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

Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo Sound: Common food sources: seeds and

insects Interesting facts: turkeys are ground-

dwelling birds, have extremely powerful legs, bare heads and necks, have slightly down-curved bill, tips of tail are chesnut-brown in the East and white in the Southwest.

Male

Female

American Robin Turdus migratorius

Sound: Common food sources: berries,

nuts, flower nectar, tree sap, dead animals, seeds, insects, worms.

Interesting facts: have dark grey back with dark stripes on a white throat, largest thrush in North America (adults about 9-10 inches), nest in open woodlands and grasslands.

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis

Sound: Common food sources: insects,

other invertebrates, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, fruits like blackberries, honeysuckle, snails.

Interesting facts: general habitat applies to hardwoods and grasslands, small thrush, medium-sized body, usually have more than one successful brood a year.

Male Female

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Sound: Common food sources:

sunflower and safflower seeds, fruits, insects.

Interesting facts: the large, conical beaks are ideal for the Northern Cardinal in order to crack open the seeds they eat, often in family units versus flocks, Northern Cardinal couples are monogamous, females lay two to three eggs each times they give birth.

MaleFemale

American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis

Sound: Common food sources: grains,

small seeds, thistles, sunflower seeds and lettuce.

Interesting facts: American Goldfinch species is abundant, they are popular birds that can be tamed and kept in a cage, usually reside in shrubby places, old fields, parks and gardens.

Male Female

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

Sound: Common food sources: fruits, nuts,

seeds, insects, mice, frogs, and they often steal food from other animals.

Interesting facts: the Blue Jays’ eating habits help plants disperse their seeds, these birds use “body-fluff” bobbing motions with their bodies when fighting to intimidate other birds, pairs form monogamous bonds that usually last until one of the birds dies.

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Sound: Common food sources: flies, crickets,

grasshoppers, beetles, and dragonflies. Interesting facts: Barn Swallows are

native in all biogeographic regions except Antarctica and Australia, incredibly adaptable birds as far as habitat goes, they fly over open areas when migrating, they weigh anywhere between 17 and 20 grams.

Male Female

Northern Oriole Icterus galbula

Sound: Common food sources: insects,

caterpillars, fruit, nectar and spiders. Interesting facts: females have no solid

black hood and are dull, whereas males are brightly colored with a black hood, have long and pointed beak, and long tails. The Northern American Orioles are named after similar-looking birds of the Old World.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris

Sound: Common food sources: small

insects, flower nectar and tree saps.

Interesting facts: nests are constructed of thistle and dandelion down, eggs are white, female have a white throat and males have a red throat, the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds have green iridescent backs, and they hover at flowers.

Male Female

Common Raven Corvus corax

Sound: Common food sources: mostly feed

on carcasses torn by wolves, etc. Interesting facts: Common Ravens are

crafty, cunning and opportunistic. They are very intelligent and make good parents. When airborne, they look very graceful.

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”

Owls

Deciduous Forest Great Horned owl Bubo

virginianus Prairie Grassland

Burrowing owl Athene cunicularia Coniferous Forest

Short-eared owl Asio flammeus

All three owls sing alike, with the “ooo” sounds. Female and males look alike in each species, though the females are often a bit larger.

Short-eared owls are medium-sized. Burrowing owls are small. Great horned owls are large owls.

Chickadees

Coniferous Forest Boreal chickadee Peocile

hudsonicus Deciduous Forest

Black-capped chickadee Poecile atricapillus

Both chickadees are small, short-billed, black birds with white cheeks. Both species hide their food for later recovery.

Black-capped chickadees songs are complex and sound very language-like.

Boreal chickadees songs are scratchy and sound like, “chick-a-dee-dee”.

Blackbirds

Deciduous Forest Brewer’s blackbird Euphagus

asanocephalus Coniferous Forest

Red-winged blackbird Agelaius phoenuceus

Both birds are medium-sized songbirds. Brewer’s blackbird males are iridescent black and

females are smaller and a dull gray-brown. Red-winged blackbird males are black with red

shoulders and females are brown striped all over.

Nuthatches

Deciduous Forest White-breasted nuthatch Sitta

carolinensis Coniferous Forest

Red-breasted nuthatch Sitta canadensis

Both species have rapidly increasing population numbers. Red-breasted nuthatches migrate South very early, and they

begin in around July. White-breasted nuthatches migrate in flocks in the winter.

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

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