Rosy-Finches

Because I just love the pink-butts, and because I had dozens and dozens in my yard the other day, I've decided to research them. This is the first of
four posts; information on the three species follow.

The order Passeriformes (perching birds)/the family Fringillidae (finches: goldfinches, bullfinches, chaffinches, siskins, canaries, cardinals, grosbeaks, crossbills, linnets, and buntings)/the subfamily Carduelinae (a larger group that contains several genera which feed their young mainly on seeds)/the Genus Leucosticte (Rosy Finches)

The Rosy-Finch is a medium-sized, chunky finch with variable pinkish color on belly, rump and wings. They are 5.5 to just over 8 inches long; their wingspan is about 13 inches and weight is 0.8 to 2.1 ounces. Sexes are similar in size and coloration, but males are more colorful. All forms of rosy-finches in North American were once merged with the Asian Rosy-Finch into a single species (1983 to 1993). However as genetic, biochemical and other evidence became available, the three distinct North American species of rosy-finch are again recognized, with Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch being the most widely distributed and abundant form. While all rosy-finches have an affinity for alpine or tundra habitat, in the US, the Black Rosy-Finch holds the middle position geographically between the Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch to the north and west and the Brown-capped Rosy-Finch to the south and east.

I couldn't stand it...I had to add a photo I found on Wikimedia: an Asian Rosy-Finch. The author mentioned how rare the bird is, that the thirty of so who came every year, became a pilgrimage too, for the Koreans who went to see them. You sure can see the resemblance.

All three populations are distinguished by head pattern, size and body color, though intermediate birds are unidentifiable. The Black Rosy-Finch is very dark brown, appearing black as a back-ground color. The Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch much lighter, browner bodied; pink to red feather margins often more extensive but contrast less with brown plumage. Brown-capped Rosy-Finches lack silver-gray on head and are much lighter and browner-bodied
…males are nearly golden.

All Rosy-Finches display some degree of pink to red on belly, rump, upper- and under-tail coverts, and on the wings, especially at the outer bend. This pink becomes spectacular ruby-red, spectral red or a geranium-color by midsummer. All have white nasal tufts, black legs and feet and dark brown iris. The tail is notched, tail and wings are long and under-wings appear silvery in flight…except for the Grey-crowned.
It seems to be likely that plant pigments are required for normal plumage color development, as in other carduelines.

All finches are known for their nomadic wandering and this certainly applies to the Rosy-finches. Because it breeds so high, little is known of this bird though it does gather in large, mobile and unpredictable flocks of mixed rosy-finch flocks. In winter, it occasionally descends to mountain and sometimes even foothill feeders and then suddenly departs. While finches are known for their erratic winter movements, roving flocks of rosy-finches are notorious for being unreliable to find at winter feeding stations. As in some other finches, rosy-finches observed to feed along salted roads (or urinated ground) and have the habit of suddenly departing and leap-frogging ahead of birds further up the road and landing again; successive waves flying over the others. They likely do this at feeders, as well.

In winter, Rosy-Finches roost in cliff crevices, mine shafts, wells, abandoned Cliff Swallow nests and around human-made structures such as in barns, under piers and in railroad cars, which provide protection from wind and reduce radiant heat loss. These birds also exhibit a mild nighttime hypothermia, like other carduelines, but not so sever as chickadees.

When driven to lower altitudes by rough weather, the Rosy seldom moves below the snowline, but remains in areas at least thinly covered by snow, even when completely snow-free areas readily available. Flocks often come to feeders at these times but are nearly absent during
fair weather and in years with less snow.

This is mainly an altitudinal migrant. Many may remain at high altitude throughout winter except when driven down by adverse weather and deep snow covering food supply, when they descend to valley until conditions improve…which is why we see them mainly in inclement weather and call them ‘snow birds’.

Migration timing depends on weather to some extent. Generally Rosies arrive on the tundra in April and leave (if they leave) around October. Individuals wintering close to mountains continue to move up and down with storms throughout fall and winter, making migratory periods indistinct. The bird sleeps at night and so probably is a daytime migrant.

As with all Rosy-Finches, bills are yellow for the winter. About the second week of February, probably in response to increasing day length, the bill begins to re-darken. Dark pigment first appears at tip and works slowly toward base.

The Rosy-Finch is a ground forager which primarily on seeds, with some other plant matter and insects; the proportion of insect-food taken increases in summer and when feeding young. They are most often seen feeding on insects and seeds on snow banks, and along their muddy, melting borders. Here, old food items are freshly uncovered, new items are deposited by the melting snow and seeds are germinating offering a nutritious bounty.

