The ruby-crowned kinglet is a winter visitor to these parts. One of North America’s tiniest songbirds, it feeds primarily on insects but also eats fruits and seeds. It searches restlessly among the lower branches of shrubs and trees, and its constant wing-flicking is a distinctive trait that helps with identification. Only the males wear the ruby crown.
A new-to-me bird … they are not rare, but I apparently haven’t been observant enough to notice one before today.
What fun, a covey of California quails in the backyard this morning. First time I have seen the state bird of California in our yard. I hope they return!
I’m not really a birder. I don’t have a life list. But I was pretty excited to see my first phainopepla.
Phainopeplas live in the southwestern U.S. and into central Mexico. They eat mostly berries, along with small insects. One of their cool traits is a special mechanism in their gizzard that separates berry skins from the rest of the fruit, sending the skins to a different part of the intestine to help with digestion. So far, they’re the only bird known to do this.
Their favorite food is the fruit of the desert mistletoe. These berries don’t have a lot of nutrients, so phainopeplas need to eat a lot of them—sometimes many hundreds in a single day. The berries move through their intestines in just about 12 minutes. They rarely drink water, getting almost all the moisture they need from the mistletoe berries.
Phainopeplas are also great mimics and can copy the calls of around a dozen other bird species.
It was such a delight to watch this Western Bluebird swing back and forth on a hanging twig. Just sitting there, swinging in the breeze …
A red-shouldered hawk living nearby dropped a gift on the driveway. Thanks to my friend Alli, who recently replaced my Bird Feathers reference guide (lost in the fire), I could easily ID it.
That long white eyebrow was the giveaway.
hashiworks 