tyrannidae's Favorites

Melanistic juvenile (likely male based on size relative to the Great-tailed Grackle it was feeding upon). Verified by William Clark, and Lance and Jill Morrow. First observed by M. Silvas with me, and I shouted "melanistic Cooper's Hawk, OMG" as I identified the bird preliminarily, before submitting it to experts for review.
N31.070728 W-97.369269
JPK-2925

hunting from nearby tree, about 10:30am, looking intently down at snow, then landed and mantled for a couple of minutes, burying its head into the snow several times before flying off in the opposite direction

Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...

Insane and 100% unprecedented vagrant to the Midwest. Potentially the first of its species to ever perch in Acer saccharum, Vitis riparia, Rhus typhina, Juglans nigra, etc… Or to be in the immediate presence of a Black-capped Chickadee or Iceland Gull

She tried to catch me when I wiggled my finger in front of her LOL. 2 complete punctures to finger, I let her hold on for a full minute while I took pictures.. Very mild. Kinda cute actually. I did feed her a medium size cricket later.

In my continuing series of "Not Quite Audubon Cover Quality" bird images, I offer this study of a male Vermillion Flycatcher that just did not want to be photographed. For one of the more photogenic (read: photobombing) birds, he certainly had issues.

With Valeri Ponzo; a successful chase of Florida's first Great-tailed Grackle! (Presumably the same singing male was discovered a few weeks ago at Tierra Verde, then disappeared after a few days, then was discovered this morning by Mark Burns in the Kopsick Palm Arboretum at North Shore Park, 8.5 miles to the northeast). We spent most of our time at the southern edge of the arboretum -- the grackle's location -- and then explored the shoreline north to 16th Avenue. Afterward, we walked to our cars, which serendipitously were parked within a few blocks of each other! (A concert in the park meant that it took us 10-15 minutes to find parking spots). The weather at the start was sunny, 65 degrees, and breezy. We left at 1752 and headed to DeRusso's Pizzeria on Tierra Verde for another delicious pizza dinner, then drove home separately.

When I woke up this morning I didn't know I'd be taking a selfie with a duck. Or running after it as it tried to take off from a wet road, which they never can. Or driving one-handed to release it at the nearest body of water. Any similarity between our hair is coincidental. Rescue mission: successful! The duck is on the left.

This Pied Crow (Corvus albus) has been observed intermittently in southeastern Baltimore since at least March 2006. It is actually a raven (note the huge bill) and the species is widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa. My theory for its origins are that it must have been intended as a Baltimore Ravens mascot, but either escaped or was released. The area it seems to favor is only about six miles from the Ravens stadium, and of course non-native ravens are essentially the only legal option for mascots. The same species was used for a popular Windex commercial (YouTube video). When we photographed it (12/25/2011), it was drawn to a small feeding flock of Ring-billed Gulls and Fish Crows, and it seemed to specialize in ripping open large paper bags that probably proved difficult for the other species. Note the band on its right leg, confirming its earlier captivity. Whatever its story, it's an awesome bird.

eBird import | https://ebird.org/checklist/S9410618