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.

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

Island Scrub-Jay

Island Scrub-Jay aka. Island Jay aka. Santa Cruz Jay aka. Santa Cruz Island Scrub-Jay
Prisoners Harbor, Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, California, USA
July 2018
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Party of Jays§

~True Bird Fact~ Once considered to be a sub-species of Scrub-Jay, but spun off into his own species in 1995 (while the other Scrub-Jays became Florida and Western based on where they lived). Since then, we've also seen Western split into Woodhouse's and California Scrub-Jays. Complicated stuff for a bunch of birds that look very alike. Let's see just how alike, shall we?

Island Scrub-Jays are supposedly brighter in color, larger (by 15%), and have a larger beak (20%) than their mainland relatives. The species split about 150,000 years ago, and the specialized island lifestyle (i.e. thick-shelled acorns = thicker, stronger beak) has resulted in these changes manifesting fairly quickly. Side by side like this? I can kinda see it. They also have somewhat different personalities, with these Island guys having less of a fear of people and more curiosity. After I first spotted them, they seemed to follow me around for a while and see what I was up to. Which one do you think is which, reader? Highlight for answer- Top is California, Bottom Island

How Endangered Are They? One of the rarest birds in the USA, there are only about 2,300 of these guys, and they only live on Santa Cruz Island, one of several islands that are part of California's Channel Islands National Park. While they're pretty easy to find once you're there, their entire habitat is less than 100 square miles, which makes them vulnerable to catastrophic events, like a fire, or the outbreak of disease. They are categorized as Vulnerable by the IUCN. They are one of only two species that are endemic (found nowhere else) to California, along with bird blog alum Yellow-billed Magpie.

This great, great bird was first described by

Henry Henshaw

(1850 - 1930)

Born in Massuchutsets, he got his start as a field naturalist when he had to give up school due to poor health, and instead went on a collecting trip to Louisiana. I don't really know how that is better for your health, but I guess it worked for Henry. He went on a number of successful collecting trips throughout the Southwest. During this time he co-founded a lot of bird related clubs, including the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the American Ornithologists' Union, and the National Geographic Society.

In 1893 another bout of ill health led to him moving to Hawaii (has poor health ever been better for anyone than it was for this guy?) He continued to research birds there, and his witnessing of the mass extinction of native Hawaiian birds led him to dedicate the rest of his life to conservation and the popularization of birding. He gave permission for his popular birding book, Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Orchard, to be published in National Geographic, which led to the creation of the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America. His lobbying efforts led to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act being signed into law in 1918. He seems like he was a really good guy.

Et Tu Birdte? The Birds of March

Julius Caesar. Jesus Christ. Han Solo. All the subjects of famous betrayals. You know who else has been betrayed? These birds! Behold their tales of woe, dear reader, and take heed.

Northern Mockingbird's right hand man coveted his leadership position at Chemco, thinking he was the better bird for the job. He shoved Northern Mockingbird into a big open vat of chemicals at their evil chemical factory, which you think wouldn't work great because birds can fly. However, Northern Mockingbird was holding two doughnuts (one in each wing), and therefor was unable to get those wings moving in time. He was left for dead, but actually the chemicals gave him super powers, so he'll probably get revenge at some point.

Black Phoebe was not at fault for his downfall. He was pushed into a position of fame and prominence early in his life by his parents, who both had dreams of success that they hadn't achieved. After some early successful turns in commercials and TV shows, he got a major role in a movie that became a true genre classic. Black Phoebe missed a lot of school and normal social engagements to do this. He got exposed to some pretty messed up stuff early too, making it hard for him to transition into normal adulthood. His parents ended up embezzling all of the money he earned as an actor. He went through a rough patch, but seems to be getting some promising roles in indies now, and he's cleaned up his act.

California Scrub Jay was supposed to be a voice of his generation. His fiery speeches were compelling and convincing. He had a way of communicating that cut through typical political lines, speaking clearly both to the common man, and to the more idealistic types. Unfortunately, he kept getting caught sending inappropriate pictures, and in the mail, which made it even weirder. He survived a few scandals, but eventually retreated from the public eye. Years later, seeing what people are now willing to accept from their political leaders, he wonders why things turned out this way for him. In the end, he betrayed himself by believing that he could not fall in this way.

