ORN Lab 10

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ORN Lab 10

• Photos courtesy of
• http//www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBird
  s/BirdGuide/

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Order Passeriformes Perching Song Birds

• Suborder Tyranni Suboscine passerines
• 1 family (Tyrannidae)
• Suborder Passeres Oscine passerines
• 22 families (covering 15 today)

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Family Tyrannidae tyrant flycatchers

• -called tyrants because they are very territorial
• -ID rictal bristles (due to feeding habits)
• -Habitats varied
• -Feeding eat insects
• -Can be diagnosed in field by
• feeding behavior they often dart
• off a branch to snag an insect,
• then perch again
• -If insect is too large, they will
• carry it back to their perch, and
• beat it on a limb until it is
• tender enough to eat

4
Olive-sided Flycatcher -streaky olive
sides -found in coniferous forests -vocalization
quick 3 beers. Beer, beer, beer. http//www.bird
s.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Olive-sided_Flyc
atcher1.html
Eastern Phoebe -dark bill body -dips/wags tail
when perched -found in parks, farms, etc.
Vermillion Flycatcher (male) -Latin name means
fire-headed -perches on shrubs in semi-arid
areas
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (m, f) -found in open
habitats -forked tail for maneuverability (belowm
ale see also female)
Western Kingbird -yellow bird w gray
throat -found in open, arid country
Eastern Kingbird -black and white bird w
white-tipped tail -found in farms, orchards, and
open areas near water
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Family Laniidae Shrikes
-Predatory lifestyle -large, hooked bill -but,
not very strong claws -thus, it catches prey
(birds, insects, small mammals), and impale
them on barbed wire, or thorns, which it uses
to hold prey while it rips it up -Found in
open areas Loggerhead Shrike -gray bird with
black mask
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Family Vireonidae Vireos

• ID
• Small bodies, yellowish, gray, or olive-green
  plumage
• Often have spectacles
• (closely related to shrikes)
• Short, slightly hooked bills
• Behavior
• Secretive
• But, have melodious, incessant songs
• Feeding forage for insects by slowly searching
  leafs and shrubs
• Host of Brown-headed Cowbird
• Example of nest parasitism

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White-eyed Vireo -yellow/white eye ring
(spectacles) -wing bars
Red-eyed Vireo -prominent eye stripe (no
spectacles) -solid wings
8
Family Corvidae Jays, magpies, crows

• ID
• Long, strong bill
• Nasal tufts (bristles), plus auriculars
• Feeding
• Omnivorous
• Behavior
• Aggressive, gregarious birds with harsh voices
• Often mob other birds to prey on nests, etc.

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American Crow -eats carrion and live
prey -intelligent
Blue Jay -work together to feed on nests of
American Robin and Northern Mockingbird
Green Jay -found in south TX in wooded, tropical
Areas near the Rio Grande -thus, coloring
provides camouflage
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Family Alaudidae Larks

• ID
• Tufts and crests on head
• Streaky back, light front
• Habitat
• Open country, grasslands, deserts
• Behavior
• Often seen walking or running on ground, rather
  than flying
• Horned Lark
• Only native lark to N. America

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Family Hirundinidae Swallows

• ID
• Small bill, commissural point below eye to
  provide wide gape for catching insects on the
  wing
• Fast, agile flyers with long, pointy wings and
  streamlined bodies
• Feeding
• Insects, while flying
• Nesting
• Some (barn swallows, cliff swallows, for example)
  are colonial nesters. So, you often see large
  groups of their mud nests on buildings (and, in
  other areas)

12
Purple Martin -Very dependent upon the martin
houses people put up for them -Beneficial (eat
harmful insects around gardens)
Barn Swallow (adult, immature) -long, forked
tail -mud nests are cup shaped (colonial
nesters) -see juvenile (this is an adult)
Cliff Swallow -square tail -mud nests are gourde
shaped (colonial nesters)
13
Family Paridae Chickadees and Titmouses

• ID
• Small, plump, drab plumage (grayish)
• Habitat
• Deciduous forests, suburbs
• Feeding
• Eat insects, berries, seeds
• (will hang upside down, holding seed with 1 foot,
  and open seed by hammering with bill)
• Behavior
• Very agile and active

