Ornithology 2B Summary
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 will include grouse & quail as originally scheduled.
May 23
We completed the shorebirds on page 162. Click here
for photos and analysis of juvenile yellowlegs. Click here
for my photo of a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs at Pescadero.
This was the last class of the semester. Please preregister if you plan to enroll in the
Fall. Click here for details.
May 9
We completed and reviewed the shorebirds on page 160. Click here
for a synopsis of color characteristics in oystercatchers. Click here
for a photo of an apparent hybrid Black X American Oystercatcher. Click here
for an article I coauthored on hybridization between the American Avocet and the Black-necked Stilt. Click here
for the back cover photos.
May 2
We completed and reviewed the plovers on page 158. Click here
and here for photos of a Lesser Sand-plovers in California,
and here for my notes on a Lesser Sand-Plover in Humboldt
County. Click here for photos, video, notes and
discussion on the identification of a Greater Sand-Plover at Bolinas Lagoon. Click here
for a photo of a Mountain Plover in California. Click here
for photos of a Eurasian Dotterel in Washington State and here
for photos of a Eurasian Dotterel in Baja, Mexico.
Click here for alternate routes to the Briones
field trip. Click here for revised directions.
April 25
We completed and reviewed the plovers on page 156. Click here
for my photo of a Snowy Plover with chick at Half Moon Bay. Click here
for my photo of a Piping Plover in Texas and here
for two photos of a Piping Plover at the Salton Sea. Click here
for my photo of a Semipalmated Plover at Abbott's Lagoon.
April 18
We completed and reviewed the plovers on page 154. Click here
for a photo and discussion of the identification of a juvenile Black-bellied Plover. Click here
for my photos and description of a juvenile American Golden-Plover. Click here
and here for photos of juvenile American Golden-Plover
and here for a photo of a breeding male American Golden-Plover.
Click here for comparative photos of juvenile American
and Pacific golden-plovers together. Click here for a
photo of a breeding plumage Pacific Golden-Plover in Alaska. Click here
for photos and discussion of the identification of three molting adult golden-plovers in California. I now believe
all three are Pacific Golden-Plovers.
Additional references:
Dunn, J.L., J. Morlan and C.P. Wilds. 1987. Field identification of forms of Lesser Golden-Plover. International
Bird Identification - Proceedings of the 4th International Identification Meeting Eilat 1st-8th November 1986.
(Click here for a pdf of this paper.)
Johnson, O. W., and Johnson, P.M. 2004. Morphometric features of Pacific and American Golden-Plovers with comments
on field identification.Wader Study Group Bull. 103:42-49. (Click here
for pdf).
Jarmillo, A. 2004. Featured Photo: Identification of adult Pacific and American Golden-Plovers in their southbound
migration. Western Birds 35:120-124. (Click here
for pdf and here for the photos.)
April 11
We completed and reviewed the cranes on page 152 and reviewed the rails, gallinules and coots on pages
148 & 150. Click here and here
for my photos and notes on Whooping Cranes in Texas. Click here
for photos and notes on a Demoiselle Crane in San Joaquin County. This record was not accepted by the California
Bird Records Committee on grounds of its questionable natural occurrence. But the species was added to the Supplemental
List of California birds.
The "Birds of North America" account for Common Moorhen mentions, "Chick has a 1- to 1.5-mm-long
spur on alula (wing) that permits grasping when chick climbs emergent vegetation, enters nest, or clings to submerged
vegetation when swimming underwater (Bent 1926, Miller 1946, Wood 1974, Greij 1994)." This may be what appeared
to be an external wing-claw in one photo.
March 28
We completed the rails, gallinules and coots on pages 148 & 150. Click here,
here and here
for my photos of Sora. Click here for photos of
a Black Rail at Pt. Reyes. Click here for photos of
the Purple Gallinule at Death Valley. Click here
for my photo of a Purple Swamphen chick in Australia.
There is no class next week because of Spring Break. Class resumes Tuesday, April 11.
March 21
We completed and reviewed the limpkin and rails page 146 and the Virginia Rail on page 148. Click here
and here for my Clapper Rail photos;
and here and here
for my photos of a Virginia Rail with chicks.
This was the last class of the quarter. Please click here to register for part B. Course numbers, dates and descriptions are here.
March 14
We reviewed and completed the quail on pages 66 & 68. Click here,
here and here
for my photos and notes on Gambel's Quail, California Quail and Mountain Quail in California. Click here
for my photo of California Quail chicks.
March 7
We reviewed and completed the prairie chickens and grouse on page 64. Click here
for my photos and descriptive notes on Sharp-tailed Grouse near Hayden, Colorado.
February 28
We reviewed and completed the grouse and ptarmigans on pages 60 & 62. A photo of a Willow Ptarmigan
from our Alaska Trip is here.
February 21
We reviewed and completed the game-birds on pages 56 & 58. Click here
for my photo of a Plain Chachalaca in Texas.
February 14
We reviewed and completed the falcons on page 140. Click here
for a photo of a Gyrfalcon in Solano County.
February 7
We reviewed and completed the falcons on page 136 & 138. Click here
for photos and my account of a Crested Caracara at Davenport. Additional photos of Crested Caracaras in California
are here, here,
here, here,
and here. Click here
for my photo of an American Kestrel eating a Jerusalem Cricket. Click here
and here for my photos of a Merlin at
Sutro Heights Park. Click here for my
photo of a "Prairie" Merlin (F. c. richardsonii) in Pacific Beach, San Diego.