Birdinformatics
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The birds which are based on the unusual wandering or rare species found in the remote places are categorised here. These are birds which are not normally seen all the time and all the places.
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The Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was formerly called the "Wood Ibis", though it is not really an ibis.
This is a subtropical and tropical species which breeds in much of South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The Wood Stork is the only stork that presently breeds in North America. In the United States there is a small and endangered breeding population in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, along with a recently discovered rookery in southeastern North Carolina. On the other hand, in Santa Catarina state (Brazil) its decline seems to have been reversed: after an absence between the late 1960s and the mid-1990s, the species is now again regularly encountered there, in particular in the Tubarão River region. It is likely that the Paraná River region's wetlands served as a stronghold of the species, from where it is now re-colonizing some of its former haunts. Globally, it is considered a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN due to its large range.
This species seems to have evolved in tropical regions; its North American presence probably postdates the last ice age.
A fossil fragment from the Touro Passo Formation found at Arroio Touro Passo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) might be of the living species; it is at most of Late Pleistocene age, a few 10.000s of years. North American fossils from that time are of an extinct larger relative, M. wetmorei. This was probably a sister species; both occurred sympatrically on Cuba at the end of the Pleistocene.
The Dickcissel, Spiza townsendi, is a small American seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is the only member of the genus Spiza, though some sources list another supposedly extinct species (see below). In older works, it is often placed with the American sparrows in the Emberizidae; females especially resemble American Sparrows in plumage.
Dickcissels have a large pale bill, a yellow line over the eye, brownish upperparts with black streaks on the back, dark wings, a rust patch on the shoulder and light underparts. Adult males have a black throat patch, a yellow breast and grey cheeks and crown. This head and breast pattern is especially brilliant in the breeding plumage, making it resemble an Eastern Meadowlark. Females and juveniles are brownish on the cheeks and crown and are somewhat similar in appearance to House Sparrows; they have streaked flanks.
The Dickcissel is part of a group of Cardinalidae that apparently also includes Amaurospiza, Cyanocompsa, Cyanoloxia and Passerina. Spiza is the only one among these that lacks blue structural colors in its plumage. The scientific name means simply "American finch"; spiza is the Ancient Greek catch-all term for finch-like birds. Many bird genera contain the term spiza, but none of these were generally held to be a really close relative of Spiza itself. Amusingly, Amaurospiza seems to have turned out to be one of the closest living relatives of the Dickcissel after all.
Alternatively, the bird was considered a hybrid, but the present state of knowledge of the Dickcissel's relations makes this not very plausible - there are a number of species with which Spiza could conceivably produce hybrids - such as Passerella -, but the lack of even the slightest hint of blue structural colors in Townsend's specimen and it moreover being not different from a Dickcissel in habitus makes the hybrid theory suspect. Regardless, Townsend noted observed the bird making vocalizations reminiscent more of an Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), and by comparing mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences of the specimen with those of the Dickcissel, the Indigo Bunting, and perhaps other Passerina, the hybridization hypothesis should be far more easy to prove or reject than a color aberration. On the other hand, there is not enough known on whether Dickcissels pick up their characteristic vocalizations from conspecific males or whether they are innate, and thus no firm conclusion regarding Townsend's observations is presently possible
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he Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a common species of wren resident in the eastern half of the USA, the extreme south of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, and the extreme northeast of Mexico.
Typically 14 cm long and about 20 g in weight, it is a fairly large wren; among the United States species it is second largest after the Cactus Wren. The upperparts are rufous brown, and the underparts a strong orange-buff, usually unmarked but faintly barred on the flanks in the southwest of the range. The head has a striking pure white supercilium (eyebrow) and a whitish throat. The race albinucha is duller brown above and has additional white streaking on the head.
The Carolina Wren is noted for its loud song, popularly rendered as "teakettle-teakettle-teakettle". This song is rather atypical among wrens, which tend to sing songs which are similar to other wrens' songs. A given bird will typically sing several different songs. Only the male birds sing their loud song. The songs vary regionally, with birds in northern areas singing more slowly than those in southern areas. The Carolina Wren also has a series of calls, including a rapid series of descending notes in a similar timbre to its song, functioning as an alarm call, and a very harsh and loud scolding call made to threaten intruders.
These birds prefer sites with dense undergrowth, either in mixed forests or in wooded suburban settings, in a natural or artificial cavity. The nest is a bulky, often domed structure, with a small hole towards the top. Nests of the more domestically-inclined wrens have been reported in a great variety of nooks and crannies in, about, or under buildings of various kinds, under bridges, or in holes in any structure such as a porch, fence-post, flowerpot, tree, house or barn. Almost any kind of receptacle may offer an acceptable nesting site. Pairs may mate for life.
The Nashville Warbler, Vermivora ruficapilla, is a small songbird in the New World warbler family.
They have olive-brown upperparts, a white belly and a yellow throat and breast; they have a white eye ring, no wing bars and a thin pointed bill. Adult males have a grey head with a rusty crown patch (often not visible); females and immature birds have a duller olive-grey head. The Nashville Warbler is closely related to Virginia's Warbler, Lucy's Warbler and Colima Warbler, the four sharing generally similar plumage.
Nashville warblers breed in open mixed woods and bog habitats in Canada and the northeastern and western United States of America. They conceal their open cup-shaped nests on the ground under shrubs. They migrate to southernmost Texas, Mexico and Central America in winter. They forage in the lower parts of trees and shrubs, frequently flicking their tails; these birds mainly eat insects. The song of the eastern (typical) race of the Nashville warbler consists of a rapid seewit-seewit-seewit-ti-ti-ti. Males sing from open perches on the nesting territory. The call sounds like a high seet. Western birds, of the race ridgwayi, have a slightly lower-pitched, richer song, and a sharper call note. Although named after Nashville, Tennessee, the Nashville warbler only visits that area during migration.
The Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula, is a small icterid blackbird which is on average 18 cm long and weighs 34 g. This bird received its name from the fact that the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team in Baltimore, Maryland, were named after this bird. It is also the state bird of Maryland.
Adults have a pointed bill and white bars on the wings. The adult male is orange on the underparts, shoulder patch and rump. All of the rest of the male is black. The adult female is yellow-brown on the upper parts with darker wings, and dull orange on the breast and belly.
The Baltimore Oriole is a rare vagrant to western Europe, and there are a couple of British records of birds wintering near garden feeders, including one in Oxford in December 2003. Perhaps the most remarkable record was the incident occurring on 7th and 8th of October, 2001. On this date, in Baltimore, Co. Cork, Ireland, the first record of this species in Ireland was made.
Baltimore Orioles forage in trees and shrubs, also making short flights to catch insects. They mainly eat insects, berries and nectar, and are often seen sipping at hummingbird feeders. Oriole feeders contain essentially the same food as hummingbird feeders, but are designed for orioles, and are orange instead of red and have larger perches. Baltimore Orioles are also fond of halved oranges, grape jelly and, in their winter quarters, the red arils of Gumbo-limbo.