birds of nj

Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

March 11, 2023 — 6 Comments

ring-billed-gulls

F/5.6, 1/320, ISO 400.

Ring-billed Gull             

What do you call a man with seagull on his head?

Cliff

Interesting Fact: Migrating Ring-billed Gulls apparently use a built-in compass to navigate. When tested at only two days of age, chicks showed a preference for magnetic bearings that would take them in the appropriate direction for their fall migration. The gulls also rely on landmarks and high-altitude winds to provide directional cues.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-billed_Gull/lifehistory )

Eat My Shorts, Dude!

March 9, 2023 — 22 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.

Common Grackle 

Why do golfers wear two pairs of pants?

In case they get a hole in one!

Interesting Fact: Grackles have a hard keel on the inside of the upper mandible that they use for sawing open acorns. Typically they score the outside of the narrow end, then bite the acorn open. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Grackle/lifehistory )

Always Stretch Before Swimming!

March 7, 2023 — 2 Comments

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 500.

Ruddy Duck

What is crazy and walks along the sides of buildings?

A walnut.

Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. Unlike most ducks, they form pairs only after arriving on the breeding grounds each year. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )

Be Like A Duck And QUACK!

March 4, 2023 — 6 Comments

F/6.3, 1/400, ISO 400.

Green-Winged Teal

How do you make a tissue dance?

Put a little boogie in it.

Interesting Fact: The Aleutian Islands of Alaska support their own race of Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca nimia. Unlike other Green-winged Teal populations, this race doesn’t migrate. In winter the birds move from summering sites on ponds and lakes to the islands’ beaches, where they forage in tide pools and on shallow-water reefs. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green-winged_Teal/lifehistory )

I Quack You Quack We Quack Together

March 3, 2023 — 6 Comments

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.

Ring-necked Ducks

Why did the old woman put roller skates on her rocking chair?

Because she wanted to rock and roll.

Interesting Fact: This bird’s common name (and its scientific name “collaris,” too) refer to the Ring-necked Duck’s hard-to-see chestnut collar on its black neck. It’s not a good field mark to use for identifying the bird, but it jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ring-necked_Duck/lifehistory )

 

 

 

Your Worries Will Float Away

March 2, 2023 — 3 Comments

gadwall

F/6.3,1/250, ISO 400.

Gadwall

Why are bad school grades like a shipwreck in the Arctic Ocean?

They’re both below C level!

Interesting Fact: Gadwall have increased in numbers since the 1980s, partly because of conservation of wetlands and adjacent uplands in their breeding habitat through the Conservation Reserve Program and the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. Their habit of nesting on islands within marshes gives them some protection from predators. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gadwall/lifehistory )

Is Yellow Really The Color For Me?!

March 1, 2023 — 6 Comments

savannah-sparrow

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 500.

Savannah Sparrow   

What can you catch but not in your hands?

A cold!

Interesting Fact: In many parts of the species’ range, especially in coastal areas and islands, Savannah Sparrows tend very strongly to return each year to the area where they hatched. This tendency, called natal philopatry, is the driving force for differentiation of numerous Savannah Sparrow subspecies. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Savannah_Sparrow/lifehistory )

Well…, I Don’t Believe You!

February 23, 2023 — 4 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.

Tufted Titmouse

A tourist was being led through the swamps of Florida.

“Is it true,” he asked, “that an alligator won’t attack you if you carry a flashlight?”

“That depends,” replied the guide, “on how fast you carry the flashlight.”

Interesting Fact: The oldest known wild Tufted Titmouse was at least 13 years, 3 months old. It was banded in Virginia in 1962, and found in the same state in 1974. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/lifehistory )

I Don’t Stalk. I Investigate!

February 22, 2023 — 2 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 320.

Black-and-white Warbler 

What do you call a guy who never farts in public?

A private tutor.

Interesting Fact: The Black-and-white Warbler is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. The genus name means “moss-plucking,” a reference to its habit of probing bark and moss for insects.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-and-white_Warbler )

Flap Your Wings Like Bird!

February 21, 2023 — 14 Comments

F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1000.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Two fish are in a tank.

One turns to the other and says, “Hey, do you know how to drive this thing?”

Interesting Fact: Although it used to nest almost exclusively in boreal spruce-fir forests, the Golden-crowned Kinglet has been expanding its breeding range southward into conifer stands of the Midwest and Appalachians. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Kinglet/lifehistory )