Oak Hammock Marsh is looking for volunteers for the summer bird census, See:
https://importantbirdareasmb.ca/2016/05/27/oak-hammock-marsh-summer-bird-census/
Friday, May 27, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
"The Messenger" Trailer
For those interested in joining me on Friday May 13th for the screening of The Messenger at Bandwidth Theatre, here is a trailer:
http://www.bandwidththeatre.com/#!upcoming-movies/c9qb
http://www.bandwidththeatre.com/#!upcoming-movies/c9qb
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
International Migratory Bird Day + “The Messenger”
International Migratory Bird Day is celebrated here every year on the second Saturday in May and this year there are some great activities to help you celebrate on May 14th!
Join
us at Oak Hammock Marsh on May 14th for any of the following:
* 8 - 10
a.m.: Birding
Marshwalk with Christian Artuso and Tim Poole - Birds recorded on the walk will
be entered in eBird
* 10 - 11 a.m: IBA Program and Data Entry – Learn how to
record birds in eBird with Tim Poole and Christian Artuso
* 11 a.m. -
noon: Manitoba’s Returning Songbirds presentation by Christian Artuso
* 1 - 2
p.m.: Birding
by Ear Workshop with Paula Grieef - Learn some basics for identifying bird
songs in this beginner workshop. $5 plus
admission
* 2:30 - 3:30
p.m.: Buying Binoculars presentation -
What to look for when buying binoculars with Paula Grieef and Ricky Ryan from
Zeiss. Binoculars will be available for testing. Enter to win a pair of Zeiss
binoculars.
During the week of International Migratory
Bird Day, the superb documentary “The Messenger”,
which chronicles the struggles of songbirds in the face of habitat destruction,
climate change and industrialization, will be featured at Winnipeg’s Bandwidth Theatre on May 13 – 19, playing
at 7 p.m. daily with 5 p.m. matinées on Saturday and Sunday. On the “auspicious”
Friday May 13 I will be there to introduce the screening.
I will
also be leading a birding workshop at St Leon on April 30th for any
of you in that neck of the woods who might be interested. On the evening of May
12th I will be doing a condensed Birding By Ear Workshop at FortWhyte
Alive.
Good
birding all; May is just around the corner and such a wondrous time in Manitoba!
Here are two photos of a male Baltimore Oriole I
photographed recently in Costa Rica — one of many birds getting ready for the
northward trek to brighten our lives up here in the temperate zones!
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Comparison of Campephilus and Dryocopus:
The four photos used in this collage are:
Top left: Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), female, Bahía Drake, Costa Rica.
Top right: Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), female, Playa de Oro, Colima, Mexico.
Bottom left: Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus), male, Río Lagartos, Yucatán, Mexico.
Bottom right: Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus), male, Chaparri, Lambayeque, Peru.
I have posted previously about the differences in toe structure and perching posture of woodpeckers (see: http://
Pale-billed Woodpecker and Lineated Woodpecker are quite similar in appearance and most people look to the facial markings to distinguish them. If the head is turned away or you don’t have a good look at the facial markings there is one quick aspect of GISS (general impression, shape and size) that helps distinguish them and it relates to a major difference between the Campephilus and Dryocopus woodpeckers (and one that helps us understand why such similar looking woodpeckers belong to different genera).
The Campephilus woodpeckers include many of the world’s largest woodpecker species and they have a neat trick to support their weight and large bodies. In addition to gripping with their toes and stiffened tail feathers, they also spread their trasometatarsus wide with the joint resting against the trunk as an extra support. The top two photos of a Pale-billed Woodpecker shows how this works on a vertical trunk (top left) and an angled branch (top right). Notice how the tarsus and “joint” rest against the trunk such that the bird appears to be resting on them (which many of us might think of this joint as a bird’s knee but it is technically the ankle). Even though the Dryocopus woodpeckers are almost as large, they perch in a more “normal” woodpecker fashion, gripping with their toes and using their tail as a brace as these Lineated Woodpeckers show on a vertical trunk (bottom left) and on an angled branch (bottom right). In each case, notice how the joint does not touch the tree and the tarsi are held at more of a 45 degree angle to the body and to the surface they are resting on (as opposed to resting on the surface as in the Pale-billed Woodpecker examples). This difference is visible from a distance and can be a useful identification clue in situations where lighting or distance makes it hard to observe plumage details with clarity.
To give a more complete, broader picture, following IOC taxonomy, there are six Dryocopus species: Black-bodied Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Andaman Woodpecker and Black Woodpecker. There are 11 Campephilus species (all confined to the Americas), with the two largest presumed extinct: Powerful Woodpecker, Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Red-necked Woodpecker, Robust Woodpecker, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Cream-backed Woodpecker, Magellanic Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Woodpecker (presumed extinct) and Imperial Woodpecker (presumed extinct). Note that Helmeted Woodpecker has now been moved to the genus Celeus.
Top left: Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), female, Bahía Drake, Costa Rica.
Top right: Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), female, Playa de Oro, Colima, Mexico.
Bottom left: Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus), male, Río Lagartos, Yucatán, Mexico.
Bottom right: Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus), male, Chaparri, Lambayeque, Peru.
I have posted previously about the differences in toe structure and perching posture of woodpeckers (see: http://
Pale-billed Woodpecker and Lineated Woodpecker are quite similar in appearance and most people look to the facial markings to distinguish them. If the head is turned away or you don’t have a good look at the facial markings there is one quick aspect of GISS (general impression, shape and size) that helps distinguish them and it relates to a major difference between the Campephilus and Dryocopus woodpeckers (and one that helps us understand why such similar looking woodpeckers belong to different genera).
The Campephilus woodpeckers include many of the world’s largest woodpecker species and they have a neat trick to support their weight and large bodies. In addition to gripping with their toes and stiffened tail feathers, they also spread their trasometatarsus wide with the joint resting against the trunk as an extra support. The top two photos of a Pale-billed Woodpecker shows how this works on a vertical trunk (top left) and an angled branch (top right). Notice how the tarsus and “joint” rest against the trunk such that the bird appears to be resting on them (which many of us might think of this joint as a bird’s knee but it is technically the ankle). Even though the Dryocopus woodpeckers are almost as large, they perch in a more “normal” woodpecker fashion, gripping with their toes and using their tail as a brace as these Lineated Woodpeckers show on a vertical trunk (bottom left) and on an angled branch (bottom right). In each case, notice how the joint does not touch the tree and the tarsi are held at more of a 45 degree angle to the body and to the surface they are resting on (as opposed to resting on the surface as in the Pale-billed Woodpecker examples). This difference is visible from a distance and can be a useful identification clue in situations where lighting or distance makes it hard to observe plumage details with clarity.
To give a more complete, broader picture, following IOC taxonomy, there are six Dryocopus species: Black-bodied Woodpecker, Lineated Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, White-bellied Woodpecker, Andaman Woodpecker and Black Woodpecker. There are 11 Campephilus species (all confined to the Americas), with the two largest presumed extinct: Powerful Woodpecker, Crimson-bellied Woodpecker, Red-necked Woodpecker, Robust Woodpecker, Crimson-crested Woodpecker, Pale-billed Woodpecker, Guayaquil Woodpecker, Cream-backed Woodpecker, Magellanic Woodpecker, Ivory-billed Woodpecker (presumed extinct) and Imperial Woodpecker (presumed extinct). Note that Helmeted Woodpecker has now been moved to the genus Celeus.
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