Northern Hawk Owl

Rare Winter Owl

Northern Hawk Owl

 The Northern Hawk Owl (Surnia ulula) is a rare migrant and winter resident to New Brunswick.

'Birds of New Brunswick: An Annotated List' says that it is so rare that the sighting of half a dozen of them in one season constitutes a flight year.  Most reports are in December and January.  There have been a few breeding reports from the province over the years, from Tabusintac, Grand Manan, Point Lepreau, and near Fundy National Park.  

The Northern Hawk Owl is a circumpolar species.  It is diurnal which is common for most northern species.  Its pointed wings and long tail make it very hawk-like, hence its name.  Its flight is swift and it often hovers.  It can be seen perched on top of a conifer or other structure from which it watches for voles or other rodents.  

Being a northern species, Northern Hawk Owls have learned to catch all available food when it can.  Since owls do not have crops (an enlargement of the esophagus) they have to store excess food elsewhere.  Northern Hawk Owls store their extra food in snow drifts, woodpecker holes in trees, in decaying stumps or they just tuck it into the boughs of coniferous trees.  

Northern Hawk Owl

The normal range of this species is from Newfoundland and Labrador across northern Canada to Yukon and Northwest Territories with occasional incursions to the south.  It is a medium-sized (41 cm/ 16 in long) slender owl with brown upper parts spotted with white and with brown horizontal stripes on a light gray breast.  Its eyes are yellow.  The long tail is very noticeable.  The only species an amateur birder might confuse with the Northern Hawk Owl is the Boreal Owl which is much smaller and also rare here.  It is only 25 cm (10 in) long.  

Male owls court females by circling and gliding on stiff wings. The nest is normally built in a woodpecker hole, a hollow stump or an abandoned raptor nest.  Three to thirteen white eggs are laid and incubated by the female for 25-30 days.  The young fledge after 25-35 days.  

The Northern Hawk Owl vocalizes mainly at night.  Females and juveniles make a screeching sound or a whistle.  Courtship sounds are a series of rising 'popopopo' sounds lasting about 6 seconds.  This sounds much like the Boreal Owl call which most birders are familiar with.  The female sometimes sings along with the male.  

The Northern Hawk Owl is also known as the Canadian Owl or the Hudsonian Hawk Owl.  It  has the unusual feature (for an owl) of stiff feathers which are not silent in flight like the soft feathers of most owls.  Apparently this is not an important feature for a diurnal northern owl.  The population size for this species is healthy and is listed as 'least concern'.  

Bobcats at Winter Bird Feeders

Bobcats Come Close in Winter

Bobcat [C Melanson Photo]

As mid-winter approaches bobcats start being seen around human habitation.  This year has been no exception.  As winter deepens food gets scarcer and bobcats are hungry.  The photo above shows a bobcat taken in New Brunswick in 2016.  

North America has three Felidae members, the mountain lion (cougar), the lynx and the bobcat.  New Brunswick has the lynx and the bobcat.  The Bobcat (Lynx rufus) is more numerous in the province with lynx numbers increasing, according to our biologists.  The bobcat traditionally prefers coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests.  Our biologists tell us that as the lynx population increases and with its preference for heavy forest, the bobcat has moved in closer to cities and towns. The bobcat is a very adaptable species which is better at surviving in suburban and semi-rural environments.  

How do you tell a lynx from a bobcat?  Admittedly, they do look a lot alike.  The bobcat is smaller, the adult male on average weighing 9.6 kg (21 lb) and being 82 cm (32 in) long.  It stands about 45 cm (18 in) at the shoulder and its tail is about 14 cm (6 in) long.  The lynx is bigger: males are about 88 cm (35 in) long, 8.6 kg (19 lb) and their tails are about 11 cm (4 in) long.  Many observers have stated that the bobcat and the lynx are similar in size in their bodies but the lynx has longer legs.  

