My Bird Blog is a series of “then and now” stories that combine my experiences as a juvenile birdwatcher in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s with my knowledge of the same species in California today. Each month I publish the details of a bird …
North American Bittern, Petaluma, CA May 2025 Photo Credit – Author The first North American Bittern I ever saw was a few weeks ago at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma. This solitary bird was stealthily hunting its prey. It stood motionless alongside the tall …
Eurasian Magpie
There are three well-known species of black-and-white Magpie: the Eurasian Magpie found across Europe and Asia, the Black-billed Magpie of western North America, and the Yellow-billed Magpie, which substitutes for the Black-billed Magpie in California’s Central Valley. The three species belong to the Corvid or Crow family and are identified by their long tails and iridescent purple, green, and blue-streaked wings. The “pied” Australian Magpie is also black and white, but it is not a member of the Corvid family. It was given its name because it resembles a Eurasian Magpie, and ranges across Australia, Tasmania and southern New Guinea.
Black-billed Magpie
Yellow-billed Magpie
All three varieties are nearly identical, and it was not until 2000 that the American Ornithologists’ Union recognized the Black-billed Magpie as a unique species, based on its vocalizations and behavior. Colorful magpies exist in Southeast Asia, and there is the smaller black and white Iberian Magpie, with its white throat.
Australian Magpie
Iberian Magpie
The word “magpie” combines two words. The birds’ original name, first recorded in the 13th century, was “pie,” possibly meaning something pointed, such as their long tail feathers or beak. In the 16th century, the prefix “mag” was added. “Mag” was the short form for Margaret, a word used to describe women generally. Humans possibly added this prefix because of the birds’ call of chac-chac-chac-chac, which sounded like the “idle chattering of women.”
Yellow-billed Magpie Range Map
Black-billed Magpie Range Map
All three species are common in their habitat; only the Yellow-billed is under conservation threat. The Eurasian Magpie has a broad range, with a population exceeding 50 million. In Europe, the number exceeds 20 million, with approximately 1.5 million residing in the UK. Magpies do not migrate. Estimates for the North American Black-billed Magpie are around 5.5 million, with its territory extending from coastal Alaska down through upland areas in most of the southwest states. Population estimates for Yellow-billed Magpies are around 110, 000 and their numbers have declined since the 1960s. Their habitat is Central California’s oak woodlands and grass-oak savannas. Ornithologists have placed the species on the Yellow Watch List.
The Magpie Nursery Rhyme
Magpies are among the most intelligent birds in the world, with a brain-to-body mass only outmatched by humans. Their ratio is equivalent to that of great apes and dolphins. In addition to using tools, imitating human speech, grieving, and working in teams, they distinguish themselves from others by recognizing themselves in mirror tests.
Over the centuries, magpies have become deeply ingrained in folklore due to their visibility to humans, their numbers, and their behavior. In Britain, ornithology organizations report the species as the thirteenth most abundant bird in the UK. My most recent encounter with magpies occurred during a visit to London in April 2015. I was returning from an outing to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, south London, when I encountered a solitary magpie (considered the devil in disguise) cleaning up crumbs on a table outside a restaurant. It was irritated and flew away reluctantly. I thought nothing of the incident until 15 hours later, when British Airways cancelled my flight home just before departure time because the inbound flight had been called off due to a fatality among the cabin crew. I did not link the two events, but superstition and tradition suggest they may have been connected. As the nursery rhyme states, encountering a lone Magpie is the harbinger of “sorrow”.
British and German folklore believe that encountering a lone magpie brings bad luck. Had I known, I might have saluted the bird, greeted it politely, spit three times to recognize its presence, or pinched the person I was walking with, all methods used to counteract magpie misfortune.
Folklore of Magpies
In Scotland, magpies near house windows are said to foretell death inside, and in France and Sweden, magpies are regarded as thieves because they are believed to steal shiny objects. Scandinavian folklore includes the belief that witches ride on magpies, and in Rome, magpies were associated with magic and fortune-telling. By contrast, Asian cultures consider magpies harbingers of good news, joy, and good fortune, and Native Americans treated them as guardians and messengers. Wearing a magpie feather was a sign of fearlessness.
It is claimed that the magpie was the only bird not allowed into Noah’s ark because of its association with bad fortune. In Yorkshire, England, people linked magpies to witchcraft and used the sign of the cross to counter their evil influence.
