Here are some recent photographs of birds from in and around Calgary, by David Lilly. See more on the Canadian Bird Photographer website, and on David’s website.
Western Meadowlark
Tree Swallow
American Kestrel
Northern Shoveler
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Wilson’s Snipe
Posted by Dan Arndt
As I wrote in my original post about Griffith Woods with the Winter Birding course, I haven’t had much opportunity to visit this beautiful park on the edge of the city, and Sunday morning was only my second visit. The route we took this week was almost identical to the one we took in March, but the birds we saw were vastly different.
Griffith Woods – 5km Walking Route
We started by walking east from the parking lot, where we were inundated by a huge number of birds singing. Not only new birds for the year for many of us, but for myself at least one new life bird, and great views of others that I’d only seen in the distance or through foliage. Both White-crowned and White-throated Sparrow species were present and singing, but we also heard and saw a single male Purple Finch.
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
On the river itself, a few Spotted Sandpipers searched for food along the shore, while a pair of Belted Kingfishers patrolled the river in search of small fish.
Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Belted Kingfisher
Further east, on the banks of the large eastern ponds, we had great views of an adult and a juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker, a House Wren at the entrance of a nest hole, and a Gray Catbird who flew in for a closer inspection as we played back a recorded call.
Red-naped Sapsucker
House Wren
Gray Catbird
To top off those great views, we also spotted a pair of what we identified as Least Flycatchers along the edge of the ponds before they disappeared into the deeper brush.
Least Flycatcher
We left the ponds after searching a bit longer for some other birds that we could hear nearby, but only the briefest glimpses confirmed the songs of the Yellow Warbler, Lincoln’s and Song Sparrows, and the ever present Clay-colored Sparrows buzzed in the background.
Turning back west, we continued past the parking lot and deeper into the spruce forest of Griffith Woods, which meanders through a number of small tributary channels of the Elbow River, very small ponds and wetland areas, but is dominated by the White Spruce that make up a significant portion of the foliage. The birds were heard more than seen, and while we heard a number of Pine Siskins, White-winged Crossbills, Boreal Chickadees, and both Hairy and Downy Woodpecker species, it was hard getting our binoculars on them, let alone the camera lens!
Coming to one of the first bridges, we saw a pair of sandpipers, which initially we thought were also Spotted Sandpipers, as before, but the white breast, greenish legs, and drastically different demeanor identified them as Solitary Sandpipers, which can sometimes nest in trees, as we noticed a few minutes after this shot was taken.
Solitary Sandpiper
We meandered for the next half hour with very few birds seen, but heard Chipping Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and what we thought was a flock of Black-capped Chickadees mobbing a predator, but turned out only to be an unusually vocal flock. A moment later, the call of the Audubon’s subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warbler was heard only a few meters away. Once again, we had great views of it as it was protective of its territory, indicating that it would very likely be breeding in the area if it can find a mate this season.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s subspecies)
Our last really great views were of the male Pileated Woodpecker that we originally saw back in March, once again protecting the nest hole in an abandoned power pole near the condominium complex.
Pileated Woodpecker
On our way out, we did get one other new bird on the year in Calgary. High above us soared a juvenile Golden Eagle, with bright white patches under the wings, and that incredible golden brown hue over the rest of its body. While my camera couldn’t quite zoom in far enough to get a decent shot of it, my binoculars gave me good enough views that I’m looking forward to getting back out into the country to see these birds up close again. As for Griffith Woods, I look forward to exploring it once again this summer, and into the fall once the warblers begin heading south once again.
These fantastic photos of a male Rufous Hummingbird were taken by Marilyn Sanders just west of Calgary in the community of Stonepine, off of Highway 8.
Posted by Matthew Sim
Each year, spring migration brings something different. The year I first bought my camera, migration brought to me several brilliant male Western Tangers. This was the first time that I was really enthusiastic about birding and, with birds like this in my backyard, it is not difficult to see why.
The Western Tanager has to be, in my honest opinion, one of the top 5 most beautiful species that we can see in Calgary. Its red, yellow and black plumage make it stand out during migration, when the trees are still bare of leaves, but be warned, once the leaves come out, this brilliant songster all but disappears into the forests, becoming rather inconspicuous despite its bright colors.
A bright-red head combined with black wings, back and tail and canary-yellow underparts and neck are what make the male so beautiful. The female, considerably duller, is green olive above and yellow below. Arriving in southern Alberta in early to mid-May (they arrive later in the month in the mountains), the Western Tanager heads to boreal and montane forests to breed. Though the species prefers coniferous and mixed forests for nesting, during migration, it frequents a wider range of forests.
