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Three birds to look for in November and December
Winter is the time to watch for loons, saw-whets, and shrikes
Contributed by Paul Kerlinger
Published: October 21, 2011
1. Common Loon
At night, while migrating from northern lakes across North America to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts, Common Loons often stop on lakes and rivers. From late October through early December, hundreds or thousands of loons may be observed in a single day at lakeside or coastal sites such as Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania; Taughannock Falls State Park in western New York; or Cape May, New Jersey. Over water, they typically fly only 20-200 feet above the waves, but over land they may migrate as high as 4,000 feet above the ground.
Photos:
Common Loon at Lac Le Jeune, British Columbia, by virginia
Common Loon at Canada Lake in Adirondack Park, upstate New York, by arietta
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2. Northern Saw-whet Owl
From nesting areas in the northern hardwood and boreal forests across North America, saw-whet owls migrate largely unseen to wintering areas from North Carolina to the Great Plains to California. They fly at night, but with persistence and a good alarm clock, you can find them. In fall, after a clear, still night with mild north or northwest winds following the passage of a cold front, walk the trails of your favorite wooded area or bog at first light. Look for birds in dense vegetation from below eye-level to 30 feet up and take care not to disturb them.
Photos:
Northern Saw-whet Owl at "Owl Woods" on Amherst Island, southern Ontario, by newfoundlander61
Northern Saw-whet Owl, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, Alberta, by Eduardo
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3. Northern Shrike
In late fall and early winter, Northern Shrikes can be found in small numbers from southern Alaska to northern Texas to New England. They typically arrive in wintering areas in October and November, and every few years, large numbers push south into southern Canada and the northern United States, producing dozens of sightings in relatively small areas. Look for the birds at the edges of farmlands, prairies, and coastal wetlands, or perched in brush or small trees near grassy areas, where they hunt for mice, small birds, beetles, and grasshoppers.
Photos:
Northern Shrike, Iona Beach, Vancouver, British Columbia, by West Coast Birder
Northern Shrike, northern Utah, by MiaM
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Banders uncover owl’s secrets
Thanks to the work of banders and biologists across North America over the last two decades, we now know more about the migrations of Northern Saw-whet Owls than just about any other owl species.
At nearly 120 banding stations from Washington to Quebec and from Alberta to New Mexico, researchers capture owls in mist nets and place individually numbered rings on their legs. A few birds also receive small radio transmitters that allow biologists to track their movements. Project Owlnet, a collaborative network of owl banders, coordinates the efforts.
One of the most active stations is the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art in central Pennsylvania, where a team of 18 licensed banders and 85 volunteers led by project coordinator and author Scott Weidensaul band between 200 and 900 birds per year and radio-track several more. They’ve shown that saw-whets wander extensively during migration. Ned Smith researchers have caught owls that were banded in Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Quebec, and Ontario, and owls they’ve marked have been recaptured in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
Irruptions of saw-whets occur every few years, but the research also shows that some populations or individuals migrate every year. It appears that saw-whets in different populations have significant differences in migration tendencies and behaviors. |
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