My Saturday Bird this week is the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus), a follow-up of sorts to last week’s post, the Horned Grebe.
A widely distributed species found across Europe and the Palearctic as well as parts of Africa and Australia. Known for their elaborate courtship display. These birds are performing the head waving part of the display.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus).
Known as the Slavonian Grebe in Europe it is a small member of the Grebe family. The global population has declined by 30% over the past 30 years while the North American population is down 79% and it is now considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
This individual was photographed on a cattle watering hole in Saskatchewan, Canada in spring. The reflections on the water are a mixture of corral fence and stacked straw bales.
My Saturday Bird this week is a young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) in the rain. The species is a large, seed eating member of the Cardinal family.
I say that it’s a young male because there are still a few flecks of black in the white sides of the breast.
A summer visitor to the South Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada. They spend the winter in southern Mexico and Central America.
This photo was used in a 2019 bird calender.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus). It is a winter visitor to southern Canada and the northern U.S. in variable numbers year to year.
This individual lingered in southern Ontario in the spring and was photographed in early May. I suspect that it was digesting a recent meal as there was mud and a trace of blood around the birds bill.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor).
A migratory member of the swallow family found in the Americas. The species nests either in isolated pairs or loose groups, in both natural and artificial cavities.
This individual is perched on a tree swallow nestbox, one of a group of eight in the area. The nestboxes are number allowing ornithologists to study the breeding success of the group of birds.
The species is one of the most highly studied birds in the world but there are still aspects of their behaviour that biologists can’t explain.
My Saturday Bird this week is the Common Linnet (Linaria cannabina), a member of the finch family.
The species breeds in Europe, the western Palearctic and North Africa. It is partially resident although northern and eastern birds move south for the winter.
The species is in serious decline in Europe with a population decrease of 62% since 1980.
The red breast on this bird makes it a male. It was photographed bathing in an abandoned orchard at Faddiley near Nantwich in southern Cheshire, England in early spring.
This week my Saturday Bird is the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). In this case a summer (breeding) plumage male.
It is a migratory member of the finch family found from southern Canada in the summer to Mexico in the winter.
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