Scarlet Tanager

Scarlet Tanger - Our Most Beautiful Bird?

Scarlet Tanager Male

Some people think that the Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is our most beautiful bird (and rightly so).  The male in breeding plumage as seen above gives meaning to the colour, scarlet.  Set off with black wings and tail, wow!

The Scarlet Tanager varies in plumage greatly depending on the season.  The male in breeding plumage is shown above.  In his non-breeding plumage he is greenish yellow with black wings and tail.  Such a dramatic change!   The female is yellow-green with darker wings and tail and a brighter yellow throat.  The immature male is much like the female.  The adult male is an interesting sight when he is changing plumage with blotches of red on yellow or vice-versa.

Scarlet Tanager Male

The Scarlet Tanager is found in New Brunswick in summer where it breeds.  It feeds high up in the deciduous trees so is not often seen around housing areas.  It builds a nest of grass, rootlets, forbs and twigs 20 to 30 up in a deciduous tree.  Its eggs are blue green spotted with brown.  It feeds on insects, fruits, berries and buds.

Scarlet Tanager Male

I recently saw the Scarlet Tanager pictured above while out looking for warblers.  I was lucky to have it sit still long enough for a photo.  The song of this species is similar to that of a Robin.  It is raspier and is sometimes described as that of a Robin with a 'sore throat'.

Scarlet Tanagers have been recorded eating over 2,000 gypsy moth caterpillars (army worms) in an hour.  We appear to have more army worms this year so that might produce an influx of Scarlet Tanagers.  Keep your eyes peeled for one in a deciduous tree.  Maybe you will be lucky and find a sight like the one pictured above.

Lark Sparrow

Lark Sparrow Seen in Grand Manan

Lark Sparrow

 On May 10 we birded Whitehead Island, off Grand Manan and found this beautiful Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) feeding on a feeder and on the ground under the feeder along with Purple Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos and Baltimore Orioles.  This was an exciting find because this species is only listed as 'casual' here.  Usually a few sightings occur mostly in the fall along the Grand Manan archipeligo and along other coastal areas on New Brunswick.  Only a few are seen in spring.

The Lark Sparrow is a western sparrow, breeding in summer in the western half of the US as far north as the southern prairie provinces of Canada.  It winters in California, southern Texas, and Mexico.  This is normally a bird of open grasslands where it feeds on seeds, grasshoppers and other insects.  As seen in the photo above, it readily enjoys feeding on seeds from a feeder.

Lark Sparrow

The Lark Sparrow is a brightly coloured bird, showing a beautiful pattern of light and dark brown on its face mixed with white and beige.  It has a long tail which shows conspicuous white outer tail feathers in flight.  The breast is plain gray with a dark spot in the middle.  Both males and females look alike and the juvenile is a muted form of the adult with streaks on the breast.

Lark Sparrow

The Lark Sparrow was first recorded in New Brunswick from Grand Manan on 13 August 1923.   We have had many reports since then and it has become a rare visitor but not unusual.

The male Lark Sparrow performs a courting dance which I have not been lucky enough to see.  It crouches on the ground, holds its tail up high, spreads its tail feathers to show its white outer-tail feathers, and struts around with drooping wings.  He must be an interesting sight!  Apparently the female is impressed because she eventually picks one performing male as her mate.  They go on to build a rough nest of sticks and grass lined with fine grass and rootlets, low on the ground or in a bush.  Their eggs are pale white to gray marked with brown or black spots.  We have no nesting records of this species in New Brunswick.

Orchard Oriole

Orchard Oriole in Grand Manan

Orchard Oriole Immature Male

 On May 10, we were fortunate to see and photograph an immature Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) while visiting Grand Manan.  This bird was faithful to the area around the home of one of Grand Manan's faithful bird feeders.  As you can see in the photo, it was enjoying fresh oranges.  The bird would visit the oranges 5 or 6 times a day and feed heavily on the orange flesh.  Baltimore Orioles were enjoying them too but the two species of orioles would not tolerate one another.  The Orchard Oriole would wait for the Baltimore to finish before flying into the tree.

