For the love of pipits!

After a splendid season of surveying Sprague’s Pipits in Manitoba’s grasslands, I am feeling rather pipit-inspired and have decided to share a series of photos of different species from around the globe. Pipits are not as boldly patterned as their relatives the wagtails but the pack in a lot of mystique and offer a wonderful birding challenged to find and identify.

Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii), Manitoba, Canada:

One of the highlights of so much surveying in cattle pastures this year was getting some exceptional opportunities to SEE Sprague’s Pipit. I emphasise the word “see” because 9 times out of 10 one hears Sprague’s Pipit but cannot spot the speck in the sky. These grassland birds make their haunting song carry further by singing high in the air over the grasslands. This year though, having spent so much time in grasslands such as cattle pastures for #MBSARPAL (http://www.mbbeef.ca/sarpal/) and on  community pastures, I saw no less than six of them on the ground (more than I have seen on the ground in 15 years of birding in Manitoba). Here is one that shows the bird well (including the white outer rectrices) stitched together with a habitat shot that shows a pipit walking through some beautiful mixed-grass prairie. . 

Buff-bellied Pipit, a.k.a American Pipit (Anthus rubescens), Manitoba, Canada and Wyoming, U.S.A.:

The other pipit we regularly see in North America is known in North America as “American Pipit” but this species also breeds in much of Siberia and northernmost China and winters in Asia as well so most of the world prefers to call the species Buff-bellied Pipit. Different populations breed in Arctic, Subarctic or alpine tundra and can look rather different (some more pink in breeding plumage and some more buff). The first collage shows a bird in the subarctic tundra of northern Manitoba, Canada and a close-up of a bird foraging in the inter-tidal zone of Hudson Bay. The second collage shows a bird in rocky alpine habitat in Wyoming and then a juvenile on a boulder slope.

Yellowish Pipit (Anthus lutescens), Salta Argentina:

The Yellowish Pipit is one of the more widespread and smaller of the South American pipits. This species is found in grasslands and other relatively open habitat types from the dry zone of southern South America to the tropical wet savannas, even as far north as Panama. 

Hellmayr’s Pipit (Anthus hellmayri), Tucumán, Argentina:

The subtly beautiful Hellmay’s Pipit is an enigmatic grassland pipit, found most commonly in the drier grasslands of the Puna (as high as 3700 m ASL) but also in pastures in some contexts. Some populations are resident and some are migratory and there is the possibility that some subspecies may in fact be cryptic species. This composite shows the bird up close on a rock and in the typical Puna habitat it calls home. It reminds me a lot of our Sprague’s Pipit but perhaps with a more speckled face.

Rosy Pipit (Anthus roseatus), Sichuan, China:

There are a few pipits that have soft pink or red in their plumage and the Rosy Pipit is one of my absolute favourites. This collage shows a bird in breeding plumage in the high mountains of Sichuan, China. This species is an altitudinal migrant, breeding in the alpine meadows and grassy slopes of the Himalayas and eastern Asia, even at the snow line, and wintering in the mid elevations plains.

Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni), South Korea and China:

The Olive-backed Pipit is one of the more common and widespread Asian pipits. This species breeds in a diverse mixture of habitat types especially where the taiga meets the tundra and where the montane forest meets the alpine zone, and, at least in the breeding season, seems to spend more time perched in shrubs and trees than many other pipits. You can even find them walking on the forest floor or fallen conifer needles at times. Like the Rosy Pipit, the alpine populations migrate down slope in winter and some go as far south as Borneo. This collage shows a few habitat types and plumages (a bird perched on a shrub in breeding plumage, a bird on a lawn in spring and a bird on the forest floor in autumn). 

Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris), Rajasthan, India:

The Tawny Pipit is mostly a Western Palearctic breeding species that winters in sub-Saharan Africa (Sahel) and parts of the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent. The large and fairly plain (i.e. unstreaked) pipit is easier to identify than many other pipits. It is found mostly in dry habitats as shown here in western India on the wintering grounds. Although it can be found in grassland you will also find this species in sand, gravel, semi-desert and shrubland.

Plain-backed Pipit (Anthus leucophrys), Cameroon:

The Plain-backed Pipit is one of the African resident pipit species (i.e. does not migrate) and a striking bird with its rich tawny underparts. This species is found in savanna and grassland with scattered shrubs and trees as shown here (photo from Cameroon).

Portrait - Great Gray Owl

Manitoba is a cold cold place in winter but the opportunity to observe wondrous creatures such as the magnificent Great Gray Owl can dissolve the -40° temperatures, as least in my mind. In winter Great Grays love open habitats like the tamarack bog in this habitat photo.


They also come out to farmland and open country at the edge of the boreal forest, where they are often easier to see.


I usually see Great Grays in winter while driving, but this one I surprised as I walked around the corner of a trail in Birds Hill Provincial Park. This bird was not happy to see me so I took this photo quickly and then backed off. You can tell this owl is upset by the stiffened rictal bristles, which leave the nostrils visible.


The second photo is a crop so you can see this better. In this photo you can also see some of the other features that make Great Grays such excellent hunters. The whole face is shaped like a satellite disk (designed to pick up sound waves rather than radio waves) which channels sound into the asymmetrical ears. The stiffened feathers of the facial disk also aid in this. The “ridge” in the center of the face allows the two ears to perceive sound reasonably independently to increase the accuracy of pinpointing the source of a sound.

