Birds get their colors from various pigments and feather structures. One of those three pigments seen in birds is melanin. Melanin occurs both in a bird’s feathers, but also their skin. Depending on the concentration of this pigment, different colors can be produced. From being more sparse, which can include colors such as reddish browns…
A bird’s beak can have different components to it depending on the species or bird family. On gull species, where the two lateral plates of the lower mandible connect towards the tip of the beak form a ridge or bulge called the gonydeal expansion. This bulge also causes a bump out on the lower mandible…
In a previous blog post I went over some of the many different shapes a bird’s beak may have and how they are adapted to their diet, but I never went over what parts of a bird’s beak actually are. They are an important part of the topography of a bird and to truly appreciate…
Bird banding can provide valuable data on several fronts. From monitoring populations in an area, studying migration and various other study and research programs. So how does bird banding work? A typical day of bird banding for passerines (songbirds) starts before the sun rises, and in our case, that means 4:45 am. It’s still dark…
When you think of a species, most often a single visage of a species comes to mind. I say bald eagle for example, and the image of a large bird with a dark brown body, white head and tail, orange beak and piercing yellow eyes. But birds don’t generally look exactly the same as they…
Bird species use a variety of different structures to help protect their eggs and growing young before they fledge. Many times when you think of a bird’s nest, you think of a structure in a tree made of sticks, moss, and various other plant materials. Several species though make their nests in cavities instead, whether…
One of the highlights in spring is going birding to see and hear the colorful songbirds that have migrated back from their southern wintering grounds. These little songbirds are as brightly colored and diverse as their musical songs, whistles and trills. This colorful group is the parulidae family, also called the new world warblers or…
One of the more common large birds you may see overhead throughout North America is the turkey vulture, especially in the spring as they migrate in large numbers northward. One of their features to help identify them when they are in flight, even if they are at a great distance away, is their flight style….
While out hiking in a field, you spot a little american kestrel in a telephone wire. Its back is to you and you notice an interesting pattern on the back of its head, which appears to resemble eyes. These feather patterns aren’t eyes though, they are called ocelli, or false eye spots. This adaptation can…
For birds to survive, they need keen eyesight, to find food, to navigate their environment, find a mate and avoiding becoming something else’s meal. So it is critical to protect their eyes, especially when flying through the air and through vegetation where there is an increased risk of something hitting their eyes and causing abrasions….