Gnatcatcher (Blue-gray)

2010

Pronounced as “Nat-catcher” the tiny, long-tailed bird of deciduous forests and scrublands, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, resides in southern Ontario, the eastern and south western United States and Mexico.

2016

Adults are blue-grey on the upper parts with white under parts, with a long slender bill and a long black tail. They also have a white eye ring.

They build a cup nest similar in construction to a hummingbird nest made of spider webbing or caterpillar silk, covered with lichens or bark flakes. Lined with grass stems, bark strips, plant down, hair, feathers, or other fine fibers. Placed far out from trunk on tree limbs.. Both parents construct the nest and feed the young; they may raise two broods in a season. (Naples, FL) (Kissimmee, FL)

Yellow-rumped Warbler male

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of the most common warblers in North America. Other warblers have dark-streaked, blue-grey upper parts and bright yellow rump. Head is black with yellow crown, white eye-rings, and faint eye stripes. Wings are dark with yellow shoulder patches and two white bars. Tail is dark with white corners. Juvenile resembles female but lacks yellow crown, shoulder patches, and tail markings. (Naples, FL)

Woodpecker (Red-bellied)

The most common woodpecker in the Southeast, the Red-bellied Woodpecker is a familiar sight at bird feeders and in backyards. Yes, its belly is covered in a light red wash. But this woodpecker is easier to spot by the red on the back and top of its head.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker competes vigorously for nest holes with other woodpeckers, but it is often evicted from it’s own nest hole by the European Starling. In some areas, half of all Red-bellied Woodpecker nesting cavities are taken over by starlings.

The male Red-bellied Woodpecker has a longer bill and a longer, wider tongue tip than the female. These adaptations may allow the male to reach deeper into furrows to extract prey and may allow the sexes to divide up the resources in one area.


1 Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL
2 & 3 Photographed in the wild, Chicago, IL 

Waxwing (Cedar)

The Cedar Waxwing measure about 7 inches from tip of bill to tip of tail. With their sweptback crest and black mask-like eye markings. The mouse brown colouring on their back, head and breast gives way to soft yellow on the belly. The tip of the tail has a bright yellow band that is characteristic of all Waxwings.

The name, Waxwing, comes from the nature of the red colored material that develops at the tip of the secondary feathers in adult birds. This red material has a waxy consistency and is actually exuded from the shafts of the secondary feathers. While the function of this red wax is not known for certain, it may serve as a breeding signal since it does not appear until well into a bird's second year.


Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL

Palm Warbler on roof

Eastern birds have brownish olive upperparts, yellow under parts, and rusty streaks on their breasts and flanks. Western birds have light under parts with darker streaks on their breasts and grey-brown upperparts. (Naples, FL)

Palm Warbler

The rusty-capped Palm Warbler can be most easily recognized by the tail-wagging habit that shows off its yellow under tail. It breeds in bogs and winters primarily in the southern United States and Caribbean.

Eastern birds have brownish olive upperparts, yellow under parts, and rusty streaks on their breasts and flanks. Western birds have light under parts with darker streaks on their breasts and grey-brown upperparts.

Despite the name, Palm Warblers generally don't forage or roost in palm trees, even during their winter months in Florida or the tropics. The "Yellow Palm Warbler" is a more colourful version found in smaller numbers in the extreme eastern portions of North America.

1, 2  Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL
3, 4  Photographed in the wild, Marco Island, FL

Thrasher (Brown)

The Brown Thrasher is the state bird of Georgia and about eleven to twelve inches long. Brown Thrashers are with orange brown upper parts, darker wings with two short white bands. The underside has tiny black arrowhead spots in rows stretching front to back. They also have a long downward curved bill, long twitching tail, and yellow eyes.

Brown Thrashers leave the nest at only 9 to 13 days old, earlier than either of its smaller relatives, the Northern Mockingbird

An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.

They are extremely secretive and can sometimes be hard to find in thickets. The thrasher is often heard before it is seen, and has one of the largest song repertoires of any North American bird.

Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL

Tern (Royal)

A large, orange-billed tern, the Royal Tern is found only along ocean beaches. The Royal Tern breeds in large, dense colonies. Nests are sometimes washed away by storm tides, but the birds usually make a second attempt, often at a new location. This bird has fewer young than other terns but maintains its numbers wherever it has protection from disturbance. It feeds almost entirely on small fish, rather than the crustaceans and insects taken by most other terns.

Royals are crow size at about 18-21 with a long heavy yellow-orange to orange-red bill. Black cap, wispy crest, pales gray back and wings, and a white forehead. Tail moderately forked. Similar Caspian Tern has blood-red bill, darker forehead and under wing, and shorter tail.

Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL

Stork (Wood)

The only stork, that actually breeds in North America.  It is found year-round in Florida and a few other locations in the extreme southeast.

young love

Wood Storks are currently at populations far below historical levels, primarily due to disruption of normal water flows in south Florida and the resultant change in its normal breeding habitat

Wood Storks are 40-44" tall with wings 5'6".  They are white with black flight feathers and tail. The head and neck are bare and dark grey. Bill long, stout, and slightly curved; black in adults and dull yellow in juveniles. Unlike herons, storks fly with neck extended.

