Tag Archive | calgary birds

Photo Feathers: Common Goldeneye

Apr29

Recently, I visited Southland Park in Southeast Calgary where I found this male Common Goldeneye drinking water on the Bow River, providing for some neat shots. The Common Goldeneye is a diving duck with a mostly white body, topped with a head that can be a visible green sheen when seen in the right light.

The white oval in between the male Common Goldeneye’s beak and his eye distinguishes him from the similar Barrow’s Goldeneye; which has a white crescent.

The first step is to lower his head into the water.

And lower…

He then tosses his head back so that the water runs down his throat.

He then swallows, repeating this method until he has quenched his thirst. This is how most birds drink.

 

Posted by Matthew Sim

Movie Monday: Shelter From the Storm

Apr25

After the mild weather of the past few days, I hope we have finally seen the last of the snow, and I think European Starlings feel the same.  The birds in this video seemed to be sheltering or seeking warmth on the stepping-stones on our lawn, which were warm enough to melt the snow.  They were feeding on fallen crab apples from the previous summer.

Seeing them hunkered down in those round depressions kind of reminded me of the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence” about the four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie…

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Backyard Birds: Common Grackle

Apr22

The Common Grackle can be a handsome bird when seen from a short distance. Covering its head, neck and upper breast is a purple iridescence that can amaze viewers in the right light. The rest of its feathers, including its long, wedge-shaped tail, are glossed in a bronze-green sheen. But this beauty can be lost on many; a result of the combination of the grackle’s lack of table manners (and all other manners), its voice that sounds like “an un-oiled wheelbarrow” and the invasion of both lawn and feeders by large flocks of  these noisy birds.

Canada’s largest blackbird is both noisy and cocky, and is a resourceful forager. The grackle’s main summer diet consists of insects, small invertebrates and occasionally the eggs and nestlings of other birds. In winter, it will eat waste, grains, seeds, fruit and garbage. They will follow plows to catch invertebrates, pick leeches off the legs of turtles and steal worms from robins, among other techniques to get fast food. The grackle breeds in many different sites but it favours damp, open woodlands, the shores of lakes and streams and wet meadows. Be on the lookout for Grackles as they return to Alberta in April; they are almost here.

The young grackle is even noisier than the adult.

Note the long, wedge-shaped and keeled tail of this grackle.

 

Posted by Matthew Sim

Backyard Birds: Eurasian Collared-Dove

Apr18

For the past two weeks I’ve had two Eurasian Collared-Doves, likely a breeding pair, coming to my yard every day.  They feed on the lawn (lately, on the snow), eating sunflower seeds that have spilled from the bird feeders.

Eurasian Collared-Doves

Eurasian Collared-Doves are not yet a common backyard bird in Calgary, but that may change.  They were introduced to North America in the Bahamas in the 1970’s and have rapidly spread across the continent.  I think they were first reported in Alberta in 2003, and in Calgary in 2004.  I know of two pairs that have nested in the SE quadrant of the city in each of the past two years:  one pair in Shepard, and another in Dover.

This bird has an odd broken feather sticking out on its left side, so I know it’s the same bird returning each day.

Eurasian Collared-Doves are pale buff-grey to pinkish-grey in colour.  They are about the same length as a Rock Pigeon, but slimmer and with a longer tail.  On the back of their neck they have a narrow black half-ring, edged with white, from which they get their name.

This preening bird shows off its black collar…

Eurasian Collared-Doves are becoming more common in the rural areas south and east of Calgary, and are being seen regularly in the city as well.  They seem to occupy an ecological niche between that of the Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove.  It remains to be seen if they will become a common backyard bird like the Rock Pigeon, or primarily a rural one like the Mourning Dove.  If you see any in your yard, please let Birds Calgary know!

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Bird Profile: Ring-necked Pheasant

Apr17

 

The male Ring-necked Pheasant is a very colourful bird with a loud, harsh and raucous “koork-KOK”, call; one that often emerges from grasslands, deep brush and agricultural land. The pheasant is native to Caucasus and Russia and has been introduced all over the world as a popular game bird.

Ring-necked Pheasant

 There is usually one male who guards his harem of plain, mottled females from other males, chasing them away during the breeding season. Pheasants are known to hunker down in a roost in very bad weather, going for days without eating. They nest and forage on the ground, eating seeds, wild fruits, nuts and insects.

