Birds of Georgia

 

Storks in Georgia

Some of the most colorful and unusual wading birds in the United States are found in widely scattered habitats. Except for the white ibis, which is widely distributed throughout Georgia, these birds are primarily found in a few habitats that satisfy their particular needs.

Storks and their relatives are large birds that fly with their heads sticking out in front and their legs trailing behind them, and both extensions droop somewhat during flight. Included in this group are the ibises, spoonbills, limpkins, cranes, and storks – most of which use separate habitats and have different food preferences from the others.

All have unwebbed feet at the end of long legs as do herons. The herons and egrets, although related to this group, normally pull their necks in while flying and hold their legs more or less horizontal in flight.

Ibises

Medium sized birds with bald, colored patches around their eyes and face; and long, downcurved bills up to four times longer than the head. They feed on crustaceans, insects, and worms in estuaries, marshes, and moist fields. Their body coloration varies between species, but all have black wingtips. There are three species in Georgia: the white ibis (Eudocimus albus), glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), and scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber). White and glossy ibises can be found in most habitats in Georgia from seashores to wet praries and grassy lawns. The scarlet ibis is accidental in southern Georgia, but some escapees from zoos may intermingle with the other species.

Spoonbills

Medium sized birds with bald, colored patches around their eyes and face; and long, bills with a flattened, spatulate tip. They feed on crustaceans that they sieve from the muds of both salt and freshwater habitats. The roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja) is the only one in Georgia. Spoonbills are restricted to wetlands where the birds feed on organisms living in the muds along the shores and in shallow water. Spoonbills increase in numbers south of Tampa and may be found in their largest numbers near Everglades City.

Limpkins

Medium sized birds with faces feathered to the bill. Their bills resemble those of ibises, but the tip is curved to the left. They feed primarily on apple snails of the genus Pomacea that they gather from the waters of cypress stands. The limpkin (Aramus guarauna) is the only member of its genus. The limpkin almost exclusively restricts itself to the shallow edges of waterways in cypress swamps.

Cranes

Large birds up to five feet tall. Crane faces have bald, colored patches on the face, with bills that are heavier than the previous group of species, and only slightly longer than their heads. They feed primarily on insects, snakes, and lizards. The sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) is presently the only one in Georgia, but the whooping crane (Grus americana) is known there from Pleistocene fossils. Cranes are found in wet praries where they forage in short grasses and along pond edges.

Storks

The only true stork living in Georgia is the tree stork (Mycteria americana). Although its head and much of its neck are bald with blackish pigmentation, its plumage is white with black along the trailing edges and tips of the wings and edges of the tail. This bird has the heaviest bill of this group and it is about three times longer than the bird’s head. Wood storks feed on high concentrations of small fish in shallow bodies of water. Thus their usable habitat is restricted to ponds and lakes that are drying up and in wet years often cannot obtain enough food to raise their young and the young starve to death.

Flamingos

Although rarely seen in this part of Georgia, the unmistakable American flamingo (Phoenicopterus rubra) is sometimes found in the western Everglades. Flamingos forage in the waters of and nest on the shores of shallow bodies of freshwater where they can do so with little disturbance

Other Birds Found in Georgia:

The American Goldfinch

Backyard birdwatchers in Georgia will hear the American Goldfinch a few weeks before it shows itself. Its song is distinct and unmistakable: a short “”sweee-eep”” that brightens the new leaves of deciduous trees, announcing a change of season for Floridians.

In Georgia, late March or April is the time to fill the feeder for the American Goldfinches as they arrive from their winter migration. Thistle (niger) or hulled sunflower will attract these lovely birds, who feed almost exclusively on seed. Thistle is preferred because it is less expensive and discourages the opportunistic Grey Squirrels, who crave sunflower seeds in any form. But be sure to hang several feeders.

At first, one or two birds will alight, falling silent as air and with remarkable speed from nearby shrubs, oaks or wild olive trees. At this time, the males will not have taken on their bright breeding plumage, and except for spots of emerging yellow on the back, will look similar to the dun colored females.

These first visitors act as a kind of sentry, checking the seed and the surrounding environment, wary of predators like the family cat or competitors such as the Blue Jay or the Northern Cardinal. Goldfinches are rather small birds with a cautious streak. Their black eyes track the surroundings, alert to movement and sound. Any minor disturbance and they will disappear just as quickly as they arrived. It may be a few days before they gain confidence and more birds arrive at your feeder. Be patient. Goldfinch days are about to begin.

