Ornithology 3B Summary (Spring 2011)
If you miss a class, please check this page and study the listed topics in your field guide. For last year's summary, click here.
Class notes by Elisabeth Koster are 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 51st supplement.
We reviewed the eagles and hawks on pages 124-130.
This was be the last class for the semester. Please preregister, after July 1st
if you plan to enroll in the Fall. Click here for details.
We completed and reviewed the hawks on page 130. Click here for a photo and discussion of a heavily marked juvenile Broad-winged Hawk in Contra Costa County. Another photo of a Broad-winged Hawk is here. Juv. Broad-winged Hawk at Desert Center. Two photos of a controversial Broad-winged Hawk from Georgia are here and here. The original photos were underexposed suggesting an dark morph. Photos of Red-shouldered Hawks mating in Golden Gate Park. My annotated Red-shoulded Hawk photos are here, here and here. Another Red-shouldered Hawk from our field trips. Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk in my yard.
We completed and reviewed the hawks on page 128. Click here for my photos and discussion of the Common Black-Hawk in Stockton, here and here for additional photos of this bird, and here for photos of the Common Black-Hawk in Santa Rosa. Juvenile Common Black-Hawk at Galileo Hill. My Common Black-Hawk photo and notes from New Mexico.
Click here and here for photos of Harris's Hawks near San Diego.
Click here and here for photos of Zone-tailed Hawks in Escondido, here for a photo of a juvenile Zone-tailed Hawk near San Diego, and here for my description of two Zone-tailed Hawks at Escondido. Click here and here for photos of a Zone-tailed Hawk in Goleta and here for a Zone-tailed Hawk in Ojai.
Roadside Hawk in Belize and Roadside Hawk in Ecuador, 8 August 2008, Angel Paz Antpitta Reserve, Ecuador.
Reference
We completed and reviewed the Accipiters on page 126. Click here
for a photo and discussion of a juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk with an apparently rounded tail. My photo of a juvenile
Sharp-shinned Hawk with prey is here.
Click here and here
for my photos of adult Cooper's Hawks in Golden Gate Park. Controversial adult
Accipiter with detailed analysis by Jeff Bouton. Northern
Goshawk at the Marin Headlands.
We completed and reviewed the eagles on page 124. My photos of and comments on a Golden Eagle at Coyote Hills are here. Click here for a detailed illustrated article on molt and aging Bald Eagles. My photo of a subadult Bald Eagle at Lundy Lake with discussion of molt is here.
We completed and reviewed the kites and harrier on page 122. Snail
Kite in Belize. Click here for my
photo of a Northern Harrier in Texas; adult female at Ryer Island 13 January 2004.
Adult male Northern Harrier on our 2008
Point Reyes trip; and an immature on our 2010
Point Reyes trip (scroll to bottom).
We completed and reviewed the osprey and kites on pages 118 & 120. Click here,
here, here,
here, and here
for photos of Mississippi Kite in California. Click here
for my photo and notes on a White-tailed Kite. Click on thumbnails
for my three photos of Swallow-tailed Kite in Louisiana. A Swallow-tailed Kite in Sonoma County is here.
We completed and reviewed the vultures on page 118. My photo of an immature Turkey Vulture at Coyote Point is here. Click here for a photo of a Black Vulture in Arcata. My Black Vulture photo from Costa Rica with comments on subspecies is here Click here for my photo of Black Vultures copulating in Belize. Click here for a discussion with photos on California Condors in Monterey County. More news about the California Condors at the Ventana Wilderness is here. Click here for a whimsical photo of "The Black Angels" air show.
This was the last class for Part A. Please register for Part B as soon as possible if you have not already done so.
We completed and reviewed the ibises and spoonbills on page 116. Click here for photos and my account of a Glossy Ibis in Alviso. Additional Glossy Ibis photos from California are here, here and here. A White-faced Ibis (originally thought to possibly be a Glossy Ibis) at Lake Merced is here. Another controversial White-faced Ibis, originally thought to be a Glossy is here. A supposed White-faced Ibis showing some characters of Glossy Ibis is here with detail. Click here and here for my photos of a mixed flock of White-faced and Glossy Ibis from Ohio.
