Big Year Week 4

January 22-28

Cold weather and snowfall continued into week four with blowing and drifting snow closing the area schools on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  My task for this week was to continuing to  photograph the common feeder birds.

One of the most striking common feeder birds the Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata).  Blue Jays belong to the family Corvidae, which also includes crows and ravens, but they are the only member of their genus that is native to Indiana.  Blue Jays have a reputation for being bullies at bird feeders, and I do notice that when they arrive, the other birds tend to fly off rather abruptly, but their fondness for acorns makes them an important part of the ecosystem by helping with the spread of oak trees.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)

Our second woodpecker species of the year is this male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens).  Downy woodpeckers are our most common woodpecker species, and the males can be easily identified by the red spot on the back of their heads.

Male Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

Another year-round resident to our backyard is the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor).  These feisty little birds are the first to sound the alarm call in the event of danger.  

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Running total after week 4:

Birds - 15
Mammals - 1

Big Year Week 3

January 15-21

The return of snow kept the feeders busy early in the week, and I was able to capture a few shots of common feeder birds such as this House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).  Formerly known as the English Sparrow, this Eurasian species was purposefully introduced to Brooklyn, New York in the 1850s allegedly in-part to make immigrants feel more at home by having familiar wildlife around them.  Lacking a natural predator, the House Sparrow became an ecological nuisance by displacing native cavity nesting birds such as Bluebirds.  By 1910, the House Sparrow had expanded all the way to California.  House Sparrows belong to the family Passeridae, which is an entirely different family than the native American sparrows, which belong to the family Emberizidae.  This species has adapted well to urban environments, and it is often seen scavenging for food in parking lots.

Male House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 

Everyone knows the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).   Indiana, along with six other states have designated the Northern Cardinal as their official state bird, and it is a year-round resident.  Like many birds, the male of the species is much more colorful than the female. This phenomenon, known as sexual dichromatism was described by Charles Darwin, and it is believed that the males are brightly colored in order to be attractive to the females whereas the drab colored females tend to blend into their surroundings in order to escape predators during nesting.  Northern Cardinals are our only crested red bird, and they are one of the few birds species where the females as well as the male sing.

Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Female Northern Cardinal

Year-to-Date Totals:

Birds - 12
Mammals - 1