Half Moon Bay, CA Photo Credit – Author Parasitic Jaeger Photo Credit – eBird I’m sure they were Skuas, but I could not identify the species. They were close to the shore in Half Moon Bay, northern California. My Bird Book identified …
European Ring Ouzel, male Photo Credit – Birdfact European Ring Ouzel, female Photo Credit – Flickr The Ring Ouzel, a member of the Thrush family, is only seen if visiting or living in Europe. There is no reference to the appearance …
American Pipit
There are about 40 pipit-named species worldwide, with the word “pipit” derived from the Meadow Pipit’s call “pi-pit.” Pipits are small, slender, drab-looking, streaky-brown birds with forenames often identifying their habitat, location, or coloring—such as American, Meadow, Tree, Water, Tawny, and Red-throated. Wolf Winter, a novel set in Swedish Lapland by Cecilia Ekback, mentions pipits and renewed my interest in these birds. I first saw pipits in the UK in the 1950s.
Meadow Pipit
First, let me introduce you to the most common pipit in the United Kingdom: the Meadow Pipit, a mainly resident bird. However, some migrate as far as North Africa for winter, and because of their drabness and habitat among ground vegetation, they often go unnoticed. Their plumage is mainly brown above and buff below, with streaking on the upper breast. They are thin-billed and display an undulating flight pattern during which birders can spot their white tail feathers. You might mistake them for sparrows, but remember, sparrows hop on the ground, whereas pipits typically walk or run. Meadow Pipits feed off insects and worms and nest on the ground. Males and females look alike; their life span is three to five years. Also, they are a species where the Cuckoo commonly removes their eggs and lays its own in their nest.
Meadow Pipit Range
Light green – Breeding; Dark green – Resident; Light blue – Passage; Dark blue – Non-breeding
Although UK numbers have declined since the 1970s, and the species is on the UK Amber List of Conservation, over two million pairs remain. The cause of the decline is believed to be more arable farming, the expansion of woodland, and possibly global warming pushing the population northwards. They are widely distributed across Europe and Asia, with an estimated global population of around 12 million pairs. They appear in Iceland and eastern Greenland but do not reach North America.
Tree Pipit
Growing up, the Tree Pipits I spotted were usually near a thicket of trees next to a clover field on our farm and present only during summer. Both the birds and the trees have long since disappeared. They spent April to August breeding and then migrated to Sub-Saharan Africa, 6,000 miles (10,000 km) away. They look like Meadow Pipits but have more streaking on their chest and flanks and less contrast in color between their belly and flanks. They also have a distinctive call and flight behavior. The bird will launch out of a tree, soar upwards, then suddenly stiffen its wings and fall back into the tree. The Meadow Pipit does the same but starts from the ground. The birds’ diet consists mainly of invertebrates, although fruit and seeds sometimes supplement their food in winter. They nest on the ground and typically live for around two years. They are also vulnerable to the Cuckoo’s “brood parasitism”, where the Cuckoo uses the Tree Pipit and its nest to raise their young.
Tree Pipit Range
Orange: Breeding; Blue Non-breeding
There are far fewer Tree Pipits in the UK than Meadow Pipits. Current estimates are about 100,000 pairs. Tree Pipits have suffered a severe decline in the UK since the 1970s, with its range reduced by 30 percent and its summer population falling up to 70 to 80 percent in some places. The reasons are unclear, and its cause may lie outside the UK. The species has been placed on the UK Red List of Conservation. Otherwise, the species is abundant across the rest of Europe and Asia, with about 35 million pairs in Europe and 70 million worldwide.
Richard’s Pipit
The Richard’s Pipit is the only other pipit species I recorded seeing in the UK in the 1960s. Surprisingly, it is missing from current British Bird Lists because it has become a rare winter visitor. It breeds across the grasslands of North Asia and winters in India and Southeast Asia. A few fly westwards for winter and end up in Europe.
I also mention the three other species of UK pipits I did not see. Rock Pipits are mainly resident in small numbers and breed along the rocky British coasts, while the Water Pipit is a relatively rare winter visitor and breeds in the mountains of Europe. The Tawny Pipit is also a rare migrant, with about a dozen yearly sightings. It breeds in Europe, Central Asia, and North Africa, and winters in central West Africa and India.
