Ornithology 2A Summary (Fall 2011)

If you miss a class, please check this page and study the listed topics in your field guide. Click here for last year's calendar.

Class notes by Elisabeth Koster are here. (Plumage and molt terminology here. )

Please register at eBird and email me your eBird ID. I can then offer to share field trip lists with you.

Click here for a summary of bird name changes from the 52nd AOU supplement. Click here for my first impression review of the 6th edition of the National Geographic Guide. I recommend everybody upgrade to this edition as soon as possible.


December  14, 2011

We completed and reviewed the Snow and McKay's buntings on page 432 (page 422 in 6th ed.). Snow Bunting photos are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Click here and here for photos and discussion of Snow Buntings in San Leandro and Byron. A photo of the Pribiloff McKay's Bunting from 31 May 1999 is here.

This was the last class of the semester. Please preregister if you plan to enroll in the Spring. Click here for details.

Robbie and I will be doing a free program for Sequoia Audubon on Belize at 7pm January 12th. Details here. Directions here.


December  7
We completed and reviewed the longspurs on page 428 (page 420 in 6th ed.). Chestnut-collared Longspur photos are here, here, and here. My photos of a Chestnut-collared Longspur at Hayward are here and here. My photos of McCown's and Chestnut-collared Longspurs in Colorado are here. Another McCown's Longspur photo is here.


November 30
We completed and reviewed the longspurs on page 430 (page 418 in 6th ed.). Click here for a photo and analysis of California's first Smith's Longspur compared to California's only Sky Lark. Additional Smith's Longspur images are here, here, here and here. Lapland Longspur photos are here, here, here, here, here and here.
November 15
We completed and reviewed the waxwings and silky-flycatchers on page 372 (page 416 in 6th ed.). Click here for my Cedar Waxwing photos with notes. My Phainopepla photos with notes from Jasper Ridge are here. Click here for photos and my documentation of a Gray Silky-flycatcher in Orange County. Click here for a photo of a Gray Silky-flycatcher in San Diego County.

Note: There is no class next week. Class resumes November 30th. .

November 9
We plan to complete and review the pipits on page 370. Click here for American Pipit of the race A. r. japonicus. My photo of an American Pipit is here. My photos and field notes on Sprague's Pipits are here and here. Additional Sprague's photos are here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Click here for photos of the Olive-backed Pipit on the Farallons. Click here, here, here, here, and here for Red-throated Pipit photos in California. My photos of Red-throated Pipit at Crissy Field are here, here and here.

November 2
We completed the accentors and wagtails on page 368.

Click here for photos of an Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Fort Bragg. Click here for photos and my notes on a Black-backed Wagtail in Alviso and click here for a photo of Black-backed Wagtail in Los Angeles. Click here and here for additional photos and discussion of wagtails in Monterey county. Additional California photos of White/Black-backed Wagtail are here, here, here, here, here, and here. See also: Morlan, J. 1981. Status and identification of forms of White Wagtail in Western North America. Continental Birdlife 2:37-50. (Click here for an online pdf of this paper)


October 26
We completeded and reviewed the bulbuls and starlings on page 366. Click here for my photo of a Common Myna in Australia. Click here for my photo of a European Starling in the talons of a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Recommended Reading:

This was the last class of the quarter. Please click here to register for part B. Course numbers, dates and descriptions are here.


October 19
We completed and reviewed the thrashers on page 364.

Click here for photos of a Sage Thrashers in Montara. My Mariposa County Sage Thrasher photos and notes are here and here.
Click here for a photo of a Bendire's Thrasher in California along with notes on identification.
Click here, here, and here for photos of Curve-billed Thrashers in California. My descriptions of Curve-billed Thrashers in California are here and here. Click here for my photo and notes on a Curve-billed Thrasher in Texas and here for my recent photo and notes from Arizona.
Click here for my photo and notes on a California Thrasher.


October 12
We completed and reviewed the catbird, mockingbirds and thrashers on page 362.

Gray catbird images here, here, here, and here. My accounts of Gray Catbirds in Moss Beach and Mount San Bruno (including photo and sound recordings).
Click here and here for my photos of Northern Mockingbirds in Texas and California.
Click here for photos and discussion of the Blue Mockingbird in Long Beach.
Click here, here, here, and here for photos of Brown Thrasher in California.
Click here and here for my photos of Long-billed Thrasher in Texas.


October 5
We completed and reviewed the robins and thrushes on page 360. American Robin photo. Partial albino American Robin. Click here for photos of a Rufous-backed Robin at the Salton Sea. Another Rufous-backed Robin here. Click here for my photo of a Clay-colored Robin in Texas. Additional Clay-colored Thrush photos are here and here. Click here and here for photos of Aztec Thrush in Arizona.

September 28
We completed and reviewed the thrushes on page 358. Click here for photos and details on an Eyebrowed Thrush in California.

September 21
We completed and reviewed the thrushes on page 356. Click here, here, here, here, here and here for photos of Wood Thrushes in California. Click here for a video of a Wood Thrush in San Francisco. My Wood Thrush photos from Belize are here and here.

Click here for photos and my notes on a controversial Veery at Point Reyes. An accepted California Veery is here.

My Swainson's Thrush photos are here, here and here.

A Hermit Thrush image from one of our field trips in Golden Gate Park is here.


September 14
More details on the Cape May Warbler and Common Ringed Plover are here.

We completed and reviewed the bluebirds and solitaire on page 354.

Click here for discussion and photo of a problematic female Western Bluebird. Click here, here, here and here for my photos of male Western Bluebirds. Female and juvenile Western Bluebirds are here and here. Click here (Tree Swallows using bluebird nest box) for discussion of management for Western Bluebirds. Western Bluebirds photographed in San Francisco are here and here. Pair of Western Bluebirds at Point Reyes are here.

Click here for my photo of a male Mountain Bluebird near the Salton Sea. Click here for a photo of a Townsend's Solitaire in Tilden Regional Park.