The Orchard Oriole is North America's smallest oriole.  It arrives in the late spring and leaves early for its wintering grounds.  Some leave as early as mid-July.  It breeds normally in the mid-US as far north as the Canadian border and southern New England.   It winters in Mexico south to northern South America.  Although rare here, it is fairly common throughout its normal breeding range.  It prefers open forests and edges with flowering trees, urban parks and riparian zones.

Orchard Oriole Immature Male

The immature male Orchard Oriole is bright yellow with a black throat patch and lores (area between eye and bill).  It has two conspicuous white wing bars, as do both the adult male and female.  The adult female is bright yellow with a greenish back and no black at all.  The adult male looks very different with a black hood, back and throat patch.  He shows deep chestnut on the belly, sides and rump.  He also shows the two white wing bars.

The male sings a high-pitched warbling whistle.  The Orchard Oriole weaves a hanging nest similar to that of the Baltimore Oriole.  It usually is attached to  the fork of a tree or bush.  It lays 3 to 7 pale blue or gray eggs with gray, purple or brown spots.  The Orchard Oriole feeds on insects, nectar, flowers and fruit.

Orchard Oriole Immature Male

The Orchard Oriole is a very rare spring visitor to New Brunswick.  Visitors are often immature birds probably dispersing from their home range.  Some have stayed into summer when they probably return southward.  That is probably what this individual will do.

Orchard Oriole Adult Male [Internet Photo]

There are 10 species of orioles that can be seen in North America.  Some are seen only in the most southerly parts of Florida or California or Arizona.  They are very beautiful birds and we are lucky to have the Baltimore Oriole here and occasionally we get to see the Orchard Oriole.

King Rail

King Rail in New Brunswick - No Way!

King Rail

On May 7 Jim Wilson announced the sighting of a King Rail at McLaren’s Pond, Fundy National Park.  It was reported as an ‘amazing’ discovery and indeed it was.  There have been only 3 previous sightings of this species in New Brunswick.  Two were found dead; one at Point Lepreau in September, 1952 and one at Gardner Creek, Saint John County in October, 1994 (Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List).  The third bird was photographed by Chris Kennedy while doing a breeding bird atlas along the Petitcodiac River in June, 2007.  Nova Scotia has three records and two birds were seen in southern Maine in recent years (as per Jim Wilson).

King Rail Showing Orange Breast and Red Iris

The King Rail (Rallus elegans) is the largest member of the rail family, Rallidae.  Other rail species that are native to New Brunswick in the summer are the Sora and the Virginia Rail.  Rails are secretive birds that live in close proximity to water, especially marshes and wetlands.  The Sora, Virginia Rail and King Rail prefer fresh water habitats and the Clapper Rail prefers salt or brackish marshes.  They like thick vegetation in which to hide, feed and nest.  They occasionally come out in the open but quickly duck back into cover.  The King Rail builds an intricately woven nest with a woven canopy and a sloping ramp entrance.

The King Rail feeds on aquatic insects, crustaceans, frogs, clams and seeds of marsh plants.  They will feed away from water (e.g., this individual appeared to be eating earthworms and insects found in mown grass) but most often feed in long marsh grass and pond plants.  It is reported that they will sometimes carry their food to water and dunk it before eating.

King Rail Showing Side Barring

The King Rail is a spectacular rail as its name suggests.  It is 38 cm (15 in) long and a bit bigger than the Clapper Rail which it closely resembles.  The King Rail is the size of a chicken and really impressive to see as it quietly walks along heavy pond vegetation.  It normally inhabits the coastal areas of southeastern US from Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas.  In summer it sometimes migrates up the Mississippi River.  ‘Casual’ sightings have been reported from Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.  