None of these pipits is found in North America; instead, there is the American Pipit (the most widespread), Sprague’s Pipit (breeds in the northern Great Plains and winters in the central southern States, south to El Salvador), and the Red-throated Pipit, which is a northern Eurasian bird that only enters North America for breeding in Alaska and a few show up along the California coast in the fall. The Olive-backed Pipit is also an Asian variety, but individuals occasionally are blown off course and arrive in California.
American Pipit
American Pipit Range
The American Pipit was first considered the Old World species known as the Water Pipit, but ornithologists spun it off as a separate species in 1989. Like most pipits, it is a small, brownish, streaked bird with a sparrow-like appearance. It nests on the ground; its diet consists of insects taken from the ground or low plants and may also eat seeds. The typical lifespan is about five years. The breeding population is estimated at 20 million individuals, but there has been a 30 percent decline since the 1970s, possibly due to habitat loss and global warming affecting their breeding grounds.
The species is a winter visitor to California when it is seen in open country and lakeshores; however, some nest in the high Sierra Nevada during summer. The species may be seen in flocks of several hundred in open habitats or as solitary birds. They usually start to arrive and pass through the state in late September and return north by mid-May. Expect to see them on the ground, searching for food, with their tails bobbing. In 2024, the Siberian Pipit was split from the American Pipit because of its paler whitish underparts, reddish, not dark, legs and other minor plumage differences. It is migratory, so we have a new vagrant species visiting California.
In summary, it is challenging to differentiate between pipit species but to begin with, the location where you see them will give you a clue. Try not to confuse them with sparrows that feed on the ground; look for the pipits’ running antics, buff-colored breasts with streaks, white outer tail feathers, and thin bills. Sparrows have more conical bills. Be aware that some sparrows, like the Song Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow, also have streaked chests.
Hopefully, this article will help you separate pipits from other birds, such as sparrows, larks, and thrushes, but determining which species of pipit is the more challenging part.
Tawny Pipit, a UK comedy film from 1944: a couple from a Cotswolds’ village rally local people to save two birds nesting in a wheat field during World War 2
Woodpecker that does not drill holes, Northern Flicker males (red-shafted /yellow-shafted) Photo Credit – Cornell Lab. of Ornithology The Northern Flicker (a species in the Woodpecker family) is on my golf course for the winter. Several birds recently flew low alongside the eighth …
Sabine’s Gull Photo Credit – eBird On a recent pelagic birding cruise out of Ventura, CA., I spotted my first Sabine’s Gull, a small, delicate seagull Sir Edward Sabine first described in 1818. Unlike most seagulls, these are readily identified but rarely seen because they …
Great Blue Heron Nests
The above photo arrived a few days ago with the question, “To whom do these nests belong?” The location is Puget Sound on the northwest coast of the US state of Washington. The answer is Great Blue Herons. The species nests in colonies, heronries, or rookeries, and while I always thought rookeries were for Rooks (look like crows), in the United States the word is apparently used for a colony of more than one bird species. The photo was taken in September, six months after the Great Blue Herons started reproducing in large, ungainly nests of sticks.
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is an unmistakable large bird with bluish-grey, black, and white feathers, swatches of rufous on the wings and thighs and a large dagger-shaped bill. For a brief period in spring, the male grows ornamental plumes on its head, breast and wings to attract its mate.
Great Blue Heron Male Breeding Plumage
The species also has specialized feathers on the chest that continually grow and fray. Herons comb these feathers into a “powder down” to remove fish slime and oils from their feathers as they preen. Its yellow eyes, which can become reddish during breeding, provide three times more detailed vision than humans and have built-in zoom lenses and photoreceptors that improve night vision. In flight, the bird tucks its head back into its shoulders.