Anna's Hummingbird was talked into an adjustable rate mortgage when he didn't really have a stable enough income to cover it. Sure enough, times didn't stay green forever, and the house was repossessed, and financially he's never really recovered. The messed up part is that the shady realtor was his mother. Did she sabotage Anna's Hummingbird on purpose? Or was it a sub-conscious lashing-out as a result of their constant disagreements about the lifestyle choices he made? Either way, she knew about the risks and convinced him to go into it anyway. Anna's Hummingbird's credit score is still really bad. What a messed up thing to do.

5 Crow .gifs for all your Ominous Portension Needs

Boo! Spooked you didn't I? No, not with my 'boo', but you were spooked that your beloved bird blog website (this one) hadn't posted any killer Halloween content yet. Don't worry reader, the website has not been a ghost the whole time, it's alive and well. But at this time of the year it's more like.. undead. That's why we're back at you for the annual spooktacular with some haunted bird .gifs. This year we're focusing on the most dreaded of birds, the crow. Never mind this writer's love of the corvid family, there's nothing we can do for them now, for they've been forever symbologised in pop-culture as signs of misfortune, death, and disaster. Today we present five examples from recent(ish) film in convenient .gif form.

Beetlejuice (1988)
Suggested use: Reaction .gif for negative birding experiences

Jurassic World (2015)
Suggested use: 1) For any conversation that turns to dinosaurs being related to birds 2) Any time you want to say the phrase 'putting my foot down'

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Suggested use: Road trips

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Suggested use: To show displeasure when someone wakes you up too early or texts you at a time when you're sleeping

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Suggested use: 1) When you're feeling like a style icon 2) A triumphant 'haters can't stop me' moment

Do with these .gifs what you will, dear reader. However, be warned that townsfolk whisper that these .gifs are cursed. MWAHAHAHAHahahahaha ha ha ha

California Scrub Jay

California Scrub Jay
Coyote Lake Park, Gilroy, California, USA
September 2016
Member of the Crow and Jay Family
§A Party of Jays§

~true bird fact~ Tremendous news everyone, the delightful Corvid family has grown by two as of the most recent update to the American Ornithologists' Union's North American Birds Checklist. What was once considered Western Scrub Jay has now been divided into California and Woodhouse's varietals, separated mostly by slightly different plumage. Hmm, this news doesn't really fly off the page, does it? Let me try and word that in a more exciting way. Slightly different plumage, hooray! Making matters more complicated, two other species were once considered the same bird (Florida and Island Scrub Jay), and there are minimum 6 sub-species of the California Scrub Jay, also with slightly different plumage, coloration, and size than one another. Good thing I don't care about sub-species, or this would be a total lost cause.

Has an unplaceable accent that seems to shift from sentence to sentence
Believes in ghosts
Little self-consciousness, always willing to ask for help
Likes old, wooden crafts (i.e. barrels, toys, butter-churns, etc)

Blue Jay

Blue Jay aka. Jaybird
Peaks Island, Portland, Maine, USA
August 2016
Member of the Crow/Jay Family
§A Cast of Jays§
★The Provincial Bird of Prince Edward Island, Canada★

 ~true bird myth~ In old African American mythological traditions, the Blue Jay was thought to be in league with the devil. It was said that you wouldn't see a Blue Jay on a Friday because that was the day he was busy in hell, gathering sticks (for what purpose, who knows). Then, on Saturday, the Blue Jay was always in a very good mood and would be singing all day, due to the relief from, you know, not being in hell anymore. These pictures were taken on a... Tuesday, so I can neither confirm nor deny this theory.



~true bird fact~ Blue Jays are a member of the Corvid family, probably my favorite bird fam, and as such have all sorts of facts associated with how bright and inquisitive they are. They play with objects, use tools, and mimic the calls of other birds (either for communication or to scare others away). But that's not what I'm gonna talk about today, cause I feel like you've heard about most of those things before on this here blog. Let's talk about the color blue in a Blue Jay's feathers. Their coloring is unique in that it comes not from pigmentation, but because of light refracting on the crystalline structure of the feathers themselves. In other words, if you crush a Blue Jay's feathers, they lose their color completely. Neat!

