Yellow Warblers

Yellow Warblers

A windy day

Mug shots: Homosassa Wildlife Park: 1-19-17

I keep coming across posts that got stuck in cyber heaven and never got published.  Over the next few days, we hope you'll enjoy the three catch-up posts from the past that we found.

Broad-winged Hawk

Green Heron

Red-tailed Hawks

American Wood Stork

The only North American stork, preening 

This is my spot

and I'm not moving!

Horicon Marsh NWR, WI: 5-26-17

Bluet Damselfly

Drake Mallard Ducks

Dragonfly

Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is found throughout most of North America, but the birds of different areas can look surprisingly different.  Song sparrows of the Desert Southwest are pale, while those of the Pacific Northwest are dark and heavily streaked.  Sparrows of Alaska's Aleutian Islands chain are even darker, and they're huge: one-third longer than the eastern birds and weighing twice as much.

Like many other songbirds, the male Song Sparrow uses its song to attract mates as well as defend its territory.  Lab studies have shown that the females are attracted not just to the male's song itself, but to how well it reflects his ability to learn.  Males that used more learned components in their songs and that better matched the songs of the adult bird they learned their songs from were preferred by the females.

Whitefish Point, MI: Saturday, 5-13-17

Immature Bald Eagle

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Male Cape May Warbler

Sandhill Cranes