Behaviorally, magpies taunt larger animals, hound anything that interferes with their nesting, and conduct impromptu squawking funerals and vigils in memory of dead colleagues. In parts of France, they warned people of the presence of a wolf. They mate for life.
However, despite my flight cancellation, connecting with these birds I grew up with was a delight. They are no less noisy, aggressive, rude and protective today than they were back then.
Feathers in Fashion, Easter Parade 1911 New York City Photo Credit – Library of Congress At the turn of the nineteenth century, in North America and Britain, birds were hunted for sport and food, and their feathers used for fashion. Ornithologists killed birds …
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
European Ring Ouzel, female
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 of vagrants in the Americas. I recorded the Ring Ouzel as a moderately rare bird during my teenage birding trips to the east coast of Yorkshire, England, during the 1960s. Ring Ouzels move north in springtime, and many breed in Scandinavia. They nest in the highlands of northern England, Wales and Scotland, choosing steep rocky hillsides and gullies.
Ring Ouzel UK Distribution
The population of Ring Ouzels in the UK has declined by 50 percent in the last 25 years. The causes are habitat loss and climate change. Environmental modifications to their winter grounds, which include southern Europe, the mountains of northwest Africa, and Turkey, may also affect their numbers. Also, a few now remain in the UK during winter. The species, therefore, is on the UK’s Red List for conservation purposes. The global population of up to two million birds is not a conservation concern. Three subspecies exist: one found around the Caucasus that winters in Iran, an “alpine” subspecies in the mountain ranges of Iberia and present across central Europe, and the “northern” subspecies, the one I observed.
European Ring Ouzel Global Distribution; three subspecies
The bird is a little smaller and thinner than a Eurasian Blackbird. The adult male is unmistakable with its dull black plumage and broad white crescent (or bib) across its breast. The female is browner and has a narrower, creamier breast. Their diet consists of insects, earthworms, small amphibians and fruit. There is a typical lifespan of about two years, although some live up to nine years.
Eurasian Blackbird
The word “ouzel” comes from the Old English word for blackbird, and the “ring” refers to the male’s prominent white neck crescent. Today, “blackbird” describes a range of species where the male is primarily or entirely black. The Eurasian Blackbird is probably the most representative, and most certainly in Europe; last year, I was a member of a group of American tourists in Aveiro, Portugal, who stopped to stare up into a tree to watch a vigorously singing Eurasian Blackbird.
American Dipper (Water Ouzel)
Although the Ring Ouzel bird has never crossed the Atlantic to North America, the word “ouzel” did. John Muir describes the Water Ouzel or Water Thrush as a “joyous and lovable little fellow” during his travels in the uplands of California during the late 1800s. The Water Ouzel (now called the American Dipper) is a seven-inch (18cm) plump, dark grey to black bird with some brown, typically found close to fast-moving, clear, cold water, pebbly streams and lakes. Its upper eyelids have narrow white feathers that flash as the bird blinks. The American Dipper appears in California near coastal streams and in the Sierras. It does not belong to the Thrush family but is classed in a small family of aquatic birds, with five species of closely related dippers distributed worldwide (one in North America, two in Eurasia, and two in Latin America).
Eurasian White-throated Dipper
Their name comes from standing on rocks, repeatedly dipping and ducking, and sometimes immersing their head underwater as they prepare to catch their prey. They dive up to 20 feet (6 meters) and can walk along the stream’s bottom as they feed on aquatic insects, their larvae, tiny fish, and fish eggs. It is the only aquatic songbird in North America. It uses its stubby wings to stay underwater. While underwater, large oil glands keep their plumage waterproof, extra eyelids protect their eyes, nasal flaps cover their nostrils, and they take on extra oxygen in their blood.
American Dipper Range
American Dippers typically build dome-shaped nests on cliff ledges, fallen logs, beneath bridges, and dirt banks, including sites behind waterfalls. Both parents construct the nest; the female incubates the eggs while the male collects food, returning it to the nest. They are permanent residents, with some moving to lower altitudes in winter. They range from northern Alaska, south along the Rockies, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada, and as far south as western Panama. The global breeding population is estimated at 160,000 individual birds, and numbers appear stable, although water pollution due to poor land management jeopardizes their food supply. The bird’s typical lifespan is seven years.
The Shakespeare character, Bottom, speaks of the “ousel cock, so black of hue with orange tawny bill” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, referring to the Eurasian Blackbird, and in Greek mythology, the ouzel was supposed to speak a human language. Dionysus, the God of wine, fertility, agriculture, madness and festivity, considered it sacred. It is a shame that the word “ouzel” is slowly disappearing from the English language.