The American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) is a social bird that forms large colonies as it makes its way south from Maine to Georgia during winter migration. Their colonies can include Red Polls, Pine Siskin and other finches. These large flocks are more than social gatherings and serve to ward off predators. Thus, when the Goldfinches arrive at your feeders, they will likely be accompanied by their temporary flock mates. In Georgia, different varieties of resident sparrows join in the foraging, taking advantage of the safety of the small bird community. Quiet and non-aggressive Ring-Necked Doves also appear for ground feeding.

Once the Goldfinches adopt your habitat for their feeding grounds, they begin arriving in larger numbers. At the height of Goldfinch Days, a full colony or 20 to 30 birds, could crowd your feeders. The birds are not fickle about feeders. They will come to any variety, including hopper, platform and hanging feeders. If you have planted thistle or milkweed or if these grow wild, the Goldfinch will find them irresistible.

The Savannah Sparrow

Alexander Wilson found a sparrow when in Savannah, Georgia and named the bird the Savannah Sparrow even though they are grassland loving bird, found in estuaries between late April and mid-October.

Savannah Sparrows have a rounded head. The area between the Savannah Sparrow’s eyes and beak is colored yellow and they display a tan eye ring. Their crown has a dark band, dark eyeliner, a moustache and a white chin. The chest and back of the sparrow are striped. The streaking on their wings and breast sometimes blend into a middle spot. Their legs and feet have a pale pinkish color.

The Savannah Sparrow has a very broad range across North America. In the tundra at the northern extent of the range, Savannah Sparrows prefer dwarf willows and birches. In its southern habitat bird watchers observe them in moist grassland and hay fields. Sparrows that inhabit the coast lines live in salt swamps or in dune grasses.

During the breeding season birders see the Savannah Sparrow across Alaska and the provinces of Canada. Also birders observe the Savannah Sparrow in the midwestern states and into Mexico. It occurs in salt marshes in Southern California and Northwestern Baja California.

The female constructs a nest of grass in a hollow on the ground. The sparrow hides its nest in tall grass or thickest. The birds enter the nest from the sides. It nests on the ground sheltered with a canopy of grass in a cup nest made of grass in May and June.

During nesting season the sparrow will protect their nests by perching on low shrubs squeaking at trespassers. This makes it easy to photograph them. They are a tiny bird and prefer people do not come nearer than about fifty feet, so a telephoto lens is often useful.

Large wetlands where the birds nest succeeded in increasing the sparrow population, while small, isolated marshes do not add to their population.

Northern Bobwhite Quail

The Northern Bobwhite, also called Virginia quail and bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) is the most widespread quail in the United States. A ground bird, this fowl tends to feed on plant material and insects that it comes across.

Bobwhites average just under 10 inches in length, and tend to weigh about 6 ounces. They are short and stocky, and have slight crests on top of their heads. Bobwhite quail males have different regional plumage variations, but their profiles should set them apart from all other quails. Most phases have dark caps on their heads, and a dark bands through the eye with white, or pale throats, though a rufous phase (an entirely rufous-colored adult male) does exist, as does the masked bobwhite.

The masked phase, found only in Southern Arizona and Northwestern Mexico, has a rufous underside and a dark head, often with a white band through the eye. Georgia birds have darker brown feathers that are black in some places, and those from Texas, East Mexico, and the Great Plains have paler, grayer features. Eastern birds are mainly brown, without many dark feathers, and without as much gray coloring as those from the Great Plains have.

Bobwhite quails are found mainly throughout the entire Southeast, and north to Massachusetts, west to Wyoming, and south to West Texas and Eastern Mexico. There is also a population of these game birds in the Northwest, found in parts of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. A third population (comprised of the masked phase of the northern bobwhite) is found in Southern Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora.

Bobwhites can live in grassy areas, wooded areas, deserts, and hilly or mountainous pine or hardwood forests. They are not found in the very northern parts of the United States, in the Rockies, or in much of the area west of the Rocky Mountains.

Bobwhites are some of the most popular birds among hunters, mainly because they are common and widespread in the United States. Found throughout the Southeast, these birds often feed in fields adjacent to forested areas, making them easy to locate. Top hunting destinations include Georgia, Texas, and and East Mexico.