The Western Tanager can be seen in the city in areas such as Bebo Grove in Fish Creek or Edworthy Park during the summer. Outside of the city, they can be seen in the mountains and in the Water Valley area, among other locations. During the month of May,you might even spot one in your own yard- they are most often seen among the higher branches of trees so remember to look up!
Did you know…
The red on the Western Tanager’s face is formed by the pigment rhodoxanthin, a pigment not usually found in birds. The other tanagers (such as the Scarlet Tanager) make the pigments that give them their bright colors however, rhodoxanthin is not manufactured by the Western Tanager meaning that they must obtain it from the food that they eat (probably insects who in turn gain this pigment from the plants they eat).
Posted by Matthew Sim
Last time I wrote a ‘Postcards from Texas’, I bemoaned the weather and fate for whisking away any migratory birds from my binoculars and my camera. This time, however, weather and fate were both on my side for a full 3 days, bringing warblers, thrushes, flycatchers, orioles, buntings, catbirds and cuckoos to my very neighborhood.
Saturday morning, something told me to go out birding. Trusting instinct, I went out to the neighborhood patches that occasionally turn up good birds. When I got to the pond, I heard a distinctive ‘chirp’ coming from the trees and shrubs lining the pond. Then came another ‘chirp’. And another. I soon was in a very excited mode, dashing this way in that, my camera turned up at the trees. A storm the night before had slowed migration, forcing migratory birds to land at the first green patch they saw, and for this reason, there were now dozens of migrants here at my local pond.
Male Chestnut-sided Warbler
Female Magnolia Warbler
Male Magnolia Warbler
Female American Redstart
As I gazed upwards into the bushes and trees, I managed to see Wilson’s, Canada, Kentucky, Black-throated Green, Magnolia, Yellow, Tennessee and Chestnut-sided Warblers, American Redstart and Common Yellowthroat. Soon, I was seeing Gray Catbirds and even a male Baltimore Oriole.
Baltimore Oriole
As I admired the oriole, an even bigger surprise came up in the form of my first ever Indigo Bunting, They are quite stunning birds!
Male Indigo Bunting
After that, I found a Olive-sided Flycatcher, identified by the two white spots on its back.
Olive-sided Flycatcher
And then some of the regulars too…
At one point, upon seeing a large bird in one tree, I investigated, expecting to find some rather unusual bird. Instead, I found a rather common Green Heron- but in a tree?!
Green Heron-in a tree!
So maybe migration wasn’t so bad after all!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre.
I have three Downy Woodpeckers that come to my feeders regularly. They are not shy, and I managed to get some close-up photos that show the prominent nasal tufts of this species. These help to keep wood chips (and nut chips) out of the bird’s nostrils. It is sometimes said that Downy Woodpeckers are named for these downy feathers at the base of their bill.
Posted by Dan Arndt
I attempted a trip earlier this year to the Pine Creek Water Treatment Plant on the south end of Calgary, and very nearly reached the facility just as my time was running short and I was forced to head back. At the time, a pair of Northern Saw-whet Owls was reported down on the river on the island adjacent to the plant, but I dipped on finding them. This time, the trip to the facility was successful, but sadly, no Northern Saw-Whet Owls were found. Even so, the number of species we saw and heard was astounding, and we even managed to observe not one, but two mating rituals in the few hours it took us to walk from the south end of our route, back to our vehicles at the entrance to the Inland Concrete Site at the east end of 194th Avenue SE, on what would turn out to be one of the warmest and nicest days of the year so far.
Pine Creek Water Treatment Plant to 194th Avenue SE
The rogues gallery of usual suspects was generally present on the route, with the usual Mallards, Canada Geese, Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Flickers and even Red-breasted Nuthatches. What I was not prepared for was the sheer number of new species on and around the river! The highlight of the day I think would have been the three Spotted Sandpipers that we saw throughout the day. I’m sure I have better shots than this from previous outings, but this was the closest I was able to get to any of these three.
Spotted Sandpiper
Two other old faithful birds that I have somehow missed so far this year are the Green-winged Teal and Gadwall, both of which were viewed down along one of the back-channels of the Bow River, in the shallow, slow waters in the gravel laden meanders behind the main series of islands. The Gadwall were one of the species we were able to observe “The Beast With Two Backs”… or in other words, the mating of the ducks. It really is quite an unceremonious event for birds in general. I think the whole encounter lasted less than a minute.