The population of the King Rail is in decline due to habitat loss or degradation, toxic environments. accidental trappings, and hunting pressures in some parts of the US.  The King Rail was first described in 1834 by John James Audubon who did a beautiful painting of a pair of the birds.  I wonder how many tens of thousands of years this species existed before it was first described.  It certainly was known by the early inhabitants of North America who called it the ‘marsh hen’ or various aboriginal names.

King Rail Showing Orange Superciliary Line

The King Rail and the Clapper Rail look very much alike.  There is considerable variability within both species.  Some subspecies of the Clapper Rail look much like King Rails. The California race (of Clapper Rail), for example, is more orange in colour and looks even more like the King Rail but that population is considered to be non-migratory.  To make identification even more difficult, the two species sometimes hybridize.  The Cornell Ornithology site states that recently the King Rail species has been split into two species and the Clapper Rail species has been split into three.  The remaining Clapper Rail species has 8 subspecies.  A complex group!

King Rail Showing Burnt Orange Wing Covert 

The King Rail is larger than the Clapper Rail.  My first impression of the bird was its large size, its bill appeared long and thick and the bird looked dark in colour especially the orange which in some places is a burnt orange.  The colours on the King Rail are more saturated than those of the Clapper Rail, making the Clapper Rail look more muted or grayish overall.  The King Rail is overall browner and more orange.  As seen in the photos above, the barring on the sides of the King Rail are bold and that of the Clapper Rail are less so.  The burnt orange on the breast and wing coverts of the King Rail contrast with the more muted grayish or brownish of the Clapper Rail.  The feathers on the back are more heavily streaked with brownish black and edged with olive or brown in the King Rail and the top of the head is brown compared to black or gray in the Clapper Rail.  The Clapper Rail supposedly has a more prominent white superciliary line but this appears to be a subtle difference.  It appeared orange in the Fundy bird.  After close examination of the differences in these two species as outlined in the bird guides (Sibley and National Geographic) it is clear that there are few distinct differences in these two species, given geographic location and hybridization.  In my opinion, the only clear differences are the size, the orange breast and wing coverts of the King Rail along with the much darker plumage and the chestnut edges to the feathers on the back.  Voice and habitat can provide some help but a serious look at the individual is necessary to get a correct identification.

A very interesting species to find in New Brunswick!  To watch it slowly walk out of the thick bush and feed on the grass and then slink away to hide and rest again was indeed a privilege for us northern birders.  Carry on, King Rail.  You are welcome here.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallows Have Returned

Tree Swallow

 The Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) is a common New Brunswick swallow.  They winter farther north than of any of our swallows so are the last to leave in the fall and the first to arrive in the spring.    How nice is the day when they first arrive, twittering over our fields and waterways looking for early insects!

Tree Swallows spend the winters in the most southern parts of the US, Mexico and the Caribbean islands.  They summer in the central and northern US and almost all of Canada.  They nest in abandoned tree cavities or readily accept nest boxes set out for them by people.  They are hardier than other swallow species, feeding on mainly insects but also seeds and berries when needed.

Tree Swallow

Tree Swallows are beautiful.  Their upper parts are a brilliant iridescent greenish blue.  The underparts are a clean white.  Their wings and tail are a grayish black.  The greenish blue covers their eyes and cheeks, a feature which separates them from the western Violet-green Swallow.  Their tails are notched, a fact which can separate them in flight from the Barn Swallow which has a deeply forked tail.  In flight they show the slightly notched tail and a broad-based wing.  Juvenile Tree Swallows are greyish-brown on the upper parts with clean white underparts, like the adults.

Tree Swallow

The Tree Swallow prefers to breed in open areas near water.  They like to hawk insects over fields, marshes, swamps, rivers and lakes.

The Tree Swallow was first described in 1808 by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, a French Ornithologist.  An interesting behaviour I have seen this species display is an aerial game (or fighting as described by some) with a feather.  They appear to play chase with it.  This may indeed be a game since they are so agile and energetic.  They do like to place feathers in their nests so it may be competition for nest feathers.  According to iBird Pro investigations on this behaviour are ongoing.

Tree Swallow