Birds and Waterfowl
Spending some time at my cabin with the eagles and hummingbirds made coming to class to listen to the bird group speak very interesting! I discovered that I'm a huge fan of Red-Winged Blackbirds. On May 30, the weather was overcast but partially sunny in 50 degree temperature. We wandered around Union Bay Natural Area. I was surprised at how well I was sketching some of the birds even though they were moving and flying all over the place. Some common birds we found or heard were the Virginia Rail, swallows, American Goldfinch, gold crowned sparrow, hummingbirds, Cedar waxwings, warblers, and chickadees. My first observation was a crow in the area where I happened to find a lot of fungi. Next, we saw a red winged blackbird in a tree above us. It was being quite social and showed off with a few songs. It sang beautifully and chirped otherwise. It's characterized by its red stripe near its wings and its zig-zag tail. It can be parasitized by cowbirds (we learned about this at the Burke Museum). Next, we saw a savannah sparrow which would land in the pathway in front of our group. It was very small, maybe 4 inches, and had many markings across its feathers. Next, we saw two different swallows, a Barn swallow and a violet green swallow. They're both the same size, around 5-6 inches long, but they differ by their feather colors and bellies. Finally, we learned that one of UW's most common birds, the American Robin, can feel worms beneath their feet in the soil Can other birds do this? What allows for this specialty?
Next, I'll talk about waterfowl; most are monogamous, migrate annually, are hunted for sport and food, possess web-feet, can filter feed, and are mobile once hatched. First, we learn about Morganzers, which eat fish from the sea but prefer freshwater, and can fully submerge underwater to catch fish with their serrated bill (sawbill). Hooded Morganzers are classified as the smallest and can change the refractive quality of their eyes underwater. Next, we learned about teals, a duck I'd seen before at UBNa. They don't submerge, they're a dipping duck because they're buoyant. They're extremely sexually dimorphic-the male is light orange with red eyes while the female has patterned brown feathers. Next, we learned about geese which can live for more than 20 years and weigh 20 lbs. They like water, fields, or well manicured lawns to keep watch for predators. The Great Blue Heron, one of my favorites, is a methodical hunter, waiting in water. When they hunt, their neck forms an s-shape. They're not particular about what to eat: rats, small birds, etc-sometimes, sadly, they eat it whole, then choke, and die. They're specialized plumage allows for the production of a powder that can be scratched to fall on fish to congeal the slime. They're present year long and nest in groups.
I had a great time on this group day!
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