14
Carolina Chickadee -Have oreo head -common at
bird feeders -call chick-a-dee-dee-dee http//
www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Carolina
_Chickadee.html
Tufted Titmouse -gray bird with gray crest
Black-crested Titmouse -used to be considered a
sub-species Of tufted titmouse -gray bird with
black crest
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Family Sittidae Nuthatches

• ID
• Small, stubby birds with strong bills and nails,
  and short tails
• Lifestyle
• Tree climbers
• Climb up, down, and around tree trunks (not
  branches) very acrobatic
• They are the only birds that go down tree trunks
  head-first
• White-breasted Nuthatch (m, f)
• Blue back, black cap, white chest
• (male top, fem. bottom)

16
Family Certhidae Creepers

• ID
• Small, slim, stiff-tailed
• Long, thin, decurved bill
• Lifestyle
• Tree climber spirals up and down tree trunks
  (not branches)
• Uses bill to probe under bark for insects
• Uses stiff tail to prop itself up on tree
• Brown Creeper
• Streaked plumagecamouflage against tree bark
  (inconspicuous)

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Family Troglodytidae Wrens

• ID
• Small, brown, chunky birds
• Slim, slightly decurved bills
• Have small tails that they hold cocked upwards
• Feeding
• Use bills to probe for insects in bark and rock
  crevices
• Behavior
• Energetic and loud

18
Cactus Wren (white eye stripe) -arid
habitats -nests and roosts in thorny cacti and
bushes -largest wren in N. America -streaky back,
spotted chest, barred wings and tail
Canyon Wren (gold nape) -found in open canyons,
ravines -rufous belly, white chest
Carolina Wren (white eye stripe) -found in
wooded areas, suburbs -rusty color above, buffy
below
House Wren -found in gardens, parks, wooded
areas -dirty brown color
19
Family Regulidae Kinglets and allies

• ID
• Tiny, chubby birds with short, bright crowns
• Behavior
• Active birds that jump around on tree branches
  eating insects
• Also see them hovering in place eating insects
• Often see mixed flocks of kinglets, chickadees,
  titmouses, and nuthatches
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet (m, f)
• Distinct white wing bars, dusky underparts
• Male with ruby crown (top) female bottom

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Family Muscicapidae Gnatcatchers and allies

• ID
• Small, thin tails
• Feeding
• Forage for insects on branches
• Will beat insects against tree to kill them
• Behavior
• Very active
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (m, f)
• Black tail edged in white
• Male (see specimen) has blue-gray color above
• Female (at right) is gray above

21
Family Turdidae Thrushes and allies

• ID
• Often have brown backs and spotted chests
• Large eyes and slender bills
• Narrow, notched bills help them feed on insects
  and fruit
• Feeding
• Eat insects, worms, snails, berries

22
Eastern Bluebird (ad, imm) -Adult (left)red
chest immature (right)streaky chest
American Robin -found often on lawns
Hermit Thrush -tiny, rufus tail coverts, dull
spots on chest -beautiful song http//www.birds.co
rnell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Hermit_Thrush.html
Wood Thrush -large, rufus head, dark breast spots
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Family Mimidae Mimics

• ID
• Strong, long, decurved bill
• Long tails
• Behavior
• Mimic other birds songs
• Feeding
• Often forage on ground for invertebrates

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Gray Catbird -dark gray, black cap, chestnut
undertail coverts -catlike call
Northern Mockingbird (ad, imm) -Gray, dark tail
and wings white stripe on wings -TX state
bird -Common and conspicuous -Adult (below) w
gray chest immature (see specimen) has streaked
chest compare immature (white on tail) to
thrushes
Curve-billed Thrasher -found in arid climates
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Family Sturnidae Starlings and allies

• ID
• Chunky, dark, glossy birds
• Gregarious and bold
• European Starling (fallspring)
• Introduced in US in 1880s
• It thrives in disturbed habitats (cities, parks,
  farms)
• Often out-competes native birds for
  cavity-nesting space
• Fall plumage black w white spots (top)
• Spring plumage spots worn off (bottom)

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Family Bombycillidae Waxwings

• ID
• Waxy tips on secondaries
• Feeding
• Eat berries
• They form migrant flocks that move to where the
  berries are
• Likewise, breeding coincides with berry
  production
• Have a high, whistling call
• Cedar Waxwing
• Often heard on campus (not seen)
• http//www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/C
  edar_Waxwing.html