Contrary to popular belief, this bird both walks and hops. While it may walk, run and hop during a single advance, it favors
walking while slowly foraging on the ground
and hops when on snow.

One unusual behavior of all rosy-finches is that males defend ‘floating’ territories that move with their mates, rather than a fixed piece of real estate. This occurs only during the breeding season; feeding and roosting birds in winter do so often quite closely.

Rosy-Finches nest on the ground in a cup of woven grass and stems, lined with fine grass, hair, and occasionally feathers. The nest is built in crack or hole in cliff, on small cliff ledge under overhanging rocks, or under rocks in talus slides. Nests usually placed on north-facing cliffs, often overlooking snowfields or glaciers, surfaces of which are important feeding areas. . It is assumed that eggs and hatchlings of Rosy-Finches are cold tolerant, as nests are in shade and air temperatures are often below freezing at night and during storms.

Flight is strong and direct, often undulating; including during lengthy aerial displays by males. Undulating flight consists of several quick wing-beats followed by long, graceful glides, for long flights, similar to other cardueline finches. Flocks in flight are coordinated like shorebirds, wheeling and turning in synchrony. Flocks foraging on snow surface in summer or along a highway in winter often move forward in leap-frog fashion. Young birds form flocks in August, earlier than do adults.

All Rosy-Finches possess paired sacs, called buccal sacs, beneath the floor of their mouths, found only in one other North American genus (Pinicola). In addition to their crops, this added space allows parents to carry more food with each trip to the young; making longer flights cost-effective and allowing parents to search for food over a wider area… as far as 2.5 miles from the nest; a good thing in their sometimes barren environment.

Rosy-finches carry extra fat in winter; adding about three grams more than their average summer weight, which helps them survive the bitter cold where they live. The buccal sacs not present in winter, but the bird fills its crop before entering roost to provide enough energy to survive long winter nights, where ambient temperatures
are often well below minus -20F.

While these Finches were visiting my yard, I was surprised that when I went out to spread more seed, birds returned while I stood only 3-4 feet from them. They seemed very tame. Then I read that females on nests often allow approach by an observer to within a foot of them before flushing and may attempt to return to nest while nest contents are being examined. At one nest visited often, the female did not flush when she was pushed by hand from her. The apparent reason for this ‘tame’ behavior is that they breed so far from human populations and have not learned to be afraid. The broken-wing act not reported for Blacks or Brown-capped, but is known for Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch; but I don’t know that it was used during human involvement.

A group of rosy-finches are collectively known as a "bouquet of finches”.

Resources
• The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America – David Allen Sibley
• Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America – Ted Floyd
• Western Birds – Roger Tory Peterson
• Birds of North America-Online from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• WhatBird.com - Field Guide to Birds of North America – also from Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• USGS.gov - Science for a Changing World

Photos are mine...except the one noted

The Rosy-Finches are back!

Sitting at my computer writing, I received an e-mail from my friend Bobby-O, who mentioned he had a large flock of Black Rosie-Finches in his yard. In that it had been snowing to beat the band, I half expected to see the Pink-Butts, but somehow didn't expect them so early in the season. I believe I'd even seen a few at the regular feeding-spot right outside my back door, but not really thinking 'Pink-Butts' yet, they escaped my recognition.

Thanks to my friend's note, I immediately checked the feeders again...and found at a mixed flock 40-50 of
the Finches.Most seemed to be Gray-crowned and Brown-capped, but there were a few Black Rosies mixed in, as well.

I identified a new color-variant (for me), called a Hepburn's...which has a gray crown and black chin and forehead. Perhaps this is the 'interior' bird I hear folks mention. I just don't know enough about this bird...

They're back this morning in droves. I plan to do a bit more research and up-date this post over the weekend. I discovered yesterday, (late), that the pretty things are fairly tame and will let me stand outside near their feeding spots while they eat...so I'll try for better photographs this weekend. Check back!

Addendum: These are NOT color variants; they're different species!

About Goldfinches...

I’m counting birds on weekends, as a citizen scientist (don’t ya love that moniker?) for Project FeederWatch. I hope you are too…its fun! Last Saturday, while I was watching, a bullet flew through the yard and landed low in a tree. It was another Sharp-shinned Hawk! Oh my…I do love the predators and don’t mind at all when they drop by for the occasional bit of lunch. It happens.

