Birds of Montezuma

The first weekend of April in 2010 was unseasonable warm and sunny. The weather prompted me to visit the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge three weeks earlier than I have the last two years. Turned out I was in between two major migration periods having missed the large flocks of Canada and Snow Geese of mid-March and before the shore birds arrival. I still had one of my most successful days photographing the birds who call the refuge home. In all, I photographed nine species in four hours of roving the wildlife drive, lookouts and trails. I've added links for further research and travel planning. Oh, and the prints are for sale if you take a fancy to any of them. Use the drop down menu to Buy. Don't worry, you can just buy one unless, of course, you want more than one. (Note: The copyright watermark will not show on the final print(s).) Comments are always welcomed and thank you for visiting!

For the third year in a row, the male Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) welcomed me to the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge as they flittered between their perches and looking for nearby food sources. They were not singing much as it was still a bit early for them to start serenading the females. I found it interesting to learn song sparrows typically learn their songs from a handful of other birds with neighboring territories. The students will then choose a territory close to or replacing the birds they learned from. This allows the song sparrows to address their neighbors with songs shared in common with them. It has been demonstrated song sparrows are able to distinguish neighbors from strangers on the basis of song, and also females are able to distinguish (and prefer) their mate's songs from those of other neighboring birds, and they prefer songs of neighboring birds to those of strangers.
bird melospiza melodia montezuma national new york refuge song sparrow wildlife STP 20100403 022
This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) was relaxing after just eaten a fish he had caught. The biggest and most widespread heron in North America, GBH (as a lot of people call them) can be found along the ocean shore or the edge of small ponds. Great Blue Herons nest in colonies called rookeries, in trees close to lakes or other wetlands. Rookeries can be as large as five hundred nests. The nests are large and bulky made of sticks. The female will lay between three an six pale blue eggs each year. Only one brood is raised each year. Both parents help in caring for the young by regurgitating food. and consume up to four times as much food when they are feeding young chicks than when laying or incubating eggs.
ardea herodias bird fishing great blue heron hunting montezuma national new york refuge wildlife STP 20100403 033
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) flying over the Main Pool in the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. I have many photos of geese flying in formations and groups. Somehow this lone goose flying by himself says to me this is a wilderness species and not the nuisance one it is becoming in suburban neighborhoods in North America. I did a whole photo essay last year on the Geese of Monteuzma where I talked in depth about the Canada Geese plight.
bird branta canadensis canada canadian flying geese goose marsh montezuma national new york refuge waterfowel wildlife STP 20100403 074
An Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) soaring over the Montezuma marsh looking for it's primary food source, fish. Often called a Fishhawk, osprey's talons have evolved to be able to pluck fish easily out of any water surface be it a fast moving river or quiet pond. When an osprey locates his prey, the bird hovers momentarily then plunges feet first into the water. One of the largest raptors in the world, ospreys are found on every continent except Antarctica.
bird of prey blue flying montezuma national new york osprey pandion haliaetus raptor refuge sky soaring wildlife wing STP 20100403 102
Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus) are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill and long tongue. When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, red if you’re in the West – and a bright white flash on the rump.
bird colaptes auratus flicker montezuma national new york northern refuge wildlife woodpecker STP 20100403 107
White-breasted Nuthatchs (Sitta carolinensis) are active, agile little birds with an appetite for insects and large, meaty seeds. They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside. My mother called them Upside Down Birds as they walk head first down tree trunks to our bird feeders.
bird breasted feeding montezuma national new york nuthatch refuge sitta carolinensis white wildlife STP 20100403 120 Version
Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) almost universally considered “cute” thanks to its oversized round head, tiny body, and curiosity about everything, including humans. If you start feeding birds from feeders chances are a chickadee will be one of your first visitors. They seem to have an internal radar for free food. In winter, chickadees will flock up. Among the chickadee flocks will be nuthatches, titmices and warblers. These mixed flocks stay together because the chickadees call out whenever they find a good source of food. This calling-out forms cohesion for the group, allowing the other birds to find food more efficiently.
bird blackcapped chickadee montezuma national new york poecile atricapillus refuge wildlife STP 20100403 124
Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nest in natural or artificial cavities near water and are often found in large flocks. They readily use nest boxes, including those built for bluebirds. Declines in cavity-builder populations are resulting in fewer natural nesting sites for tree swallows, although the swallow population remains healthy. This tree swallow is on a nesting box near the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. Their nests consist of multiple layers of grasses and thin twigs, and is lined with large feathers from other species. The female lays four to seven white eggs and incubates them by herself. The eggs hatch in about fourteen days and the hatchlings are altricial. The hatchlings typically fledge within twenty-four days.
bird box montezuma national nesting new york refuge swallow tachycineta bicolor tree wildlife STP 20100403 156
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) has an ugly, bare-skinned face but are beautiful on the wing. Seldom does this graceful and talented bird flap its wings as it soars over large areas searching for carrion like this one is doing over the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Turkey vultures find their meals using its keen vision and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gasses produced by the beginnings of the process of decay in dead animals. The olfactory lobe of a turkey vulture brain, responsible for processing smells, is particularly large compared to that of other animals.
cathartes aura flying montezuma national new york refuge soaring turkey vulture wildlife STP 20100403 158