American Pipit Photo Credit – American Bird Conservancy 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 …
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
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 migrate well offshore. Sabine’s Gulls are one of about 50 seagull species worldwide, and identification includes long-pointed wings, a slightly forked tail, a charcoal grey head (which disappears in winter), a geometric pattern on its wings and back, and a tern-like flight pattern. Its legs are black, and the dark bill has a yellow tip.
The Sabine’s Gull’s range is global. However, breeding habitat is restricted to the marshy arctic tundra from Siberia, Alaska, across Canada, to Greenland, and once nesting is over, they fly south along the coastlines, either to South America (mainly Peru) or to the west coast of South Africa, a return journey of about 22,000 miles (35,000 km). They winter offshore in waters a few miles off the coast. Typically, you see them during their migration from May and August through October. Their global population is around 340,000, and vagrants appear in most parts of the world. However, I never saw one in my early bird-spotting days in the UK.
Sabine’s Gull Range Map
(blue=winter; purple = breeding)
The new sighting resurrects the problem of identifying seagulls. You see these birds most of the time, but often, they look alike except for their size. Here are some ideas that may help you distinguish between various species. My examples focus on varieties in California and the United Kingdom, although I acknowledge many other species elsewhere. My past bird blogs have included the Great Black-backed Gull and Western Gull in April 2020, and in February 2020, I published a story about the Northern Fulmar. Fulmars look like seagulls but are related to petrels.
Below are species you will likely see in California and the United Kingdom; some are present year-round, and others visit during winter. I have excluded rare migrants:
CALIFORNIA: California Gull, Western Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Heermann’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, Herring Gull, Yellow-footed Gull, Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gull, Sabine’s Gull, Iceland (formerly Thayer’s) Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake.
UNITED KINGDOM: Herring Gull, Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull (separated from Herring Gull 2005), and Mediterranean Gull.
Identification of California Seagulls
Note: Mew Gull was renamed Short-billed Gull in 2021.
Given the large numbers of seagulls and the fact that many species look alike, it is helpful to have a process to assist in identification. Avoid trying to identify juveniles and look for adult birds. Adult plumage takes two to five years to develop. Also, some gulls hybridize with other species, such as both the Herring Gull and the Western Gull, with Glaucous-winged Gulls. The former crossbreed is known as the “Cook Inlet Gull” (named after an inlet in Alaska where large breeding colonies exist), and the latter is the “Olympic Gull” (a reference to Puget Sound in northwestern Washington).
Set Your Expectations: Research the area you visit and consider the time of year to determine what you will likely see. Know which birds are common, such as Western Gulls and California Gulls in California, and Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls in the UK. However, seagull spotting is problematic from a distance, and many of the features I list are only discernible through strong binoculars or expensive telephoto lenses.
Size of the Seagull: This may be tricky if all the birds you see are the same species and, therefore, the same size; if not, how large is the one you are trying to identify? Large Gulls include the Western Gull, the Greater and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, the Herring Gull, the Yellow-footed Gull and the Glaucous-winged Gull. Representatives of small gulls include Bonaparte’s Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, and Short-billed Gull.
Habitat: Although most gulls choose coastal environments, a few spend time at sea, such as the Sabine’s Gull and the Black-legged Kittiwake, and others venture inland, including in North America, the California Gull, Herring Gull and Ring-billed Gull; the latter is the one you will most likely see far from the ocean. Others, like the Bonaparte’s Gull, will visit inland waters such as lakes, wetlands, sewage ponds, creeks, and river mouths. Expect to see Herring Gulls in the UK and the Ring-billed Gull in North America at refuse dumps.
Plumage: This is critical; look at the color of the seagull’s back. Is it pale silver gray, slate gray, dark gray, or black? Are its wing tips black, such as the Herring Gull, Kittiwake (Europe), Lesser Black-backed Gull, or dark grey, like the Glaucous-winged Gull? The California Gull has the most extensive black wing tips. The Western Gull’s dark tips are the same color as the rest of its back. Also, is the gull black-headed or white-headed, especially during the breeding season?
Bill Color and Shape: Western Gulls have yellow bills with red spots, and adult California Gulls have yellow bills with a small black ring and red spot on the lower mandible. Adult gulls have a red spot on their bills to stimulate the regurgitation of food for the chicks. Herring Gulls are yellow-billed, a color that is common among gulls. Other colors include scarlet for Mediterranean Gulls (Europe), reddish-orange for Heermann’s Gulls, dark red for Black-headed Gulls (Europe), and small black bills for Bonaparte’s Gulls.