Bobwhites are the only quails found in most of their range, making bird identification easy. As popular game birds, hunters often target this species, and these quails have become a dinner table favorite in much of the US.

 

The Dunlin

The Dunlin a very tame bird and easy to approach and study. It is a medium sized shorebird that stands about seven to eight inches tall as an adult. It has a long, slender, dark bill, black legs, a black patch on its behind continuing onto its tail. Their wings have an ivory bar and both sexes have similar markings. The head of the Dunlin is ivory colored with a black stomach.

The young Dunlin has markings similar to the adults. During the summer months the back and crown of the Dunlin are mainly colored cinnamon with black stripes. Their, neck and face are colored gray, streaked with ivory markings. Their throat is white and they have a sizeable black area on their stomach.

In the fall months the Dunlin has a soft uniform gray on their upper body and across their chest. The rest of the bird in autumn remains white with a light eyebrow marking. Frequently some adult Dunlins keep a few red feathers of summer on their back.

The Dunlin nests on the tundra in a grass thicket on a dry mound. Also it spends its winters on the shoreline, sand flats, and lake and river shores in the inner part of the land.

Common Tern

There are about thirty orders of birds, about 180 families, and about 2,000 genera with 10,000 species. This is only one of the species of birds, The Common Tern.

Other Names- Sea Swallow, Summer Gull, Lake Erie Gull, Bass Gull

In the eastern hemisphere the Summer Gull breeds in Europe and Asia and winters in India and Africa

In 1979 the government put the Common Tern on the Endangered List. This species of terns was almost wiped out by the beginning of the 20th century. Since then tern populations have come back with a healthy population. Let’s hope this trend continues. In Ontario Province, Canada many of the dangers facing Common Terns disappeared after placing nesting rafts for use by Common Terns. The Common Tern is a regular migrant and unusual resident of the Northeast. There are many nesting colonies sites in the north central part of the United States.

You can tell the difference from a Forester’s Tern because the Common Tern has a red beak and legs Also the top and tips of the wings are darker and black outside border on tail feathers. Their feathers are usually pearl gray, white, chestnut or black in color. Many Common Terns have rosy red or yellow feet. Their beaks, wattles, eyes, or mouth linings usually are of a reddish or yellowish color. Their flying is powerful, and some terns migrate farther than any other birds.

Common terns may be best spotted from spring time through autumn in most central regions of North America. Most terns migrate south to winter in Florida or south ward.

White Tailed Kite

White Tailed Kites, a medium sized hawk stand almost fifteen inches tall as an adult and has a wingspan of 3 1/2 feet. The feathers on this raptor displays a white face, chin, throat, breast and stomach. The kite has brown stripes on its white chest. Also the undersides of the wings are white. Its ivory colored tail is long and squared and dusk colored stripe at tip. Their head, the back of its neck and back show a brownish color. The White Tailed Kite often float in the air while hunting and soars with out stretched wings.

Both the adult female and female White Tailed Kite are similar in its color markings. The bill and talons of the kite are black and its feet are yellow, orange in color and the iris are crimson. It flies at a leisurely pace and floats in the air smoothly and elegantly like a kestrel, hence the name “”kite.””

At one time the White Tailed Kites, Elanus leucurus, once inhabited areas across the southern United States. Birders also found the White Tailed Kite living in areas in Northern Mexico and on the west coast of California and Oregon. Because man hunted the kite only a small population survived in an isolated area of central California and it is apermanent resident.

Because of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, learning new ways to farm and teaching people about the White Tailed Kite helped restore its population. The wildlife managers also and introduced the house mouse to areas where the kite did survive and these helped populations to increase.

The White Tailed Kite breeds in both North and South America, mainly in Texas, California, South Carolina and Florida. In South America the kite is a resident in Argentina and some birders observe them in Chili.

White Tailed Kite start to lay their brown mottled colored eggs at the last part of February and may continue until the last days in May. The White Tailed Kite will sometimes lay a second clutch of eggs after the first set of chicks has fledged.

The Snowy Egret

The snowy egret (Egretta thula) hails from the family Ardeidae. The length of this pretty, white heron is 22-26 inches (56-66cm). It boasts a wingspan of 97 centimeters.

These herons appear in North America along the coast of Maine during breeding season, all the way down to Florida. They also frequent the Texas coast down to the Gulf of Mexico, and of course, the Georgia as well. Snowies have even been seen in several inland western states. They are also seen in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Some breed as far south as Argentina.

