|
|
 |
2010
Archives >> 22009
Archives >> 2008
Archives >>
2007
Archives
>> 2006
Archives >>
2005
Archives
>> |
|
2013 |
|
FEBRUARY |
 |
THE NORTHERN SHRIKE
By
Lewis Young
The Northern Shrike is a solitary “masked hunter” that
may be found in the northern U.S., including the
Flathead Valley, during the winter. Its scientific name
is Lanius excubitor and means "butcher watchman.”
It is a pale gray bird with lightly barred under-parts
and black wings, tail, and mask. The black wings have a
distinctive white patch that can be seen when perched or
flying and the tail has white outer feathers. The tail
often bobs when perched. The black mask runs from the
base of the bill, through the eye and well beyond. The
bill has a distinct hook.
>
MORE
|
|
JANUARY |
|
 |
BY CHANCE, HAVE YOU
SEEN A GAMBEL'S QUAIL?
By
Denny Olson, Photo by Sheryl Hester
Where are they and why haven’t I been able to spot one
in Montana?
So you have been all over Montana trying to fill your
quail sighting quotient in hopes of being able to check
all those little boxes in the back of your bird book but
to no avail. You’ve logged 5 species of grouse, the
White-tailed Ptarmigan, a covey of fugitive Chukars, a
California Quail in the Bitterroot, Gray Partridge, and
a Northern Bobwhite Quail. Being an expert birder, you
know that the latter four species are not native. But
since you haven’t spotted a Gambel’s Quail, that box
remains unchecked. Well there are three easy steps to
putting a Gambel’s Quail in your sights. Here is the
secret, but there is one caveat.
>
MORE
|
|
2012 |
|
|
DECEMBER |
|
 |
THE GRAY CATBIRD (Dumetella
carolinensis)
By
John Hughes
Have you ever been walking in a riparian area and heard
what sounded like a cat mewing in the thick understory?
Every time this happens to my wife and me, we turn and
look at each other, smile like kids, and say “catbird.”
The Gray Catbird is one of many birds whose names are
derived from their songs or call notes. In the case of
the Gray Catbird, the mewing sound is a call note, and
while it doesn’t really sound like a cat, barring
perhaps a sick cat, it certainly reminds you of one.
>
MORE
|
|
NOVEMBER |
|
 |
GRAY JAY: GIVING NEW
MEANING TO "INTREPID"
By
Denny Olson
Some of us have been lucky enough to have a “Whiskey
Jack,” “Camp Robber,” Canada Jay, sit on our hand (or
head, in my case) and calmly nab a seed or peanut. After
watching them forage for years, flying lightly from low
perch to low perch, I’m convinced that they are less
“curious” about us than calculatingly efficient. They
have a Corvid (Crow/Jay family) brain, after all, and
their kin have been the uncontested “Mensa” club of the
bird world for years. They know danger, and lack
thereof, when they see it. And, they have had thousands
of years of practice being cute and endearing. More on
that later.
>
MORE
|
|
OCTOBER |
|
|
A GORGEOUS SUMMER
MIGRANT
By Gael
Bissell
Guess which Flathead Valley summer bird (male) is orange
and black, has a thick bill, and eats monarch
butterflies in the winter but doesn’t get sick? If you
still aren’t sure, the next hint is … the male sounds
like a loud robin on caffeine. You guessed it right;
it’s the Black-headed Grosbeak.
>
MORE
|
|
SEPTEMBER |
 |
EASTERN KINGBIRD
By
Ben Young
I’m often asked by my students to name my favorite
birds. I can sell them on the kingfishers, hummingbirds,
trogons, and owls without much persuasion, but when I
mention the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), many
are puzzled. How could such a common and seemingly
ordinary bird be among my favorites?
>
MORE
|
|
MAY |
|
 |
WARBLING VIREOS
By
Gail Cleveland
Although vireos are persistent singers during the
breeding season, these rather plain birds seem to hide
among the foliage of treetops and dense thickets,
proving to be difficult to see. Consequently, they are
one family that beginning bird watchers often overlook.
