Yellow-breasted Chat

Yellow-breasted Chat Seen at Whitehead Island

Yellow-breasted Chat [Mark Morse Photo]

The Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) is a rare visitor to New Brunswick.  It is seen mainly along the Fundy coast and islands in the fall and into winter.  It is rarely seen inland.  We would normally have about 2 or 3 reports per year.  The bird shown above was seen 23 November and 2 and 3 of December on Whitehead Island, off Grand Manan.  

Even though the Yellow-breasted Chat is classified with the warblers, it looks different.  It is larger (19 cm/7.5 in),  has a very large bill, a long tail, and a much different voice.  Its most noticeable field mark is its brilliant yellow breast and throat.  Note also the olive gray upperparts and the white spectacles.  It often holds its tail high as seen in the photo above.  

The chat is a secretive bird and often hides in dense tangled vegetation.  The male, however, sometimes sings from an exposed perch.  Its song is extremely varied but can be a series of notes given repetitively in a decelerating manner.  It also makes liquid whistles and harsh rasping sounds.  It can also mimic other sounds.  It would make you think there were many birds hidden in that bush!

The Yellow-breasted Chat is the only member of the Icteria genus.  There has been a lot of debate over the years about where it should be classified.  Some have suggested it should be classified with the mockingbird family (mimicry) or with the tanagers (big bill).  But, DNA testing has placed Icteria with the wood warblers.  It just shows how malleable a species can be over evolutionary time.  

The breeding range of this species is most of the US and northern Mexico with a possible small area in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.  It winters from northern Mexico south to Panama.  The population has been in decline over much of its range due to habitat loss and urbanization.  

Yellow-breasted Chat feeds on insects including bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers and beetles.  It will also eat berries and wild grapes.  It builds its nest of bark, grass and leaves in a dense bush.  Three to six white eggs are laid and incubated 11 to 12 days by the female. 

This species has an interesting breeding display flight which most of us here in New Brunswick have not seen (since it does not breed here).  It hovers with slow, deep-flapping wings and dangling feet.  That must be a pretty sight with that brilliant medium-cadmium yellow breast flashing against the dark olive.  The Yellow-breasted Chat was first described by Linnaeus in 1758.  It is a species we would all want to see and record on our annual lists.  

Fredericton Christmas Bird Count

Douglas Sector

Canada Goose

The 2019 Fredericton Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on Sunday, December 15. Small groups of people covered various areas of the city and surrounding area to count our bird population.  The count area is a 24 km circle which includes all of the city and some of the surrounding areas.  The Douglas sector includes the area from the trail crossing below Claudie Road to just above Grand Pass.  This area has a lot of river access so waterfowl is a large part of the count.

Sunday was an atrocious day to be doing a CBC.  The winds were very high and it rained for most of the morning.  The wind was so bad it never stopped howling all day and I had to hang onto my scope and tripod to prevent them from blowing over.  The rain was heavy for the first part of the morning and it was coming down so hard the wind drove it sideways.  Counting waterfowl requires a very early count because they move right after sunrise to feeding areas.  So, to get an accurate tally of population numbers we had to start early.  Needless to say we got very cold and very wet.  

But, it was worth it.  We tallied a good representation of the true numbers.  We counted at four major places along the river in the designated area.  The most outstanding waterfowl species was the Canada Goose.  We counted 419 just after sunrise.  In the next hour or so we saw three more flocks; 25, 33 and 129.  The quandary then was to decide whether these were new birds or had we counted them already.  There could have been fresh flocks moving down river which joined the existing flock, for example.  I decided to record a portion of those last groups to make it as accurate as possible.  

Another outstanding observation on that day was the lack of finches and woodpeckers.  We got very few of either.  Because of the harsh weather I believe the woodpeckers remained in their holes that day.  Woodpeckers spend nights and bad weather in nest holes in trees.  There are certainly more finches in the area than recorded that day.  The high winds forced them to hold tight in sheltered areas and that is why we did not see many.  

The last and for me the most exciting find was a sighting on a far bank of the river.  We saw a black area there and assumed at first it was a group of black ducks.  When I finally got my scope on them, wow, it turned out to be two otters!  They were sitting on the river bank eating fish.  When they finished one, they would swim out into the water and catch another and return to the bank to eat it.  I have not seen otters in this area since I was a child.  I remember them sliding down muddy slides into the Nashwaaksis stream.  I often wondered if I would ever live long enough to see their return.  That made this sighting very significant for me.  I hope they will be protected and their population increases. 

See below for the tally for the Douglas sector of the Fredericton CBC.

Canada Goose             513

American Black Duck    2

Common Goldeneye     46

Barrow's Goldeneye        1

Hooded Merganser          1

Common Merganser        6

Bald Eagle                       6

Red-tailed Hawk              1

Hawk sp.                          1

Ring-billed Gull               1

Herring Gull                   16

Gull sp.                             1

Rock Pigeon                   59

Mourning Dove              13

Hairy Woodpecker           1

Downy Woodpecker         2

Blue Jay                            6

American Crow               83

Common Raven                7

Black-capped Chickadee 47

Red-breasted Nuthatch      7

White-breasted Nuthatch   5

American Goldfinch         28

Pine Siskin                         2

Total birds                      855

Pink-footed Goose Reluctant to Leave

It is Time For That Pink-footed Goose to Leave

Pink-footed Goose

[For information on the life history of the Pink-footed Goose, search 'Pink-footed Goose' on this blog.]