Great Blue Heron Range Map
The Great Blue Herons are a New World partial migrant species, widespread from Alaska through Central America into parts of South America. A sub-species is present in the Galapagos Islands. It is an occasional vagrant in Hawaii. In the eastern US, it is seen on the Chesapeake Bay, including around Baltimore and Richmond, and has become the name of a golf course near Williamsburg. In South Florida, a “Great White” Heron variety (a morph, not a subspecies) inhabits shallow marine water. The Great Blue Heron is a wader, not a swimmer.
Great Blue Heron White Morph
The species has attracted the nickname Lady of the Water, and native Americans believe the bird symbolizes patience and good luck because of its behavior of waiting to catch its prey. The species is closely related to egrets rather than other herons, with the word egret derived from the French word “aigrette”, meaning silver heron. Estimating population size is challenging because of the dispersed nature of the birds, but a quarter of a million plus has been suggested.
Gray Heron
My first sighting of a heron was in 1960 near York, England, where there were three heronries and widely scattered individual birds. The species was known simply as “the heron” and today as the Gray Heron. It is the Old World version of the Great Blue Heron, with the two species likely originating from the same ancestor a million-plus years ago. The Gray Heron is common across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is smaller and slimmer than the Great Blue Heron, and the rufous coloring on the thighs and wings of the Great Blue is missing; its bill is slimmer. Curiously, the average life span of the Great Blue Heron is 15 years, but only five years for the Gray Heron.
Gray Heron Range Map
Light green – Breeding; dark green – Resident; blue – Non-breeding
Gray Herons nest in the same manner as the Great Blue Herons, share a similar diet and live in similar habitats. They experience the same predators. Falcons, especially peregrine falcons, catch them as food; in olden times, humans persecuted them. The British hunted them with falcons, roasted them, and served them at banquets during medieval times. They believed that those killed at the full moon would cure rheumatism. Today, Gray Herons have recovered, in numbers with estimates of one to four million globally, and in the UK, 11,000 breeding pairs and 50,000 individual birds in winter.
In North America, fishermen hated them, and hunters trapped them for their feathers to be used as adornments for women’s hats. As early as 1910, the New York State legislature introduced legislation that protected them from the plume industry.
Portland City Mural
Today, there are no significant conservation threats for either species. The primary risks are habitat loss, decreased food supply, and lead fishing tackle. Beavers are the principal benefactor of Great Blue Herons in North America, constructing the ideal fishing environment. Humans appear to take them for granted, providing them with little recognition. No country has adopted them as their national bird, and no US state has used them to represent their natural landscape. I believe Lake County, close to where I live, is the only county in the United States to adopt them as the county bird, and Seattle and Portland have adopted the Great Blue Heron to represent their cities (as have other towns in Washington and Texas). This iconic, majestic, graceful, quiet, and unassuming bird justifies more public recognition.
Lesser Goldfinch at my Tube Feeder Photo Credit – Author It has been a fascinating two years living in northern California, close to the Pacific Coast, observing the etiquette of birds that visit my bird feeders. Each specific species has a distinct bird …
Black Phoebe Photo Credit – Cornell Lab of Ornithology Phoebes are smallish (6 inches/16 cm), insect-eating, perching songbirds native to the Americas. Black Phoebe – United States, Mexico, Central America, parts of South America Eastern Phoebe – Eastern North America Say’s Phoebe – …
Mistle Thrush
This month, I am focusing on a bird I observed during my childhood in northern England: the Mistle Thrush. In the late 1950s, my ornithological colleagues at Bootham School reported that the Mistle Thrush was widely distributed and common around York. I discovered it is absent from North America except for rare winter sightings, but the Continent has its own thrushes, such as the Swainson’s Thrush, Varied Thrush, Hermit Thrush, and the Wood Thrush in the east.
The Mistle Thrush’s diet includes mistletoe berries, hence its name. In winter, it protects clumps of mistletoe berries and, after eating them, carries and deposits their seeds onto trees, propagating the plant. Different species of mistletoe exist worldwide, including in North America. Bluebirds, Mourning Doves, Grosbeaks, and American Robins (also a member of the Turdidae Family) are among the birds responsible for propagating the plant.
