The Birders Report

A Major Influx of Lazuli Buntings

by Larry Jordan on June 13, 2011

Lazuli Bunting Male (Passerina amoena) photos by Larry Jordan

The weather has been strange this year to say the least. Here in northern California we are just now getting temperatures in the eighties and the rain is subsiding. I don’t even know if the weather has anything to do with it but we have seen a major influx of Lazuli Buntings (Passerina amoena) recently.

The female is not as flashy as the male but is beautiful in her own right.

A friend and fellow Audubon board member lives about twenty miles from me, at a slightly higher elevation, and told me she had a flock of Lazuli Buntings visiting her yard. She invited me over to photograph these beautiful birds and this is the result.

The male has the intense turquoise blue plumage, aptly named after the semi-precious gemstone Lapis Lazuli. Note the black upper mandible in contrast to the pale blue lower mandible.

This is most likely a yearling male. The male Lazuli Bunting doesn’t reach his full brightness of plumage until he’s at least two years old. Note the brown feathers on his nape and back and the buff tips on his greater coverts.

Here you can see an even younger male behind him.

And a mature female in the background of this photo.

If you love wild birds and you want to see some great bird photos from around the world, you have to check out World Bird Wednesday and join in the fun!

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House Wren Excavates A Nest Cavity

by Larry Jordan on June 11, 2011

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) photos by Larry Jordan

I went out to Clear Creek the other day, searching for an Eastern Kingbird that had been seen by several birders and posted on the local list serve. The Eastern Kingbird is a common species in its range but not in California.

Unfortunately, I dipped on the Kingbird, being a day late, but I did find a House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) actually excavating a nest site in a hollow tree branch. I apologize for the grainy photos but you can still click on them to see the full sized images. He was singing away most of the time when he didn’t have debris in his beak.

I had to shoot these photos at an ISO setting of 3200 to get a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action. The House Wren was in the shadows the entire time.

The best part of this brief encounter? I was able to get a video of this little guy excavating the cavity (I’m assuming it was the male House Wren doing the excavation because the male of this species usually begins the nest building by placing sticks in the bottom of the cavity as a platform for the female to complete once they pair up).

Here he is at the cavity opening as he pops in and out with debris in his beak.

You can hear the bird singing toward the end of this two minute video and another House Wren answering in the background.

I also found the stick foundation of a House Wren nest in one of my bluebird boxes a few days ago. I hope to get some good photos of that pair if they decide to actually build a nest in that box.

For more, and I’m sure better, bird photos, check out this weeks Bird Photography Weekly and submit your own photos to share with the rest of us!

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Yellow-headed Blackbirds on 10000 Birds

by Larry Jordan on June 8, 2011

Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)
photo by Larry Jordan

Check out my latest West Coast Beat Writer post on Yellow-headed Blackbirds over at 10000 Birds!

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Ash-throated Flycatchers Have Arrived!

by Larry Jordan on June 5, 2011

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) photos by Larry Jordan

I know the long days of summer are nearly upon us when I hear the enchanting song of the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) in my yard.

[audio:https://thebirdersreport.com/audio/ATF.mp3]

I noticed this pair bringing nesting material to a nest box on one of my bluebird trails a couple of weeks ago. The Ash=throated Flycatcher is one of those birds that are usually heard before they are seen. As a matter of fact, it is sometimes hard to locate them even after hearing their call for some reason, even though they often perch in one location for long periods of time. Click on photos for full sized images.

Ash-throated Flycatchers are cavity nesters that readily accept man-made nest boxes. They use the same size box as my Western Bluebirds with a 1 1/2″ entrance hole. They usually lay four or five smooth, creamy white or ivory, slightly glossy eggs with elongated blotches in purplish-red, reddish-brown, lilac or gray.

The breeding pairs on my trails have always laid four eggs, so this clutch is not yet complete.

Ash-throated Flycatchers are found across much of western North America in habitats varying from desert scrub to riparian forest. They can tolerate the high temperatures we get in the Sacramento Valley of California and other arid locations because they don’t need to drink water. This map, courtesy of Birds of North America Online, shows their distribution.

These graceful flycatchers are highly opportunistic nesters and will use almost any natural or artificial cavity, size permitting, that are at least a foot above ground. Presumably, where cavity availability is limited or competition for cavities is high, Ash-throated Flycatchers will immediately occupy cavities as soon as they are vacated by other species¹.

I took my favorite photo to date of this beautiful bird after finding a pair nesting in a natural cavity of a large oak tree at Turtle Bay. He or she had captured a praying mantis and was about to enter the nest cavity to feed the chicks.