NuttyBirder.com May Bird Quiz

Rob writes: Since I have been focused on the Biggest Week in American Birding and have not updated the bird quiz in several weeks, I have decided to offer just one quiz in May. The bird below will be our quiz bird for this month and you can enter the contest by submitting your answer on our website at http://nuttybirder.com/BirdQuiz/birdquiz.html#.UZMCf7Wg6So. One winner will be randomly selected from all of the correct answers and will receive a NuttyBirder.com t-shirt!

Birding Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Eric writes:

Greetings from Tucson,

In April I made two trips to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to conduct bird surveys.  Organ Pipe is located directly on the border of Mexico and Arizona, so the logistics of bird surveys becomes more complicated than in other locations.  There is lots of illegal traffic, both people and drugs, through this part of the state which we could run into at any time.  So, we were in regular communications with park personnel to make sure everything was going well when we were out in the field.  

An Organ Pipe Cactus, the namesake of the park

Whatever the dangers involved, this park has some beautiful terrain, and some special birds.  It is one of the few places in southern Arizona where Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls nest, although only in low densities.  Migrants such as Flycatchers, Warblers, Tanagers, Grosbeaks, and Sparrows stream through this area in April in May.  And, an uncommon bird in Arizona, the Vaux's Swift, can be seen occasionally migrating along a wash.  

I hillside with Organ Pipes and Saguaros

One of the best birding locations in the area is Gringo Pass RV Park that is directly on the border of Mexico, you actually bird right along the fence!  This RV park has nesting Great Horned Owls and Harris's Hawks, both of which give excellent views!  It is also a spectacular area for migrants; the combination of water, trees, fruit, and location in the desert, make it a perfect stopover location.   

Great Horned Owlet at Gringo Pass RV Park

Great Horned Owlet with adult, another adult was
close by.

That's the fence, the other side is Mexico . . . you never
know what might show up at a location like this!

Nesting Rock Wrens

Eric writes:

Greetings from Tucson, AZ

A couple weeks ago while conducting a bird survey in Saguaro National Park I came across a Rock Wren nest.  Luckily it was close to the parking lot along Kings Canyon Trail so I was able to grab my camera and go back for a few photos.  

This Rock Wren nest had at least four nestlings.

Just beggin' for more

Cochise Lake-Whimbrel

While out birding at Cochise Lake in Willcox, AZ a flock of 17 Long-billed Curlews and this one Whimbrel flew in.  As always, Cochise Lake, produced some great birds.  Other than the Whimbrel, at least 16 Willets were a surprise.  The numbers of phalaropes was high; there were about 135 Wilson's and a couple Red-necked Phalaropes.  A flock of 6 Lesser Scaup was also a nice addition to the list.

Gila Monster!!!-Saguaro National Park

Eric writes:

The Gila Monster-just as cool as seeing an awesome bird

While surveying birds in Saguaro National Park this morning, the clear highlight was this Gila Monster while driving out of the park!  It's the first one I have ever seen and since I only have one bird survey in the desert left, my chances of seeing one were getting pretty slim.

A tarantula turns into prey

A creature that many people would prefer to not ever be close to . . . a tarantula.  This one was on the trail as I was hiking back from my survey.  I thought that the tarantula had found breakfast but a couple people have informed me it was being attacked.  The insect is a Tarantula Hawk which stings the tarantula.  This paralyzes the tarantula and the tarantual hawk lays an egg on it.  When the egg hatches the tarantula is used as a food source.

Eagle Creek Migrants

Rob writes: Last Sunday, Steph and I decided to meet up with some friends to do a little birding at Eagle Creek Park. After checking the marina, which had very few birds, we moved on to the Skating Pond. It seems that this is where all of the birds were hanging out! We very quickly found a Virginia Rail which was a lifer for one of the young birders with us!

We ended up making a couple of laps around the pond and Found a bunch of warblers and other migrants! While several of us were hiking around, Steph took my camera and was able to get some great shots of several different species!

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Prairie Warbler

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - I love the raised crest!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Birds are on the move, what migrants have you seen recently?

Book Review: The Unfeathered Bird

If you want to be constantly amazed by interesting facts regarding all families of birds, The Unfeathered Bird by Katrina van Grouw is the place to start.  The book begins with an overview of bird anatomy and explains what the book is going to be all about.  If you don't know much about bird anatomy before delving into this book, the first chapter may be a bit overwhelming.  But, don't worry, as soon as Grouw starts writing on families of birds it becomes much easier to understand.

Budgerigar

The illustrations in The Unfeathered Bird are phenomenal.  The basic concept is to show what a bird looks like without all of its feathers.  At times it just shows bones, sometimes muscles attached to bones, and sometimes the skin is included.  The book shows the reader what they can't normally see, which results in the them having an entirely different view of birds after reading it.

Much of the book concentrates on explaining the relations between bird families.  When you can only view a bird feather-deep, the relationships can be hard to see.  But, when you can see all the different levels of a bird the relationships can be different than they first appear.  If you just take the habit of Marabou Storks eating carrion, you may classify them as being related to vultures, "Considering storks as waterbirds, the carrion-eating habits of Marabou Storks seem rather incongruous.  The habit was conveniently rationalized when researchers pioneering DNA hybridization techniques in the 1980s revealed the storks' closest living relatives to be, not herons, nor even ibises and spoonbills, but the New World vultures."  It goes on to explain that now it's not believed that storks and vultures are closely related.

Illustrations of stork skulls

One aspect of the book that I wish would have been done differently is making it simpler to follow the text while it is talking about the illustrations.  If the illustrations would have been labeled it would have made this a more readable text and more accommodating for the average bird enthusiast.


Title:  The Unfeathered Bird
Author: Katrina van Grouw
Publisher:  Princeton University Press
Publication Date: February 13, 2013
Official Website: http://www.unfeatheredbird.com/

We received a copy of this book from the publisher to review on NuttyBirder.com.  The links are to our Amazon Affiliate account.