Showing posts with label migrant birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label migrant birds. Show all posts

White-cheeked Pintail

White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis)
White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis)
White-cheeked Pintail

Order : Anseriformes
Aquatic or marine birds commonly referred to as waterfowl or wildfowl forming two major families Anatidae ( Ducks, Geese and Swans) and Anhimidae (Screamers). The Anatidae account for about 142 species, the Anhimidae 3 species. Anseriformes breed globally except on Antarctica, and numbers of different species can range from a handful to millions, some migrating thousands of kilometers, others endemic to one small Island. Anseriforme diets are also varied and include grass, marine vegetation, fish and even plankton.

Family : Ducks (Anatidae)
The Anatidae family compromise Ducks and similar waterfowl adapted to swimming, floating on the waters surface and shallow diving. They have webbed feet and flattened bills to a greater or lesser extent. Their feathers are water repellent due to special oils. While there are various migratory vagrants traveling throughout the West Indies only about 12 species are recorded regularly.

Name :White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis)
Length 38 - 51 cm ( 15 - 20 in )
Local Names : Summer Duck, White-head

The White-cheeked Pintail is one of three races of dabbling Duck, restricted to the Caribbean, Galapagos Islands and South America. Dabbling Ducks are so named because it’s members mainly feed on vegetable matter by upending on the water surface as opposed to diving. They tend to be strong flyers (the Northern species being highly migratory) and their legs are placed centrally resulting in better land mobility. The Pintail occurs in waters with a degree of senility such as brackish estuaries and Mangrove swamp. The nest is built on the ground under Mangrove roots or in vegetation near the water. The sexes are similar in colour, brown with white cheeks, and a red base to the blue - grey bill. The Drake has a low squeaky call while the female quacks.


#White-cheeked Pintail #Anas bahamensis #Ducks #Anatidae #Anseriformes #waterfowl #wildfowl #migrant birds #mangrove birds #dabbling ducks #birds of Tobago #birds


Bird identification images

White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis) Birds of Tobago

White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis) waterfowl wildfowl







Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Semipalmated Sandpiper

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Sandpipers (Scolopacidae)
Predominantly birds of arctic regions, the Scolopacidae is a large family of waders or shorebirds, the majority of which eat small invertebrates picked out from mud, soil or sand. Different bill lengths mean that different species can feed in the same habitat without competing with each other. They are usually found in groups on or near the beach. For the most part they are silent in winter and on migration.

Name : Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Length : 13 - 15 cm ( 5 - 6 in )

Adults have black legs and a short straight dark bill. The upperparts are dark grey-brown, underparts white, head and neck are tinged light grey-brown. Their breeding habitat is the southern tundra in Canada and Alaska where they nest near water. The males make several shallow scrapes, the female chooses one and adds grass and other materials to line the nest. The male assists in incubation, and a few days after hatching the female leaves the young with the male, however the young are able to feed themselves. The birds forage on mud flats and beaches picking up aquatic insects and crustaceans by both sight and feel. (the bill). They are long distance migrants and winter in coastal South America, the Caribbean and southern North America, migrating in flocks that can number in the hundreds of thousands, but such large groups are highly dependent on some key stop over habitats during their migration.

#Semipalmated Sandpiper #Calidris pusilla #Sandpipers #Scolopacidae #Charadriiformes #arctic shorebirds #migrant birds #coastal birds #North American migrant birds #birds #birds of Tobago

Bird identification images

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) Birds of Tobago

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) migrant shorebirds

Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) North American shorebirds

Osprey

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Osprey

Order : Falconiformes
Falconiformes are seldom abundant but may be common or widespread. The 290 species occur around the world except in Antarctica and some Oceanic Islands. None are nocturnal, and all have hooked beaks used for tearing flesh from prey held in their strong feet, the primary means of killing their prey except for Vultures that feed on carrion. Their sight and hearing are highly developed, but their sense of smell is either poor or non existent. The wings are usually long and broad. Falconiformes are usually monogamous and have exceptionally long lives, most have low reproduction rates.

Family : Ospreys (Pandiondae)
The Osprey differs in several respects from other diumal birds of prey and is treated as the only member of the family Pandiondae.

