Birding Southern Idaho

On our way home we visited a wide variety of habitats, taking secondary roads instead of the Interstate.

Woods' Rose

Rosa woodsii

 Red-naped Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus nuchalis

House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

Dark-eyed Junco (Pink-sided)

Junco hyemalis

Franklin's Gull

Leucophaeus pipixcan

Birding

With a hint of spring in the air I've greatly enjoyed getting out to seek birds. I want to start off this blog post with a photo of three species of gulls. From a distance I could see that there were a lot of Ring-billed Gulls (they're the smaller, lighter ones with a black ring near the tip of their bill). And, there were two that were larger and one was facing me and one could be seen from the side and it had a darker back. Because I had observed a few California Gulls in this location before, among the many Ring-billed, I said, "Look at those two larger ones with the darker back ... they're California Gulls."

As I walked past them the light was nicer, so I took another photo before moving on. Now that I look at the photo, I see that there is only one with a darker back (the California Gull, at the bottom left, now almost facing the camera). The one out of the water, standing on a branch is much larger than even the California Gull, and has pink legs. The California and Ring-billed all have yellowish legs.

So, based on the yellowish eye, dirty neck, pink legs and large size, I now believe the one on the stick is a Herring Gull. That's my final answer, and I'm sticking to it ... for now.

Gulls are not really my favorite bird, maybe because they were so common where I grew up on the Atlantic coast of Maine, and maybe because they can be hard to identify, and maybe because if one wants to find gulls a dump is a good place to hang out and I'm not much into dumps anymore now that taking stuff home is frowned upon.

But this next bird is so disliked that it's legal to kill them anytime and in any quantity in Idaho. The Eurasian Collared-Dove has spread like a noxious weed across the entire continent in a few decades. There's no telling, yet, what sort of ecological change they bring with them. That said, I think they do look rather attractive.

Though rather far away, I was pleased to spot this Northern Shrike in a local park. They will likely go north as winter draws to a close.

This is an Audubon's race Yellow-rumped Warbler. Audubon's have a yellow throat. The other race, the Myrtle, have an off-white throat.

And, finally, who does not enjoy seeing an owl? I had looked for this one before, but they blend in so well with the branches and tree trunks that they can be difficult to spot. Only after the local resident pointed out this Great Horned Owl's favorite roosts was I able to see it, though I'm sure I had looked in that area already and overlooked it.

Gulls

Those white birds seen on the coast are often just lumped together as "sea gulls" by many people. Actually there isn't a bird called a "sea gull" and many of them live inland, far from the ocean. They can be difficult to tell apart, so I'll share some photos of some of the gulls I saw.


This one is generally the most common gull, the Herring Gull. To recognize gull species takes a lot of patience, and there are some things I always look for. I check the color of the feet ... pink or yellow? I look at the bill size, shape, and color or markings. And, if I can get close enough, I look at the color of the flesh around the eye. In this case we see pink feet, a big yellow bill with a red spot, and yellow around the eye. (Click on the picture to see a larger version.) Herring Gull.


This one is a bit less common, and it is larger with a dark back ... almost black instead of grey like the one above. The feet and bill are about the same color as the Herring Gull, but have a look at the orbital ring (flesh around the eye) on this one ... red, not yellow. It's a Great Black-backed Gull.

Now this one is different, with legs more pale yellow than pink, and though the bill is yellow it does not have the red spot but instead sports a black band. And the orbital ring is black. It is a Ring-billed Gull, one we often see in Idaho as well. They hang around dumps a lot to get free food, but with the closure of open dumps life is getting harder for this scavenger and they're hanging around picnic tables hoping I'll drop my sandwich.

Uh, oh. Sorry about this one. I'll just have to tell you about it. This gull is small, about half the size of the Herring Gull and has a short black bill and pinkish-red feet. I think you can see the red feet of the one in the middle of the rock, closest to us ... or maybe I just remember what I saw and fill in the picture using my imagination. These are Bonaparte's Gulls.

Audubon birding outing

On Saturday I went on a Golden Eagle Audubon Society birding field trip to C.J. Strike Reservoir near Mountain Home, Idaho. I always learn something new when I travel with these experienced birders. And, I saw a bird that was new to me, the White-winged Scoter.




I also got a nice photo of a beautiful gull, the Bonaparte's Gull. Gull identification can be difficult because to the untrained eye the differences can be subtle, and gulls don't just switch from juvenile to adult plumage, or winter to breeding plumage ... they change some of their feathers, in a cycle that is more complex than many other bird species. And, they interbreed, so it may be half one species and half of another.




Maybe that's why I think the Bonaparte's Gull is beautiful. Its graceful black and white detailing is very distinctive.