A great identifier would most definitely be the black legs and yellow feet ( I picture black leggings with yellow boots!) For us, this color combination would be a fashion faux pas, but the Snowie carries the look well! The yellow color can extend up the back of the legs. The lores (an area between the eyes) are a dull yellow that becomes brighter as breeding season approaches, sometimes turning a bright red. This makes quite a contrast with the black bill. The onset of breeding season also causes this heron to grow thick, luxurious head and neck plumes that cascade down its back. Any type of irritation will cause the Snowie to exhibit his breeding plumage in all its glory, and the voice will emit a harsh “aah” sound.

Snowy egrets are known to take part in displays of flight that show off its appearance to the opposite sex. There is fierce competition among the males. This is not helped by the fact that the birds nest in colonies that are composed of tightly compacted nesting areas.

The nest is built of sticks arranged in a platform that is low in the trees.

Once breeding is complete, the female lays a clutch of 3-5 eggs that are blue-green in color.

Snowy egrets are hardy feeders with a diverse diet. They tend to choose fish over everything else but frogs, crayfish, insects, snakes, and mollusks are all considered a good meal by the Snowie. These birds are waders who can be very quick and very quiet during hunting, or they can be splashy and loud. Either way, they manage to eat well.

As for us birders; once we identify a snowy egret, we will always remember those cute little yellow feet!

The Black Necked Stilt

This family member of Avocets is appropriately named, because the Stilt’s legs are so long that it seems to be walking on stilts. Maybe circus stilts are named after the bird?

The Black Necked Stilt has a wide range in which it lives. They live in both North America and Northern South America. People observe the bird on both the east and west coasts of North and South American. In the western United States they inhabit the areas from southern Oregon, Colorado, Kansas, along the Gulf Coast of Texas, Georgia and Southern Louisiana. In the deserts of the Southwestern United States, like the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, the birds stay in an area always near bodies of water. Also you will find them near the tip of Baja, California Mexico.

On the east coast of the United States you will find the Black Necked Stilts from Southern New Jersey south to Southern Florida. In the winter months the birds migrate to Peru in South America and Southern Florida, Texas and Louisiana. The Stilts spend their winters from north to central California along the Pacific Coast and in Florida and other Gulf Coast states.

Their breeding range is along coasts from Oregon and Delaware southward, and locally in western interior states east to Idaho, Kansas, and Texas. The Stilt begins breeding at two or three years old.

The male Black-Necked Stilt is a shiny, dark backed wading shore bird with a long neck and a thin, straight black bill and stands about 15 inches tall. In flight, the top feathers of the wings are glossy black, a buff to white tail, and their very long, stilt like red legs trail are straight back while in flight.

The female is more a dark chocolate color on their upper body and young birds have a tawny color on the lower edges of their wings and stomach. They have a white spot behind and over each eye. The iris of the Black Necked Stilt is red.

Black-Necked Stilt inhabits shallow fresh water and brackish lagoons, lakes containing alkali, moist meadows, and marshes. Where fields become flooded the stilt will set up temporary house keeping. The stilt generally affiliates with other shorebirds like avocets, godwits, and curlews.

The birds build their nests in slight depressions in the sand or gravel shores. Sometimes they construct the nest in a delicate structure of grasses and small stalks hidden in a bunch of weeds. When they build the nest on the ground the bird will line the nest with grasses or often with bits of sea shells. Where man built drainage canals the stilt may construct a nest.

They lay 3 or 4 buff or olive brown, colored eggs, blotched with brown spots. When the female sits on the eggs she folds her very long legs beneath her body. The eggs hatch in about 3 1/2 weeks and the young fledge around seven weeks.

They seek food along shores and in shallow waters for dragonfly nymphs, caddis flies, mayfly nymphs, flies, mosquito larvae, crabs, and snails. Also they eat minnows, seeds of water plants, grasshoppers and corn farmers see them as a friend because they eat bill bugs that infest corn. They search in the mud with slim beaks for food.

The call of the Black-Necked Stilt is a sharp, drab series of noisy sounds.

They are a very territorial bird. If a person approaches to close to their breeding territory the Black-Necked Stilt will challenge humans by calling and flying towards them.

If you choose to photograph these birds you will need a long lens on your camera, extreme patience, and chance sightings on your side are needed.

