Good Birds, Bad Pics: Florida edition

For a lot of reasons, it's looking like I probably won't be going back to my home state of Florida for quite some time. Although I have a complicated relationship with the place, I increasingly enjoyed my regular visits, and was able to develop an appreciation for the things that make it special. Arguable (and certainly for the purposes of this blog) the best thing about Florida is the birds. A great state for birds in general, but also, one where there is relatively little overlap with my adoptive home state of California. 

So every time I've gone back I've tried to get a bit of birding done, despite how little time I actually get to spend there. This past April was my last trip, and while it produced some good bird pictures (to be posted at the usual rate that things go around here), it also produced some real stinkers. However, given that this was my last trip for a while, I'm going to go ahead and say 'still counts'! So here, without further equivocating, are some really terrific and cool birds that I was so happy to see, but that I was unable to get anything but the #WorstBirdPics of.

Caspian Tern
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

April 2023
Member of the Gull, Tern, and Skimmer Family
§A Committee of Terns§

★The World's Largest Tern★

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after the Caspian sea. And yes, a lot of these terns do live there. They really get around, huh?

What went wrong? Man, you know how these things fly around. It's hard to get a picture of them in flight, and they weren't landing. Also, the light was getting a little tough by this point.

Cape May Warbler
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Boynton Beach, Florida, USA

April 2023

Member of the Wood Warbler Family

§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} Yes, they are named after Cape May, New Jersey, which was where the bird was first collected by European colonizer types. However, unlike the Caspian Tern (above), they do not actually really live in Cape May. In fact, it took a hundred years for another Cape May Warbler to be sited there, although today it's recognized as an uncommon visitor. Maybe don't go for just your first idea on these things, when you're naming birds. And yet, still better than being named after some guy..  Shoutout to the Bird Names for Birds movement on their recent victory.

~True Bird Fact~ They have a curled semi-tubular tongue, which is unique among warblers, and enables their seasonally varied diets. In the summer, they're up North, mostly eating bugs, but in the Winter, they live in the Caribbean, where flower nectar and fruit end up being a large part of their diet. I wonder if they like the winter better. I know which of those two diets sounds more appetizing to me.

What went wrong? This guy was hoping around everywhere, going nuts. Also, I get reluctant to hold other people up when I'm trying to take a picture of a bird around other people. Maybe my camera settings were funky? I think the light was also starting to go a little here as well.

Worm-eating Warbler

Lantana Nature Preserve, Florida, USA
April 2023
Member of the Wood Warbler Family

§A Confusion of Warblers§

{Etymology Corner} They don't eat worms! Not even a little. They do eat caterpillars, but not more than any other warbler. The reaction to this information across the bird internet is muted, sort of a 'eh, what are you gonna do?' vibe. I find this distressing information. To make matters worse, the Worm-eating Warbler has a range that includes Cape May much more regularly than the Cape May Warbler, and the Cape May Warbler is known for it's favored food source to be an insect called the Spruce Budworms, to the point where Cape May populations increase when there's a Budworm outbreak. Who is naming these things? We need to shut this whole thing down.

What went wrong? I saw this guy out in the open for about 5 seconds before he completely disappeared. I followed his chirping around for a bit, but he never came out in the open again. Also, it was raining

And lastly, a very special welcome back to the American Redstart in his unprecedented second appearance in the Good Birds, Bad Pics series. Go to hell American Redstart.

What went wrong? Personal hatred for me, I'm assuming

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?

Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-breasted Chat

Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
July 2017
Only Member of the Chat Family
The brand new family this bird belongs to has §No Collective Noun§, but if I was gonna just straight make one up (as I suspect often happens), I'd call them a... §Smalltalk of Chats§

~breaking bird news~ The Yellow-breasted chat, was, until this very year, considered to be our largest Wood Warbler. I guess this was based mostly on him being a yellow songbird, even though he is, like, twice as big as all the other wood warblers, and displays other biological differences as well. He even imitates songs, like a member of the mockingbird family. I guess hindsight is 20/20 and I'm no bird scientist, but I think we probably could've called this one a little sooner. Anyway, this is all so new that he is currently considered to be the only member of his taxonomic family, and almost all websites still incorrectly list him as a wood warbler. In fact, things as so uncertain for the chat, that he might get categorized as something else entirely at some point. I think we should just let him do his thing.

