townsend's mole or vole?
His sisters wrote a book called The Anti-Slavery Alphabet, so it's safe to say that he was from a pretty cool family. He died quite young, as you'll notice, from arsenic poisoning. This was due to his development of his own 'secret formula' for taxidermy which included, big shocker, arsenic.

Let's also do a brief [Etymology Corner], cause I want to get more into the naming of birds-
Let's return to another real one, Thomas Nuttal. Remember him? From this woodpecker? Well he was the one who invited Townsend on this expedition, which, again, I want to say I would like to very much do. At the time I covered him I noted that his woodpecker was named in his honor by one of his friends, William Gambel, of eponymous quail fame. So in researching Townsend I learned that this bird was named in his honor by Nuttal. Digging a little deeper, it seems like this group of guys circumvented the norm against naming animals for yourself by naming them all after each other. In modern terms, I think you could say this was a group of real Ornithological Bad Boys who play by their own rules. Is there a movie in this?

Northern Harrier

Northern Harrier
Kennedy Park, Napa, California, USA
December 2018
Member of the Kites, Eagles, and Hawks Family
§A Swarm of Harriers§



[Etymology Corner] What's a harrier? Well, it's derived from the Old English word herigan, which is harasser or plunderer. Not entirely inappropriate for this bird, as it does sometimes harass other birds of prey until they drop their own catch. This is as good a time as any to mention that farmers sometimes call these birds "Good Hawks" because they don't pose a threat to poultry, like other raptors, but do eat mice, which is good. For the farmers, not the mice.


~True Bird Fact~ You might (and this is a big might with this picture) notice that this bird has kind of an unusual face. Sort of short and owl-like. Well, this is because it is owl-like. Northern Harriers have face-disks, a feature they share with owls. And just like with owls, this gives them really good hearing. This is distinct to them, among hawks. They use this to hunt for prey. Obviously. I mean they don't use it to listen to music or whatever. Unless...

Mexican Jay

Mexican Jay aka. Gray-breasted Jay (archaic)
Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
July 2017
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Scold of Jays§

~True Bird Fact~ Mexican Jays practice cooperative breeding, meaning that young birds are taken care of not just by their parents, but by others in the flock as well. These family groups can include older offspring, but also random other birds. It takes a village, and all that.

~Another Mexican Jay Fact~ Northern Flickers usually follow them around, because although the Flickers don't have the vigilance or attentiveness to notice predators, the Jays do, and will alert their fellow birds. This bird's a real cooperative type!

Gets annoyed sometimes by family obligations, which he has many of
Prides himself on professionalism in the workplace
Blows off steam with off-roading hobby

Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher

Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
Madera Canyon, Arizona, USA
July 2019
Member of the Tyrant/Flycatcher Family
§A Zapper of Flycatchers§

~True Bird Fact~ Most easily identified by their call, which sounds basically exactly like a dog's squeaky toy or a child's bath toy. A lot of time people compare bird calls to other things, but this time folks, it's real.

~Additional mildly interesting Bird Fact~ Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers are super rare in the United States, living only in a biome known as the Madrean Sky Islands. These are small mountain ranges in the desert clustered around the New Mexico, Arizona, Chihuahua border. On name alone they are just just the coolest, but they also are the home to the United States' only jaguar species. Did you know we have a jaguar?

Tougher than they look, will start a fight with you
Makes 'zoom zoom' sounds as they fly around
Always drinks out of a straw. Don't worry, it's a reusable one