Birds of Minnesota
description
Transcript of Birds of Minnesota
Birds of Minnesota
By: Alan Thompson and Anastasia Nereson
Common Loon Gavia immer Song:
Common Food Sources: salt and fresh water fish, such as: pike, trout, bass, and herring
Interesting information: -MN state bird -dive up to 200 feet
underwater to fish -heavy bones and eyes that
focus both in air and water adapt for diving
Great Blue HeronArdea herodias Song:
Common Food Sources: mostly fish, but also: frogs, snakes, birds, small mammals, crayfish, dragonflies
Interesting information: -Length: 38 inches -Wingspan: 70 inches -Long neck, legs -Holds neck in an "S" curve at rest and in flight -Swallow their food whole, choke on too large of prey
Female GBH Male GBH
Canada GooseBranta canadensis
Song: Common Food Sources:
Interesting information:-Some migratory populations
don’t go as far south as they previously did
-Large water bird-Has a white chinstrap
MallardAnas platyrhynchos
Song: Common Food Sources:
Insects, larvae, aquatic invertebrates, seeds, aquatic vegetation, grain
Interesting information: -Ancestor of nearly all
domestic duck breeds -Mostly monogamous -Sexually dimorphic -Female incubates and
cares for eggs
MaleFemale
Wood DuckAix sponsa Song: Common Food Sources: vegetation, insects, snails, tadpoles, and salamanders
Interesting information: -Forages while swimming -Females lay 9-15 eggs -Preferred habitats include wooded swamps and freshwater marshes
Male Female
Red-Tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
Song: Common Food Sources: Small/medium sized
mammals, birds, Interesting information:-North American population
is increasing-Common raptors-Mostly monogamous
OspreyPandion haliaetus
Song: Common Food Sources: Different types of fishInteresting information:-Dive feet first for prey-Only North American
raptor that eats almost only fish
Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
Song: Common Food Sources: fish, ducks, muskrats, turtles, rabbits, and snakes Interesting information: -most commonly found in
Alaska -open water is a necessity
for eagles -adopted as national bird in
1782
American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
Song: Common Food
Sources: Interesting information: -Most victimized by
West Nile virus -Wingspan is 85-100
cm -14 years, 7 months is
the oldest recorded age of a wild crow
Red-Headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus Song: Listen
Common Food Sources: Beech and oak mast, seeds,nuts, berries, fruit, insects, bird eggs, nestlings, mice.
Interesting information: -One of four woodpeckers that stores food -Only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark -Attacks other birds to keep them out of its
territory -Known to remove the eggs of other species from nests, destroy nests, and puncture duck -Most omnivorous woodpecker
Ring-Necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus Song: Common Food Sources: Seeds, grain, grasses,
leaves, roots, nuts, insects Interesting information: -Males are brightly colored, -Female smaller and
cryptically colored -One male keeps other males
away from group of females breeding season
- Long tail, which is often held cocked up at an angle
Male Pheasant Female Pheasant
WARBLERS
Coniferous Black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)Commonalities:Eat insects and spiders (food source)Found mainly in the northeastern U.S.Sexually dimorphic
Deciduous Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)
Differences: Yellow/Dark Blue Hooded population is
common and increasing in some areas
Blue population is stable
Aquatic Birds
Prairie: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus
occidentalis)Commonalities:Long NeckEatFoundNot sexually
dimorphic
Coniferous Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Differences: Black/White Colors Whistle/Honk Weight: 800-180 g (Grebe) Weight: Weight: 7700-
12700 g
Ground Nesting Birds
Female Prairie Chicken
Male Prairie ChickenMale Wild TurkeyMale Spruce Grouse
Female Wild TurkeyFemale Spruce Grouse
Ground Nesting Birds Coniferous Spruce Grouse
(Falcipennis canadensis)
Food: spruce needles and buds
Weighs 400-650 g Sexually
dipmorphic Found in northern
MN only Generally quiet Olive eggs with
variable spots
Deciduous: Wild Turkey (Meleagris
gallopavo) Food: buds,
grasses, grain, berries, insects, frogs and snakes
Weighs 2500-10,800 g
Sexually dimorphic
Lost by one vote in 1782 to become national bird
Prairie: Greater Prairie-
chicken (Tympanuchus
cupido) Food: plants & insects Weighs 700-1200 g Sexually dimorphic Very rare and near-
extinct due to habitat loss
Do not migrate Male ritual of
“booming”
MN state bird: Common Loon Description of a basic adult: Pale gray bill Gray-brown cap, forehead,
nape, and back White face, eye ring, chin,
throat, foreneck and belly
Identification Tips: Length: 24 inches Wingspan: 58 inches Sexes similar Large diving bird, large bill Feet set far back on body
Found in northern MN, Alaska & CanadaLead and Mercury poisoning are significant causes of deathAfter molting its wing feathers in winter, the loon is flightless Also known as the “Great Northern Diver”
Works Cited: http://www.minnesotacabinandlandrentals.com/
pages/recreational_land.html http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/
NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/common-loon.jpg
http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=345
http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Bird-sounds.htm
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Aves.html
www.reference.com