Ornithology 3B Summary
If you miss a class, please check this page and study the listed topics in your field guide. For last year's
calendar, click here. Annotated photos from our Jan 2006 Texas trip are now here.
May 18
We completed and reviewed the kingbirds on page 298. Click here
for my photo of a Cassin's Kingbird in Orange County. Click here
for my account with photos of a Couch's Kingbird in Fullerton and here
for my photo of Couch's Kingbird in Texas.. Click here
for my photos of a Tropical Kingbird at Colma and here
for a photo of Tropcial Kingbird at Petaluma.
Please preregister after July 1st
if you plan to enroll in the Fall. Click here for
details.
May 11
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 296. Click here
for my account of a Great Crested Flycatcher at the Carmel River and here
for a photo and account of another Great Crested Flycatcher at Bodega Bay. Additional photos of Great Crested Flycatchers
in California are here and here.
Click here for photos and my account of a Nutting's Flycatcher
in Arizona and here for more photos and discussion
of another Nutting's Flycatcher in Southern California. Click here
for my account and photos of an Ash-throated Flycatcher originally thought to be Nuttings. Click here,
here, here,
here and here
for my accounts of Dusky-capped Flycatchers in California. Click here,
here, here
and here for additional photos of Dusky-capped Flycatchers
May 4
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 294. Click here
for my photos of the Eastern Phoebe at Cosumnes, and click here
for a photo of an Estern Phoebe at Santa Maria. Click here
for my photo of a Black Phoebe at Lake Merritt. Click here
for a photo of a male Vermilion Flycatcher at Los Banos; here
for my photo of an immature male Vermilion Flycatcher at Lodi; here
for two photos of an immature Vermilion Flycatcher at San Jacinto WMA; and here
for a photo of an immature Vermilion Flycatcher at San Clemente Island. Click here
for my photo of an immature male Vermilion Flycatcher in Texas. The Stonechat that was originally misidentified
as a Vermilion Flycatcher is here.
April 27
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 292. Click here
for my comments on identification of Pacific-slope/Cordilleran flycatchers and their vocalizations..
April 20
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 290. Click here
for a photo of a Least Flycatcher wintering in Arcata. Click here
for photos and discussion of an apparent Least Flycatcher at Point Reyes.
April 6
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 288. Click here
and here for photos of accepted California Yellow-bellied
Flycatchers. Click here for probable Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
originally identified as Least Flycatcher (record not submitted).
Click here for a photo of an accepted Alder Flycatcher
from the Farallons and here for photos of Alder Flycatcher
in Washington state. Click here for photos of a possible
Alder Flycatcher from the Farallons showing direct comparison with Willow Flycatcher (record not accepted). Other
photos of possible Alder Flycatchers are here, here and here
(records not accepted, the first probably being a Hammond's Flycatcher!). Click here
for photo and discussion of an unusual "Trail's" type flycatcher from Point Reyes.
In his monograph, The Birds of Eastern Kern County,
M. Heindel states, "Although extreme notes ("whit" for Willow; "peek", "pik",
or "bik" for Alder) are likely diagnostic, Willows can give a hard note, which might be interpreted as
one of those described for Alder."
Note: There is no class next week because of Spring Break. Class resumes April 20th.
March 30
We completed and reviewed the flycatchers on page 286. Click here
for my account with photos of a Great Pewee in the Imperial Valley. Click here,
here and here
for photos of other Greater Pewees in California. Click here
for a photo of claimed Greater Pewee on the Farallons in June 1998 (record not accepted).
Click here for my photo
of an Olive-sided Flycatcher at Briones Regional Park.
Click here for my account with photo of an Eastern
Wood-Pewee at Point Reyes in June 1998. Click here for
songs and sonograms of two different Eastern Wood-Pewees in California in 1998. Click here
for a photo of a claimed Eastern Wood-Pewee on the Farallons (record not accepted).
March 23
We completed and reviewed the woodpeckers on page 284. A new article on the Ivory-billed Woodpecker by Sibley
et al. in the journal Science is here.
Rebuttal is here. Perspective by Jerome
Jackson published in the Auk is here. Photos of a Pileated
Woodpecker at Lake Solano Park are here.
This was the last class of the quarter. Please click here to register for part B. Course numbers, dates and descriptions are here.
March 16
We completed and reviewed the woodpeckers on page 282. Click here
for a photo of American Three-toed Woodpecker in Alaska.
March 9
We completed and reviewed the woodpeckers on page 280. Click here
for photo and discussion of dark female Ladder-backed Woodpecker superficially resembling Nuttall's Woodpecker.
Click here for my photo with commentary
of a more typical female Ladder-backed Woodpecker in Texas.
March 2
We completed and reviewed the sapsuckers on page 278. Click here
for a photo of a male Williamson's Sapsucker in San Francisco, and here
for a photo of a female Williamson's Sapsucker in San Jose. Click here
for a photo of a Red-breasted Sapsucker (S. r. ruber) in San Francisco. My photo of a Red-naped Sapsucker
at Ione, Amadore County, California is here. Detailed
discussion and photos of a Red-naped Sapsucker in San Francisco with extra red on its face, and an apparent female
Red-naped Sapsucker without visible white on its throat are here.
Also a photo of an apparent hybrid is included. Click here
for additional photos of an apparent hybrid between Red-breasted Sapsucker and Red-naped Sapsucker in Milpitas.
Click here for my photo of an immature Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker in Tilden Park, and here for a photo of
an adult Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Inverness, Marin County.
February 23
We completed and reviewed the woodpeckers on page 276.
February 16
We completed and reviewed the woodpeckers on page 274 and began the woodpeckers on page 276. Click here
for a description of cooperative breeding by Acorn Woodpeckers. Click here
for my photo of a Golden-fronted Woodpecker in Texas.
February 9
We completed and reviewed the trogons and kingfishers on pages 270 & 272, and began the woodpeckers on
page 274. Click here for my
photo of a fledgling Elegant Trogan in Arizona and here
for my photo of a Green Kingfisher in Texas. Click here
for a summary of the bizarre social behavior of the cooperatively breeding Acorn Woodpecker and click here
for my photo of an Acorn Woodpecker in Arizona.