37 American Black Duck

• A group of American Black Ducks is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This Paddling of American Black ducks has two males and two females in its group.  The way to distinguish the males from the females is the coloring of the legs and bills.  Notice the dull green color of the female bills compared to the yellow of the males.
• The American black Duck has been known to interbreed with the Mallard. Some say they are the same species, but this is not true for the female follows Haldane's rule where most females die before they reach maturity.  There are a lot of color variation in the males because of the interbreeding.  Seen on the blue wing bands and neck coloration.
• When they settle in a marsh for winter they will not leave this area even if the marsh freezes and the birds starve.  In spring when they have their 9 average Brace if the mother dies another mom will adopt the Flush adding it to her own even if they are not the same age.
• The American Black Duck used to be called the Dusky Duck. I kind of like this name.

36 Evening Grosbeak

• A group of Evening Grosbeak are called a; Gross.
• We saw a Gross and this was the only male.  He stuck out like a sore thumb.  A great number of immature males and females found Willow's bird feeder.  The female Evening Grosbeak differ from the female Pine Grosbeak in the yellow coloring of the neck versus the olive coloring of the Pine.  Both very striking coloration.
• Surprisingly these birds eat a great deal of raw salt.  They can also eat up to 95 sunflower seeds in a five minute span.
• They are a large member of the Finch Family of birds.

35 Hen Harrier, Northern Harrier

• A group of Hens is called a; Swarm / Harassment.
• They have also been known a Marsh Hawk or Ringed Hawk.
• Their diet is 95% small mammals, they will eat ducks and other marsh birds by drowning them.
• The male has a dull gray coloration with a white underside.
• The eyes are more to the front like an owl this places the ears more frontal as well which they use to hear their prey.
• They one of the only hawks that are polygyny, meaning they have multiple mates, one male will have up to 5 female mates.  The immature male is similar in coloration as the female so seeing a mature male is rare.  
• They nest and lay their eggs on the ground.
• In Nova Scotia they are year round residents, in most of the rest of northern Canada and Alaska they Swarm south in a Harassment. 
• This bird of prey can be seen flying low to the ground listening for its prey.

Feb 2nd 2013

• Back from 2 weeks in Nova Scotia.  The weather  was quite variable.  Quite a bit of wind.  Range from -18 C to  16 C, snow to no snow.  We saw no sparrows while we were there, and no long legged or long beaked birds at the beach.
• In total added 22 new birds to our Big Year.
• The most notable was the Northern Cardinal and the Merlin who caught a bird on two occasions right in front of the house at the feeder.

34 Northern Cardinal

• A group of Northern Cardinals is Called a: College / Conclave / Deck / Radiance / Vatican.
• This fellow was feeding on Willow's and Lily's feeder outside the house.  
• The males are very showy but I like the coloration of the females.  The brighter the male the greater chance of mating.

•  These birds eat seeds and fruit.  They hop on the ground rather than walk.
• They won't be found in climates greater than a # 6. Meaning they wont be found on the prairie.
• I was very excited to find this bird during our trip to Nova Scotia.  Big thanks to Nanny and Willow. Nanny has been doing all the photos for the blog except the ones I have had to pull from the net.  Without her photos we would have a very difficult time identifying any bird. 

33 Northern Flicker 'Yellow Shafted'

• A group of Flickers is called a; Menorah / Guttering / Peterson.
• Northern Flickers eat mainly insects, they can catch some out of the air.  45% of their diet is ants. In the winter they will eat fruits and nuts and sunflowers.
• They are a beautiful bird.  They communicate by drumming on trees and in some cases metal chimneys.
• I have never seen a Guttering but rather individuals.  The bright yell of their wings and unique flight pattern draws your attention and the red band helps identify it.  
• Northern Flickers can be mistaken for the Yellow Shafted Flicker. To make matters worse they have been known to interbreed making hybrids.

32 Starling

• A group of Starlings is called a: Murmuration.
• An interesting thing about starlings is their beaks turn black in the winter.  I am so used to seeing them with yellow beaks that I didn't know what they until I read up on them.  
• These birds re very prolific and are not thought of well because the damage they can do to crops and fruit. 
• They are a very beautiful bird and ate seeds and tallow feeders.  They puff themselves up when the wind blows and it is cold.

 

• This Murmuration was feeding under the feeder at Melanie's house.  You can see one of the starlings beaks wasn't fully black.