But all these statistics don't help much in the field.  How do you tell them apart if you see one in your yard or on a walk in the woods?  Well, both species are very wary and you are unlikely to see one when you are outside.  They will hear you coming and will quietly disappear.  If you do get a good look or a photo, the lynx will show its longer legs and it has very noticeably longer ear tufts.  The bobcat also has ear tufts but they are much shorter.  Both are tan to greyish-brown with black streaks on the body and bars on the forelegs.  This makes very good camouflage.  The bobcat has a longer tail than the lynx.  The tail of the bobcat has a white tip and broad black distal bands.  The tip of the tail of the lynx is black and there are no black bands.  The ears are also significant.  The dorsal surface of the bobcat ear is black with a large white spot.  The lynx has gray ears with black margins.

Bobcats are solitary animals with a home range of about 20 square kilometres (8 sq. mi) although this varies greatly.  Home ranges are probably much smaller in suburban environments.  In their home range they have well-travelled paths and they mark their territory with urine posts, fecal mounds and scratchings on tree trunks.  They are generally nocturnal but become diurnal in hard times, such as winter when they need to come to bird feeder areas to find food in daylight when their prey is active.  

Bobcats build their nests of dry leaves and moss sheltered in hollow logs, rock crevices and thickets or under a stump or fallen tree.  Breeding season for bobcats is in late winter.  Females appear to have a prolonged breeding season and most litters are born in mid-April or early May.  Sometimes there is a second litter in the fall.  Gestation is about 60-70 days and 2 to 4 kittens are born.  The female does most of the care of the young.  After the young are weaned the male brings food for the offspring.

The bobcat lifespan is from 7 to 10 years.  In the wild the oldest animal was measured at 16 years.  One individual lived in captivity to be 32 years old.

Bobcat [Internet Photo]

The bobcat turns out the young of the year often in January, leaving these young, relatively inexperienced felines to fend for themselves at the most difficult time of year.  That is why we see them around our houses and bird feeders in winter.  They are starving and willing to come close to human habitation out of necessity.  Any photos we see taken around houses show emaciated, desperate individuals as shown in the photo above.  This individual was so desperate it even braved coming up on a deck.  

The bobcat diet is traditionally rabbits and hares.  It also eats small rodents such as rats, mice and squirrels, birds, fish, insects and even porcupines and skunks.  They hunt by either stalking their prey or waiting in ambush.  

Winter is a good time to study animal tracks.  The bobcat track is unique and shows 4 toes and no claw marks.  Tracks average about 4.5 cm (2 in) wide and are in a straight line and about 20 to 46 cm apart (8 to 18 in).  When running they can make strides up to 2 m (6 ft) apart.  For a good visualization look at a house cat track in the snow and then imagine it much bigger.  

The bobcat population is healthy and stable in New Brunswick.  Threats to population numbers include humans with trapping and road kills.  Kittens endure significant mortality from coyotes, foxes, bears and great horned owls.  Starvation and disease are the big killers here.  Rodenticides can be a problem when foraging for rodents in areas where they are being used.  This is a good point for birders to remember when trying to exterminate any rats that might be hanging around their feeders. Another threat is fragmentation of home ranges.  This is a continued problem for all wildlife which is only minimally being studied and addressed at present. 

After the next snowstorm, look closely for bobcat tracks around your feeders.  You just might be having a special visitor!

Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count

Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count 2018

Northern Cardinal

The Mactaquac Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, January 5.   Fourteen participants logged in over 35 hours and 443 km to cover the area from Keswick to Granite Hill and Upper Kingsclear to French Village.  We counted 2033 individual birds of 37 different species, an average amount for the circle.  It was an enjoyable undertaking this year with good weather and a fair number of birds.  Temperatures were around 0ºC with very little wind, making the birds active.

Wild Turkey

Highlights are interesting.  We added Wild Turkeys for the first time, with 4 seen on Keswick Ridge Road.  At the dam an Iceland Gull, a Glaucous Gull, and a Barrow's Goldeneye were seen.  A Song Sparrow was seen at Bear Island.  A Tufted Titmouse was at Kingsclear and a Belted Kingfisher was at the hatchery.  Our only raptor (other than eagles) was an immature Red-tailed Hawk.  Of interest were the 11 American Robins and the 11 Northern Cardinals.  This is a 'finch winter' and it was evident in this count.  We had 95 Bohemian Waxwings, and 4 Pine Grosbeaks along with 50 Common Redpolls, 52 Evening Grosbeaks and a few American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos.