Bald Eagle

We nearly lost the Bald Eagle , but today the species is living proof that people can prevent extinctions by changing the behaviors that cause species populations to plummet. In 2007, after forty years on the endangered species list, the Bald Eagle was delisted.

Bald Eagles were once believed to be dangerous predators that commonly took lambs and occasionally even attacked human babies-folklore with very little basis in fact. Because of this, people deliberately shot and poisoned Bald Eagles. Even after the species was legally protected, some ranchers continued to put out poisoned bait and hunt the birds from planes.The and related compounds cause Bald Eagles and other birds to lay thin shelled eggs, which often break before they hatch.

DDT was banned in North America in 1972.Other poisons and contaminants in the environment, such as mercury, lead, pesticides, and toxic waste poison the birds, which ingest the substances second-hand in prey.Gradual and continuing clearing of forest and plowing of prairie, as well as acid rain, decrease sites and hunting range, and cause decreases in the populations of prey species.Structures built by humans, such as power lines and windmills, cause many bird injuries and deaths.Misguided individuals who harass the birds, steal their eggs, and kill them for their feathers, interfere with nesting and threaten local populations.

Today, the major human threat to Bald Eagles is the power line, accounting for two thirds of accidental deaths. While deliberate harassment and killing of the birds is now relatively rare, accidental shooting, trapping, and poisoning still take their toll.

Two things have had a very significant impact on the recovery of Haliaeetus leucocephalus: the banning of the pesticide DDT, and laws that made it illegal to shoot, trap or even disturb a Bald Eagle. Protection of suitable habitat has also supported their return. In areas where the birds were completely wiped out, the release of captive reared birds has had some success. Other conservation efforts include:

• public education about the habits and needs of Bald Eagles.
• protection of specific nests from human disturbance.
• artificial nest sites to attract breeding pairs.rehabilitation of injured birds.
• establishment of sanctuaries.

The Bald Eagle, whose US population ( lower 48 states) was estimated at less than 500 breeding pairs in the early 1960s is still legally protected, but is no longer considered endangered.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Very Rare or Possibly Extinct)

The last time anyone saw an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, with enough solid evidence to convince ornithologists, was in 1944. From that time, until 2004, the species was feared, and believed by many, to be extinct. Since 2004, however, when M. D. Luneau acquired a short and much disputed video of a bird that appears to be an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, much time and money have been spent trying to confirm that the bird exists.

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is one of the largest species of woodpecker, and the largest native to North America. The black and white adult bird (males have a red crest) is between 46 and 51cm long (18-20 inches) and has a wingspan of about 80cm (31 inches).

Ivory-billed Woodpeckers had a small range, even in pre-colonial times, living only in the Southeastern United States and Cuba. They inhabit old growth hardwood forests-swampy bottomlands and wilderness areas-where they feed on beetle larvae in dead and diseased trees and, to a lesser degree, on wild fruits and nuts.

The decline of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is largely attributable to habitat loss: the lumber industry decimated the old growth hardwoods of the Southeast by the 1930s leaving only isolated patches of good habitat for the birds. A few such patches remain today, notably in the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, and in the Florida panhandle.

Pressure on the birds also came from feather collectors and from bird enthusiasts who deliberately and unthinkingly shot them as collector’s items. In a stunningly illogical desire to have their own specimen, birders hunted the woodpeckers more avidly the rarer they became.

Since the 2004 sighting in Arkansas, both scientists and citizen birders have joined in the search for confirmation, while others find the evidence unconvincing and consider the effort a waste of precious resources that could be spent on more rewarding pursuits.

The mystery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker has a certain romance for the public however, and conservationists have astutely observed that either credible evidence or confirmation of the bird’s existence paves the way for conservation of habitat that’s critical for many other species.

There are a number of reasons why the woodpecker may be hard to find, even if it does exist:

The swampy wetlands of its preferred habitat are difficult to search in, especially when water levels are high.Ivory-billed Woodpeckers travelling longer distances tend to fly above the forest canopy where they can’t be seen from below.The species may be nomadic, moving from place to place in search of food and nesting sites.Ivory-billed Woodpeckers look somewhat similar to the common Pileated Woodpecker, making identification of birds seen from a distance problematic.

Searches continue in Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. If you spend time in ivory-billed territory, familiarize yourself with the , and carry a camera-only a clear unambiguous photograph of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker is likely to settle the debate once and for all.