Tag: passeriformes

dendroica:

biomedicalephemera:

American Crow – Corvus brachyrhynchos

Both the American crow and the common raven (Corvus corax) are widespread, highly adaptable, and have loud and distinctive calls. Their conspicuous and ubiquitous nature made them two of the most commonly identified species in cemeteries, graveyards, and other areas associated with death and despair.

Unfortunately, the specter of death seems to have caught up to the crows – since 1999, the population of crows has dropped by over 45%, thanks to West Nile Virus. Despite the adaptability of the birds, they’re very susceptible to many avian diseases. As such, they’re considered a bioindicator (or sentinel) species – when they start dying in larger numbers, it indicates the presence of WNV or another avian disease in the area, and other birds will probably start dying soon.

The living animals of the world. C. J. Cornish, 1902.

The bird in the photo seems like it might be a fledgling, given the light eye, fleshy gape, shortish tail, and raggedy feathers.

speakingofnature:

Ninety Nashville Warblers (Oreothlypis ruficapilla), like the one pictured here, were killed after flying into a glass-sided building in Galveston, Texas on a May morning last year. A total of almost 400 spring-migratory birds were killed when they collided with
the 23-story American National Insurance

building overnight. Additional casualties included
29 Yellow Warblers, 26 Black-and-white Warblers, 24 Magnolia Warblers,
21 American Redstarts, 15 Indigo Buntings, 14 Bay Breasted warblers,

8 Black-throated Green
Warblers, 5 Kentucky Warblers, 4 Eastern Wood-Peewees, 3 Golden-winged
Warblers, 2 Painted Buntings, 2 Orchard Orioles, plus a Hooded Warbler,
Gray Catbird, Blue Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Orange-crowned
Warbler, Summer Tanager, Worm-eating Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, and
Cerulean Warbler. Three birds were rescued and survived their collision with the building.

The complete story can be found at the Audubon website: https://www.audubon.org/news/nearly-400-migratory-birds-were-killed-one-texas-building-single-night .

textless:

In late May we found a bird nest in a cactus by the driveway.  There were three blue speckled eggs in it, and they belonged to a pair of curve-billed thrashers. 

Soon enough, two of the eggs hatched.  Both parents came and went all day with food.  When they weren’t feeding the babies, they perched nearby and guarded the nest.  Since they clearly didn’t like people nearby, we set up the animal camera and mostly left them alone.

Over the next couple of weeks the skinny baby birds, which started off with giant heads and the barest hint of fluff, grew into big grumpy looking teenagers who could hardly squeeze into the nest.  And then they were gone.

Cochise County, Arizona, May-June 2018.

Source: textless