Tufted Titmouse

Christmas bird counts represent a major effort in citizen science each year.  Thousands of counts are done throughout North America from December 14 to January 5.  Over 50 are done in New Brunswick alone.  We have been doing them here every year for about 50 years.  One of the first count ever done in North America was done right here in NB in the early 1900s.  

American Robin

The Mactaquac Christmas Count can always use more volunteers.  We need more people to count the birds at their feeders on that day.  Why not get involved?   It is rewarding to participate and contribute to bird censuses and environmental health.  Shown below is a detailed list of birds counted that day.

Am. Black Duck 67

Mallard 6

Hooded Merganser 14

Common Goldeneye 29

Barrow’s Goldeneye 1

Common Merganser 20

Bald Eagle 5

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Wild Turkey 4

Herring Gull 71

Iceland Gull 1

Glaucous Gull 1

Great BB Gull 122

Rock Pigeon 335

Mourning Dove 48

Belted Kingfisher 1

Downy Woodpecker 13

Hairy Woodpecker 17

Pileated Woodpecker 7

Blue Jay 131

American Crow 97

Common Raven 29

Tufted Titmouse 1

Black-capped Chickadee 322

Red-breasted Nuthatch 20

White-breasted Nuthatch 14

American Robin 11

European Starling 298

Bohemian Waxwing 95

American Tree Sparrow 6

Song Sparrow 1

Dark-eyed Junco 8

Northern Cardinal 11

Pine Grosbeak 46

Common Redpoll 50

American Goldfinch 78

Evening Grosbeak 52

Finch sp. 80

Tufted Titmouse - A Chickadee Ally

Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a member of the Paridae family along with chickadees.  North American has 4 species of titmice and 7 of chickadees.  The Tufted Titmouse is uncommon here but usually one or a few appear every year.  One was seen on the Mactaquac Christmas Count on January 5 and one was seen at a feeder in Fredericton on January 8, just this week.  

The Tufted Titmouse is North America's most widespread titmouse.  It frequents urban and suburban habitats with lots of cover (trees, shrubs) and it readily uses feeders and nest boxes.   It feeds on insects, spiders, snails, berries, acorns and seeds.  It can often be seen searching for food on the ground in leaf litter.

Tufted Titmouse [Internet Photo]

The Tufted Titmouse, at 16 cm/ 6.3" in length, is larger than the Black-capped Chickadee.  At first glance one notices its light gray colour, its tuft,  and its long tail.  It has a small black patch on its forehead and a white belly with rusty or orange flanks.  Its bright eye and perky attitude make it stand out at your feeder. It is very vocal and those people who go south for the winter would recognize its 'peter peter peter'.  On cold, snowy days like we are having in New Brunswick right now, that would be a welcome sound!

We are not included in the normal range of this species.  Its range includes the eastern half of the US from the Great Lakes south to Texas and Florida.  It covers New England up to southern Maine.  So, occasionally a few over-shoot their range and end up here.  It would be nice if they were to become permanently resident here.  The first confirmed report was in  November, 1982, in Fredericton.  This species is non-migratory.  Those that end up here are undoubtedly young that have dispersed from the home territory.  There has not been a breeding record from here.  

An interesting fact about the Tufted Titmouse is that in Cherokee legend, they are regarded as messengers (iBirdPro).  That is not surprising, given their cheery song.  How nice it would be if we had a bigger population which could cheer us on towards spring with their 'peter peter peter'.