Huge appetite, loves to eat. Never gains weight though, how annoying
Likes to take the contrarian opinion in arguments or debates, even if he doesn't feel that way. Finds this kind of verbal sparring entertaining
Thinks he might be a fish at heart
Popular with the ladies

Birds Are Going Back to School

Ah, late summer. It's that time of the year when it's super hot out, birds are least plentiful, and your Amateurnithologist struggles to get weekly posts out as he adjusts to returning to his full time job in the school system. Yes, school's back in session. But not just for you and me and maybe your kids. No, it's school time for birds as well. As birds return to school, they meet their new teachers for the semester and start to get a sense of what their next year is going to look like. Let's meet them too, since there's nothing better to do.

First Period: Professor Double-crested Cormorant
Subject: English Literature
Personality: Professorial in demeanor, a little stodgy. Think blazer with elbow patches. Believes in the power of learning and in the ability of books to change lives. Often disappointed in his students secretly, but doesn't show it. He's been doing this job for a long time and doesn't show signs of slowing down. Other teachers look up to him.
Teacher Rating: Inspiring

Second Period: Mr. American Crow (slightly leucristic)
Subject: Science
Personality: An eccentric who delights in finding creative ways to reach students. Lives for events like the rocket launch, the egg drop, or putting Mentos in Diet Coke. Very hands on. A little bit silly, gets along well with the kids since he's a bit of a kid-at-heart himself. Don't mention his leucism though, or god help you. He won't be mad, but he's a bit sensitive about it, and it'll hurt his feelings.
Teacher Rating: Fun

Third Period: Dr. Common Loon
Subject: Cooking
Personality: No one knows what her doctorate is in, why she is teaching cooking with a doctorate, or how a Loon acquired a doctorate in the first place. However, she is a good cooking teacher. Loves food, and the students tend to like her class, since it involves cooking and eating. Hints that she enjoys a full and interesting life outside of her job. Keeps these mysteries close to the vest.
Teacher Rating: Enigmatic

Fourth Period: Mrs. House Finch
Subject: History
Personality: Engages in a lot of rituals that shows her dominance over students, making them repeat things over and over or follow meaningless rules. Believes that the most important thing is that students submit to their teachers. Ruthless in her style with co-works as well, doesn't seem to be able to 'turn it off'. This style is successful for some young birds, but mostly leads to a lot of bad feelings.
Teacher Rating: Disliked



Fifth Period: Miss California Quail
Subject: Mathematics
Personality: Honestly not the greatest teacher, but very nice. Relationship-focused in her teaching philosophy. Gives her students a lot of affection and praise, doesn't put too much attention on the quality of the work. Students often come back years after graduating to visit Miss California Quail and give her a big hug. Maybe this is what's most important after all, since most of her students don't use the math very much (being birds).
Teacher Rating: Doting

Well that's all for today. Hopefully you learned a thing or two from these bird teachers, or at least got through your school experience relatively undamaged. Join me in a few days when I try to get back on the normal blog schedule with a common but fun bird that has evaded me for a long time. You won't want to miss it.

Bird Relationship Status Update Bulletin

It's almost Valentine's Day and love is in the air for birds. Literally. Because they are birds..
Let's check in on some of our old bird friends and see how their love life is going. Because what else do you want to do on the most romantic day of the year other than e-stalk some birds?

Western Scrub Jay has suffered a bad break-up. He's sleeping little and is turning to food to get him through. He's not looking good. We all feel bad for him, but it's been a long time and he's still experiencing it very intensely. Time to toughen up, Scrub Jay.

Double-Crested Cormorant is young and in love. No one can tell these two what to do and they're on top of the world. We all hope that a tragic car accident or illness doesn't bring all that youthful optimism crashing down around them, but we can't say for sure that it won't happen.

After a long and traditional string of serial monogamy, American Robin is playing the field and taking things as they come. She is going on a lot of dates and just enjoying herself right now. She gets tired of it sometimes, but is also feeling more confident and strong than she ever has before in her life. She figures she'll find what she needs eventually.

Snowy Egret has a boyfriend. He sounds really great.. almost too great. Almost kind of like Snowy Egret is making up a boyfriend to tell her friends about. Why would Snowy Egret do this? Maybe she is tired of questions about her relationship status. Or maybe it's something else. In any case there is some suspicion but no one is willing to ask her about it. Maybe we'll thrown some kind of party that he will have to come to if he's real.