Photographed in the wild, Kissimmee, FL

Shrike (Loggerhead)

A small gray, black, and white bird of open areas, the Loggerhead Shrike hardly appears to be a predator. The Loggerhead Shrike is a predator, but it does not have the strong feet and talons of a raptor.

Often referred to as a "Butcher Bird", it will stun or kill prey with its powerful, hooked beak that helps sever the spinal cord of its prey before impaling it on a plant thorn or barbed-wire fence. The impaled victim will then be picked apart over time, sometimes left there for months before being finished.

The prey typically consists of a small bird, mouse, or large insect. The birds sharply hooked beak makes-up for a lack of talons that birds of prey have to attack other birds. Loggerheads have exceptional eyesight and can spot a grasshopper from 70 yards away.

 

Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL

Pelican (Brown)

Unique among the world's seven species of pelicans, the Brown Pelican is found along the ocean shores and not on inland lakes. It is the only dark pelican, and also the only one that plunges from the air into the water to catch its food.

The Brown Pelican frequently lowers its head onto its shoulders with the bill open, pulls its head back, and stretches the pouch over its throat and neck. The exposed neck looks like a large lump sticking up out of the pouch.

Unlike most birds, which warm their eggs with the skin of their breasts, pelicans incubate their eggs with their feet. They hold the eggs under the webs that stretch from the front toes to the hind toe, essentially standing on the eggs to warm them. This peculiar incubation method made them vulnerable to the effects of the pesticide DDT. The DDT made the eggshells thin, and the incubating parents frequently cracked their eggs.

Photographed in the wild, Naples FL

Osprey

The close up photos where taken at Tiger Tail beach on Marco Island. our friend here is enjoying a fresh catch.

this was not the nest but a pile of branches on the white sand beach

digging right in

bite size

easy to catch & hold with those talons

finding another spot to eat

Odd that a Osprey nest would have a fishing net hooked on the nest

they must have taken the fish with it away from someone not paying attention

 

Photographed in the wild Marco Island, FL

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Osprey's are fishing birds and can be seen hovering above the water searching for prey. When a fish is spotted, the Osprey dives down and will grab it using its talons. The fish is then flown (head first) to a perch, where it is devoured.

Osprey populations declined in the 1950's & 60's due to pesticides. But they have slowly made a comeback.

Their dark eye stripe makes them look like a masked bandit.

Ospreys have dark brown wings, nape, and an eye stripe. Ospreys also have a white chin, throat, breast, belly, under tail coverts, and legs, yellowish eyes and a curved black bill. They range about 21 to 24 inches in length.

 

Photographed in the wild Kissimmee, FL

Mockingbird (Northern)

The mockingbird is about ten inches in length, including its relatively long tail. It has a light grey coat and a whitish underside. Its wings and tail are a darker grey with white patches. The male and females look alike. Juveniles have spotted breast.

The common mockingbird is a superb songbird and mimic. Often it will sing all night long, especially in bright springtime moonlight. Unmated male mockingbirds sing more than mated ones. Both sexes sing in the fall to claim winter feeding territories. These areas are often different than their spring breeding territories.

The song of the mockingbird is, in fact, a medley of the calls of other birds, each repeated several times. Each imitation is repeated two or three times, then another song is started, all in rapid succession. It is common for an individual bird to have as many as 25-30 songs in its repertory.

The mockingbird is also known as a fierce protector of its nest and is sometimes seen swooping down on a predator that may be too close to the nest.

Photographed in the wild, Naples, FL

Ibis (White)

The White Ibis are found in inland marshes and wet prairies. They inhabit swamps and coastal areas. Their young, however, must have freshwater. They nest in large colonies surrounded by water, often with egrets and herons.

The White Ibis is a medium-sized wading bird with long, downward-curving bill. Adults are white except for black tips on wings and pink to reddish coloration on exposed flesh around face, bill, and legs.

Young juvenile birds are dark brown on wings, neck, head, and tail, but noticeable white patches occur on back and belly. Juveniles begin to acquire adult coloration near end of first year but retain some brown feathers on head and neck until third year.

Photographed in the wild, Cape Coral, FL
and Marco Island, FL

Heron (Tri-Colour)

The Tri-coloured Heron is a medium-size named for its three main colors: bluish-gray, purple and white. Its head, back and wings are a dark bluish-gray. The back of the neck is purple. The belly is white. The Tri-color also has a narrow white streak with delicate rust-coloured markings down the front of its neck. The eyes are bright red. The legs are pale green or yellow. The bill is usually yellow at the base and has a dark tip.

During breeding season the Tri-color gets a white pony tail plume on the back of its head and its legs turn bright red.

The Tri-coloured walks through shallow water in a jerky fashion, crouching and darting as it moves along. Sometimes it raises its wings to cast a shadow on the water so it can spot its prey.

The Tri-color is very vocal if disturbed while fishing. It flies away abruptly and gives out a loud call that falls somewhere between a squawk and a bark.

Photographed in the wild, Naples FL