Wondrous Variety

Most people, I'm sure, would classify a species as a group of animals that generally share the same characteristics (ie, color, size, shape). While the exact definition relates more towards reproductive viability, in most cases an individual member of a single species tends to look pretty much the same as all the other members. As far as birds go that's fairly typical, with a few notable exceptions. And in North America, no other bird, at least that I am aware of, displays as much variation in plumage than the Dark-eyed Junco.

While there are seven recognized "forms" of the Dark-eyed Junco in North America, most people are generally familiar with only the one or two that visit their winter feeders. In Fairbanks, for instance, we only saw "slate-colored" forms. Now that we are in Arizona, however, things have gotten much more interesting. Today I identified four distinct forms of Dark-eyed Juncos in our yard. I got photos of three of them today and am using an older picture I took of the fourth for comparison.

Here is the "Oregon" form. Due to how dark this bird's head is we can even identify it as a male. These forms tend to have the greatest contrast in their plumage, with very dark heads and much lighter bellies and backs.

I've identified this one as a "pink-sided" junco. Now, out of all four of my identifications, this is the one I'm least confident about. Not to say I don't still think it's a pink-sided, just that there is a twinge of uncertainty remaining. Now, I chose pink-sided primarily due to how extensive the buffy coloring is on the breast. In oregon forms, you should be able to see some white near the top of the breast. That said, it's head is still a bit on the dark side, so there is a chance it could be a first year female oregon. But for the purposes of this blog post, it's a pink-sided. So there.

The grey-headed form is almost as common around here as the Oregon, but for some reason we haven't been seeing as many lately. There were only two that I spotted this afternoon. I took the photo of this grey-headed junco near Flagstaff last October, actually. Take special note of the color of the bill on this bird, then continue to the next picture.

Now, when I first saw this bird today my first reaction was grey-headed. Then I took a closer look at the bill. Can you see how the upper half is much darker than the lower half? That makes this bird a "red-backed" junco. For most non-birders, this distinction doesn't really mean that much, and it might still be kind of hard to see. So here are the two birds side-by-side:

Really, the only difference between these two forms is the darker upper bill on the red-backed. And when you see them next to each other like this, it's pretty obvious.

So, there you have it. Four different junco forms in one yard in a single afternoon. Now, to me this is all incredibly interesting. But I suppose that's the reason our license plate says "BRDNERD". So, for those of you who don't find the many forms of juncos fascinating enough to dedicate an entire blog post to them, here's a special treat just for you.

You're very own Abert's Towhee! For how big this bird is (nearly robin-sized) they're rather spineless. The juncos spent the better part of the afternoon pushing this one around, bullying it off of the platform feeder.

Anyway, now you know more about juncos.

Goldfinches

Birdcam Time-lapse

Our birdcam from Wingscapes took 73 images today. That's about all it will hold until I get a memory card for it. But, it took 5 hours to capture all those pictures using the settings I chose. Rather than having to choose only a couple of these pictures to post on here, I decided to show them all to you. So I turned them into an animated "gif" that gives you an idea of what it's like to spend five hours sitting on the ground next to our house. The file is 8 megs, so be patient while it loads (I think you have to click on the picture in order to see the animation).

I counted three species enjoying the sunflower seeds this morning: House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows, and a Dark-eyed Junco (bonus points for anyone who can identify the subspecies of junco). Figures that five minutes after I pick up the camera three doves decide to walk right in front of where it was sitting.

A Gallon a Day

A couple months ago I posted a movie on here showing what I then called a "swarm" of hummingbirds. Well, in retrospect, having four hummingbirds buzzing around your head for the first time can certainly seem like a lot. Now that all of our resident hummers' babies have fledged, there are a lot more visiting our feeders. Add to that a constant stream of new hummers who seem to continuously discover our feeders (I think their location has been posted on some secret hummingbird message board or something) as they begin to head south on their late summer migration, and we have a virtual smorgasbord of tiny, buzzing birds. We've also had rather frequent visits by both Summer Tanagers and Hooded Orioles to the feeders. However, I probably won't be posting a video of one of them drinking out of the feeder while we're holding it any time soon.

I have absolutely no idea how to estimate the number of hummers we have visiting the feeders in our backyard now. Anything I could come up with would be a complete guess...although, I do recognize some of the juveniles as repeat visitors with their distinctively patchy bibs starting to grow in. Lately, a group of colorful Rufous Hummingbirds have decided to lay claim to several of our feeders. They've been bullying the other species away from the prime drinking holes. Although, I think the Black-chins seemed to have figured out how to handle them...they ignore them. It's quite comical to watch a hungry hummer poking another one in the back with its bill to try to get it to move.

Suffice to say, we are now going through over a gallon of sugar water a day, and at any given point there are probably 30-40 hummers buzzing around our backyard. If anyone knows of a regression analysis we can use to estimate hummingbird visitation based on food consumption, let me know.

The Swarm!

I'l admit, I don't know what the official term for a flock of hummingbirds is. However, after filling the feeders this morning I have decided that calling it a swarm is perfectly appropriate. Within seconds of carrying the feeder out into the yard I was attacked. They didn't even wait for me to hang the darn feeder.


While I was outside enjoying the feel of wings beating at over 70 times a second only inches away from my ears and tiny little feet perching on my fingers, I only noticed the Anna's Hummingbirds. But then, I was a bit preoccupied with holding the feeder still and taking pictures. It wasn't until I downloaded the pictures that I realized there were actually two species mobbing me. The other was a Black-chinned Hummingbird.

Here are some of the pictures I was able to capture from this morning's action. Be sure to click on the pictures to be able to see these beautiful little birds more closely.

I didn't get very good photos of the male Anna's. But I did get a couple that show off their brilliant throats and crowns shining in the sunshine.

Here's an action shot of an Anna's swooping down to the feeder. He was one of the bullies of the group, and as a result, the other hummers ended up allowing him to perch on my finger unmolested for almost two minutes. It was on the finger behind the feeder, though, so I couldn't get any pictures of it.

This is a female Black-chinned Hummingbird. You can tell her apart from the female Anna's by the greyish crown and the white spot behind the eye. If you look to the left you'll also see a tiny hummingbird tongue from a second female who just finished drinking.

Here's a nice shot of one of the male Black-chinned Hummingbirds. Too bad I clipped his wing off. If I had turned the camera just an inch more to the right this would have been a damn good shot.

So, if you ever plan to feed hummers in your own yard, it's really important to make sure that you always have fresh food out for them. Sugar-water can go bad fairly quickly, particularly if you live in a warm climate, so it's good to change them out every few days. And once the hummers in your area find your feeders, they'll empty them rather quickly. Don't bother getting the "hummingbird food" you can buy in the store. It's loaded with food coloring to make it look red, and this does absolutely nothing for the birds. Instead, just make them a mixture of sugar water (1/4 cup sugar for every cup of water). If your feeder has a little bit of red near the feeding holes, the hummers will find it. They don't need a whole container of red liquid to know there is food present.

When you do get hummers coming to your yard you will have a great time watching them. You'll also be amazed at how close you can get and how easy it is to get a hummer to perch on your finger. All it takes is some sugar-water and a little patience.