My birding life list. One bird at a time.
Hey guys, welcome back. Today is a duck that spends most of its time in the tundra. Abundant in the arctic during summer, long-tailed ducks head south only to the northeast of the US in winter. They typically stay along the coasts, but do occasionally make their way to the Great Lakes. Even then, they... Continue Reading →
Hey guys welcome back. Today's duck is the blue-winged teal. The second teal species we've covered. Teals are small dabbling ducks, about 2/3 the size of a mallard. Female blue-winged teals look like females of many ducks, sporting a mottled brown plumage. Males feature an elegant look; black back, brown and black spotted body, and... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. Today's bird is the red-throated loon. The smallest of North America's loons, the red-throated loon is a winter resident of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, only coming inland in the US during migration, and then only visiting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. They breed throughout northern Canada and Alaska... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. Today is the red-necked grebe. These birds are not found in many parts of the US. Typically only along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in winter, and pockets of the northeast during migration. Though a small number of them breed in the extreme norther plains state, most of them are found... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. Today the lesser scaup. A bird that is nearly identical to the greater scaup we did some time back. Lesser scaup are diving ducks found on large ponds and reservoirs. They're found in fresh water more often than greater scaup...usually. As far as telling them apart, it's rather difficult. Their color... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back! Today we dive (or rather dabble) back into the world of ducks. The northern pintail is one of the most abundant duck species in the world, being found throughout the northern hemisphere from the arctic south to northern South America and north-central Africa. Here in the US, they can be found... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. Today is the great cormorant, our second cormorant species. Great cormorants look similar to the more abundant double-crested variety, but are noticeably larger and bulkier looking. They have a white patch at the base of their bill, and a white patch on their flanks, under the wing that's typically only visible... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. Sticking with waterfowl today, we have another diving duck; the greater scaup. One of two scaup species in North America (the other is the lesser), greater scaup are diving ducks of the same genus as the redhead, ring-necked duck, and canvasback from the last post. They look extremely similar to the... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back! Today we have a large diving duck known as the canvasback. Canvasback males have a similar color palette as the redhead; reddish-brown head, black breast, light gray almost white body, but the canvasback is larger and has a black bill. Females are a pale brown-gray. The thing that sets the canvasback... Continue Reading →
Hey guys, welcome back. From one large white bird to another, today we look at the snow goose. Now while it's not as large as our last bird, the tundra swan, it is a fairly large bird, about the size of a Canada goose. Snow geese are all white with black wing tips, sport a... Continue Reading →
Feathered Focus 