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SIB “Bird of the Week” – House Finch vs. Purple Finch
Did you guess House Finch & Purple Finch??? House FinchCarpodacus mexicanusLength: 6″Wingspan: 9.5″Weight: 0.74 oz. Purple FinchHaemorhous purpureusLength: 6″Wingspan: 10″Weight: 0.88 oz. Surprisingly, the House Finch was originally confined to the west and known as a Linnet until being introduced as a caged bird in several pet stores in Long Island in the 1940s. Currently it is one of…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Downy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker – Picoides pubescensLength: 5.5 – 6.7″; Wingspan: 9.8-11.8″; Weight: 0.7-1.0 oz. The active little Downy Woodpecker is a familiar sight at backyard feeders and in parks and woodlots, where it joins flocks of chickadees and nuthatches, barely out-sizing them, and can be attracted to a bird bath or sprinkler. An often acrobatic forager, this black-and-white woodpecker…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Our Nuthatches
At first glance you might mistake a White-breasted Nuthatch for a chickadee with their grey backs, black cap, and white belly, but the nuthatch is about an inch bigger than our Carolina Chickadee. Nuthatches are compact little birds with very short tails and no neck to speak of. They have a unique foraging behavior, crawling…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Gray Catbird
Gray Catbird – Dumetella carolinensis Length: 8.5″; Wingspan: 11″; Weight: 1.3 oz. If you struggle with learning bird songs and calls, try starting with the “catty mew” of the Gray Catbird. Just the sound of it makes you think of a cat which will help you remember its name! These birds are migratory, but you can hear and…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Regulus calendulaLength: 4.25″; Wingspan: 7. 5″; Weight: 0.23 oz. There are two good ways to identify the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. First, you might see it out of the corner of your eye. That’s because it flicks its wings and hops fairly continuously. You also might recognize it from its very distinctive call. The…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler – Setophaga coronataLength: 5.5″; Wingspan: 9.25″; Weight: 0.43 oz. Yellow-rumped Warblers are one of the most common warblers in North America and abundant on Seabrook Island from fall through spring. The Yellow-rumped Warbler is sometimes referred to as “Butter Butt” due to its bright yellow rump. It was formally called Myrtle Warbler in the…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Turkey Vulture vs. Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture vs. Black Vulture – Cathartes aura and Coragyps atratusTurkey Vulture – Length: 26″; Wingspan: 67″; Weight: 4.0 lbBlack Vulture – Length: 25″; Wingspan: 59″; Weight: 4.4 lb No, those are NOT buzzards; they are vultures. We have no buzzards in North America but we do have two types of vultures:…
SIB “Bird of the Week”- Tree Swallow
Tree Swallow are streamlined small songbirds with long pointed wings and a short, squared’ slightly notched tail. Adult males are blue green above and white below with blackish flight feathers and a thin black eye mask; females are duller with more brown in their upperparts, and juveniles are completely brown above. Juveniles and some females…
SIB Bird of the Week – Pine Warbler
This warbler is well named due to it not often seen away from pine trees. Pine Warblers forage in a rather leisurely way at all levels in the pinewoods, from the ground to the treetops. This species is only a short-distance migrant, and almost the entire population spends the winter within the southern United States.…
Bird of the week – Reddish Egrets – North Beach
Early Wednesday morning, Ed and I were treated to the sight of two beautiful Reddish Egrets actively feeding on North Beach. It’s a thrill to see one Reddish Egret at this time of the year, but two is fantastic! They are not common birds here in the Low Country, so it is always a great…