Leg Color (if the bird is standing): The Geater Black-backed Gull (Europe) has pale pink legs, while the Lesser (Europe) legs are bright yellow. Other colors include dark red for Black-headed Gulls (Europe) and Bonaparte’s Gull, scarlet for Mediterranean Gulls (Europe), and black for Heermann’s Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake.
Eye Color: For adults, the color may be dark brown/black (California Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Short-billed Gull (formerly Mew), Common Gull (Europe)), Heermann’s Gull, or pale yellow (Herring Gull); the Western Gull has orange around its olive eyes, and the Iceland (Thayer’s) Gull has a red ring. The Black-headed Gull (Europe) possesses dark eyes but with a white crescent behind its eyes.
Behavior: Many gulls are comfortable among humans; they might try to seize your food or attack you. Heermann’s Gulls enjoy taking fish from other birds, especially Brown Pelicans. The Bonaparte’s Gull is the only gull that nests in trees (others nest on the ground, rooftops or rocky outcrops). California Gulls chase and catch brine flies across the mud, and Western Gulls eat starfish. All are noisy and devour just about anything.
UK Seagulls
Black-headed Gull (summer)
Mediterranean Gull (summer)
Great Blue Heron Nests Photo Credit – Louisa Cammidge 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 …
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
Phoebes are smallish (6 inches/16 cm), insect-eating, perching songbirds native to the Americas.
Phoebes belong to the flycatcher family, which includes several hundred species, including distinct Old World and New World varieties. The etymological origin of Phoebe is likely the Eastern Phoebe’s chirpy song “Whee-bee.” However, due to its spelling, some suggest it is named after the Greek goddess Phoebe or the Roman goddess Diana, alternatively known as Phoebe. The origin of Say’s Phoebe is more obvious. Napoleon’s nephew, an ornithologist who moved to New Jersey as the Napoleonic Empire collapsed, named the bird after the American naturalist Thomas Say 20 years after Mr. Say’s death from typhoid.
Phoebe’s Greek Family
I often see Black Phoebes as I walk my dog along a northern California creek. I see them perched in the open on low railings, rocks or the tops of bushes, pumping their tails and fluttering towards the ground to catch insects in flight (bees, wasps, flies, beetles, mosquitoes, crickets, moths, termites and ticks). Occasionally, they take insects from the ground, and they may also catch small fish. Their habitat is usually close to water since they use mud to build their nests, and water attracts insects. Adult plumage for both sexes is sooty black upperparts and breasts and a white belly and undertail. Their bill, legs and feet are black, and the head is often darker than the rest of their upper parts. You may also hear their thin, shrill whistle.
Black Phoebe Range Map
Black Phoebe Nesting
Black Phoebes in California are present year-round, and the species has expanded into Oregon. Birds that breed in the north tend to migrate short distances, whereas most Black Phoebes are residents. The estimated breeding population is five million, and there has been a steady increase since the 1960s. The bird has benefited from human development, creating new nesting sites under roof eaves, irrigation ditches and culverts, near artificial ponds, and abandoned wells.
Say’s Phoebe
Say’s Phoebe Range Map
The other species in southwest and southern California is the Say’s Phoebe. It has cinnamon-brown underparts, grey-brown feathers above, and a black tail. It is common across western North America and breeds in Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. Its preference is for dry and desolate areas. Northern birds migrate south to the southwestern States and Mexico for winter; otherwise, the species is resident. Its population is around four million, and it is stable to expand. Like other phoebes, birds appear unafraid of people.
The third and most numerous North American species is the Eastern Phoebe, found east of the Rockies. An estimated 16 million to 32 million occupy territory from Canada to eastern Mexico. It is a somewhat drab bird identified by its grey-brown upperparts, white throat, and dirty grey breast. It punches its tail while perching. Their preferred habitat is woodland, farmland, and urban areas, and birds migrate to the southern United States and Mexico for winter. Although monogamous with the same mate for several years, each bird enjoys its independence. Pairs spend very little time is together, and the female typically chases away the male during roosting.
Spotted Flycatcher
Orange: breeding; blue: non-breeding
Spotted Flycatcher Range Map
Spotting phoebes in Britain during my early birdwatching in the 1960s was impossible. Only the Eastern Phoebe is recorded in the UK as a mega-rare vagrant. Therefore, my favorite flycatcher family representative was the Spotted Flycatcher, a bird common around my home near York, England. It was a summer visitor, arriving late and had disappeared by late September. Its plumage is a streaky grey-brown bird recognized most easily by its behavior as it sits on a high perch, flicks its tail, and pounces on insects in midair. It is a long-distance migrant, spending its winters in southern Africa.