Green-winged Teal (m)
Male (top) and female (bottom) Gadwall
I’m always happy when an outing includes good views of Killdeer. One of our first sightings was across the back-channel, in the shade, with the Killdeer disappearing among the rocks, but near the end of our walk, we also caught this species in the act of attempting to procreate. I wish these future parents good luck! At least the male didn’t attempt to drown the female during the copulation!
Killdeer
Male (top) and female (bottom) Killdeer mating
One of the biggest surprises that I should have been prepared for, but always takes me aback every year, is the sheer number of Savannah and Clay-colored Sparrows that invade the grasslands and brush-lands on the outskirts of Calgary. By far these two were the most numerous species of the day, and their calls provided the constant background theme music for our outing along the river, interrupted by the odd Song Sparrow, Lincoln Sparrow, and even a distant Vesper Sparrow that we heard, but did not get close enough to see.
Savannah Sparrow
Clay-colored Sparrow
And while I’m on the topic of surprises, these two were great additions to the outing; a small raft of Red-necked Grebes at the pond at the far south end of Lafarge Meadows, and a Great Blue Heron that flew by on at least three separate locations.
Red-necked Grebe
Great Blue Heron
When we had first arrived, we noted a swallow up on one of the nearby powerlines, and while we thought it may be a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, we couldn’t be sure due to the bad light. We got lucky though, as the little swallow decided to stick around and wait for us to come back, confirming our original ID. The browns and greys of the Rough-winged Swallow provides stunning contrast to the iridescent blue and bright white Tree Swallows we saw further down the path guarding a nest hole.
Rough-winged Swallow
Another great week of birding down, and at least 6 more to go before the Spring Birding course wraps up for the year.
See you next week!
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
On Monday I was in north Glenmore Park, and there was a pair of Swainson’s Hawks there. There was a stiff wind from the south, so I was able to get pictures as they soared almost motionless over my head. One of the birds is an intermediate to dark adult, and the other is a light hawk that looks like it is just coming into its adult plumage.
There was a little corvid harrassment…
The two hawks together.
Swainson’s Hawks have started to arrive back in the Calgary region. Now is a good time to reprint this article by Gus Yaki, which details the remarkable migration of these birds. The article was written in February 2007 for the Bird Studies Group of Nature Calgary. Reprinted by permission of Gus Yaki.
Meet the Species – Swainson’s Hawk
by Gustave J. Yaki
Right now (February 2007), almost all the Swainson’s Hawks of the world are in the Pampas, the treeless plains of South America, in central Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The few exceptions are individuals trapped in the two appendages of North America.
One group of perhaps 50 birds, having made a mistake in navigation, or were blown off course, attempt to spend the winter in southern Florida, SW of Miami, between Homestead and the east boundary of Everglades National Park. Here they feed on insects and rodents in the temporary vegetable fields waiting to be turned into subdivisions.
Another group — several hundred birds, perhaps recent colonizers of southern California — have ended up in Baja California, Mexico. There, near Ciudad Constitucion, south of Loreto, an amazing diversity of cacti and other plant species, adapted to less than three inches of annual precipitation, have been bulldozed in order to grow wheat. Here, farmers are doing so by pumping up and spraying the fields with fossil water. The hawks feed on the grasshoppers and other arthropods living in those harvested grain fields.
Swainson’s Hawk. Photo by Pat Bumstead.
But the really big story begins about now, at the southernmost end of the Swainson’s Hawks’ winter range, at latitude 34 degrees South, about on par with the city of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
I thought that we’d begin by following an adult female, equipped with a satellite radio transmitter placed on her by Stuart Houston of Saskatoon, in 1996, near Kindersley, SK, not far from the Alberta border. This transmitter was programmed to send a signal, one to four times in eight hours, every sixth day. (C.S. Houston, Blue Jay 57:2)
This female had already begun her migration on 13 Feb. 1997, when she was making a short reconnaissance around the area where she had spent most of the winter.
Six days later, by 19 Feb., she had moved a straight-line distance of 325 km northward. We don’t know if she traversed that distance all in one day or flew every day for an average of 54 km a day. Remember, she had been relatively sedentary most of the winter.
However, by 04 March, she was in Bolivia, an additional 1570 km. If she flew every day, she averaged 158 km a day for this segment. By 10 March, she was in the upper Amazon area of Brazil, near Peru, a further distance of 1330 kms — or an average of 221 kms daily.
