Bulletin 291 - 100 Birds to see before You Die - #2

I discovered this book "100 Birds to See Before you Die" by 2 Brits David Chandler and Dominic Couzens about 7 years ago while browsing in a bookstore on vacation. The sub title is "The Ultimate Wish List for Birders Everywhere". It sort of peaked my interest as a 'bucket list' of the rarest and most unusual birds in the world, according to the 2 authors.

It has the smallest (Bee Hummingbird)  and largest (Ostrich) birds, some of the most beautiful (Birds of Paradise) and some quite ugly (Shoebill) and strange (Hoatzin). There are birds on all the continents as well as Arctic and Antarctic regions. 

There are also a number of island endemics. In the south Pacific, there are entries for Hawaii (1), New Caledonia (2) , New Guinea (3), Sulawesi (1), Mindanao (1), and New Zealand (2). The Galapagos has 1 entry.  Madagascar has 3. The Caribbean is well represented with Cuba (1), Hispaniola (2) and Montserrat (1).

There are about 240 families of birds, so obviously they are not all represented on this list. There are 3 each of Birds-of-Paradise, Gulls and Terns, Cotingas, and Tyrant Flycatchers. There are several unique birds that are sole members of their family. These are the Hoatzin, Kagu, Oilbird, Crab Plover, Ibisbill, Wallcreeper and Shoebill, For those of us in North America, not a single New World Warbler is on the list.

Each entry has a full page photograph and facing page article of what makes the bird rare, unusual or interesting to warrant its inclusion.

This is the second group of 10 birds. The first installment is here.

Number 100 is the Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea). This is a small (14") tern that breeds in the Arctic around the world and winters in the Antarctic along the pack ice. They are a long lived bird 20-30 years or more and in their travels from pole to pole and back each year, they may travel 3/4 million miles. Because they spend the summer in the Arctic and winter in the Antarctic, they have perpetual daylight except during the migration. Thus these birds have more daylight in their annual cycle than any other animal species. They migrate through the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They don't appear in the Gulf of Mexico, so it is not a bird you will see in Texas. They are typical of tern plumage with a white body and a black cap on the head. The bill is described as 'blood red' and is the ID mark. This bird was photographed in Anchorage Alaska.

Arctic Tern

Number 92 is the Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta). This is a grouse of the high arctic across all regions, North America and Eurasia. They are adapted for the cold with feathered legs and feet. They have 3 molts during the year to camouflage the birds on the ground. From all white in the snow in winter, to brown mottled in the summer and half and half in spring as snow is leaving. This bird was photographed in Alaska.

Rock Ptarmigan - male molting

Number 82 is the Tufted Puffin (Fratercula cirrhata). This is one of 3 puffin species and is a resident of the north Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. It is black bodies with a white face, red bill and yellow tufts behind the eyes in breeding plumage. This bird was photographed in Alaska.

Tufted Puffin

Number 75 is the Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus). They seek out white water rivers in the northern hemisphere to breed....Alaska, Labrador, Greenland, Iceland and Siberia. The male has a gray head with several white patches. this bird was photographed in Alaska.

Harlequin Duck - male

Number 67 is the Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus). It is similar the common Cedar Waxwing that we see across North America. It breeds further north in the taiga forests of North America and Eurasia. It winters further south but they are very nomadic and don't always show up in the same place each year, thus it is hard to find.I did not see this bird in Alaska, despite looking on the tour. But I did find this bird in a flock wintering in Ely Minnesota by the Canadian border.

Bohemian Waxwing

Number 65 is the Broad-billed Tody (Todus subulatus). It is one of 5 species of Todies in the Greater Antilles. There are 2 endemic to Hispaniola. This 4.5" bird looks like a cross between a kingfisher and a hummingbird. It has a green back, pale gray underparts and red throat. The bill is red as well. I photographed this one in Dominican Republic.

Broad-billed Tody

Number 55 is the Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus). At 24 inches in length, it is the worlds largest falcon.Its range is the circumpolar in the tundra and taiga. Some move south in winter if food is scarce. They range in color from white to dark. The authors state the white one is the best to see, but all count. To see a white one, head to Arctic Greenland in summer or Iceland in the winter. brrrr. I photographed this bird on the nest about 50 miles outside Nome Alaska.

