Lab 2- Local Birds

Anseriformes to Strigiformes
Study the skins with care!!!
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after class
 • Common name, Order, and/or
Family (spelling!)
• ID sex
Quiz #1 in • ID by call/song
Two Weeks • Foot types
(2/14)! • Feather types
• Feather tract
• Topography
Anseriformes:
ducks, geese, and
swans
• Aquatic/semi-aquatic birds
that swim and fly well
• Short-legged, long-
necked; precocial
young
• Worldwide (>180
species)
 • Wings pointed; tail short
Anatidae (170; 17 sp.) • Bill broad, flat, and rounded
at the tip in most species
• Head generally small; neck
long in ducks, very long in
geese and swans
• Legs short to medium with
webbed feet (palmate)
• Males typically more
brightly colored than
females
• Monogamous and highly
social during non-breeding
season
Snow Goose
• Two color morphs (blue and white)
• Mostly white in coloration, black
primaries and secondaries
• Pink bill with black “grinning patch”
• Pink legs
Ross’s Goose
• Mostly white in coloration, black primaries
and secondaries
• Stubby, pink, triangular bill that’s bluish-gray
at base
• Neck shorter, head rounder than Snow Goose
Snow vs Ross’s Goose
Canada Goose
• Black head and neck, distinctive
white chin and cheek
• Brown body with pale chest and
white undertail
 Dabbling Ducks
• Surface feeders
– Marshes, ponds, lakes, slow
rivers, bays
– Filter feed using lamellae
on their bills
– Many also consume large
quantities of insects and
aquatic invertebrates
• Most have iridescent
speculum
• Legs center of body, easily
walk on land
 Diving Ducks

• Dive for food

– Large, deep lakes; rivers;
ponds; or coastal bays
– Mostly carnivorous
– Eat fish, shellfish, aquatic
plants, and mollusks
• ‘Run’ on water when taking off
• Legs towards back of body
 Wood Duck*
• Prefer habitat close to wooded swamps, nest in
cavities
• Surface-feeding (dabbling duck)
• Crested head, bold markings
• Sexually dimorphic
• Male is brightly colored while female is drab
American Wigeon*
• Medium-sized dabbling duck
• Compact w/ round head and short pale bill
• Sexually dimorphic
• Males: green eye stripe and white crown
• Females: grayish head and smoky eye
 Gadwall*
• Dabbling duck, white inner secondaries,
steep forehead, white bellies
• Sexually dimorphic
– Male: gray, black tail coverts, black bill
– Female: brown, gray mandible with some orange
Mallard
*
• Medium-sized dabbling duck
• Sexually dimorphic
– Male: green head, white neck ring, yellow-
green bill, wing speculum purple-blue
– Female: brown, orange feet and
brown/orange bill, faint eye stripe
Blue-winged Teal*
• Small-sized dabbling duck
• Sexually dimorphic
– Male: purple-gray head with white crescent,
brown w/ blue shoulder patch
– Female: drab with blue shoulder patch
 Green-winged Teal*
• Small-sized dabbling duck
• Small, slender bill, sexually dimorphic
• Male: dark, rufous head with distinctive green
crescent; vertical, white bar on side of breast
• Female: drab with green speculum and dark
eyeline
 Northern Shoveler*
• Medium-sized dabbling duck
• Easily distinguished from other ducks by large bill
• Sexually dimorphic
• Male: white breast, green head, rufous flanks
• Female: drab overall
 Northern Pintail*
• Large-sized dabbling duck
• Pointed tail feathers, narrow bluish bill
• Sexually dimorphic
• Male: gray and black upper parts, white neck, gray
wings with green speculum, black, long pointed
tail
Ring-necked
Duck*
• Medium-sized diving duck
• Peaked head, bold with ring near tip of bill
• Male: black upper breast and tail, white lower
breast and belly, gray sides
• Female: dark crown, white eye-ring
 Lesser Scaup*
• Medium-sized diving duck
• Bill bluish gray with black tip, yellow eyes
• Male: finely barred gray back and gray-washed
with white underparts, black tail
• Female: brown, large white patch at base of bill
 Bufflehead*
• Small diving duck
• Round head, small bill
• Male: mostly white w/ glossy green/purple-black
head and back; large, white patch behind eyes
• Female - drab, white patch on side of head
Hooded Merganser*
• Small diving duck
• Large crest, small, narrow bill, yellow eyes
• Male - black back, two black bars on side of
breast, red-brown flanks, crest with white
patch bordered in black
 Ruddy
Duck*
• Small diving duck
• Sexually dimorphic
• Male: bright red-brown body, black cap, tail is
black and often held erect, white cheek patches
• Female: drab with black facial line, erect tail
Domestic
Ducks
 Podicipediformes:
Podicipedidae (22; 1 spp.)