Obviously, she couldn’t have flown on days when it rained, as it often does there — at least not very far, so some days she must have covered greater distances. An adult female, trapped near Hanna, AB in 1995, over a 7-day period in Oct. and 2-three day periods in early November averaged 536, 565 and 473 km/day (J.K. Schmutz et al, Blue Jay 54:2).
Because the satellites take a north-south polar orbit, they are widely dispersed in the equatorial regions. The next signal was not received until nineteen days later, early on 29 March when she was in Chiapas in southern Mexico, a total accumulated, straight-line distance of 6,475 kms. She probably had crossed the Equator about the first day of our spring. She then traversed the Andes Mountains over Colombia to find the Isthmus of Panama. Once there, she mainly followed the Caribbean side of Panama and Costa Rica, before crossing to the Pacific side of Nicaragua, probably El Salvador, Guatemala and into Mexico.
Backing up a bit — by the time she reached northern Argentina, she would have been joined by thousands of other Swainson’s Hawks. In 1972, Neal Smith counted 344,409 Swainson’s passing over Ancon Hill, at the south end of the Panama Canal, near Panama City, during the autumn migration (J.K. Schmutz et al, Blue Jay 54:2).
Now, when migrating, the “Buteo” hawks seldom flap their wings, except to get air-borne. They make most of this long journey by using SOLAR energy.
When the sun shines, it heats the ground. This results in the air immediately above the soil being warmed, causing it to rise. Once the air temperature is above 10 degrees C, the rising air column is strong enough to lift the hawks high into the sky — like riding an elevator. Having gained the maximum lift on this “thermal”, as the rising air mass is called, our hawk set her course northward, and glided on to the next thermal, perhaps ten kms further along — to again be elevated, to repeat the process throughout the sunny part of the day.
Soaring Swainson’s. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.
On clear days, at her starting point, latitude 34 South, she could have been aloft by 9 a.m. — and flown until 4 p.m. Nearer the equator, she could have been up much longer. I have seen hawks up, over Panama and Costa Rica in late March, flying as early as 7 a.m., and others still up at 5 p.m.
Once she had reached Panama, she was also flying with tens of thousands of Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures, as well as a few other species — a veritable river of raptors. By flying in a long column, the trailing hawks, watching the hawks ahead, are able to see where the next uplifting air mass is located.
As the day wears on and the sun begins to sinks in the west, the ground is no longer being adequately heated. The result is that the raptors lose their lift, and must descend to the earth for the night.
When 200,000 birds drop out of the sky into one area, there is no way that all can find food. So most hawks make the major part of this long journey on an empty stomach — as the lack of feces or whitewash below their nocturnal roost would suggest. However, uncomfortable as this may be, it can be advantageous. By not eating, birds are lighter, and therefore able to start flying earlier the next day — theoretically, getting to their destination sooner. They do, however, need to drink, to counter dehydration.
Having reached southern Chiapas in Mexico by 29 March, our female was next reported at Cotulla, just north of Laredo in south Texas on 04 April. Here, the hawks could spread out and feed again, if needed. No signal was received on 10 April, but by 16 April, she was at Lamar, Colorado. She was presumably still feeding and resting in this area, moving only another 170 km by 23 April. Perhaps there were no thermals or winds to assist her. Then a final jump of 1575 kms (a average of 263 km/day) brought her back to her previous year’s nest, where she was observed on 29 April.
She had completed a straight-line distance of 10,520 km in just under 11 weeks. Actually, her total journey would have been many thousands more kms if we could follow her compete path over the earth.
Not all the Swainson’s Hawks live in the nearby prairies. Some go on much further, to the Yukon and into the N.W. Territories to near the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Others go into eastern Alaska. Their migration is one of the longest in the bird world, certainly of the new world raptors.
Having reached her breeding area, presumably with her mate of previous years already there, being monogamous, she likely quickly re-mated, helped repair the old nest or build a new one, laid 2-4 speckled eggs, then began incubation — all within about two to three weeks. The earliest reported egg-laying date in Alberta is 06 May — the mean average date being 23 May (L. Priestly, Blue Jay, 63:1). The eggs hatch 28 to 35 days later, usually between mid June and early July, with the mean date of 27 June.
The growing young, mainly fed young Richardson’s Ground Squirrels, remain in the nest — depending upon the weather and availability of food — for about another 45 days. They usually fledge in early August — the mean being 11 August — although young have still been in the nest as late as 03 Sep. The adults continue to feed the young for the next several weeks until they are able to successfully hunt for themselves.
