ORN Lab 11

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ORN Lab 11

• 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) last lab
• Suborder Passeres Oscine passerines
• 22 families (covering 7 today)

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Family Parulidae wood warblers

• -ID
• -small, slender birds
• -thin, needlelike bills
• -brightly colored, active birds
• (often with some yellow)
• -Habitats
• -typically forest or edges of
• forest
• -Feeding eat insects
• -therefore, they have thin,
• needlelike bills

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Orange-crowned Warbler -drab color -orange
crown -forages in low vegetation
Northern Parula -2 white wing bars -hides in
Spanish moss or lichens
M A L E
F E M A L E
Golden-cheeked Warbler -Golden cheek -federally
endangered species -only bird whose nesting range
is entirely in TX (in juniper-oak woodlands in
hills of Edwards Plateau)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (m, f) -yellow
rump -catches insects while flying -2 races (do
not need to distinguish)
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Black-and-White Warbler (m, f) -boldly
striped -male has black throat and face -creeps
along tree trunks like a nuthatch or creeper
(eats insects in the bark)
Kentucky Warbler -yellow spectacles -searches in
leaf litter for insects
Common Yellowthroat (m, f) -yellow throat -male
has black mask -nests in open marshes
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Family Thraupidae Tanagers
-ID -Males brightly colored -Females
yellow/green -Medium sized, stocky birds -Bills
are swollen, stout, and notched -Feeding -Mos
tly eat fruit -(also eat insects) -Most
commonly found in the tropics
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Summer Tanager (m, f) -male red, female
orange/yellow -found in treetops -often raid wasp
nests and bee hives
Western Tanager (m, f) -vivid wingbars -found in
coniferous treetops
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Family Emberizidae Sparrows

• ID
• Compact birds
• Brownish, streaked coloring
• Short, conical bills
• (this is because they crack seeds open to feed)
• Behavior
• Short distance migrants
• (migrate according to weather and food
  availability)

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Eastern Towhee -scratch in leaf litter under
dense thickets -females do broken wing
display to lure predators away from nest
Olive Sparrow -brown stripes on sides of
crown -forages by scratching in leaf litter Photo
by Bill Schmoker http//www.schmoker.org/BirdPics
/Sparrows.html
Field Sparrow -white wingbars -forages on ground
for insects -common in open areas
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Song Sparrow -streaked breast -often parasitized
by brown-headed cowbird
White-throated Sparrow -white throat -found in
woodland undergrowth
Dark-eyed Junco (m, f) -there are 5 forms -male
is darker
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Family Cardinaidae Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Allies

• ID
• Large birds
• Thick, strong, conical bills
• (this is because they crack seeds open to eat)
• Sexually dimorphic
• Males brightly colored, females drably colored

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Northern Cardinal (m, f) -official state bird of
at least 7 eastern states -large crest and red
bill
Black-headed Grosbeak (ad, imm) -(immature has
brownish head and back) -One of the only birds
that can eat Monarch Butterflies despite the
noxious chemicals monarchs contain from eating
milkweeds in their larval stages
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Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting (m, f)
Dickcissel (m, f) (female has yellow on breast,
muted chestnut wing) -often sits on fenceposts in
grasslands
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Family Icteridae Icterids

• ID
• Medium sized bird
• Sharp, pointy bills
• Blackbirds are solid, glossy black
• Orioles are black with bold patches of orange,
  yellow, or red
• Behavior
• Have strong, direct flight

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Red-winged Blackbird (m, f) -female is heavily
streaked -lives in wetlands
Eastern Meadowlark -Black V on chest -found in
meadows
Great-tailed Grackle (m, f) -female brownish and
with shorter tail -often scavenges in cities
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Brown-headed Cowbird (m, f) -smallest North
American blackbird -nest parasite that thrives on
forest edges where they have easy access to grass
seeds for food and forest songbird nests for
laying eggs
Scotts Oriole (m, f) -found in arid habitats
Orchard Oriole -found in orchards
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Family Fringillidae Finches and Allies

• ID
• Small birds
• Thick, strong, conical bills
• (this is because they crack seeds open to eat)
• Behavior
• Undulating flight
• Widespread and variable

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House Finch (ad, imm) (immature is brown and
streaky) -squarish tail -streaky chest and back
American Goldfinch (m, f) -desert
cardinal -yellow bill
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Family Passeridae Old World Sparrows

• ID
• Large
• Thick, strong, conical bill
• (for cracking seeds)
• Dull in color
• Well adapted to humans
• House Sparrow (ad, imm)
• Burgundy/brownish in color
• (immature is a dull brown)
• Introduced to N. America in 1850-1867 to control
  insect pests
• But, now, they aggressively usurp nests of
  bluebirds and swallows, destroying eggs or
  nestlings