Grebes, Small to medium-sized diving

waterbirds
• Tail reduced
• Dense, satiny plumage
• Legs far back on body- good for swimming,
not for walking
• Lobate feet with flattened nails
• Aquatic, diving, fish eaters; eat own
feathers!
• Feathers trap fish bones, which are
digested or regurgitated
• Elaborate courtship displays, build floating
nests, carry young on back
 Lobate Feet

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

 Pied-billed
Grebe
• Medium-sized, stocky grebe with brown
upperparts, paler brown underparts, and
distinct white undertail coverts
• Chin is black and bill is white with central
black ring; eyes are dark
Columbiformes:
Columbidae (348; 5 sp.)

Pigeons, doves
• Plump-bodies with small
heads, short bills, short legs
• Large crop - produces crop
milk for offspring
• Clutch size usually 2
• Worldwide
 Rock
Pigeon
• Large, highly variably colored dove
• Gray body, dark blue-gray head & breast
• Gray wings with two black bars
• First introduced to N.A. in 1606
Eurasian Collard-Dove
• Large- medium dove, pale gray overall
• Nape is ringed with black and white collar
• Introduced to Bahamas in 1970’s
White-winged
Dove
• Medium dove, gray-brown
• Black crescent below eye
• Dark gray wings with broad white stripes
Mourning Dove
• Small-medium dove, brown-pink
• Small, black spot beneath eye
• Wings gray-brown with black spots
 White-winged Eurasian
Mourning Dove Collared Dove
Dove
 Gruiformes
(192; 6 sp.)

Cranes, rails, coots, and allies

• No crop, primarily precocial
young
• Fly with neck straight
• Very diverse - shared features
of palate and skeleton
• Many aquatic, shy, hard-to-see
species
• Worldwide
 Rallidae
(159; 5 sp.)
Rails, gallinules, and coots
• Small to medium-sized
waterbirds
• Shy, mostly solitary
• Body compressed laterally
• Bill variable, usually
slightly decurved
• Short tail
 American Coot
• Medium-sized, chicken-like swimming bird
• Dark gray-black overall, lobed toes
• Short, white bill and face shield
 Plovers, shorebirds, gulls, and allies
Charadriiforme • Waders, swimmers, divers
s (482; 28 sp.) • All have distinct palate, syringeal muscles, and vertebrae
• Worldwide
• Very diverse; many have no outward resemblance
 Charadriidae
(67; 4 sp.)

Plovers
• Small to medium-sized shorebirds
• Upright posture, rounded head
• Bill relatively short and compressed
near tip (stubby bills)
• Broken-wing display when nest or
young approached
• Waders
• Adorable chicks
 Killdeer
• Large, banded plover, brown upperparts/
white underparts
• Two black bands across upper breast
• Black bill, pink-brown legs and feet
Scolopacidae
(96; 12 sp.)