Of this strictly New World family of birds, Northwest
Montana has three fairly common species: the Red-eyed
Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo and Warbling Vireo. Taking a
closer look at my favorite, the Warbling Vireo, should
send birders in hot pursuit of this seemingly-elusive
little gray bird.
>
MORE
|
|
APRIL |
|
 |
THE ELUSIVE WILSON'S
SNIPE
By
Jeannie Marcure
Because they’ve only heard about it as the object of a
practical joke involving a “snipe hunt,” many
non-birders think that the snipe is a mythical bird.
This rather common prank involves taking a tenderfoot
into the woods at night, arming them with a flashlight
and a gunny sack and sending them out to “hunt snipe!”
Such hunters are usually encouraged to make strange
noises and wander aimlessly through woods or marshes in
the effort to bag this elusive bird. The snipe was
probably chosen as the object of this prank because of
its elusive nature and of course, such a hunt is doomed
to be unsuccessful allowing much teasing and ridicule of
the hunter when he or she finally admits defeat!
>
MORE
|
|
MARCH |
|
 |
WESTERN GREBE
(Aechmophorus occidentalis)
By
Lewis Young
The Western Grebe is a striking black and white bird
with a long slim neck and a long bill. The largest of
our grebes with a length of 25 inches, a wingspan of 24
inches, and weighing just over 3 pounds, they have a
long greenish-yellow sharp-pointed bill, and black (or
dark gray) and white plumage. The dark plumage is found
on the top of the head, back of the neck, and the upper
body. The white is found on the chin, front of the neck
and the underside of the body. At close range, the red
eye may be seen. Their tail feathers are very small and
hidden among other body feathers. A gregarious, colonial
nesting species, they are infrequently seen on land or
in flight. Males and females are generally
indistinguishable.
>
MORE
|
|
FEBRUARY |
 |
THE BLACK TERN - A
WINGED SPECTER STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE
By
Kathy Ross
Scanning the marshy flats of the Swan River Refuge in
June, an ephemeral flash of luminous, sunlit wings
catches the eye and intrigues the sense of wonder. Yes,
it is live and it is a bird with a buoyant unique flight
pattern of graceful swoops and aerial dives.
>
MORE |
|
JANUARY |
|
 |
THE AMERICAN CROW
By
Dennis Hester
Who has not seen a Crow? If a person can identify only a
few birds, one of them no doubt will be the Crow. It is
well known because it is large, black, ubiquitous and
noisy. In fact, the American Crow probably ranks with
Turdus migratorus and Sturnus vulgaris
(American Robin and European Starling) as the most
observed and identifiable birds in North America.
>
MORE |
|
|
|
2011 |
|
DECEMBER |
|
 |
OSPREY, THE FISH HAWK
By Mary Nelesen
The osprey, like several of my friends and neighbors,
has gone south for the winter seeking a warmer climate.
And like my snow-bird friends, I know the osprey will
return in the spring.
>
MORE |
|
NOVEMBER |
|
 |
DON’T YOU WISH YOU WERE
A REDHEAD?
Life History and Ecology of One of Our Unusual
Local Nesting Waterfowl
By Gael
Bissell
Each spring, just after the ice melts and the bulk of
the Northern Pintails and American Wigeon pass through
our waters, I quickly look for the brightly colored
Redheads (Aythya americana). I am not sure why I
like these particular waterfowl; perhaps it’s because
when I see them in the Flathead Valley, they are in
small groups and are a bit less common.
>
MORE
|
|
OCTOBER |
|
 |
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.
>
MORE
|
|
SEPTEMBER |
|
 |
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. >
MORE
|
|
MAY |
 |
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! >
MORE
|
|
APRIL |
|
 |
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. >
MORE
|
|
MARCH |
 |
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.
>
MORE
|
|
FEBRUARY |
 |
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.
>
MORE
|
|
JANUARY |
|
 |
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.
>
MORE
|
|
|
|
|
