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Category: video
Video | October 30, 2017
Orange-breasted Falcon Plucking Prey
by Bryce W. Robinson
For the Orange-breasted Falcon whose diet consists primarily of avian prey, to eat requires a great deal of work. First, the birds must capture a food item. They specialize in above canopy surprise and pursuit capture, a technique that blends a bit of skill and luck. When the two align and the bird finally captures a meal, they then must prepare it. Falcons prefer to ingest little amounts of feather from their prey items, and thus need to efficiently remove the extraneous feathers to access the muscle. To remove these feathers, they pluck their prey nearly clean. Plucking can be beautiful, as I found with the Orange-breasted Falcon in the video above as it prepared a Great-tailed Grackle. Perched on a limb high overlooking a deep river valley, the bird plucks. The observer can easily recognize the bird’s technique of rip and flick, as it efficiently carries out its daily ritual and feathers calmly drift away in the hot Central American air.
January 1, 2017
First Idaho Record of Red-flanked Bluetail – December 2016
by Bryce W. Robinson
On 31 December 2016 I made the five hour trip from Boise to Lewiston to see Idaho’s first record of Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus). On arrival, the bird already had a crowd watching it forage along the Russian Olives that bordered the river.
It was a sunny and relatively warm morning, and the bird was actively foraging. It would appear on the tree edge and making foraging sallies to the ground. It looked like the bird was eating the Russian Olive fruits, but one of my photos show it with an arthropod in its bill as well.
It made its way foraging between four trees along the river, heading south to the last tree and then returning north. Occasionally it would disappear low in the trees along the rivers edge, and return to foraging within a few minutes.
My favorite aspects of this bird were its subtle hues in the plumage, particularly the blue throughout and the white throat patch. I also enjoyed its behaviors, such as the constant tail dabbing. The bird was extremely cooperative, providing all watching with excellent views. At times when it would come to the ground to forage, it would do so only feet from the birders. I’d say it was behaving about the best anyone could hope for concerning a high profile vagrant.
I spent some time attempting to capture video of the bird perched on a limb, tail dabbing. I mostly was unsuccessful, but did manage the following clip that is poor quality. It’s worth sharing just to show the birds behavior.
The Red-flanked Bluetail was a great end to 2016, which was a bummer of a year for so many reasons, but was incredible and profitable regarding birds. Hopefully 2017 will match or exceed. Happy New Year.
December 30, 2016
Barred Owl (Strix varia) Hunting at Mid-day
by Bryce W. Robinson
While out for a day of birding Maryland natural areas, Caitlin and I saw a Barred Owl perched on a power line along a two lane highway. I was shocked to see the bird on the line in the open, but more shocked at its alert behavior. The bird was hunting the road edge and it was mid-day.
I’m relatively uneducated about the Barred Owl. I thought these birds were strictly nocturnal and rarely active during the day. After doing some research, I’ve learned they occasionally hunt in daylight, however mostly in the first hour following sunset (Mazur and James 2000) . Despite some tendency towards daytime activity, it stills seems shocking this bird would actively hunt a road edge in the daylight. Either way, I thought I’d share.
Referenced literature:
Mazur, Kurt M. and Paul C. James. (2000). Barred Owl (Strix varia), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America: https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/brdowl
ornithologi.com 