Sandpipers
• Small to large shorebirds
• Wading birds
• Bill often long, slender, not
compressed near tip
• Long toes
Greater Yellowlegs
• Large sandpiper, mottled brown
• Bill is slightly upturned
• Long bright yellow legs
Lesser Yellowlegs
• Medium sandpiper, mottled brown
• Bill is straight and uniformly dark
• Also has long yellow legs
Greater vs Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Snipe
• Medium sandpiper, mottled with buff
stripes on back
• Reeeally long bill, squat body
• Yellow- green legs, feet
American Woodcock
• Medium shorebird, shorter thin pink legs
• Cinnamon unmarked underparts
• More gray in upperparts
• Very plump
American Woodcock Call
Wilson’s Snipe vs American Woodcock
Laridae (97; 10 sp.)
Gulls, terns, jaegers, and skuas
• Small to medium-sized
seabirds with chunky bodies,
short necks, and pointed
wings
• Palmate feet
• Often colonial
• Opportunistic omnivores, except
terns and skimmers (mostly fish)
• Many well-adapted to humans
and their constructs (dumps)
 Ring-billed Gull
• Medium gull with yellow legs and feet
• Wings are gray above, tipped black with
white spots, white below
• Yellow bill with black ring near tip
Gaviiformes (5; 1 sp.)

• Loons (or “Divers”)

• Aquatic diving birds
• Long necked, palmate feet
• Sharp, pointed bill
• Found in NA, NE, Asia
Gaviidae ( 5; 1 sp)

• Plumage mostly black or gray

above, white below
• Wings narrow; tail very short
• Bill medium length, straight,
pointed, and dagger-like
• Haunting, wailing call
Common
Loon
• Black and white with long bill
• Sits low in the water
• Breeding: black head, checkerboard back, red
eye
• Non-breeding: gray back and head; white
collared throat
Suliformes (59; 3 sp.)
•Frigatebirds, boobies, cormorants,
anhingas
• Large seabirds with pointed wings
and tail
• Totipalmate feet, gular sac, short
legs, long wings
• Chisel-like bill
• Worldwide, more common in
tropics
Phalacrocoracidae (2 sp.)
•Cormorants
– Pursue prey underwater;
elongate body, neck, tail
– Bill: long, thin, tubular,
strongly hooked
– Perch with crook in neck,
often seen with wings
fanned out
Double-crested Cormorant
• Medium cormorant with iridescent black
body and orange throat pouch
• Pale bill is long and hooked; black legs
and feet
• Prefers lakes, rivers, swamps, and coasts
Pelecaniformes Pelicans, herons, ibis,
(114; 16 sp.) spoonbills
 Pelecanidae (8; 2 sp.)
Pelicans
• Very large, gregarious
waterbirds (also cooperately
herd fish)
• Dive and scoop to get prey
• Distinctive bill
• Large, expandable gular
pouch
• All four toes webbed
(totipalmate)
American White Pelican
• Huge, white seabird, enormous
outstretched wings (9 ft!) with black
primaries and outer secondaries in flight
• Orange bill and legs; upper bill develops a
fibrous keel during breeding season
• Prefers shallow lakes and coastal lagoons
Ardeidae (68; 11 sp.)
Herons, bitterns
• Medium to large waders, mostly
colonial breeders
• Slender body
• Long, spear-shaped bills (carnivores)
• Specialized vertebrae: allow spearing,
folding neck into "S"
• Powder down feathers
 Great Blue Heron
• Large heron with blue-gray back, black
sides, and gray and white striped belly
• Long gray neck with black-bordered white
throat stripe, white face and cap, black crest
 Great Egret
• Large, white, w/ yellow eyes and bill
• Black legs and feet
• In breeding season, long feather
plumes extend from the back to
beyond the tail
Cathartiformes:
Cathartidae (7; 2 sp.)
•New World Vultures
• Head and neck bare;
lack syrinx
• Perforated nostrils
• Large to very large
soaring scavengers
• Often seen sunning
with spread wings
• Feet very weak
Black Vulture
• Large, black raptor, gray legs and feet
• Head gray-black and featherless
• White-tipped wings in flight
• Very good boys
 Turkey Vulture
• Medium-sized black colored vulture
• Red, featherless head (usually)
• Wings held in a shallow V in flight
• Also good boys
Turkey vs Black Vulture
Accipitriformes (252; 10 sp.)
Kites, eagles, hawks
• Wings broad and rounded, short neck
• Cere and eye-ring bare (often brightly
colored)
• Raptorial feet
• Females usually larger than males
Pandionidae (1 spp.)