Mistletoe originates from Anglo-Saxon words mistel for dung, and tan for stick or twig. It has a long history with humans. Originally, it was a medicine and aphrodisiac, but these purposes were eventually replaced by kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas. Norsemen stole a kiss from any woman standing under the mistletoe, and refusing the kiss was bad luck. In England, young girls put mistletoe leaves under their pillows at night when they supposedly dreamt about a particular boy. During the 18th century, the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas to bring good luck and peace to the household was established.
Mistle Thrush Range Map
Green – resident; Orange – breeding/migrant; Blue non-breeding
The Mistle Thrush is 11 inches long (29 cm) and slightly larger than an American Robin. Most are residents, although some of those breeding in the north and Asia migrate for winter. Distinctive features of the species are:
The global population of the Mistle Thrush is between 12 and 30 million, nearly two-thirds of which live in Europe. However, numbers have declined in the UK by around 60 percent since the mid-1960s, and consequently, it is on Britain’s most endangered species list. Reasons for the decline are unclear; high juvenile mortality rates are suggested, but the loss of food sources as grassland and woodland are converted to arable may be another cause.
Eurasian Song Thrush
Song Thrush Range Map
Orange – breeding; Purple – year-round; blue – non-breeding
In Europe, you may mistake a Song Thrush for the Mistle Thrush. The Song Thrush is much smaller, its chest speckles are streaky, its upperparts are olive-brown, and it is much more frequently found in backyards.
Let me now turn my attention to North American thrushes.
Swainson’s Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush Range Map
Orange – breeding; Yellow – migration; Blue – non-breeding
The Swainson’s Thrush is familiar during summer along the Pacific coast in northern California. Usually, you hear it before you see it since it hides among the foliage. Its song is distinctive and beautiful, a fluting sound reverberating in dense foliage. The species is common and widespread in North America, with a population of around 12 million. During winter, Swainson’s Thrushes may move to Mexico and further south. It eats a diet of berries and insects, sometimes catching the latter in flight. The bird is smaller than an American Robin, has a round head, a short straight bill, and upperparts are olive-brown, with palish underparts and a brownish spotted chest.
Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrush Range Map
Orange – breeding; Yellow – migration; Blue – Non-breeding
Hermit Thrushes are small, inconspicuous birds widely distributed across North America. Their breeding habitat is dense, moist, upland coniferous forests, but they sometimes move to lower elevations for winter. It is small, greyish brown, with big dark eyes and a reddish tail. Most notable is its song, regarded by some as the most beautiful song of any North American songbird. It eats by foraging among leaf litter on the ground. To distinguish it from a Swainson’s Thrush, look for a more olive-colored back without a cinnamon tail.
Varied Thrush
Finally, there is the brightly colored Varied Thrush. It breeds in dark, wet, mature forests in the Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to northern California, and migrates to lower altitudes in winter. Sometimes, it can be seen on the ground around bird feeders as it sorts out discarded seeds and eats suet, mealworms, and fruit. The global population is about 35 million, with a one-third decline in numbers during the past 50 years. Try not to confuse the species with the American Robin.
I could mention many other thrush species. However, as my Blog implies, this paper considers only some thrushes. Worldwide, there are over 170 species.
American Robin
Barn Swallow Photo Credit – Birds and Blooms Magazine My local Barn Swallows have arrived and have been constructing mud nests and feeding their offspring under the roof eaves of houses along the Corte Madera Creek near San Francisco. These avians make an …
Cory’s Shearwater off the coast of Madeira, Portugal Photo Credit – Author Cory’s Shearwater is a large, heavy bird and a member of the seabird family Procelleridae. It breeds primarily in the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira and the Canary Islands, Spain. …
Northern Mockingbird
Amidst a cacophony of mid-morning birdsong, a medium-sized bird, approximately 10 inches (25 cm) in length, caught my eye. Its tail, as long as its body, was a striking feature. The bird’s plumage was a mix of grey, darker above and lighter below, adorned with distinctive white patterns on its wings and tail, which were particularly noticeable when it took flight. The bird was a Northern Mockingbird, a captivating sight indeed.