Great Grays can often hunt from a perch but their preferred prey is the meadow vole and these are often under the snow in open fields. So Great Grays will fly up,

then hover over a promising sound to get a better fix (this is when their adaptations for silent flight are particularly useful, i.e. the comb-like “teeth” on the leading edge of the outer primaries and the soft plumage),

then they plunge into the snow to grab the unsuspecting vole moving in their tunnels beneath the snow.

They squeeze the vole in their talons and wait until the vole is dead before transferring their prey to the bill (otherwise they risk getting bitten in the face)

And carry their meal away…

Occasionally voles will venture above the surface in winter and then the owls have easy pickings, swooping in

Throwing their feet in front of them (it helps that they have such long legs) and grab their prey

You can see how long the legs are as this bird flies away with their prize (the long legs also help when catching voles in deep snow)

These photos show the owl flying away with the vole (luckily in my direction)

I love to watch Great Grays push off – they fly so gracefully - so here are a few more images.

Great Grays are much tougher to spot in the summer but if you spend enough time sloshing through tamarack bogs you sometimes find them

These youngsters are still covered in down but they are getting ready to fledge

When just fledged, they look somewhat peculiar

With the wing feathers developing first, the underparts appear more downy than the upperparts

You can also see the development of the facial disk

This youngster has just been fed, you see a little drop of blood on the bill. Pretty soon this youngster will start to look like an adult – they grow up very quickly!

More owl photos at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/index.htm

Portrait: Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owls begin strengthening their pair bonds in the middle of winter. As the breeding season approaches, which for this species is very early, the pair will often roost close together. This handsome couple is roosting together six weeks before breeding. The female is on the right (larger and, in this case, paler). This pair exhibits some of the typical range of colour variation found in Manitoba.


Of course, they are not always side-by-side.

And sometimes they engage in some interesting behaviour – here they seem to be kissing. The female is standing up and the male “lying” in the boughs.

Once they choose a nest site, they do not take long to start breeding. In Manitoba, suburban pairs will often lay in February, pairs in rural areas later. This mild winter of 2006 saw some exceptionally early nests in Manitoba with laying beginning in mid January. Egg laying in 2007 in Winnipeg did not begin until February (which is still early compared to long-term averages). In 2008, the earliest egg laying was 26th January but in the colder 2009 the first nest I found incubating was on February 19th. Incubating females sit very low on the nest as they must keep the eggs warm with their brood patch (when it is -30°C, they cannot leave the nest for more than a few minutes).

When the young hatch the females start to sit a little higher but still use their contour feathers to brood the chicks.

On warmer days they may sit very high

As the young start to get bigger, and can thermoregulate better, she may sit beside them. You can see the remains of food items in the nest.

The male roosts close to the nest and brings food for his family. As the chicks get bigger, the female will start to leave the nest for long enough to hunt. This female has caught an eastern cottontail in broad daylight (cottontails are plentiful in suburban Winnipeg).

Not rabbit again mum! Actually suburban owls have quite a diverse diet and they have not apparently made a dent in the cottontail population (as many gardeners constantly point out to me).

Most of the nesting efforts I have observed in our area have produced two chicks. Sometimes they have just one chick, but other times there are three.

In roughly 6 weeks, their plumage has gone from pure white to buffy and they are ready to leave the nest.

Sometimes they “branch”, i.e. leave the nest to perch in branches in the same tree above the nest. Some studies suggest that branching increases their likelihood of survival by reducing predation risk.

Out of the nest! This chick fledged on 31st March 2006 (earliest recorded fledging in Manitoba) and tried hard to maintain an air of humility when photographed on their first night out... or is that befuddlement?

Here are some more portraits of recently fledged youngsters. You'll notice how the flight feathers are the most fully developed and that the back is already quite developed (adult-like), unlike the fluffy down of the underparts, which is retained the longest.

From their first seemingly timid short hops out of the nest, they must quickly learn to fly. This often involves a lot of flapping to strengthen their muscles before they actually let go. Gradually, they gain confidence…

And a little encouragement always helps!

Flight brings many adventures but landing always seems the most difficult task to master. They even have to learn one of life's lessons that I struggle with, viz. to get upright again sometimes you have to let go first!

Soon, they become adept… even at landing

And can fly clear across large open areas, even across rivers.

By mid August they have all but completed their first prebasic moult and look like their parents. In the photo of the youngster stretching, notice the somewhat pointed shape and uniform wear of the remiges indicating a hatch year bird.

Siblings still hang out together, sometimes striking poetic poses...

Perched out like this, they may look their adults; however, they haven’t mastered hunting on their own yet and their parents still answer their raspy begging calls.

They are also good at getting up to mischief!

Not sure what they're up to but...

This youngster has decided to tear into a piece of bark and rip it off the branch – practice perhaps for dismembering prey.

And they still like to bug their parents. Mum (upper right) does not seem too impressed with her wee-un's antics.

...but, in the blink of an eye, they will strike out alone, off to terrorise the night sky... gracefully!

...and purposely!

You can see more of my owl photography at: http://artusophotos.com/3_Nightbirds/index.htm