Ahead of his time- in 20 years we'll all look back on what Yellow-breasted Chat was doing and realize he was just miles ahead of us

Pursues his personal philosophy very consistently

Shows vulnerability in a very strong way

Finds the more simple acts of day to day living challenging sometimes

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler aka. Audubon's Warbler (?)
Healdsburg, California, USA
January 2017
Member of the Warbler Family
§A Bouquet of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ He's got a special digestive system that allows him to eat waxy berries that other birds can't digest. As a result he can winter further north than any other warbler. Great job buddy!

Even though he can winter further north, that doesn't mean he's not cold all the time
Often touchy when he feels his hobbies or interests are being picked up by new people. Doesn't like 'bandwagoners'
Usually calm, but doesn't react well to conflicts
Has hometown pride

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler aka. Black-and-white Creeper (archaic)
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida, USA
April 2016
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Distinction of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ The warblers crawls and creeps up and down the trunks of trees unlike any other member of his family (hence his old name). He can do this because he's got an elongated back toe.. He's also unusually aggressive for a warbler, so don't even try to stop him from doing it.

Has an exotic and mysterious (but pleasant) smell
Ludite
Loves esoteric collections (i.e. gas station signs, old coke bottles)
A little bit emotionally removed

Is that all for this blog? Well, I know what you're thinking and I'm not going to let you down. You're wondering what would black-and-white warbler look like if he were really black and white. Well, it might look.. a little something.. like this

Struggling to get an Acceptable Picture of an American Redstart: A Birding Journey

Hi friends. I'm on a bit of a Florida birds kick these days (truth be told, this is largely because I haven't found the time for a real birding trip in a while). No bird gave me more trouble while I was in Florida than the American Redstart. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that, because the Redstarts made themselves abundantly clear from early on, while much desired birds like Painted Buntings and Snail Kites remained entirely absent. Simply put, I could not get a Redstart to sit still to save my life. Maybe my camera settings were off, maybe my skills were not where they needed to be, maybe it was just a bird I was not meant to get a great picture of. But I sure tried, folks. This blog is about that.

The first few pictures I got were at Morikami Park, in Delray Beach Florida. It's a heavily forested botanical gardens, and the Redstart(s) here flitted from tree to tree, staying mostly in the shadow.

Honestly these were probably the best pictures I got of them. My wife and family had to endure me doing a lot of standing around and staring up into the branches of trees. The pictures came out looking like this.



Truly a magnificent bird.

Lighting: poor
View: obstructed

Next time I saw him, he was down in South Miami Beach, Florida, amid the seagrapes. This one was so close to being perfect birdfans. Just a little tiny bit longer in this spot and I could've gotten the focus in on him, instead of the coral wall behind him. He was gone too quickly to get a second shot.

Oddly, the only time he sits still is when he's far enough away that I can't get a good picture of him. Almost as if being on the move around humans is a good idea or something. This is at the full 50x zoom my camera is capable of, so he was really a speck in the distance. All of the rest of these pictures are from Key Biscayne. It is a beautiful and undervisited park, but things did not get better there for our Redstart odds.

Out of focus level: medium
Still obstructed

This one, I think, would have been the shot, but the bird had other ideas. After this point, I had run out of other people's time to waste, and just figured I'd make the best of it when I got home. We've all been there, right? At least that's what I tell myself. I went to battle with the bird, and in this case, the bird won. Well, at least I was able to positively ID him. It's not called pro-ornithologist for a reason folks, and I hope that my continued struggles are an inspiration to all the other not-so-pro birders out there. Stay tuned next week when I hopefully have some really exciting stuff to share from a trip I'm taking this weekend.