That silly White-winged Dove is still around, too; even today in the snow. I say it’s silly, because this is a tropical bird!

Also around is a small flock of Evening Grosbeaks…one of my favorites. Today, a snow day for me, 8-10 are here…more than twice as many as the other day. Snow always brings more birds to the feeders.

I watched a red-shafted Northern Flicker feed at the suet-feeder, too. I realize they are a woodpecker-type, but I’m used to only seeing woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches do this. Well, and that goofy Magpie! I’ve got to get a photo of that…

I have a question, though. In the summertime, I can easily discern that about a third of the goldfinches in my yard are Lesser Goldfinches. How on earth does one tell them from American Goldfinches when they are not in breeding colors? I had assumed the Lessers leave…until at last, one came in still suited-out in bright colors. I got a picture, here.

Now I’m confused…do I still have both goldfinches here?
I do see subtle differences in goldfinches in winter; some have pale yellow heads, some are faintly yellow underneath…but how the heck to ya tell the unadorned males apart? And I’m not even gonna talk about how to tell them from females! I see some of the birds are pretty dusky, with very little yellow. But seems to me these could be either winter females OR winter males. [sigh] Is there some trick I should know for telling not only winter American from Lesser Goldfinches, but also winter males from winter females? My eye is just not good enough yet.

I would appreciate any help I can get.

Here is my November Yard-bird list:

Sharp-shinned Hawk, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Evening Grosbeak, Common Raven, Blue Jay, American Crow, White-winged Dove, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pine Siskin, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Common Grackle, American Robin, Northern Flicker - Red-shafted, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eurasian Collared-Dove

A Preditor Arrives...

I was standing in the kitchen and happened to look up as every bird in the yard suddenly took cover; I couldn't see a single bird. Of course, this has happened enough times before that I knew what to do; pick up the binoculars and scan the trees! And, thanks to a little movement, there I found the culprit...a little Sharp-shinned hawk. Here's a lovely shot from Wikimedia:

So, yet another bird for the weekend count! I know it was a Sharpie and not a Cooper's Hawk mostly because of the size. A Sharp-shinned hawk is not much bigger than an robin or a jay...though with all hawks, females are nearly big as large as males. A female Sharp-shinned Hawk could be about the size of a (small) male Cooper's and a large female Cooper's could be nearly as large as a Red-tailed hawk! So what was the other clue? A Sharpie's tale is squared-off...the edges are 'sharp' compared to a Coop's more rounded tail-feathers. Just another play on words to help remember differences!

Here's an interesting montage showing the two birds together...also from the free Wikimedia:

According to size alone, that should be a male Cooper's hawk on the left and a female Sharp-shinned hawk on the right. While it's hard to see here, the slightly longer tail (both physically and proportionally) on the Cooper's has a noticeably wider, pale terminal band. Also, the Coop's head is larger and extends past the bend in a flying bird's wing. Click either bird's name above and see many more photos of each species.

Another tidbit from Bill Thompson III's Identify Yourself : "...the rule of thumb is that Cooper's are the longest accipiter and sharp-shinneds are the most compact. The longer tail and greater head projection of Cooper's make it seem longer than it is wide. The shorter tail and smaller head and proportionally longer wings make sharp-shinneds seem more compact and shaped more like a buteo, such as a broad-winged or red-tailed hawk."

You folks may have seen an online pal's comments here from time to time...or perhaps you've visited one of his websites that I list on the right: Burque Birding or Bosque Bill's Place. I frequent both and find his wealth of information more than helpful and his photographs stunning. Here are some of Bill's hummingbird shots.

At any rate, since we just discussed how difficult it can be for a novice like me to get the hang of two similarly-marked birds, Bill let me include a couple of his videos here, to help show the two little brown, stripy birds I wrote about earlier this weekend.

White-crowned sparrow by BosqueBill:

White-throated sparrow by BosqueBill:



You can find more of BosqueBill's video clips here.
Thanks Bill!!!

Baffled

Oh goodie, it's snowing again; which almost always
brings wonderful birds down to feed. Sometimes, birds I seldom otherwise see in my yard appear in bad weather
...though it's not that bad today.

In really bad weather, I sometimes see Purple Finches which looked dipped in raspberry jam, Cassin's Finches with their spiky-red heads and even my beloved Pink-butts (Rosy Finches)
...in all three color variations.

I can hardly wait!