Gyrfalcon

Number 47 is the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiaca). This large (26") white owl is a neighbor of the Gyrfalcon. Adults are pure white with yellow eyes. The juveniles have dark streaking on the white. I photographed a juvenile in Duluth MN in winter and this adult in Alaska.

Snowy Owl

Number 22 is the I'iwi (Vestiaria coccinea). This 6" bird is the iconic bird of Hawaii with red body, black wings and semicircular red bill. It feeds on nectar mostly of the Ohia tree. It is present on all the major islands and can be seen by most visitors if they take the time to go to native forest above 4000 feet elevation.

I'iwi

Number 12 is the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno). This amazing bird was sacred to the native Americans in Central America. The male has long tail streamers. It is considered by many birders to be the most beautiful bird in the world and certainly up with the birds-of-paradise is beauty.

Resplendent Quetzal - male

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2017 David McDonald

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Bulletin 234 - Best of 10 years #7 - Owls

As most of you know, owls are my favorite birds as they have almost human like flat faces and forward looking eyes. So if you get just the right exposure and the bird is looking right at the camera, they have Mona Lisa eyes and seem to follow you around the room as you move.

I discovered this in 2007 with an owl, that I still consider my favorite bird photo all all time. It will be the last in this review.

One of the more unusual sighting of an owl for me was in Sarasota Florida. My wife and I had gone to the Botanical Gardens there because they had an orchid exhibit. After touring the exhibit, we left the green house and entered the grounds. Immediately we saw some people standing on the path staring at something. I didn't see anything and asked them. They said there was an owl roosting on a palm frond at eye level. Well sure enough a small owl was sleeping on the palm frond. Fortunately I had my camera in the car and retrieved it. It was an Eastern Screech-Owl.

Eastern Screech-Owl

2 of these owls I found on a trip to Duluth Minnesota in the dead of winter..traipsing through knee deep snow in below freezing temps. Yes, we birders can be crazy! The Northern Hawk-Owl was easily found as he perches on the tops of trees. Notice the very long tail on this owl.

Northern Hawk-Owl

The other was a Snowy Owl. This is a large pure white owl with yellow eyes of the arctic tundra. Juvenile birds like this one have some brown streaks. He also has a black paint splotch on the right side of his head, so he can be IDed out on the ice in the harbor.

Snowy Owl - immature

In the Rio Grande valley in Texas, there is a place that one can reliably find the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. It is at San Miguelito Ranch. It is the only sure place in the USA to find the bird but call ahead as in the blog note.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl

While I was at the San Miguelito Ranch, it was very windy and it allowed us to approach a barn with a sleeping Barn Owl leaning against a beam.

Barn Owl

The 27" Great Gray Owl is the largest owl in North America. It is a bird of the far north boreal woods. This one was along the Denali Highway on Alaska and was sitting on its nest. It is the only one of this species I have ever seen.

Great Gray Owl

The only tropical owls I have photographed well was this pair of 18" Spectacled Owls in Panama in 2014. The larger female is on the left.

Spectacled Owl - pair

In 2012 in California, my wife and I had a guide take us to see a roost of Long-eared Owls. These 15" owls roost communally in the winter. there were more than a dozen in a single tree. Here is one of them.

Long-eared Owl

The endangered Spotted Owl has dark eyes. This one was in Arizona.

Spotted Owl

Sometimes, I will get lucky and find a bird disheveled after a rain. This is a common owl known to everybody in North America, the 22" Great Horned Owl. It was at dusk in Galveston after an all day spring migration birding outing. I only had enough battery power for a couple of flashes and got this one with him staring at me. He sure is having a bad hair day.

Great Horned Owl

Finally my favorite bird photo ever, and another owl after a rain. This Burrowing Owl spent the winter at Fort Travis Park on Bolivar across from Galveston. I had photographed him many times between New Year's and early April when he left. I think this photo in my 16th month of doing bird photos made it into a passion for me.

Burrowing Owl

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald
dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2015 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.