American Redstart
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, USA
April 2016
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Confusion of Warblers§

{etymology corner} American Redstarts are not part of the same biological family as other birds called Redstarts, and derive their name from their red tails (a start = a tail in olden times).

~true bird fact~ American Redstarts flash their bright tail and wingpatches while foraging, making them look like a blur of color. This startles their intended insect prey and flushes them out of hiding.

Feisty, responds poorly to rules and requests
Spends money recklessly
Boastful
Always willing to stop what he's doing if something more entertaining comes up

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, USA
April 2016
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Wrench of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ The males of the species are generally monogamous and will stick with one partner throughout the mating season. Females on the other hand will surreptitiously call for and seek out other mates. Take that patriarchy!

Seems super self-assured, but puts his pants on one leg at a time like everyone else actually
Easily makes friends, good at small talk
Eager for experiences of peak actualization, whatever that means
Generous with his time and resources

Prairie Warbler

female

Prairie Warbler
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, USA
April 2016
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Confusion of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ These birds eat the eggshells after their young have hatched. Kinda gross, like eating a placenta in humans. Better than eating it before they hatch?

Plucky
Asks pointed questions
Always learning about some new obsession
Smokes when nervous

Hermit Warbler

Hermit Warbler (juvenile)

Washington Square Park, San Francisco, California USA
January 2014
Member of the Wood Warbler Family
§A Fall of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ Diet consists strictly of bugs and spiders. Short fact for you today, folks...

Ok fine, here's another. It's shy. Every website says that, what's going on, I thought anthropomorphizing was my deal? Are they trying to capture the magic of the Amateurnithologist brand? Anyway, it's a boring bird. Every other fact I can find is this lame inside-baseball stuff about Townsend's Warbler displacing their populations. Dangit Townsend's Warbler, not again!

Shy
Loves a good view
Has a conspiratorial nature
Doesn't stand up to Townsend's Warbler one bit, I can tell you that for sure

Birds of Costa Rica: All the rest pt. 2

Last week I promised you guys we'd finish with these birds this week. While my heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. It just turned out to be more birds than I thought you guys,  and identifying all of them proved tricky. Let's take this as good news, as it means we have even more cool birds from Costa Rica to observe. Check out part one of our coverage here! We'll start today with known flappy-bird-resembler Yellow Warbler


Yellow Warbler aka Summer Yellowbird (colloq.) (reinita de manglar)
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Wood-Warbler Family
§A Trepidation of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ Yellow Warblers are famous for their 'sweet sweet' song. Males staking out a new territory will often have sing-offs with each other to assert dominance. Generally if one bird 'gets served' then 'it's on'. 

Doesn't like to let things go. Has dramatic opinions about people.

Great Kiskadee (benteveo (lit. I see you well!))

Playa Tamarindo, Guancaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Flycatcher Family
§A Shower of Kiskadees§

~true bird fact~ This guy is described as 'bold' almost every where you look, but there's one thing he's not bold about: Coral Snakes. In what must border on a phobia, Kiskadees will stay away from anything that shares his most feared predator's black-yellow-red color pattern. Really, who can blame him?

A great quote about Kiskadees from naturalist William Henry Hudson "(The Great Kiskadee) seems to have studied to advantage the various habits of the Kestrel, Flycatcher, Kingfisher, Vulture, and fruit-eating Thrush; and when its weapons prove weak it supplements them with its cunning.”

A cool anti-hero bandit type. We all root for him in his struggle against 'The Man'.

Roadside Hawk (gavilán pollero(lit. Chicken Hawk))
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Kites, Eagles, and Hawks Family
§A Tower of Hawks§

~true bird fact~ The smallest member of his family. Attacks people more often than most birds, as he does well in urban areas, and becomes aggressive when nesting.

Is the owner of a dive bar, where he is also the bouncer