Foam Lake Birding No. 33

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 33
Since coming back from the sunny south, I have had the pleasure of feeding a small flock of Redpolls in our backyard. Like other finches, they like niger seed the best. Because niger seed has become expensive, our niger seed is provided in finch feeders only. That means the birds must be able to hang upside down to feed. Unlike other Carduelis finches, Redpolls do not like to hang upside down to feed unless they absolutely have to. Eventually, temptation overcomes their reluctance and they hang upside down and feed.
Our friends, Morris and Jane Karakochuk, have supplied us with lots of canola and canary seed from their farm. For several years now we have hung out feeders with both of those seeds. To our dismay, nothing would touch them! We left the feeders out anyway just in case something eventually developed a taste for canola and/or canary seed. To our delight we found the Redpolls eating both, but preferring the canola. Even so, niger seed is still their preference.
On a very cold and blustery January 13th, as I was sitting at the kitchen table having a coffee, a small flock of birds flew over our house from the west (from “behind”) and plunged into the deep soft snow in our in our neighbour’s yard across the street from us. A quick glance through binoculars confirmed that they were Grey Partridges (Huns). I took some pictures, but only four birds are visible as the other five quickly buried themselves into the snow to get away from the awful weather. After several vehicles drove down the street, the birds seemed to become agitated and suddenly flew away for a quieter place, I presume.
This week’s featured bird, the Common Raven, is a relative newcomer to our area. It is not until the last twenty years or so that the Raven started to appear locally.
P. A. Taverner, a noted Canadian ornithologist, in his 1953 edition of, The Birds of Canada, wrote, “…. yet for some unexplained reason the Crow increases and the Raven disappears when settlement advances.” Now, for some “unexplained reason” the Raven has adjusted to man and, like the Crow, increases with settlement. Personally, that is a good thing. We needed more birds in the winter. Some farmers have reported Ravens tearing up plastic grain storage bags to get to the grain inside. This is not a good thing.
The Common Raven is found throughout the Northern hemisphere. In Canada it can only be confused with the Crow. Refer to Foam Lake birding No. 17 for distinguishing features between it and the Crow.
In the deep south of the US and in Mexico, it can be confused with its crow sized cousin, the Chihuahuan Raven. Fortunately, there is only a little overlap in ranges, so a range map can usually help determine which is which. Where they do overlap, identifying a solitary bird can be a real problem. An observer has to hope for a small gust of wind to ruffle the Raven’s neck feathers and expose the base feathers underneath. If they are black, the bird is a Common Raven; if they are white, the bird is a Chihuahuan Raven. Because of these white base feathers, the Chihuahuan Raven was originally called the White Necked Raven.
This week’s picture was taken in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. A bus load of us were on a guided tour and had stopped for lunch at a picnic site. The Raven sat patiently in a pine tree on the look out for something to eat, and I managed to get a good shot of a very elusive bird.

Foam Lake Birding No. 17

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 17
This week’s bird, the American Crow, needs no introduction. Again, it is another of those New World birds that have the adjective, American, added because of several, already named, European crows. Later, it was discovered that there actually were two other crows in the Americas that needed names – The Northwestern Crow and Fish Crow. The Fish Crow occurs along the coast and big rivers of the southeastern USA; the Northwestern Crow occurs along the coast and islands of British Columbia. The American Crow exists across most of North America.
The American is bigger than the other two, but there is so much size overlap that they cannot be separated in the field, even in mixed flocks. The only way to tell them apart is by their sounds. Only the American makes a clearly pronounced caw. So, if anybody happens to be in BC and hears a crow making a “funny” sound, it is a Northwestern (similarly with the Fish Crow in the southeastern USA). There is no need to use binoculars as there are no visible differences among all three.
In addition to the three crows, there are two ravens, the Common and Chihuahuan, that add to the confusion. Locally, there are only two birds, the Raven (Common) and the Crow (American) that make identification difficult. The Raven is considerably larger than the Crow, but as previously stated, size is of little use in the field. Obviously, colour is of no use whatsoever. How does one tell them apart? Sound, if the birds cooperate, is the easiest and the best. Ravens croak; Crows caw. If the birds are silent, distinguishing characteristics are subtle indeed! When perched, the Raven has more of a “Roman nose” shaped beak and visible (usually) fluffed out throat feathers that somewhat resemble a beard. The Crow is more streamlined. In general flight, the Raven’s wings are longer and more slender; the body length is longer, especially the head and neck, in proportion to the wings. In overhead flight, the Raven’s tail is quite rounded; the Crow’s is square. In flight toward or away from an observer, the Raven’s wingbeat is flatter and shallower. When coming to a landing, the raven’s wings are extended straight out; the Crow’s wings are lifted slightly upward in a shallow “V” (dihedral). If Ravens or Crows are quartering away or toward an observer it is almost impossible to tell them apart. Often ravens will soar high in the sky like hawks; Crows never do.
As a birder, I am glad that these two birds exist side by side as it were. It gives me a chance to improve my identification skills by forcing me to concentrate on things other than colour, feeding habits and habitat. Focusing on small and subtle details makes it much easier to identify other birds that are similar to each other.
Crows are moderately migratory flying south just to the edge of the snow line. Locally, there is some consolation in that a large black bird seen in the winter is positively a Raven. People in the Maritimes are not so lucky. There, Crows and Ravens are resident year round! This week’s photo was taken in Prince Edward Island in October of 2007.
Crows, along with ravens, magpies and jays belong to a group of birds called Corvids (from Latin for crows). Because of West Nile Disease, the word, Corvid, has become familiar to just about everybody. Corvids carry the west Nile virus. Mosquitoes bite the Corvids, then, bite other birds and animals thus infecting them. Most birds and animals are immune to the disease, but those that are not become casualties. Some bird species have been decimated by the disease. Generally speaking, it could be argued that man is immune. However, some people get sick with West Nile every year and a few of those, unfortunately, die. This year, it has declined sharply.
Overall, Crows (Corvids in general) are a beneficial lot. They feed on insects, carrion, man’s refuse and, unfortunately, eggs and young of other birds. Their diets are almost identical to that of the gulls. Being the most intelligent of all groups of birds, they have learned to live very comfortably near man. European traditions, which were carried over to the New World, always painted large black birds as being somehow evil. They are not. Rather, they are intelligent which makes them difficult for man to control, which in turn makes them unpopular. Of all birds, they are probably, the most interesting to observe.