Name : Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Length : 53cm - 63 cm ( 21 - 25 in )
Local Names : Fish Hawk

This is a medium large raptor which is a specialist fish eater with near world wide distribution. It is Brown above, white below with a white head often streaked with brown. The Osprey has special adaptations suited to it’s main prey of fish with closable nostrils to keep water out when diving, a reversible outer toe, and backward facing scale on the talons which act as barbs when catching fish. It’s grip is so strong that some Ospreys have been known to drown when they have caught prey that was heavier than expected. The Osprey locates it’s prey from the air, often hovering before diving feet first into the water to seize a fish. As it returns to the air the fish is usually turned head forward to reduce drag and will often pause in mid flight and ruffle it’s feathers to shake off excessive water. The raptor finds a suitably quite perch, normally quite high in a tree, where it may take several hours to eat it’s catch. Ospreys breed by freshwater lakes and sometimes on coastal brackish waters. The nest is a large heap of sticks built in trees, rocky outcrops or on man made structures such as telephone poles, where the female lays 2 - 4 eggs. Both parents raise the young, and usually mate for life. European Osprey migrate to Africa, USA and Canada Osprey migrate to southern North America, Throughout the Caribbean and South America. Autralasian Ospreys tend not to migrate.


#Osprey #Pandion haliaetus #Fish Hawk #Ospreys #Pandiondae #Falconiformes #migrant birds #birds of prey #birds #birds of Tobago



Bird identification photos

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Birds of Tobago

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) seen with Magnificent Frigatebird

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) Birds of Prey

Laughing Gull

Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) Birds of Tobago
Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
Laughing Gull

Order : Charadriiformes
This is a diverse order which includes about 350 species of birds in all parts of the world. Most Chardriiformes are strong flyers, some species performing the most extensive migration of any birds. Most live near water and eat invertebrates or other similar small animals and most nest on the ground. the order is split into 3 main suborders; Charadrii (about 200 species including Sandpipers, Plovers and Lapwings ), Lari ( about 92 species including Gulls, Turns, Skimmers and Jaegers), and Alcidae ( about 21 species including Auks, Guillemots and Puffins)

Family : Gulls and Turns (Laridae)
The Laridae family compromises two distinct subfamilies Lari (Gulls) and Sterninae (Turns). Gulls account for over 40 species, and are heavily built web footed scavengers that take insects, molluscs, crustaceans, fish and garbage from beaches and shorelines, worms and grubs from fields, and some will even take eggs and chicks of other birds including their own. Turns account for about 40 species of slender water birds that often form large breeding colonies nesting on the ground on remote Islands sometimes numbering millions of individuals. Many Terns are long distance migrants covering thousands of kilometers in just a few days.

Name : Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
Length : 40 - 45 cm (16 - 18 in )
Local Names : Sea Gull, Laughing Bird

The Laughing Gull is a medium sized Gull of North and South America, and is the only Gull nesting in the Caribbean. The Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and has occurred as a very rare vagrant in Western Europe. It has a black head during breeding season which turns mottled grey during winter, otherwise it’s white with grey upperparts and wings and a red bill. The Laughing Gulls name is derived from it’s raucous call. Laughing Gulls breed in coastal marshes or similar habitat, the nest, made largely from grasses, is constructed on the ground. 3 - 4 greenish eggs are laid and incubation takes about 3 weeks. Laughing Gulls are omnivorous, and will feed from fish taken from the sea surface, or scavenge along the shore for offal.


 #Laughing Gull #Larus atricilla #Sea Gull #Laughing Bird #Gulls # Lari #Laridae #Charadriiformes #migrant birds #North American birds #South American birds #birds #birds of Tobago


Bird identification photos
Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla) Sea Gull

Gray Kingbird

Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) GRey Kingbird
Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
Gray Kingbird

Order : Passeriformes
Any of about 429 species of Passerines which occur throughout North and South America but are mainly tropical in distribution. Most are insectivorous, often taking their prey in flight, but certain species feed mainly on berries or fruit. Most are fairly plain and none have the complex vocal capabilities of the song birds.

Family : Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Also known as Passerine’s or pearching bird’s. Any member of the largest avian order which includes more than 5,700 species, more than half of all living birds. Passerine’s are true perching birds with four toed feet, three toes facing forward and one larger toe facing backwards.

Name : Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
Length : 23 - 24 cm ( 9 - 9½ in )
Local Names : Rain Bird, Chinchary

One of the largest and most common Tyrant flycatchers in the West Indies the Gray Kingbird ranges from Southern North America and the West Indies to Northern South America Wintering in part in Northern South America. The plumage is gray above, with white underparts with a black stripe from the base of the bill to the ear covets. The bill is black with a hooked tip. It is a bird of open countryside and suburban areas where it perches on exposed branches or wires, and can readily be seen taking frequent sallies catching large insects in flight. It’s call is a harsh ‘pitirre’. Breeding occurs during March and July and shortly after many birds migrate to Northern South America.




#Gray Kingbird #Grey Kingbird #Tyrannus dominicensis #flycatcher #Rain Bird #Chinchary #Tyrant Flycatchers #Tyrannidae #Passeriformes #North America #West Indies #South America #migrant birds #birds #birds of Tobago


Bird identification photos
Grey Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) North American migrant birds

Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) Birds of Tobago