The bird appeared in the exact location a year earlier, in a housing development near the Corte Madera Creek in northern California. The purpose of its song was unclear. Maybe it was calling a mate, protecting its territory, catching insects, or simply listening to its voice. During my childhood bird watching in England, the Northern Mockingbird was a species I had never encountered. The bird, a member of a group of New World species, is a rare vagrant in Britain, with years passing between individual sightings. The occasional appearance is thanks to Atlantic tailwinds or even boats offering unexpected lifts, adding a touch of mystery to its presence.
Northern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird is a testament to adaptability, breeding from southern Canada across the United States and south into Mexico and the northern Caribbean islands. It has even managed to establish itself in Hawaii. Most birds are yearlong residents, but a few occasionally wander in the fall and winter, especially those that breed in the north. The species expanded its range along both coasts into Canada during the 20th century and prefers open land below about 1000 feet (300 meters), where shrubs and small trees provide cover. If you have encountered Western or Eastern Mockingbirds, they are sub-species of the Northern variety.
Northern Mockingbird Range Map
Orange – Breeding; Green – Permanent Resident; Blue – Non-Breeding Resident
At the turn of the last century, California’s standard range for these birds was restricted to the Central Valley, as far north as Merced and along the coast south of Los Angeles; now, the species has become more broadly distributed, and in San Francisco, you may encounter them in the Presidio. The development of farmland, the outlawing of trapping to make them cage birds, and banning shooting them as an agricultural pest have supported this expansion. The species has been common in the southern United States and is the state bird in five states: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas.
Texas Mockingbird and Bluebonnet
As the novel To Kill a Mockingbird says, the mockingbird is innocent and harmless and should be allowed to sing and add beauty to its surroundings. Current population estimates are around 30 million in the United States and a little over 40 million worldwide.
The Northern Mockingbird sings repeated phrases throughout the day and often into the night. A single bird will develop a repertoire of up to 150 to 200 songs during its lifetime. It mimics the songs of other birds and impersonates cats, car alarms, lawnmowers, and police sirens. Expect to hear different songs in the fall from those in the spring. However, estimates are that 90 percent of its songs are pure mockingbird, and 10 percent are mimicry. The bird’s scientific name mimus polyglottos translates into “mimic of many tongues”. Native Americans used a name that translates into “four hundred tongues”. Maybe due to their noisiness, they are caught by cats, attacked by raccoons, and taken by birds of prey.
Northern Mockingbird Winter Diet
For food, their diet changes during the year. In summer, they primarily eat insects; in fall and winter, they consume fruit. They forage on the ground or in vegetation. Visits to garden bird feeders are rare, but in winter, suet, mealworms, and fruit may attract them. Their average life span is eight years, but some are known to live as old as 15.
Blue Mockingbird
If you visit southwestern Mexico, do not be surprised to see a “blue” version of the mockingbird. The Blue Mockingbird is indigenous to Mexico, with an estimated population of up to five million. Both mockingbird species are of “least concern” from a conservation perspective.
Finally, you may want to listen to a singing Northern Mockingbird:
Greater Scaup (male with the white plumage) Photo Credit – Cornell Lab: All About Birds California winter visitors, the Greater Scaup, have recently left the coastal creek near my home and returned to their breeding grounds along the West Coast up to Alaska. Previously, …
Eurasian or Common Kestrel: Photo Credit – Wikipedia American Kestrel Photo Credit – Cornell Lab of Ornithology Thank you, Sonoma Land Trust, for connecting me with the beautiful American Kestrel, the smallest raptor in North America, during a recent visit to the Sonoma …
Humming-bird Hawk-moth
Hummingbirds are small, often migratory birds that inhabit the Americas. They have compact bodies, long, narrow beaks, and relatively long blade-like wings. The latter allows them to fly in every direction and to hover. Typically, they migrate alone and travel up to 500 miles a day. The people of California benefit from the beauty, courage, and entertainment of hummingbirds in California.
The weight of hummingbirds is typically less than two pennies and the noise their wings make gives them their name. Distribution of this family is limited to the American continents, with approximately 350 species, including 15 in the United States and Canada. If you see one in Europe, it is likely that you either observe an escaped cage bird or a Hummingbird Hawk-moth, an insect that looks like a hummingbird when feeding. The moth’s range is Asia, North Africa, and Southern Europe. Let’s start with hummingbirds generally and finish with California’s hummingbirds.