White-throated Magpie-jay

White-throated Magpie-jay aka. Uracca Hermosa Cariblanca (lit. Beautiful White-faced Magpie)
Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Guanacaste,Costa Rica
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Band of Jays§

~true bird fact~ Uraccas live in a style that could be accurately referred to as a matriarchal commune. When a female chick is born, she doesn't leave the nest, but rather stays with her mother to help raise future generations. Men come and go freely from the colony and there is very little conflict.

Faced great challenges before she was ready for them, stronger now as a result
Prefers mild flavors
Sees most personal differences between people as small and easy to overcome
Easily makes her decisions based on intuition and feelings

Yellow-billed Magpie

Yellow-billed Magpie
Roseville, California, USA
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Mischief of Magpies§

~true bird fact~ From the Crows-and-jays-are-really-smart-you-guys file: When a Yellow-billed Magpie dies, he receives a funeral. No, really, this is true (source). Nearby birds appear to experience grief. They swoop down to the body and hop around it making long squawking cries, and this goes on for quite some time.


How endangered are they? The Nature Conservancy has declared the Yellow-billed Magpie 'vulnerable', mainly because he has such a narrow range. This guy only lives in California's Central Valley, and, as such is especially susceptible to threats from any number of natural or human disasters. Populations are in decline since the outbreak of the West Nile Virus. It is estimated that literally half of all Yellow-billed Magpies died from the virus between 2004 and 2006.

Has not talked to his brother in years, but still cares about him deeply
Trusting to a fault
Is an active and well-known member of his local community
Not afraid to experience emotions deeply

Common Raven

Common Raven
Mill Valley, California, USA
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§An Unkindness of Ravens§

~true bird fact~ I've already gone on for quite some time on the intelligence of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays, as well as our raven friend here). Crows are considered to be some of the most intelligent and do things like recognize cause and effect, and engage in recreational play using sticks as 'toys'.

Extremely symbolic/ominous/portentous (further reading)
Will challenge you to games of logic and wit, which you will certainly lose
Enjoys serious pursuits. Doesn't understand frivolity
The messenger of the bird gods
Not so good at socializing with other birds

Where Are They Now? issue 1

Nostalgia. We all experience it. Sometimes you look back on your favorite post here on bird blog dot com just to reminisce. What was your life like when you first read about Loon, for example? Were you younger and more beautiful? What is Yellow Footed Gull doing with his life now? I bet he has kids already. Wow, time really flies. Today's update and new recurring feature is all about nostalgia. We'll be checking in on all of our favorite Birds of The Past and finding out what is going on with them now. So put on your rose-colored glasses and pull up a rocking chair. It's time to look back.

American Crow has found transcendental meditation and is taking steps to actualize her own life. She is preparing to run for local office.

Black-crowned Night-Heron is going through a dark time right now. After some small-time drama, he is finding himself without many friends and not accepted in his old circles. He is leading a very sedentary life at the moment, but has been doing a lot of thinking. Maybe he will come out of this a better bird.

Osprey got tired of being a big fish in a small pond. He disappeared one day on his motorcycle, leaving all of his other worldly posessions behind. Obviously kind of a local legend now, people say that he may have moved to Mexico or California.

California Quail is pursuing creative outlets. He has started writing a blog about 'Quail Fails' which is attracting a modest following. The internet is a great place to make friends for California Quail, and he is feeling very validated.

AAAAAAAAAAAA

 AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa

 UUUUUUUUUUUuuuu

 EEEEHHHHHHHHHHK

 HYEEEEEEEHHHHHH

 ZRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRP

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Black-billed Magpie

Black-billed Magpie
Park City, Utah, USA
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
 ~true bird fact~ One of very few non-human animals who are able to recognize their own reflection in a mirror. This is called the Mirror Test (pro click for picture of dog looking into mirror), and is thought to be an indication of self awareness. Besides our Magpie friend here, only great apes, dolphins, orcas, and elephants pass it. Kinda crazy, huh?
§A Tiding of Magpies§

No money, but always sharply dressed
Considers himself a gadfly of bird society, like Socraties
Likes to push the envelope, upset people
Sometimes hard to understand his motivations
A charmer