Barred owls prefer wooded areas, and Great-horned owls prefer anywhere it can hide. Great-horned owls are classic neighborhood owls, and can be heard at night around the smallest parks.
Monthly Archives: April 2021
Common Waterfowl of the West (17 species!)
036 – NORTHERN PINTAIL (12-23-11) colusa nwr, ca (1) by ALAN SCHMIERER is marked w/ CCO 1.0 edited by ME Northern shoveler at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge by USFWS Mountain-Prairie with CC PDM 1.0 edited by ME “Green-winged Teal (m)” by Becky Matsubara is licensed under CC BY 2.0 edited by ME “Bufflehead (f)” by Becky Matsubara is licensed under CC BY 2.0 edited by ME “065 – RUDDY DUCK (11-27-07) fem, oso flaco, sloco, ca oso (1)” by ALAN SCHMIERER is marked w/ CCO 1.0 edited by ME
I made this Identification guide for our most common pond and lake denizens. It starts with our most common duck, the Mallard then goes on to other nice dabbling ducks that can look similar to the female mallard. All ducks have some sort of distinguishing field mark, and I tried to point out each one here. Some ducks, like the glorious Wood Duck, are much easier to identify in the field than the subtly beautiful Gadwall.
After we look at dabblers (ducks that tip their butts in the air to find a tasty morsel while floating) we go on to diving ducks, geese, and then a few common pond co-habitants.
I know there are more ducks, more plumages, I’m missing, but if you master these, you’ll know to be on the lookout for more uncommon ducks!
Common Thrushes of the West
Our four most common neighborhood thrushes. Robins are found in every county of Oregon, every month of the year. Varied thrushes breed at higher altitudes, but will come down to the valley in the winter. Western bluebirds are found (if you are lucky) wherever trees and fields meet, and Hermit thrushes are secretive lil guys that can be found most reliably in winter when the leaves aren’t obscuring our view.
Wrens, Creepers, Bushtits and Nuthatches
Its not a Winter wren anymore… unless you live on the East Coast. These birds were split as different species several years ago. Dividing line is pretty much the Rockies. These guys are bird versions of mice… obviously. Most common yard visitor, will go to suet and make nests in weird places around your house. “Marsh wren at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge” by USFWS Mountain Prairie is marked with CC PDM 1.0 edited by ME Very common forest bird, can be found with mixed flocks of kinglets and chickadees. Will move in fairly large packs to find aphids and neighborhood suet cages. Listen for lots of high squeeking calls and you will find bushtits nearby. “White-breasted Nuthatch” by ShenandoahNPS is marked with CC PDM 1.0 edited by ME Listen for their call “Yank Yank Yank” its one of the easiest and funniest calls to learn. I think it was my first bird call. They excavate nests kind of like woodpeckers, with their sharp little knife-bills.
East coast friends: our Pacific wren looks almost exactly like your Winter wren.