Anna’s Hummingbird (male)
First, the evolution of hummingbirds is a puzzle. The oldest hummingbird fossils are not in the Americas but in Germany, Poland, and France, and date back 30 plus million years. Today, these birds are extinct. Did they die out because of competition for food or because of an increasingly cold climate in Europe that persuaded them to move across the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska? From here, they could have colonized southwards and developed a diverse and rapidly expanding population. Alternatively, could there have been a natural convergence of evolution and the New World species developed independently? It is probable that we will never know.
Hummingbirds Range
Hummingbirds feed on nectar (occasionally insects) and consume up to 160 per cent of their body mass daily. They have a bias for red flowers and red feeders. This is in part due to the rich source of food, and partly because they possess trichromatic visual senses that prefer the range yellow to red and mute other colors such as blue. However, the main attraction is the quality of nectar, and it does not need to be colored! There is no need for you to add red food dye to the water you place in the hummingbird feeder. These birds are highly territorial and will fight to protect their mate, source of food, and their nest. This includes attacking bees, butterflies, and moths. I have even seen a hummingbird chase a raptor, presumably because it came too close to the hummingbird’s nest.
Black-chinned Hummingbird (male)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (male)
There are seven hummingbird species present in California. Only three appear regularly in my part of California, north of San Francisco, so I must travel to see the other four. Because hummingbirds are small and fast, it is difficult to distinguish one species from another. The four requiring that I travel are as follows:
Calliope Hummingbird (male)
Costa’s Hummingbird (male)
Anna’s Hummingbirds
Anna’s Hummingbirds – These medium-sized, stocky, flashy, feisty, and fearless birds are named after Anne d’Essling, the wife of the Duke of Rivoli. She never likely saw one. The French naturalist René Primevère Lesson gave the name to the bird after observing the species in California, presumably to sponsor favor with the Italian family.
Anna’s Hummingbirds are common along the western coast of North America from northern Baja to southern Canada and many are permanent residents within this range. Their distribution explains why I have so many that visit my bird feeders year-round. Eight million Anna’s Hummingbirds are estimated to live in the western United States, and their numbers represent a substantial increase over the early 1970s. As temperatures warm, the territory for Anna’s Hummingbirds has expanded into the mountains of California, allowing their numbers to increase. Males are distinguished by a reddish-pink throat and reddish crown, an iridescent bronze-green back, pale grey belly, green flanks, and a slightly forked tail.
Allen’s and Rufous Hummingbirds
Allen’s Hummingbirds – small, compact, aggressive, territorial birds, and relatively rare. They migrate north beginning as early as December, and occupy a narrow strip of coastal forest, meadows, and gardens from Santa Barbara to southern Oregon. Their journey back to central Mexico takes place inland from June to August, although the birds that live around Los Angeles are often year-round residents. The species name celebrates Charles Andrew Allen, an American collector and taxidermist who identified the bird in 1879 in Nicasio, California. The species population has fallen by around 80 percent since 1968 to around 1.5 million. They are hard to distinguish from Rufous Hummingbirds. Males are identified from their green back and forehead, rust-colored flanks, rump, and tail, and iridescent orange-red throat. Females and immature adults are virtually identical in appearance to their equivalent Rufous Hummingbirds.
Rufous Hummingbirds – small, aggressive birds that pass through California (February to April and July to early October) on their nearly 4000-mile journey from Mexico, to breed north of California, as far north as Alaska, and then return home for winter. The population has declined significantly during the past 50 years but is large enough that these migrants remain familiar across California. Males are distinguished by their copper-orange back (although some are partially green, confusing their identity with Allen’s Hummingbirds). Their throat is an iridescent reddish-orange; they have a white breast and a white patch behind their eyes.
And finally:
Which are the smallest hummingbirds? The Bee Hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, is found only in Cuba. It is two and a quarter inches long and weighs less than a dime.
Which are the largest hummingbirds? The Giant Hummingbird is nine inches in length and is found throughout the Andes on both the east and west sides.