 I had my own special encounter with a pheasant the other day. I rode my bike to Fish Creek and as I turned a corner, I came to within a couple meters of a pheasant. He was startled (so was I!) and in his haste to get away, slipped on ice! Definitely funny for me to see!

Elegance… This male Pheasant is trying to be as regal as possible. 

He hits the ice as he runs away and is unprepared…

Whoa!!! He definitely wasn’t ready for this!

Dignity regained… Or so he thinks. 

Posted by Matthew Sim

Backyard Birds: American Tree Sparrow

Apr13

At this time of year, American Tree Sparrows are moving through the Calgary area on their way north.  They like to frequent brushy thickets and back yards across the city.  I’ve had a pair in my yard since April 2, and I’ve seen them in many other parts of the city in the past week.  These sparrows can also be seen in Calgary on their southward migration in the fall, with some of them occasionally overwintering. 

American Tree Sparrows have a brownish-red cap and eyeline, and a dark spot in the centre of the breast.  Despite its name (which was bestowed due to its resemblance to the European Tree Sparrow), these birds forage and nest on the ground.  Their nesting areas lie north of the treeline. 

 They seek shelter in thick bushes…

Like many of our native sparrows, they prefer to feed on the ground…

American Tree Sparrows are a beautiful little bird with a beautiful song: one or two clear notes followed by a sweet, rapid warble.  Just this week, I heard that song in my yard for the first time. 

So don’t just assume that all of those little brown birds in your yard are House Sparrows and House Finches; if you look carefully, you might find that one of them is actually an American Tree Sparrow.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Never a Dull Moment: Mallard Point

Apr11

On Saturday, upon finally having good weather after a long winter, the Friends of Fish Creek Park group went to Mallard Point to see what could be found on the river.  There were seventeen people on the outing, which meant lots of pairs of eyes on the lookout for birds.  We saw many of the usual species, but even so, one never tires of the quirks of bird behavior.

Black-capped Chickadee excavating a nest hole…

… and emerging with a beak full of sawdust.

Male Common Goldeneye declaring his love…

…and then a pair of Goldeneyes demonstrating how diving ducks have to run on takeoff.

Male Ring-necked Pheasant chasing the female all over the island.

And for some reason it always seems odd to see Canada Geese up in the trees:

 

They can’t be thinking of nesting on the picnic table, can they?

We were also lucky enough to see some returning migrants:

Franklin’s Gulls.  The one on the right has a pinkish breast colour.

But the highlight was a rare bird sighting, a male Red-breasted Merganser.  These are only seen in southern Alberta on migration, and not very frequently within the city.  This was a life bird for about ten of us, and even Gus Yaki, the trip leader, said he had not seen one in Calgary for about five years.

 

 

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Starling Invasion

Apr4

 The non-native, much-maligned, and beautiful European Starling.

There are usually a few European Starlings roosting overnight in the spruce trees near my house during the winter.  Then, starting in late January, there is a big influx of starlings as the first returning migrants arrive.  For the last ten weeks, there have been hundreds around the neighbourhood every evening.

The starlings start appearing at about sunset.  Most of them settle first in bare deciduous trees, and they move around in small groups from tree to tree, with very little noise.  (It’s when they disperse in the morning that they show off their incredible vocal skills.)  Within an hour or so, as it is getting dark, they have all moved deep into spruce trees to roost  quietly for the night.  You’d never know they were there.

There are already dozens of European Starlings hidden in this spruce tree.  (The singing bird is a House Finch.)

 

Starlings arriving in their nighttime roost during Saturday’s snowstorm. 

I wondered if the masses of birds that appear at dusk each day were all local birds that disperse to feed during the day and return at night, or if they were new migrants arriving.  When they arrive, they don’t seem to come from any particular direction, and often seem to appear in the trees out of nowhere.  I’ve seen them drop down from such a great height that they first appear as tiny dots.  It seems that it is a new batch of migrating birds each night.  There is nothing special about the trees near my yard, and there are starlings landing in every tree I can see for blocks around.  I can’t even guess at how many there might be in the whole city.  But starlings are one of our most numerous birds, and recently there was a flock of tens of thousands seen in High River. 

It will be interesting to hear if other people are seeing such big flocks of starlings in the city.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre