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OCTOBER |
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RUFFED GROUSE: FAVORITE
BIRD OF FALL
By Ben Young
Nothing says spring like the first flight of northbound
Canada Geese. And to me, no bird is more closely aligned
with autumn than the Ruffed Grouse.
Ruffed Grouse are part of the gallinaceous family of
birds. That’s fancy-talk meaning they are similar to
chickens. Taxonomists lump them with other grouse,
partridge, pheasants, ptarmigan and the like.
In Montana, grouse are split between those of the
prairie and those of the forest. Sage and Sharptail
Grouse are prairie birds. Ruffed Grouse are forest
grouse, midsize between the diminutive Spruce Grouse and
the husky Dusky (formerly Blue) Grouse.
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SEPTEMBER |
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THE MYSTERIOUS BLACK
SWIFT
By Ben Young
A“Enigmatic.” “Unknown.” Take a glance at the species
account for the Black Swift (Cypseloides niger) in your
field guide and you’ll see such descriptors associated
with aspects of its life history. How else can one
describe a non-perching bird that is seen only as it
flies (Sibley 2000) (often foraging high enough in the
sky to escape detection with binoculars (Rathbun 1925),
nests in dark crevices or on ledges near or behind
waterfalls that receive little to no direct sunlight,
and for which only 124 nest sites have been confirmed
worldwide (Levad 2010)? To add to the intrigue, the
wintering range for North American breeding birds
remains unknown. >
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MAY |
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THE TENNESSEE WARBLER:
SPRUCE BUDWORM SPECIALIST
Among the breeding wood warblers in Western Montana, the
Tennessee Warbler has been the most elusive and
difficult to see each summer. For 25 years, my husband
Bruce and I have taken an annual May bike ride from the
Trego area down Wolf Creek to the Fisher River and on to
the Kootenai River. Each year we searched for this
small, indistinctly marked warbler with a fine, sharp
bill and a short tail with a distinctive three-part
song. Finally, in 2010 we hit gold! >
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APRIL |
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AMERICAN REDSTART
By Lewis Young
Although a member of the large family of wood-warblers
that are sometimes difficult to tell apart, American
Redstarts have distinctive color patterns and behavioral
traits that make them relatively easy to identify. Adult
males are glossy black with bright orange patches on
wings, tail and sides. The belly and under the tail are
white. Adult females are gray-olive above with white underparts and yellow patches on the tail, wings and
sides. The birds are about 5 ¼ inches long with a 7 ¾
inch wingspan. >
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MARCH |
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SPRUCE GROUSE--A FOREST
GUIDE
By Kathy Ross
Imagine the shock of hearing an engine start up in the
middle of a beautiful forest a long distance from road
or apparent civilization. I know I was truly puzzled and
a little disconcerted by this mechanical sound in the
quiet of a peaceful woodland setting, only to discover
it was an important aspect of the forest ecosystem. The
"drumming", as it is referred to, of grouse in our
mountain forests is actually the rapid wing beats of
male grouse letting the ladies know he is available for
the spring mating season.
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FEBRUARY |
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TREE SWALLOW
Article By Lisa Bate
It usually
happens sometime in March. I am outside working on the
farm when I hear what sounds like bubbling water flying
overhead. Then I just smile knowing that the tree
swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) have returned from their
wintering grounds and with them, have brought the real
beginning of spring to northwest Montana.
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JANUARY |
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THE SNOW SHOE BIRD, THE
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN
Article By Mary Nelesen
For the past
five summers, I have searched in vain for a glimpse of a
White-tailed Ptarmigan. This past summer, I was
fortunate and saw a flock of them just by chance. My
first experience in seeing this elusive bird was while
walking along the Highline Trail at Logan Pass in
Glacier National Park. Two friends and I decided to stop
and eat our lunch just below Haystack Butte. As we
approached a large flat rock to sit on, we noticed four
small speckled-brown birds nearby. Sure enough, there
were 3 young and an adult Whitetailed Ptarmigan.
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DECEMBER |
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THE COLD CLIMATE
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
Article By Gail Cleveland
Photo by Josh Covill
During the
winter, if you see a large hawk soaring or hovering over
grasslands, chances are you have spotted a Rough-legged
Hawk. They are the most common winter soaring hawk of
the Genus Buteo and the only one that prefers cold
climates all year. It nests in the Arctic, mostly in
cliffs in tundra regions north of boreal forests; the
entire population migrates south, wintering in southern
Canada and the United States with few moving farther
south than central US.
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NOVEMBER |
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WESTERN TANAGER - SUMMER BEAUTY
Article By Melissa Sladek
From my office window, I
see him. His stark contrast with the dark and light
greens of the surrounding forest catches my eye. Today,
he is busy…I’ve now seen him three times flying back and
forth across the road.
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OCTOBER |
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The Tail of a Bird Some
People Love to Hate The Black-billed Magpie
Article By Denise Hester
“WOW! What is that bird?” These are often the words of
amazement uttered by a first-time-from-back-east visitor
to the Flathead Valley when they first see a
Black-billed Magpie. While it is a large eye-catching
black and white bird ( 17 1/2 -22"/44-56 cm) with a dark
bill, head, breast, and under parts, with green
iridescence on wings, white belly and shoulders, white
primaries conspicuous as white wing patches in flight,
it is the long black tail that first attracts the eye.
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SEPTEMBER |
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THE "NEW" PACIFIC WREN
Article By Ben Young
Birders have enjoyed much activity in the world of the wren in recent years, months, and weeks. Over a year ago I found myself chasing a Sinaloa Wren, originally found near Patagonia, AZ, a bird that would later be accepted as a new ABA record. More locally, Montana birders were treated to the state’s first accepted record of a Carolina Wren, which remained for some time this spring near Arlee, MT.
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MAY |
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WHITE-CROWNED SPAROW
Article by Mary Nelesen
I have been watching daily for the return of the
White-crowned Sparrows that frequent our yard each
spring. They typically spend several days hopping and
scratching on the ground below the bird feeders to
expose insects and seeds to feed on before heading to
higher elevations to breed.
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APRIL |
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A COMPANY OF FINCHES
Article By Jeannie Marcure
Did you know that a group of finches can be called a
charm, a company or a trembling? Personally, I like to
refer to the group that frequents our feeders as a
company, since their large, invasive flocks remind me of
a military company or at times even a battalion!
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MARCH |
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GET A BUZZ FROM THE
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER
By Gail Cleveland
High up near the
tip top of a fir tree in Glacier Park, I can hear the
distinctive song of one of my favorite Northwest Montana
warblers. If I am lucky, he may come out and sing from
the top of the tree, but I am not getting my hopes up. I
also didn’t bring my neck brace, which would definitely
be handy when looking for these tree top singers.
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FEBRUARY |
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LEWIS WOODPECKER
By Lewis Young
Named for Captain Meriwether Lewis, who first
scientifically described them during the 1804-1806 Lewis
& Clark Expedition, Lewis’s woodpeckers are unusual in
that much of the year they feed mostly by catching
insects in acrobatic flight. They swoop out from a perch
like a flycatcher or circle in the air like a swallow to
catch insects.
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JANUARY |
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OUR COLD WEATHER ‘CAMP ROBBER’
By Linda DeKort
One of the common birds we will be studying
carefully in the results of our Christmas Bird
Count is the Gray Jay. As its name implies, the
Gray Jay is muted in body color but is quite
distinguishable with its striking pattern of
black and white on its head and its short, black
bill. The thick fluffy plumage gives it a soft
rounded look; this appealing appearance allows
us to be more forgiving as the Gray Jay, also
known as Camp Robber, makes off with a few
morsels of our picnic.>
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