The American Three-toed Woodpecker

Our Rarest Woodpecker

American Thrree-toed Woodpecker [C Melanson Photo]

The American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) is our rarest woodpecker.  The individual shown above was recently reported from Miscou Island.  This species is rare enough that we get sightings only once every few years.  Given that its preferred habitat is coniferous forest with dead and dying trees and that it prefers northerly areas often of high elevation, people would not encounter this species as often as species that prefer more southerly habitats.  In the past there have been reports from Mount Carleton Provincial Park.  I remember a sighting from the late 1950s from the Fredericton area and I saw one at Kingsley, NB in October, 1970.

The American Three-toed Woodpecker is a 'Picoides' woodpecker, a genus it shares with the Black-backed Woodpecker, the Downy Woodpecker and the Hairy Woodpecker in this area.  There are other Picoides species but they do not occur here.  Sharing the same genus usually means that this species shares anatomical structure, behaviour and habitats with others of its genus.  The American Three-toed Woodpecker is shaped like the species mentioned above and shares similar life histories.  However, it more closely resembles the Black-backed Woodpecker which is also a three-toed woodpecker.

So what significance does 'three-toed' have?  Most woodpeckers are four-toed.  That manifests itself usually with two toes facing forward and two backward.  One can easily see this as the bird moves up the tree trunk, clinging by the claws on its toes and propped up by its stiff tail.  In the three-toed woodpeckers, they show two toes facing forward and one out to the side or behind.  So they move up or down the tree trunk by clinging with the two front toes, somewhat with the side or back-facing toe and propped up with the stiff tail.  In the photo below notice the three toes.

American Three-toed Woodpecker [C Melanson Photo]

The American Three-toed Woodpecker is just a bit smaller than the Hairy Woodpecker with a length of 22 cm/ 8.75".  The biggest difference (other than the three toes) between the three-toed woodpeckers and the other Picoides woodpeckers is the presence of yellow on the crown.  All the others show red.  The male American Three-toed Woodpecker has a yellow patch on the top of the head as shown in the photos above.  This is also present in the young birds, both male and female.  The adult female shows plain black on the head or it may be speckled with a small amount of white.  

Identifying the American Three-toed Woodpecker is relatively easy.  It looks dark in colour on quick view.  You then have to look closely to distinguish it from the Black-backed Woodpecker which has a solid black back.  The American Three-toed has horizontal black and white stripes on its back.  Sometimes these are hidden if you are viewing the bird from the side.  So, look closely.  The Black-backed is slightly larger but that does not help much in telling them apart.

Besides the white stripes on the back, the American Three-toed has mostly black on the back except for some white barring on the primary wing feathers.  The underparts are white with black barring on the sides.  The tail is black with white outer-tail feathers.  On a quick view the female could be mistaken for a Hairy Woodpecker.  

American Three-toed Woodpeckers are North America's most northerly breeding woodpecker.  Their range covers a vast area from northern Labrador, across northern Ontario and the Prairie Provinces to norther Alaska and Yukon.  In the west they range southward in the mountains to New Mexico and Arizona.  Their Canadian southern boundary is close to the 49th parallel to southern Quebec, northern NB and Newfoundland.  They are non-migratory.  However there can be movement southward in severe winters or in dwindling food supplies.  Their population is thought to be stable.

They are normally sparsely located throughout their range.  They are sometimes found in higher densities in areas with many dead trees.  This can be after a forest fire and that undoubtedly is what has attracted this bird to Miscou Island.   There was a small forest fire there in recent years.  

The American Three-toed Woodpecker nests in a cavity about 12 m/ 45 feet up in a dead tree, usually a conifer or a poplar.  Incubation takes about 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both the male and female.  They feed on larvae of tree-dwelling insects, spiders, and some berries.  They also will eat bark cambium.  

In 2003 the 'Three-toed Woodpecker' was split into the American Three-toed Woodpecker and the Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker.  These two species are nearly identical in appearance but they differ in voice and mitochondrial DNA (iBirdPro).  We are not likely to see its Eurasian cousin but it is interesting to know that its close relative is successful in Europe.  

It is interesting to speculate what the spruce budworm spraying program and clearcutting have done to the presence of this species in NB.  Feeding on tree-dwelling insects in dead trees is a vital part of the ecology of the forest.