Latest posts
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Crows: American vs Fish
American Crow – Corvus brachyrhynchosLength: 17.5″; Wingspan: 39″; Weight: 16 oz. Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragusLength: 15″; Wingspan: 36″; Weight: 10 oz. Probably many people on Seabrook have no idea that there are two kinds of crows here. For most of us, a crow is a crow. Actually, there are two different species on the Island: The American Crow and the…
Copy of Bird of the Week … Northern Mockingbird
Well, not sure any of you guessed this, but our 3rd President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, had a pet Northern Mockingbird named “Dick.” He actually had several Mockingbirds at various times, but Dick was the only one he mentioned by name in his diary and apparently was his favorite. Jefferson often left the…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker – Colaptes auratusLength: 11-12.2″; Wingspan: 16.5-20.1″; Weight: 3.9-5.6 oz. Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Black Skimmer
Black Skimmer – Rynchops nigerLength: 18″; Wingspan: 44″; Weight: 11 oz. We are among a lucky few to have the Black Skimmer along our beaches. As you can see from the map below, this dramatic and beautiful bird populates only a very small portion of the United States. Aside from its striking black and white…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Piping Plover
Piping Plover – Charadrius melodusLength: 7.25″; Wingspan: 19″; Weight: 1.9 oz. The Piping Plover is a small shorebird that has gotten a lot of attention at Seabrook. It doesn’t nest here, but Seabrook is an important stop for it in migration to feed. It’s feeding habitat has seriously declined since many coastal beaches have been lost to…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Little Blue Heron
Little Blue Heron – Egretta caeruleaLength: 22-29”; Wingspan: 40”Below is a confusing bird to identify. It’s a Little Blue Heron in what is called “first year” plumage. When a Little Blue is immature (i.e., during the year in which it is born), it is totally white. Until a birder has mastered the characteristics of our local white egrets,…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – American Redstart
American Redstart – Setophaga ruticillaLength: 5.25″; Wingspan: 7.75″; Weight: 0.29 oz. While the American Redstart is a wood-warbler and part of the Parulidae Family, it is the only warbler species in the Setophage Genus. David Sibley, in his Field Guide to Birds index, does not list it among the warblers, but alone under Redstart. They do migrate, in treed habitats, along the SC…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Carolina Wren
Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianusLength: 5.5″; Wingspan: 7.5″; Weight: 0.74 oz. The Carolina Wren is the state bird of South Carolina and sings tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle tea. It is a small but chunky bird with a round body and a long tail that it often cocks upward. The head is large with very little neck, and the distinctive…
SIB “Bird of the Week”- Carolina Chickadee
The Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) is a common bird to our area, as well as a great portion of the Midwest down to south Texas and east to central Florida, up to central New Jersey, and non-migratory so we see them year round. They are part of the perching songbird family called Paridae which consists…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Roseate Spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill – Platalea ajajaLength: 32″; Wingspan: 50″; Weight: 52oz. The next time you see a Roseate Spoonbill, check out the long, flat, spoon shaped bill. Spoonbills feed by walking in shallow, muddy bottom water and tidal ponds foraging by sweeping their bill from side to side with it slightly open to sift up small fish,…