A White Ibis photo from Washington State is here. Click here for my Texas White Ibis photo and commentary and here for my White Ibis from Belize. . Click here for my Scarlet Ibis photo from Trinidad.
Roseate Spoonbill photos from the Salton Sea are here
and here. One from nearby Fig Lagoon is here.
Click here and here
for my Texas Roseate Spoonbill photos and commentary. My spoonbill photos from Louisiana are here
and here. Note the corrected
scientific name for the Roseate Spoonbill is Platalea ajaja.
We completed and reviewed the heron, storks and flamingo on page 114. Click here (view full size) for my photo and discussion of a breeding plumage Great Blue Heron showing blue lores. Here is a spread-wing Great Blue Heron illustrating staged molt. My additional Great Blue Heron photos with comments on behavior and plumage are here and here.
Sibley's take on the "Great White Heron" is here and his essay on Great Blue Heron subspecies is here.
My distant photo of a Wood Stork in Belize is here. Click here for my Jabiru photos on a nest in Belize with commentary.
Click here for my photo of an American Flamingo on the Galapagos.
Here is Peter Pyle's Featured Photo article on Staffelmauser. The back cover, which in addition to the photo of the Great Blue Heron has one of a Swainson's Hawk also discussed in Pyle's article, is here.
We completed and reviewed the egrets on page 112. My Little Egret photos are here
(Australia) and here (Africa). My photos
of displaying Snowy Egrets at Palo Alto are here
and here. My photos of Great Egret in
Golden Gate Park are here and here.
We completed and reviewed the herons on page 110. My photo of a Green Heron at Lake Merritt, with notes on subspecies is here and a recent one from Belize is here.
My account with photos of a Tricolored Heron at Bolsa Chica is here. Other photos from Bolsa Chica are here and here. A photo of a Tricolored Heron at Pt. Mugu is here and another is here. One from San Diego is here. My Belize Tricolored Heron is here and my photo from Louisiana with comments on sex and racial differences is here.
Click here and here for photos of immature Little Blue Heron at Smith River and an adult is here, here, here and here. Adults around SF Bay are here, here and here. My photo of an adult Little Blue Heron in Belize is here. A photo of an adult Little Blue Heron in San Diego along with discussion on identification is here.
Click here for my account of a Reddish Egret in San Diego including a photo. A photo of a different Reddish Egret in San Diego is here. A photo of an immature Reddish Egret at Point Mugu is here and an immature in Santa Barbara is here. A Reddish Egrets at the Salton Sea are here, here and here. Click here for my photo of a Reddish Egret in Arizona and here for my photo of a Reddish Egret in Louisiana with comments on subspecies.
We completed and reviewed the bitterns and night-herons on page 108. My series of photos of an American Bittern at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma were posted here. American Bittern at North Lake in Golden Gate Park is here. (Yahoo group membership may be required for both.)
Click here for my series of photos of the Least Bittern seen last month in Martinez.
Click here for a photo of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron seen at Inverness. Click here for photos and my description of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Coyote Point (additional photo here) and here for my photos and analysis of Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in San Diego. Click here, here, here, here and here for more Yellow-crowned Night-Heron photos from California. Click here and here for my photos of a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Rhode Island with comments on identification.
We completed and reviewed the cormorants on page 106. Click here
for a photo of adult Red-faced Cormorants 1 June 1999 on St. Paul Island, Alaska. Click here
for photos of adult and immature Red-faced Cormorants in flight from a 6 June 1999 pelagic trip out of Seward,
Alaska. Click here for photos and discussion of the
identification of two Double-crested Cormorants. My Double-crested Cormorant photo from Lake Merritt with discussion
of crest color is here.
