50 Red Crossbill

• A group of Crossbills is called a; Crookedness / Wrap.
• This red bird visited our feeder, it is the size of a sparrow.  Has a very interesting beak like a grosbeak but it twists at the end.  This adaptation he uses to break open seeds and cones.
• There are 9 distinct variants of this bird referred to a call types.  Yes deferring songs along with beak size and twist.
• These birds breed year round based on seed (cone) availability.  They have 3 to 5 eggs.  The female is green to yellow where as the male is orange to red in color.
• The flight pattern is swift and bounding.  The wings pull right back to its sides.

•  Cool flight pattern!!!

49 Great Horned Owl

• A group of Great Horned Owls are called a; Bazaar / Glaring / Parliament / Stooping / Wisdom.
• Thanks to Connie Larsen for this good example of a northern subspecies.
• The Great Horned Owl follows Gloger's rule; Species closer to the equator are darker than those found in the north and Bergmann's rule; The colder the climate the larger the species.  So this plays out in distinguishing the subspecies.
• These owls are found in all the Americas. They are the largest in South and Central and second largest to the Snow Owl in the North.
• This owl is an adapt killer eating birds from the size of Kiglets to Blue Harrons.  They are also known to eat any of the other owls.  
• They have very powerful talons.  They eat all sorts of mammals up to the size of porcupines, marmots and skunks.  Some nests have seen up to 57 skunk sculls around them.  Yikes.
• They have binocular vision but their eyes are fixed so they have to turn their heads to see.  Turning up to 270 degrees.  Their right ear is slightly higher than their left so when turning their head they can pinpoint in on their prey.  How cool is that?
• They have already started nesting and the fledglings will stick with mom and dad right up till October.  The young can be heard calling for food.
• The Great Horned Owl has a very distinct call; ho ho hoo hoo hoo. Rarely they will have 4 syllables.  The female is the same but higher pitched.
• The females are somewhat larger then the males.
• Owls eyes are as large as humans.  I like a Glaring of Owls for a group of Great Horned Owls.

48 Red-Breasted Merganser

• A group of Merganser are called a; Brace / Flush /Paddling / Raft / Team.
• The Brace of Rec-Breasted Mergansers we saw were doing just that bracing themselves against the wind and cold by swimming with their heads tucked out of the wind.
• These birds in the north from Alaska to Newfoundland.  They winter on the coastal waters where there is fish.

 

 

47 Great Cormorant

• A group of Great cormorants are called a; Flight / Gulp / Rookery / Sunning / Swim.
• These birds winter along the east coastal waters.
• They are large and very good fishermen.  In Japan and China they have been trained to catch fish.  Kind of like fishing falconry. 
• These birds migrate out of North America in a V or strait line formation.
• These are colonial breeders in groups of 20,000.
• How more Canadian than seeing a Cormorant flying over a Tim Horton's???

•  Canadian search and rescue helicopter.

•  Yikes!

46 Red Necked Grebe

• A group of Grebe is called a; Water Dance.  How cool is that?
• They have lobed feet rather than webbed toes. 
• They breed in fresh water forested areas.  The nest is generally on reed mats in a marsh.  The parents don't stay with the eggs at night.  Safety? When the eggs hatch the Water Dance of young 4-6 split up half climb on mom's back half on dad's.  Each parent then feeds and cares for the young they now have.
• They are semi-colonial with up to 20 pairs in an area with separation of 160 feet between nests.
• They winter along both coasts.
• They are well known for their mating dance, kind of like two penguins doing a slow dance breast to breast.  Cool.
• They also have a hard time getting up off the water.  You will see them running with their short legs and small wings taxiing down the water runway.
• The winter color is a dull grey (bottom picture) compared to the vibrant red brown neck of the spring and summer.  One surfaced about 3 feet from us at the Digby NS docks.
• They eat a great deal of their own feathers and will even feed them to their young.  It is thought it helps in digestion.  Who knew?  Birds get "feather balls".

45 Long Tailed Duck

• A group of Long Tailed Ducks is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This was one of the hardest birds to photograph.  Every time you though you could get a shot bloop under the water it would go. Of all the ducks this small sea duck has the greatest ratio of below water to above.  It can swim to the depth of 200 feet.  That would blow out my lungs.  when it dives there is no giving an idea where it will return. This was a special shot.
• The Long Tailed duck used to be called the Oldsquaw in North America but with pressure to be politically correct is  now the Long Tailed Duck.
• This duck has the most complex molt with three very different plumage throughout the year.  This one was seen in Digby NS in January. I like to call it "The Master of Disguise".
• They breed along shoreline in the far north using down to line the nest and winter along the coastal regions of North America.
• This duck has a most interesting song; ow ow owal ow...  Yes it is a yodeling duck.  Who knew?
• This is one duck you will never see on the prairie.

44 Common Eider

• A group of Eider is called a; Brace / Flush / Paddling / Raft / Team.
• This small Team of Eider was seen off the dock at Digby Neck NS.  I say small because during breeding season their numbers on northern shores, above the tree line, can number 10,000 to 15,000 in a Team.
• They are very fast flyers and have been clocked at 70 mph.
• The eider is the largest duck in North America.
• Its name comes from the down pulled from its breast to line their nest. That nest is built close to the waters edge in the far north.  After the ducklings have left the nest the eiderdown is collected and used for clothing and blankets.  Much of this market is now been taken over by domestic farm geese.  It doesn't take long to gather enough eiderdown from 10,000 to 15,000 nests.
• This duck eats mussels and crabs removing the claws and swallowing whole.  The gizzard then grinds up the food and it can digest it.
• This colonial breeder is said to be fairly interbred because it returns to the same breeding area evey year and for many many generations. 
• The eastern Common Eider is different from the western seen by its dull yellow grey green bill compared to the west's yellow orange bill.
• Some Eiders stay year round in the Maritime Provinces.
• There is a group now numbering 1000 in england that in 676 AD was the first group of birds known to be officially protected.
• This was a great find and Vicki and I were at the right place at the right time to see them.