I am able to add a Hairy Woodpecker to my weekend Count, however. There seem to be 1-2 pairs of Woodies and 3-4 pairs of Downys who live around my yard. I probably see the smaller woodpecker twice or even three times as often as the larger one.

And perhaps because they love the fat-worms I offer them, I counted eleven (11 !!!) magpies in my yard, all at once.

Who knew a number of these birds is called a 'Murder of Magpies'?
Well, I tell ya, watching them eat bits of raw meat and fat makes the name really seem to fit!

I got a picture of the new squirrel baffle I built yesterday, see the dove shots below. I like it better than the first baffle...but both work just fine. I've yet to find a squirrel in a feeder from a protected pole, or a feeder torn apart and ruined by visiting raccoons, either.

And, I offer two pictures: how to tell if the bird on your suet feeder is a Hairy or a Downy Woodpecker?

Size is your first clue; the Hairy is noticeably larger.While the photos are not an exact comparison ...you should be able to see one bird is diminutive compared to the huge one; use the feeder as the comparrison. What is it called when you use words to cue a lable? Try: Diminutive Downy and Huge Hairy.

Measure your feeder; discover how long six-seven inches compared to over nine inches. Perhaps even mark your feeder, if you have to. Anyway, these are two photos, different species that look nearly identical, taken from about the same spot on the same feeder. On a standard, single-cake suet-cage, a Downy looks tiny and a Hairy is longer than the cage is. I hope it helps.

OMG The White-winged Dove is still here! Poor stupid! (something my friend MaryAnn says of people who make bad decisions, "Poor stupid," it cracks me up...and fits into so many instances, to boot.)

I love those big windows in my kitchen; the three curve the entire width of the room and even just walking through the kitchen affords me a nearly perfect view of my backyard counting area. And here you can see the new baffle. It's made from a piece of light-weight stove pipe and duct tape. The one I made a year ago is still holding up fine, so I'm pretty pleased with my $5 DIY Squirrel Baffle design.

Mostly I try to discourage doves and pigeons from coming here...but occasionally am tickled to find an unusual one. I thought I saw a white edge along the wing of a dove sitting in a feeder.

Grabbing my bad little camera, I looked for the small, black, crescent-shaped smudge just below the eye...it was there!

And then the bird noticed me at the window and stretched up just before taking off. Yup, it was a White-winged Dove!

On a related topic, I was wondering if the Eurasian rats, I mean Eurasian Collered-dove and the White-winged dove might cross-breed. Some of the EUCDs almost look to have a white edge along the front of the wing; but no, I imagine they do not cross-breed. Actually, White-winged doves are more closely related to the smaller Mourning dove; both are the family "Zenaida"...and both have the pretty little cheek mark.

Sounds:

• White-winged Dove: are said to sound like "Who cooks for you?"
• Mourning Dove (they sound like they're lamenting...which has nothing to do with the time of day!)
• Flying rats...I mean Eurasian Collared-dove (I mean seriously, what color IS a Eurasian?) Their call is far more guttural and boring.

White-winged Dove Clip



Mourning Dove Clip

Clips are from YouTube, photos are mine.

First Day of Counting

There is no question I enjoy watching the birds.
I do what I can to attract them to my yard, including spending an exorbitant amount of money feeding them and re-creating my yard to include more fruiting bushes and trees...for the birds. When I can watch them for a reason other than avoiding housework, so much the better! I'm counting birds for Project FeederWatch (see the post just below). Yeah...call me a geek, but I like being a citizen scientist. I also enjoy doing what I can to help mitigate the problems birds are having these days...fractured habitat being only a small problem. I can't encourage people enough to plant native plants; that's what the birds look for and they just happen to be the easiest plants to grow.

My binoculars are better than my camera's 'long' lens...so while I may have these photos miss-labeled, I know for sure I saw both White-crowned sparrows (a little brown bird with black and white-striped head with grey throat and belly), and at least one White-throated Sparrow (a little brown bird with black and white-striped head with gray breast and contrasting white throat, lined with a thin black line, quite distinctly set high above the breast and exactly under the mandible.) Both of these birds have brown stripes when young...which would be this time of year. I also know the White-throated Sparrow has a bit of yellow on the lores (that space between the eye and bill), while the White-crowned does not, and a darker bill than the orange-billed White-crowned. As I said, in spite of file-labeling, the first and third sparrow shots here are White-crowned sparrows and the middle one is the White-throated. Perhaps you can even see a hint of the yellow lores. (Thanks again, BosqueBill!!!)