In early September, Swainson’s Hawks begin to gather in small groups, in harvested grain fields. Here they now feed almost exclusively on grasshoppers, averaging 100 of these a day. Accumulating in ever-growing numbers, they begin to slowly drift southward. By the end of September, virtually every healthy Swainson’s Hawk has left Canada, on average, a little over five months or 21 weeks after their spring arrival. In the case of Stuart Houston’s hawk, in 1996, she started her return journey, following a slightly different but parallel route, on 22 September and reached her wintering area by 30 November. There she spent the next eleven weeks — before starting the annual cycle all over again. Like other tropical migrants, she was experiencing Perpetual Summer.
Her spring migration equaled almost 11 weeks; the breeding season lasted almost 21 weeks; her autumn migration was 9 weeks; and her winter stopover was 11 weeks, for a total of 52 weeks. In total, she was in transit for 20 weeks, almost five months, just to have the opportunity to reproduce the next generation and perpetuate her species. — And just maybe, in the process — she filled those of us aware of her achievements, with awe and wonder!
Photo by Anne Elliott.
Longevity & other statistics
A Swainson’s Hawk banded as a nestling by Edgar T. Jones of Edmonton, at Cereal, AB on 17 July 1988, was found dead at Quemu Quemu, LaPampa province, Argentina, in Feb. 2007. Having made 19 trips southbound and 18 northbound, Stuart Houston calculated that it would have travelled a minimum distance of over 400,000 kms during its migrations. (Blue Jay, 65:3, p.164)
Most Swainson’s Hawks do not nest until three years of age (B. Woodbridge et al, J. Raptor Res. 29), after having made three round trips.
A Swainson’s Hawk banded in California was still alive after 24 years (C.S. Houston, Blue Jay 63:1).
Swainson’s Hawk’s wingspread is 51 inches, compared to 49 inches for Red-tailed Hawks, which migrate only as far as Southern USA. The average Swainson’s weighs 855 g, compared to 1080 g for Red-tailed Hawks. (D.A. Sibley, 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds, New York, Alfred A. Knopf).
In early 1996, Brian Woodbridge of California followed his radio-equipped hawks to Argentina. He thereby happened upon 700 dead hawks, killed by eating grasshoppers sprayed with the pesticide Monocrotophos, made by Ciba-Geigy. Two assistants, who visited sites of other radio-equipped birds also happened on massive kills. From 4847 carcasses examined, nine carried bands, seven of them from Alberta and Sask (C.S. Houston, 1996, Blue Jay 54(2). There was apparently a similar kill the year before, with at least one other banded bird from SK.
Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Recently Terry Korolyk spotted an interesting hawk on Hwy 549 just west of Hwy 773, south of Calgary. Terry says it is an intergrade Harlan’s light phase Red-tailed Hawk.
Terry says:
Thought some Birds Calgary viewers might like to see what this bird looked like. The underparts are obviously a mix of both subspecies. The underside of the tail is obviously white with duskiness near the tip. The upperside of the tail was, in reality, white with a reddish subterminal band and 2 narrower wavy reddish bands adjacent to that.
Photographed by Terry Korolyk on April 6, 2012. Click to enlarge.
To fully appreciate the bird in the photo, look at images of adult Harlan’s Hawks and of adult Eastern Red-tails, then look at my bird again. Rather than blackish underparts with a white streaked throat like a Harlan’s Hawk, or, rather than having white underparts with a strongly streaked belly like an Eastern Red-tail, you have a bird with underparts markings that meet in between. The upperparts are clearly blackish like a Harlan’s Hawk, but they also have that Eastern Red-tail brownish cast. The tail was white like a Harlan’s Hawk, but, rather than having a dusky tip, it had 3 narrow wavy reddish lines there indicating normal light-phase Eastern Red-tail association.
As Terry says, the usual Red-tailed Hawks here are the Eastern subspecies, and “Harlan’s” Hawks are considered to be another subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk. At one time, Harlan’s Hawk was considered to be a separate species entirely. Intergrades like the one above indicate that they are varieties of one species (many people believe that Harlan’s is a separate species; perhaps genetic testing will settle this question).
The Harlan’s Hawk is very different from all other Red-tailed Hawk subspecies. In both its dark and light forms it has black and white plumage, lacking the reds and browns of other Red-tails. The tail, however, can have a wide variety of patterns. Harlan’s Hawk breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada and winters on the southern great plains. We see them occasionally in Calgary in the winter months, when most other Red-tailed Hawks are absent.