Osprey
• Opposable outer toe
• Spiny foot pads
• Nasal valves that
close underwater
• Fish-eating specialist
Osprey
• Large raptor, dark brown upperparts,
white underparts, faint breast band
• White head w/dark crown and eyestripe
• Wings held at a distinct angle in flight
• Worldwide distribution
Accipitridae
(250; 9 sp.)

Hawks, eagles, kites

• Diurnal birds of prey
• Hooked bills
• Strong talons
• Cere and eye-ring bare,
often brightly colored
Northern Harrier*
• Large hawk w/ owl-like facial disk
• Distinct white rump
• Sexually dimorphic
• Female: brown, male: gray
Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks
 Sharp-shinned Hawk
• Small hawk with blue-gray upperparts
and rufous bars on white breast
• Dark red eyes, yellow legs and feet
• Short and rounded wings, long and
squared tail with heavy bars
Cooper’s
Hawk
• Medium hawk with dark blue-gray back
and white breast with rufous bars
• Dark cap, red eyes, yellow legs and feet
• Long tail with thick black-and-white bands
 Sharp-shinned vs Cooper’s Hawk
https://freidaybird.blogspot.com/2020/12/twenty-four-ways-to-tell-sharp-shinned.html?fbclid=IwAR1NalHDe69vQmqEXIU0tNSYtLqiJUcsTyzJnZ0D_J_lDBDpd0_yUgc-clM
 Juveniles

COHA SSHA
Red-shouldered
Hawk
• Large hawk with brown upperparts and head
• Rust-red barring on breast
• Wings are finely barred (checkered look),
red-brown shoulders
• Dark tail with thick bands
 Red-tailed Hawk
• Large, highly variable hawk with brown
upperparts, head, and throat
• wings dark bar at leading edge and dark
tips, belly band!
• red-brown tail (adults)
 Strigiformes (234; 4 sp.)
Owls
• Mostly nocturnal birds of prey
• Small, heavily decurved bills
• Legs and toes often feathered, zygodactyl toes
• Large heads with facial disks
• Eyes fixed, asymmetrical ear openings in some
• Soft, specialized plumage that muffles sound
• Worldwide
• Female often larger than male
 Tytonidae (19; 1 spp.)

• Plumage cryptic, paler on face and

undersides
• Wings long, rounded, tail short
• Slighter of build than in strigids
• Bill less robust than in strigids, hooked
• Prominent heart-shaped facial disc
• Eyes relatively small for an owl
• Legs long, tarsus completely feathered
 Barn
Owl
• Medium-sized, heart shaped face
• Gray and cinnamon above, white below
• Slender w/ long round wings
https://fb.watch/31_lTClDqY/
 Typical owls
Strigidae • Facial disk rounded
(216; 3 sp.) • Legs shorter than tail
• Tarsus feathered, toes feathered in some
 Eastern Screech Owl
• Small owl with short ear tufts
• Gray or red overall with dark streaks
• White underparts, yellow eyes, dark bill
 Great Horned Owl
• Large w/ gray-brown mottled upperparts
• Distinct ear tufts, rufous facial disk
• Throat and upper breast are white
 Barred
Owl
• Large w/ horizontal white bars on brown back
• Buffy breast with long streaks
• Black eyes, yellow bill
Questions?