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The
following images illustrate some of the birds that occur in the
Burwash area, south of the city of Sudbury.
This
is the same area were most of the wildflowers were photographed.
A
partial list of birds observed in the Burwash, Sudbury or Manitoulin
Island areas:
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Water
Fowl |
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A Canada goose on the edge of a
small lake. The winter ice is just breaking up.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 14, 2001
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A pair of Canada geese in a small
beaver pond, photographed from behind trees.
Location: Burwash
Date: May 9, 2005
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American merganser female (brown
and looking sideways) and male (dark coloured head looking at me) in
a narrow stretch of water. Ice still occurs on the lake in early spring.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 15, 2001
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Merganser male
(white back) and female on Lake Superior, south of Thunder Bay.
Location: Thunder Bay
Date: May 1, 2002
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The whistling swan
is characterized by its long, straight neck and its pure white wings.
Note the yellow identification tag on its left wing.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 28, 2001.
Feeding Swan in
morning light.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 29, 2006
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Black-backed
woodpecker is a resident of the boreal coniferous forest. It
often frequents old forest fire areas or old dead trees where
wood-boring beetles are common. It seek its food within trunks
and fallen logs, where it strips bark from trees to gain access to
the beetles.
For more information: Black-backed
woodpecker
Location: Paddy
Creek, Sudbury
Date: January 3, 2008.
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One of two Sandhill cranes seen
on Barrie Island, Manitoulin, feeding in a meadow area on an alvar.
Location: Barrie
Island, Manitoulin Island
Date: May 26, 2007.
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This Sandhill crane was one of
six that was feeding in a field beside an old road.
Location:
Manitoulin Island
Date: July 10 and
18, 2001.
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These Sandhill cranes were
feeding during a very foggy day in a field that provided hay last summer.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 13, 2002
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Several groups of Sandhill Crane
appeared in Burwash area in the last week. This group contained
11 birds, although only 9 were photograph.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 13, 2002
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Sandhill crane tracks preserved
in wet sand.
Location: Burwash
Date: April 13, 2002.
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Mallard male and female duck. The
male has the colourful green head.
Location: Sudbury
April 4, 2001
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American goldfinch feeding on the
seeds on a bull thistle. Goldfinch nest late in the summer and use
the seed "fluff" as nest material.
Location: Burwash
Date: August 18, 2001.
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The Ruffed Grouse,
commonly called a partridge, is a common game bird in the Sudbury
area. It is a member of the pheasant family. It is a favourite food
of the fox.
Location: Agnew Lake
Date: June 6, 2003.
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This Ruffed Grouse
was eating the new and tender leaves of the poplar tree.
Location: Trout
Lake Road, Sudbury
Date: May 25, 2002.
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Here a male Ruffed
Grouse displays his mating performance to a female. The image is poor
because it was taken in the late evening, under very low light conditions.
Location: Thunder
Bay bush
Date: May 1, 2002.
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A Hairy Woodpecker
seeks food by feeling the vibrations made by insects moving about in
the wood. In winter, when insects do not move, the woodpecker looks
for insect eggs or insects that have nestled in the tree bark.
Location: Burwash,
Cemetery Lake
Date: December 24, 2001.
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The Black-capped
Chickadee (Parus atricapillus) is a year-round resident of the
area around Sudbury, Ontario. The Black-capped Chickadee occurs
in deciduous or mixed forests, tall thickets of shrubs, coniferous
forests, and in residential areas. It nests in a cavity of a tree, an
old woodpecker hole or a bird house. Its song is an
unforgettable chicka-dee-dee-dee.
Location: Burwash
Date: January, 2002.
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We
did not see the Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) during the
winter. It appeared in early April as soon as the snow began to melt.
This species varies in colour across North America. In
the east, the eastern male, or slate-coloured Junco, is dark
slate-gray on head, upper breast, flanks, and upper parts, with white
lower breast and belly. It frequents openings and edges of coniferous
and mixed woods, fields, roadsides, parks, suburban gardens.
Its song is a ringing metallic trill on the same pitch. In flight,
its voice is a buzzy trill.
Location: Sudbury
Date: April , 2002.
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The
Canada Jay (Perisoreus Canadensis) is also known as "Gray
Jay", "Whisky Jack", "Whisky John,"
"Moose Bird", "Camp Robber", "Hudson Bay
Bird", "Caribou Bird", "Meat Bird",
"Grease Bird", and "Venison Heron." It is a bold
bird. It follows you as you walk or eat lunch in the bush and it is
attracted to campsites, hoping to steal a piece of food. It uses its
saliva to glue meat, suet and/or hide into balls and hides it among
pine needles. The Canada Jay begins to nest before the snow has
disappeared. The nest is large, made of twigs, fibers, bark and lined
with finer material. The eggs are of a pale gray color, flecked and
spotted over the surface with brown, slate gray, and lavender. They
have a "whee-ah, chuck-chuck" call and scold, scream and whistle.
Location: Rantala
Road bush, Sudbury
Date: April 21, 2003.
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The
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) marks a
welcome return of spring. These birds bread in brushy or
semiopen mixed woods. The song is distinctive, translated to sound
like: "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" or "Oh Sweet
Canada, Canada, Canada". The White-throated sparrow feeds
on tree, wildflower, and weed seeds. They scratch in the leaves on
the ground in search of ants, beetles, flies and other insects.
They build their nests in wet or dry thickets, often on the ground at
the edge of clearings. The nests often occur under a bush or in roots
of upturned stumps. They build their nests with grasses, twigs, pine needles.
Location: Sudbury
Date: May 5, 2002.
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Chipping
Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
does
not overwinter in the Sudbury area. It arrives in the early spring -
generally in April.
