Red-Tail Hawk

  The "Red-Tailed Hawk" live in all of the South West year round..  50% of the hawks are

 Red-Tailed Hawks. 

 Their head, back and wings are dark brown; under parts a light rufous and white, lower chest has a band of heavy brown streaks; tail is a pale orange below , a rufous above .

 

 

They live in the open country, woodlands, prairie groves, mountains, plains.  They are more common in April  to September in Nevada and Utah.  Their diet varies with location and seasons.  They do munch on small mammals, birds, reptiles and snakes.
Kitfoxgal

"Double-crested Cormorant"

The Double-crested Cormorant is a member of cormorant family of seabirds.  It is North America's most wide spread and familiar cormorants.  They are found in sea water and fresh water.

They are a stocky, with a medium length tail, thick neck, plus a thick bill and a yellow to orange gular pouch.  They feed on other water-life , such as fish, crabs, shrimp, crayfish, ells and even snakes.  They also feed on plant material.

 

They often fly in the V-formation.  Thy are in lakes, marshes, coastal estuaries and off-shore islands.  They have colonies on rocky or sandy islands, marsh vegetation, flooded snags, waterside trees and even artificial structures. 

They winter mainly in coastal habitats.  In the summer they wonder north.  There are over 350,000 breeding pairs in North America.

 

Enjoy DesertDale photos, as I have many more of the "Cormorants".

Kitfoxgal

Moutain Bluebird

The male "Mountain Bluebird" are almost entirely blue. The female are gray underneath, some do have orangeish cast to the chest and their upper sides.  
They winter in the lower 48 states and Mexico.  They like open pines, sagebrush deserts, grasslands, and farms. 
 They are found in Nevada, Utah,  Arizona and New Mexico. They are often found  in large flocks.

 
 Enjoy.   
Kitfoxgal      

Northern Cardinal

 The "Northern Cardinal" is  one of the most recognizable birds in North America.  It is found in eastern United States in a variety of habitats.  Males usually sing from exposed perches.  They are very colorful, with their bright red body and  their black face and a pointed head.

The female are similarly shaped but are a buffy brown and a reddish tinges on their wings and tail and chest.

They are very common throughout the east.  In the west the found in southwestern Texas, South
New Mexico and Southern  Arizona where it is common in mesquite and their habitats are usually near water.  They do not migrate and they don't molt into a dull plumage.  They are common at bird feeder. In the summer, their sweet whistles are on of the first sounds of the morning

More in a few days.  went birding this morning at "Mason Valley  Wild Area" near Yerington.
Kitfoxgal

Yellow Headed Black-Bird

DesertDale is at it once again.  This time it is the "Yellow Headed Black-Bird."  They stay in the western  marshes in the summer time.  Outside

the nesting season, they wander in flocks in open habitats , like open farm fields, feed lots an the prairies.

 

 

The name describes the male, who has a white wing patch . DesertDale said they have a very nice song.

 Female are smaller, sooty, brown, with no white wing patch, if they do it is very hard to see .

Their range from April to October Nevada and Utah.  Sept.- April Arizona and New Mexico.

 

Enjoy the photos.  Kitfoxgal

Long-bill Dowitcher

The Long-bill Dowitcher are a medium size, chunky, dark shorebird.  They have long, straight bill and pale eyebrows.  They feed in mud or shallow water.

 

They prop their heads with a rapid jobbing motion.  When they fly a white wedge from  berried tail to middle of the back. They prefer the freshwater.  At times they have been seen in coastal estuaries.

They feed on insects and other invertebrates, and seeds.

 

Males gather    in spring on "leks" and display to attract females.  Females visits lek , then mates with one of the males.  The male  takes no part in caring for the eggs or the young. The female lay about 4 eggs.  It takes 20 to 23 days for the eggs to hatch.

This is a Short-bill Dowitcher that DesertDale took at the ocean, when we were there last June.  The short-bill are a only a shore bird.

Enjoy the posting.  Kitfoxgal

Sandhill Crane In Florida

 "Sandhill Crane"

The adults are mostly gray with rusty blotching on neck, body, and upperwing coverts.  The nekefore crown are a dark red, with amber eyes.  Their neck are long and thin,  bill is short, thin, straight and black.  Legs long and black.

 

They do fly with   their neck outstretched.  Summer they are in shallow marshes; winter they follow fields , salt flats.

They are very social, may be in large flocks in some places and absent elsewhere.  

 

They net in around marshes.  At migration time and winter they sometime feed on waste grain in open fields.
The Platte River in Nebraska is one of the great wildlife spectacles in North America.

Beauty of a bird.  These photos were taken by no-other then DesertDale.   Kitfoxgal

Cinnamaon Teal

 

 

 Cinnamon Teals are a small colorful duck.  They are found in ponds throughout the American West.  They are the only duck with separate breeding populations in North and South America.  They like freshwater seasonal and semiperment wetlands, like marshes, reservoirs, sluggish streams, ditches and stock ponds.

The males are much more colorful.

The female's are a little longer.  Plus the females line through the eye is less distinct.
They do migrate, as they avoid the cold weather more then most ducks.  Many males in fall still wear drab eclipse plumage, looking much like females except for their red eyes.

Their are found in Southwest  Canada, west United States, Mexico and South America.

Enjoy the photo's by DesertDale (The Birdman)
Kitfoxgal

Avocent At Fish Lake Valley

The Avocent is one beautiful bird.  They are a shorebird .  They are black with scapular stripes on their upper part.   White underparts, black & white wings.  They have a long thin bill that is curved.

 The males bills are longer and straighter then the females.  When they feed they sweep their bill from side to side.

They make a loud, piercing wheep or a peeping sound.   When agitated it is a higher pitched.

 

They nest in colonies.  Often seen near Black-necked Stilts.

Enjoy.  Kitfoxgal

Roseate Spoonbill

The "Roseate Spoonbill"  DesertDale took in Florida this year.  They have pink and red plumage that makes them one of the most colorful wading birds.  They have a large ,flat, spoon-shaped bill.  With their wing and back are pink.  Both sexes are alike.  Their heads are featherless , yellow or greenish gray with black collar.  Their bill are a grayish with black markings. Their  eyes, legs and feet are reddish.  Neck and upper back are white with a red patch on breast , lower back pink; rump red  and tail orange.. Wings pink with a wide red carpal.

 

 

They are seen rarely inland. They winter in Florida, Louisiana and Texas.   They are seen in the Gulf and the South Atlantic coasts.

 

They are similar the  flamingos.  Their voices are silent except at breeding time, then it is very low.

 

Beauty of a bird.  Kitfoxgal  

Crested Caracara Caracara

 

This is a "Crested Caracara" photo that DesertDale took when we were in Florida this year.  It is a large, long-legged raptor. A member of the falcon family that looks a hawk and eats like a vulture.   Their wing almost reach to it's tail tip.
They feed on carrion (decaying flesh) and small prey. They soar in the sky like other hawks and vultures.   Their wings, body and crown are black.  Their face and neck are white.  Upper  breast and back are white, with a few black feather mixed in.  Tail is white with dark barring and dark terminal band.  Facial skin and cere are  orange.  Legs are yellow.  Their voice is silent , that is most of time.
They live in Central Florida and along the coast of Texas.  Plus a small section of south-east Arizona.
They generally do not migrate.
They are stable in Florida and Arizona.  They are expanding in Texas.

                                                                 (  This photo from goggle.)
Enjoy.                 Kitfoxgal