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Song birds giving their warning calls during the day often
direct attention to a screech owl sleeping in the trees.
WM |
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Migrating blue jays find themselves at the tip of Sandy
Hook in May and are reluctant to cross the six mile stretch of
water to New York. Instead, they reverse direction and return
to the base of Sandy Hook flying the 30 mile shoreline around
the bay.
SpM
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The cardinal is a year round resident and likes the
edge of the forest.
R
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Downy woodpeckers are most frequently seen in the fall
and winter but generally stay deep in the shrubs and trees feeding
on insects that might be hiding or hibernating in or under the
bark.
R
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Chickadees are abundant among the evergreens where
they have protection from weather and predators.
R
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Two types of nuthatches migrate through Sandy Hook. This is
the white breasted nuthatch.
FWSpM
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The ruby-crowned kinglet is very abundant during the
migration seasons in spring and fall. The birds seem very tame
because they are exhausted from flying all night. At four inches
this is one of our tiniest birds at Sandy Hook.
SpFM
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Most people know that the goldfinch is the New Jersey
state bird. Can you identify the New Jersey state seashell?
RB
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The Carolina wren is a common breeder in New Jersey.
This fledgling has just left the nest and is barely able to fly.
RB
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Sparrows are one of the most difficult groups of songbirds
to identify. Try your luck with this one and write your guess
on a box containing a Gateway 2000 with a Pentium 4 processor
and DVD player, and send it to: Ocean Institute, Box 533, Sandy
Hook, NJ 07732.
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Road kill?
The white-crowned sparrow is identified by a white throat, and yellow "eye brows"
and wing "wrists." This bird has two interesting features.
Note the single white feather on the wing "scapular"
(A partial albino?) and the damaged tip of the beak (From hitting
a window at the Ocean Institute?)
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The Ipswich sparrow is a pale sub-species of the savannah
sparrow which is found along the coast in the winter. Note that
this bird has a "ring" or band on its right leg. This
indicates that this bird has been captured and tagged by an ornithologist
for population or migration studies.
WM
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Snow buntings are a winter visitor from the tundra.
They arrive at Sandy Hook around October 20th and can oftentimes
be seen in large flocks on the beach and dune areas. One of their
nicknames is "snow flakes" because of the way they
flitter to the ground after a short flight down the beach.
WM
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The horned lark is often seen with flocks of snow buntings.
The feathered "horns" are not apparent on this specimen,
possibly because the bird is ready to fly.
FWSpM
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The "Myrtle" warbler, was also called Audubon's
warbler in the western part of its range. Now, both birds are
called the yellow-rumped warbler (see below).
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The yellow-rumped warbler is the only warbler commonly
found at Sandy Hook in the winter because, unlike its cousins,
it will feed on berries and does not have to rely exclusively
on insects for food.
FWSpM
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The magnolia warbler also has a yellow rump. |
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Two types of crows can be seen at Sandy Hook: the common
crow and the smaller fish crow. They are difficult to distinguish
until you hear their call. The fish crow has a call that sounds
more like: cuh-cuh instead of the more typical caw-caw
of the common or American crow.
RB
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Boat-tailed grackles (female, left; male, right) were
once a mainly southern bird but now breed in New Jersey.
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Turkey vultures are a common spring migrant and like
blue jays and other heavy birds, like hawks, often congregate
at the tip of Sandy Hook because they are unwilling or unable
to fly over the six miles of water to New York. Eventually, they
will catch thermals (updrafts) that form along the shoreline
of Sandy Hook Bay and soar effortlessly around the bay rather
than risk flying over water where there is no lift. These scavengers
do not have to migrate south of New Jersey during mild winters
with little snow cover because enough food can be spotted from
the air. If the afternoon seabreezes trap the vultures at the
tip of Sandy Hook, they simply roost for the night until better
soaring winds are generated the next day.
FWSpM
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Barn swallows (right, above and below) nest in the
gun
batteries and migrating birds linger around Fort Hancock
in the fall, feeding on flying insects.
SpSuF
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Tree swallows are the most abundant swallow that we
see in migration. Some linger into winter by surviving on bayberries,
however, most continue south where they can find flying insects.
SpSuF
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Guess this bird and win a prize!
If you think you know what this guest bird is, write the information
on the outside of a box containing a Sony Mavica digital camera
with 10x zoom, battery charger and a padded carrying case. Retail
price $339.98.
Send your guess to Dave Grant, Box 533 Sandy Hook, NJ 07732
Good luck! |