It has a distinctive chestnut-coloured crown and a conspicuous
white line over its eye, margined by black line that runs through eye.
It also has white bars on its wings.
The nest usually occurs on a the low limb of a deciduous or an
evergreen tree. The nest is composed of fine twigs and grass stems.
It lays 4 blue eggs with dark brown or black markings around the
larger end. The Chipping Sparrow lives in open woods, edges of
the coniferous forest, orchards and towns. It is adapted to areas
modified by human and is often found in gardens and parks. It
will feed from a hanging feeder. Its call is a simple, long,
frequently heard trill.
Location: Sudbury
Date: May 5, 2002.
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Ring-billed
Gull (Larus delawarensis) is common in the Sudbury area
during the summer. It does not over-winter in this area. The
Ring-billed Gulls are very sociable and nest in groups of about 100
pairs on islands in lakes. Their nest consists of a scrape in
the ground lined by grasses. The gulls lay two to four buffy to gray
eggs, marked with dark brown and lavender. The Gulls eat insects,
worms, fish, eggs from other birds, and small mammals. They will eat
human garbage. You may have read a book called "Jonathan
Livingstone Seagull". The book described a Ring-billed Gull who
wanted to fly higher and faster than any other seagull ever had.
Location: Sudbury
Date: May 5, 2002.
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Juvenile Ring-billed Gulls.
Location: Fielding
Park, Kelly Lake Road, Sudbury
Date: November 13, 2006.
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Red-wing
Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is common across much of
Canada. It has a "gurgling, watery" song. The Red-wing
Blackbird lives on freshwater marshes. It has distinctive bright red
shoulder patches and yellow border. The male bird is three years old
before its develops the red wing patch. In the summer, they eat
mostly insects. Their nest consists of dry grasses and reeds strung
between cat tails.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 21, 2008.
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Female red-wing Blackbird (Agelaius
phoeniceus).
Location: Burwash
Date: June 21, 2008.
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Bobolink (Dolichonyx
oryzivorus) is common in the open fields of Burwash. In the
spring, the male plumage is black except for the white shoulders and
lower back and has a buff nape. The male looks like a flying
skunk! After the breeding season, the male plumage becomes
yellowish brown streaked like that of the female. The female makes a
nest on the ground and lays 5 or 6 eggs. During mating season, the
male song is distinctive and funny, sounding like an electronic
arcade game. They eat insects, seeds, and fruit.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 22, 2002.
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Profile view of the Bobolink.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 22, 2002.
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The Great
Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is the largest and most widely
distributed heron in Canada. Herons leave most of Canada for the
winter, except the British Columbia coast, where herons remain all
year. They winter in the United States and south to Panama, Colombia,
and Venezuela. Adults are over 1 m tall. The head is white with
a black stripe on each side extending back from the eyes. They have a
greyish blue-coloured back and a white breast streaked with black. In
flight, the Great Blue Heron's neck is doubled back and the head
rests against the shoulders. The Great Blue Heron feeds on small
fish, shellfish, insects, rodents, frogs, reptiles, and occasionally
small birds. Great Blue Herons usually nest in colonies in
woodland areas located a few kilometers from their feeding area.
Older nests look bulky and are usually about 1 m in diameter.
Location: Burwash
Date: October 14, 2007
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Great Blue Heron
in flight. Note the position of the neck and head - a distinctive
flight profile of the Great Blue Heron.
Location: Elbow Lake
Date: August 9, 2002.
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American
Bittern hiding within reeds and cattails along a creek. It is
a brown-coloured, medium-sized heron. It is up to 85 cm long.
The adult plumage is all brown on the top and streaked with brown and
white below. A long, black patch runs from the eye down the side of
the neck. The American Bittern has a white-coloured throat. It eats
frogs, snakes, and small fish.
Location: Burwash
Date: May 16, 2004.
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American Bittern
landing into a mass of cattails.
On the right, an
American Bittern hides within the cattails. This is the typical
presence of this secretive bird.
Location: Burwash
Date: June 21, 2008
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Northern
Harrier Hawks (Cirus cyaneus) were common over the Burwash
meadows in the early spring. Perhaps one of the more distinctive
characteristics of the Northern Harrier Hawk is its tendency to fly
very close to the ground, just a few metres above the ground. It is
able to maneuver quickly and erratically. It was formerly known
as the Marsh Hawk.
Click
here to hear the call of the Northern Harrier Hawk
Location: Burwash
Date: April 10, 2004.
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Great Gray Owls (Strix nebulosa)
were reported in the Sudbury area in late December 2004 and January
2005. This one was perching on trees in the Burwash area on the edge
of an open meadow. It has a distinctive set of yellow eyes, yellow
bill, no ear tufts, a long tail, and a rounded head. It is considered
rare to very uncommon and is a year-round resident on Ontario. It
prefers forest clearings, open meadows, and tree stands adjacent to
muskeg, fens, bogs or meadows. The Great Gray Owl is Canada's
largest owl by size.
Click
here to hear the call of the Great Gray Owl
Location: Burwash
Date: January 9, 2005.
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Wild turkey
is a "chicken-like" bird that is related to the grouse,
quail and pheasant and is the largest game bird in North America. Of
the five types of wild turkeys found in North America, the Eastern
Wild Turkey is most abundant. Male turkeys are called gobblers
or toms; females are called hens; and young are called poults.
The Eastern Wild Turkey lives in wooded areas, roosts in trees at
night. In the winter, the turkey lives in the woods. In summer
it searches for food at the edge of the woods, in forest clearings
and near farms.
Location: Manitoulin Island
Date: May 18, 2008.
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