In addition to feeding smaller birds,I just love the big corvids; from jays to crows to magpies...I encourage their visiting. I put out at least one cup of kibble every morning. Mostly it's the Black-billed Magpies that come, but often, this time of year, so do the Blue Jays. Once, I had a Stellar's Jay visit, too.

And last week, there was an American Crow on my back step. Course, that I haunt the grocery store for fat-scraps and today even garnered over a pound of actual meat scraps (free!) could be why they come. Not only do I often soak the kibble in bacon fat or water (fat is VERY important this time of year...and is why doughnuts are better for birds than bread), but I also put out meat and fat scraps for the big guys.

I also empty my quick-kill
(no poison!) mousetraps onto the feeder.

And when I cook bacon, before I separate the strips, I first cut off the ends of excess fat into narrow strips. These strips of fat can be sort of pulled out into fat-worms; the birds love 'em! This fat bird has crumbs on his bill...can you see the bit of beef?

Speaking of Magpies, poor Zeus hates them. I've talked of this before...they pick at the marrow-bones I give Zeus...but today five of them ganged up on the poor guy! True, he had a bone, but I was putting all manner of goodies out for them; but no, they wanted a chance at the bone. Finally, Zeus had had enough I guess, and buried the bone. The sad thing is...he buried it under a new $50 tree; darned near dug the tree up and broke off a major branch that will surely kill the thing. Sigh...

For Project FeederWatch, a person is to count the largest number of a single species in the count area. Each person picks their own count area (mine everything I can see inside the tall trees that surround my yard), watches as long as they want for two consecutive days per week. Fly-overs do not count.

Today I saw: 4 Blue Jays, 5 Magpies, 6 Pine Siskin, 13 Goldfinch (American and Lesser, I think; but I can't tell them apart in their winter dress), 7 House Finch, 6 Dark-eyed Junco, 3 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 Mtn. Chickadee, 2 Downey Woodpeckers, 1 Northern Flicker (Red-shafted), 13 Red-winged Blackbirds, 16 Eurasian Collared-doves, 3 European Starlings, 1 White-crowned Sparrow, 1 White-throated Sparrow, 25 House Sparrows, 1 White-breasted Nuthatch, and 1 Evening Grosbeak. That sounds like a lot...it's not. I think I'll have more species when my new trees and shrubs get bigger (assuming my dog doesn't dig them up!)

Here's the single Evening Grosbeak
that I saw today. I'm so sad to hear they are on a serious decline. They are the sweetiest sounding bird...one of the first bird-calls I learned to recognize. The gentle peeps remind me of chickens' chicks.

Oh, and yes...occasionally I get birds of prey; owls, hawks and other raptors. It's all about habitat; when I had a koi-pond I got ducks and herons. Here I draw lots of birds, so I get those birds which feed on birds. Not often...and it doesn't bother me a bit; though I do hope more starlings, collared-doves and house sparrows (weedie-birds not indigenous to America) get hit than anything else! Watching the Red-winged Blackbirds feed (those stripy, brown ones are the females or young males!), it struck me how seldom one sees the 'red' this time of year. I wonder if they hid it, so as not to agitate neighbors, so that they can all feed and fatten up for the winter...and rest after the breeding season. Hey, that's tough work! I wonder if my thoughts have merit.

What a life; I sit most mornings with my coffee and watch out the huge bay-window...watching, sometimes counting, often photographing the birds that visit.

Project Feeder Watch

It's that time again! I can't begin to tell you how fun I found it to play 'citizen scientist' for a few weeks. Not only did I learn a lot, it feels good helping scientists also discover more about our birds. The fact that they are mostly dwindling and moving north with the climate changes we're experiencing, I feel my participation is bound to help, in some small way. And it's fun, check this out:



Anyone can play…and I encourage folks to include children. The more kids find an interest in the natural world, the better off our future world will be. Anybody near here that needs help getting started, let me know; I’d be glad to help; teachers, newly retired folks, people who want to make a difference or folks who just want a new hobby!



I talked about Project FeederWatch last year too, you can find more information and what I had to say about it here. Of course, you can also get the information right from the horse's mouth: Project Overview, on Cornell's site. Here's another little clip:



Please remember...it's supposed to be FUN! While it's just to be two days a week, you can count birds for less than an hour one day and all day the next, you can skip a week, you can count from inside or out and YOU get to pick your counting area. How easy is that?!