Regrettably, the UK population of Spotted Flycatchers has crashed to approximately 40,000 breeding pairs since the mid-1960s, an estimated reduction of around 90 per cent. In Europe, the overall decrease is about 60 per cent. The reasons are unclear. Suggestions include reduced fledgling survival rates, predators, reduction in flying insects and loss of grassland. There is also a need to investigate what happens to them in their wintering grounds. Here is an example of how environmental changes can affect wildlife differently. Changes in North America have allowed North American flycatcher species to flourish, whereas the opposite seems to occur in Europe with the Spotted Flycatcher.
The Three Phoebes that catch insects flying in midair
Mistle Thrush Photo Credit – British Trust for Ornithology 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 …
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
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. During May this year, I had occasions to observe these birds on the ocean near the islands of Terceira and São Miguel in the Azores and the island of Madeira. Thank you, Overseas Adventure Tours, for giving me these opportunities.
Cory’s Shearwater in Flight
Cory’s Shearwaters, with their distinctive size, brownish-grey upper parts, white underparts, and yellowish bill with a dark, hooked tip, are a sight to behold. They silently glide over the water with long wing beats, and wings bowed and angled slightly back. Their unique behavior of being either at sea or hidden in burrows, crevices, or caves, incubating their eggs, adds to their mystique. As we heard on Terceira Island, breeding birds will return to the land at night and call together in their burrows, creating a symphony of high-pitched sounds from the male, like a baby crying, and deeper rasping calls from the female, like a chain-smoker with a hangover. In folklore, shearwaters are associated with death. Legend is that their sound comes from a ghost or devil, with a woman’s face and torso and a bird’s body that fatally attracts sailors at sea.
Terceira Island, Azores
São Miguel Island, Azores
Madeira Island inland
About 75 percent of the world’s Cory’s Shearwaters breed in the Azores – approximately 200,000 breeding pairs. They mate with the same partner at the same breeding site every year. Females lay a single egg in late May, and the chick fledges in October. After breeding, the birds winter across the open ocean, mainly off southern Africa, although their range includes North America’s east coast, Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. Young birds reach maturity at ages 5 to 7, before which their time is spent at sea. The birds’ life span is around 20 years, with the oldest on record reaching 40. Their main prey is small pelagic fish and squid caught on or near the water’s surface. I was fortunate to spot them on the ocean near Terceira and São Miguel and off the coast of Funchal in Madeira.
These observations emphasize the importance of conservation efforts to protect the birds’ habitats and to ensure their survival. Threats include nest predation by cats, rats, etc., and habitat degradation. Light pollution interferes with the birds’ navigation using the moon, and plastic pollution kills them at sea.
Manx Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
My first encounter with the Shearwater family occurred in the early 1960s at Spurn Point in England. Here, I had the privilege of spotting both Manx and Sooty Shearwaters. In northern California, Sooty Shearwaters are seen off the Pacific coast. My experiences have created an appreciation for these magnificent birds and fueled my passion for their conservation.
Atlantic Canary
Spectacled Warbler
During the visit to the Azores and Madeira, my bird spotting was not limited to shearwaters. I recorded several common species, such as Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Blackcaps, Wood and Feral Pigeons, European Robins, Yellow-legged Gulls, Common Tern, and Chaffinches. The more unusual species included petrels in Madeira, Atlantic Canaries on all islands, and possibly a Spectacled Warbler on Madeira.
Azores Bullfinch
The one species I hoped to see on São Miguel Island was the Azores Bullfinch. Its range is currently restricted to a small, forested area on the island’s eastern end, and its population is estimated to be less than 1000. Numbers have declined as forests have been converted to grazing and agriculture, and afforestation has shifted to using introduced plants. It’s a shy bird and remained hidden from view during my visit.
Chaffinch
The same could not be said for its cousin, the chaffinch. They were everywhere and were almost tame on Madeira. The memories of watching this pretty bird take seeds from my hand will distinguish my visit to the islands of Portugal from other vacations. As tourism continues to expand across all the islands, I hope those in charge prioritize the survival of all present bird species, especially those native to the Azores and Madeira.
Northern Mockingbird Photo Credit – the Author 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 …