For the last week there has been a Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) visiting a residential property at Newcastle Creek. The property borders Grand Lake and has a large area of snow-covered grass going down to the water.  The goose had come a few days earlier with a flock of Canada Geese and when the Canadas left about 2 or 3 days before my visit, the Pink-footed Goose remained and did not follow the flock.  It spent most of its days near a chain-link pen on the property and would fly away at night presumably to open water on the lake.  The lake was frozen in the bay adjacent to the property but open further out.  As seen in the photo below, there is still a lot of open water on Grand Lake.  According to the property owner, the goose spends its day at their place and leaves just at dark each night and returns the next morning.

Grand Lake, Showing Open Water

 I visited it on Friday, December 6 and found the goose in what appeared to be good health.  It was strange to see it apparently comfortable near a fence and allowing people to come within 30 metres.  It was obvious that this goose needed to leave to join other geese which are moving south to spend their winters from southern Maine and southward.  Many of our geese have now left the area but we still have a few left with which it could flock.  

Pink-footed Goose

There are two populations of Pink-footed Geese, the Greenland and Iceland population which winters in Great Britain and the Svalbard population which winters in the Netherlands and western Denmark. 'Our' goose is likely a Greenland goose.  Its migration is about the right distance but the wrong direction.  Instead of Great Britain, it has landed in eastern Canada.  That would not normally be a problem except that our weather is not like Great Britain.  In Great Britain a goose could feed all winter since it is not covered in ice and snow.  The question is whether this individual can figure out that it needs to go further south.  

Area in Which the Goose Has Been Staying Showing its Tracks to the Lake

The Pink-footed Goose populations have increased over the last 50 years, recovering from a serious decline.  This recovery is due to better protection on their wintering grounds.  Numbers on wintering grounds in the British Isles have risen tenfold in that time.  The same is true of the Denmark wintering flock.  

Pink-footed Goose

Before 1950 it was not known where the Pink-footed Goose bred.  In 1951 Sir Peter Scott made an expedition to Iceland and found a large breeding colony there.  There are over 10,000 breeding pairs there now.  

Now, what will happen to our lone goose at Newcastle Creek?  A report as of late today indicates that the goose did not return today for the first time.  That could be a good or a bad thing.  If it indeed has found a group of Canada Geese to flock with and is spending the night with them, that is a good thing.  If it is alone and looking for food in an area where it could get frozen in or become prey to an eagle, a fox or a coyote, that is a bad thing.  We will not know unless it is seen somewhere else.  Hopefully it will be seen with a flock of Canada Geese further down the St. John River and eventually down in Maine.  

If the goose returns to Newcastle Creek and the area it is familiar with, plans are in place for it to be captured and moved to a rehab facility to spend the winter.  Either way, we wish 'Pinkie' (as it was named) the best on its winter journey.

Prothonotary Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler - A Rare Warbler Here 

Prothonotary Warbler [Internet Photo]

The Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) is listed as 'casual' here in New Brunswick by 'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List'.  Sibley, however, indicates it is rare here and I would agree.  I have tried all my life to see this species with very limited success.  I have never seen it in New Brunswick and have only found it in Ontario.  The first New Brunswick specimen was collected at Milltown in 1862.  There have been over a dozen reports over the years with most from the Fundy coast and often Grand Manan.

Prothonotary Warbler [Jennifer Ryder Photo]

The photo above shows a Prothonotary Warbler on the left and an American Goldfinch on the right.  This bird was found on Grand Manan in 2013.

The Prothonotary Warbler is an unmistakable warbler.  The peachy yellow colour is so brilliant it is neon.  The wings are a blue-grey.  The dark gray bill is large and there is white on the tail and on the vent.  We have many small yellow birds but to the discerning eye this one is unmistakable.

The range of this species is the eastern US mainly towards the south.  It is common in wooded swamps or lowland deciduous forest with standing water and dead trees.  We once visited a breeding area for this species in northern South Carolina and the habitat is typical of what is shown in the photo below and as described above - very shaded hardwoods with standing water.  When we found the small breeding population at Point Pelee, ON, the habitat was identical to that in South Carolina.  We were not surprised that the warbler was there as opposed to different habitats in the area.  To us it looked like 'Prothonotary specific habitat'.

Typical Prothonotary Warbler Habitat

Prothonotary Warblers eat insects but also fruit and seeds.  They forage in trees but also on the ground.  In the South this species is known to eat sugar water and nut pieces.  This species is a cavity nester and prefers holes in trees and stumps.  It will also use bird houses and other man-made structures.  It lines the cavity with moss in which it forms a nest cup.  Four to six pink or cream eggs spotted with gray or brown are laid and incubated 12 to 14 days.

Prothonotary Warbler [Jennifer Ryder Photo]

There are only two similar species you might confuse this bird with, the Yellow Warbler and the Blue-winged Warbler.  The Yellow Warbler has yellow wings and undertail coverts.  The Blue-winged Warbler is also a very brilliant yellow, but a medium yellow as opposed to a peachy yellow.  It has a black eyeline and pale wing bars.  Whether it is a Blue-winged Warbler or a Prothonotary Warbler you are looking at, you have a very rare bird for New Brunswick!

The Prothonotary Warbler breeding population at Point Pelee, ON, may be the only one in Canada.  There are only a few pairs but as I watched them I was aware that this remnant of the Carolinian forest had brought its fauna with it.  I enjoyed their brilliant yellow colour and their high-pitched ascending song which some birders interpret as 'sweet sweet sweet'.  These birds appear to be very specific to habitat and I doubt if we will ever get a breeding pair in New Brunswick since we have no true Carolinian habitat.