Great Crested Flycatcher

An Outstanding Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher

 The Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is our most outstanding flycatcher.  It is large, colourful and noisy.  It is noticed even by non-birders.  Many times I have been asked by people who don't normally notice birds, 'What is that bird?'

The Great Crested Flycatcher is about 20 cm (8 in) long and is noticeably colourful.  It is gray and brown on the head and throat, bright yellow on the belly which comes up onto the breast, and has dark wing feathers with contrasting white edges, and a rufous tail with lighter edges.  The bird spends its time in the canopy of mature deciduous trees where it often sits up high on an exposed perch.  From there it flies out into the air or onto the ground to catch insects, its main diet.  It is very vocal, making an ascending whee-eep or a purr-it.  It is our largest and most spectacular flycatcher.

Great Crested Flycatcher

The Great Crested Flycatcher is our only flycatcher which nests in tree cavities or occasionally in nest boxes.  There it builds a nest from grass, bark strips, rootlets, fur, feathers, plastic debris and often snake skins.  Four to 8 white buff eggs with brown, olive, or lavender spots are laid.  It is not known why they often adorn their nests with snake skins, possibly to scare away predators.

I am always happy to see this species return in the spring.  They breed here in our hardwood trees. Their breeding range includes south-central and southeastern Canada southward through the eastern US.  They are permanent residents of southern Florida.  They winter in Mexico, the West Indies, Colombia and Venezuela.  Being late September here, they have left now for their winter homes.  We will miss them.

Great Crested Flycatcher  

Ross's Goose

Ross's Goose Visits New Brunswick

Ross's Goose

For the last two weeks a Ross's Goose has been spending time with a flock of Canada Geese at Central Hampstead, down river from Fredericton.   It was first reported on September 17 and, according to local residents, had been there for about 2 weeks.  The flock feeds in a large field above the road and moves between there and the field and river below the road.

The Ross's Goose is listed as 'accidental' to New Brunswick.  That means it is very rarely here.  But the population is reportedly increasing in the last 50 years.  One was reported from Harvey Bank in 1995; another was with a flock of Canada Geese and Snow Geese at Ste-Marie-de-Kent on the 20 October 2013.  It is certainly not a species one would see very often here.

The Ross's Goose breeds on tundra in the central high Arctic islands and the north shores of Nunavut and North West Territories.  It normally uses the central flyway to migrate south to the south central US (Texas, Mississippi) and Mexico.  It often associates with Snow Geese.

Ross's Goose [Internet Photo]

 The Ross's Goose is smaller than the Snow Goose, the only species with which it could be mistaken.  The Ross's Goose is 58 cm (23 in)  long compared to the Snow Goose 66-84 cm (26-33 in).  The Ross's Goose has a smaller rounder head, shorter neck and smaller bill than the Snow Goose.  It lacks the 'smile line' which the Snow Goose has, an important identifying feature.  This dark line along the bottom mandible of the Snow Goose is lacking in the Ross's Goose.  The bill of the Ross's Goose is small, pink and triangular.  Its legs are pink.

Both the Ross's Goose and the Snow Goose species have blue morph individuals although they are rarer in the Ross's Goose.  The Ross's Goose blue morph shows less white on the head and neck than the Snow Goose blue morph.  See the photo above for both forms of the Ross's Goose.  Note that the blue morph has white only on the face and the nape and rest of the neck are dark.  The Snow Goose blue morph has a completely white head and most of the neck.

The Ross's Goose was first reported anecdotally by the explorer, Samuel Hearne, in 1770.  The species was not scientifically described until 1881.  Its nesting grounds were not discovered until 1940.  Sometimes a group of this species is called a 'blizzard' of geese.  That is understandable if one saw a large number of them flying over a cold, late fall landscape.

They feed on grass, sedges, small grains and they especially like wheat and barley.  Modern agriculture has undoubtedly contributed to the population increase.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Birds Feeding on Wild Rice 

Birds Feeding on Wild Rice [LMills Photo]

Recently a friend was collecting wild rice near the Salmon River.  Wild rice is ripe now and ready for picking.  We have two species of wild rice in New Brunswick, Zizania aquatica and Zizania palustris.  The former occurs in the St. John, Miramichi and St. Croix watersheds.  The latter occurs in the St. John and St. Croix watersheds.  It was reported that 10 to 15 warblers of apparently one species were feeding on the heads of the wild rice plants.  Seen above is one of the photos showing a Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) on the wild rice.  

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is a very common New Brunswick warbler.  They are hardy and remain here throughout the summer breeding season and sometimes well into late fall.  They feed mainly on insects but also on berries and seeds.  They can subsist on berries and seeds sometimes well into the winter.  The wild rice is heavily infected with insects so the warblers were probably feeding on them and their eggs and larvae.  They often feed around estuaries and seashores where insects are common.  Their favourite berry is the bay berry (Myrica pensylvanica).  We do have some growing along our shores so that would also attract them. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler Male in Breeding Plumage

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most common warblers in North America.  It is hardy and adapts well to changing habitats and weather.  It has an unusual digestive system allowing it to  subsist on berries and fruits in winter which is unusual for a bird which usually feeds on insects.  It is able to digest 80% of wax-coated berries allowing it to winter farther north.  

Yellow-rumped Warbler Female

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is long-tailed and shows conspicuous yellow patches on its rump, top of head, throat and sides.  Its back is striped gray and its breast is white.  The throat can be white or yellow.  There are white wing bars and white spots on the outer tail feathers.  Fall and winter plumages are more subdued and browner.  

The Yellow-rumped Warbler inhabits most of North America.  It can be seen from Alaska across all of our provinces to Labrador and Newfoundland.  It winters in the southern US, Mexico and the Caribbean islands.  I have been in South Carolina some winters and it seemed that there were Yellow-rumps in every bush.  They were amazingly abundant!  

 

Flagged Ruddy Turnstone

Flagged Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone (23 August 2018)

 On August 23, 2018 I visited Maisonnette, NB east of Bathurst to look for shorebirds.  It is a large sandy point jutting out into the Bay of Chaleur.  Many shorebirds stop there to rest and feed during migration.  Among the many peeps we saw were some Ruddy Turnstones.  I noticed one individual was flagged.  It had a green flag with white lettering on its left leg.  When this is seen it is important to read the lettering so that the bird's data can be entered into the Migratory Database in order to track the migration of the species.  Reading those letters is sometimes difficult!  Fortunately taking a good photo and enlarging it will help.  That is what I was able to do.  So our bird was 'MXE'.

I published this on the NB Bird Information Line and got a quick response.  Not only did they tell me where to send the information to the Migratory Database but I got a surprise.  Another birder had seen the same bird last year in the same place!  I sent my sighting to the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre Bird Banding Laboratory.

Ruddy Turnstone (18 August 2017) [M Doucet Photo]

At the top of the post is the Ruddy Turnstone seen by me on 23 August 2018.  Seen directly above is the same bird seen and photographed on 18 August 2017.  We should not be surprised that the same birds stop in the same places each year as they wend their way south.  But it is amazing that two different birders from New Brunswick saw the same bird and photographed it in the same location about the same time but in two different years.  We know that is the same bird because when birds are banded or tagged there is always a unique number specific for that individual.  What is the probability of seeing and photographing the same bird by two different birders on different years among the many thousands of migrating shorebirds?  Astounding!

I have not heard back from the bird database yet but the other birder did find out more history of this bird.  It was seen on 29 May 2016 at Kimbles Beach, south New Jersey; 12 May 2017 at Cooks Beach, north New Jersey as well as our two sightings: 18 August 2017 and 23 August 2018.  The first two New Jersey sightings were on the birds northward migration and the two August sightings were on the southward migrations.  We do not know yet when the bird was originally flagged.  That will remain a mystery for now.

Ruddy Turnstone

The Ruddy Turnstone is a regular fall migrant through New Brunswick, uncommon in the spring but common in the fall.  It prefers our northern and eastern coastlines but occasionally occurs inland.  It usually is seen along the waters edge feeding among rocks, shells and flotsam.  It really does turn over rocks looking for insects, molluscs, and crustaceans to feed on.  It is well named!

The Ruddy Turnstone is a medium-sized shorebird, 24 cm (9.5 in) long.  Its calico plumage is unmistakable.  The female is a bit duller in colour.  In the alternate plumage (non-breeding) the rufous colour is more muted.  The young is a muted form of the adult in appearance.  See below.

Ruddy Turnstone Juvenile

The Ruddy Turnstone migrates north in the spring up the central flyway.  They breed on our high Arctic islands.  In the fall they migrate south down the east coast to the shores of the southern US and the West Indies.  There is also a western North American population and also a Eurasian population.

Ruddy Turnstone Turning Over a Stone

The Ruddy Turnstone is a hardy species and its population is reasonably stable.  It was first described in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.  It is amazing to me that it took us so long to document such an interesting, conspicuous species.

ADDENDUM:  Information supplied by US Geological Service: The bird was banded on 29 May 2016 near Cape May Court House, NJ when it was determined it was hatched in 2014 or earlier.  It is a female.