It’s Sunday, and that means a themed bird post with photos and commentary from biologist John Avise. Click on the photos to enlarge them; John’s IDs and commentary are indented.
All-Americans
Several avian species have the word “American” in their official common name. This is to distinguish them from counterpart species that reside in other parts of the world. For example, the American Bittern has a close cousin in Europe and Asia known as the Eurasian Bittern; the American Goldfinch has a relative in Europe known as the European Goldfinch; the American Wigeon is closely related to a European Wigeon; and several non-American Oystercatcher species are found in other parts of the world. Naturally, all of my photographs this week were taken in North America.
American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana:
American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus:
American Coot, Fulica americana:
American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos:
American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis:
American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus:
American Dipper, Cinclus mexicanus:
American Kestrel, Falco sparvarius:
American Pipit, Anthus rubescens:
American Redstart, Setophaga ruticilla:
American Robin, Turdus migratorius:
American Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus:
American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea:
American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos:
American Wigeon, Anas americana:
Beautiful photos all of them..
Agreed – I love this series of themed bird posts.
Interestingly I have seen vagrants of 5 of these species here in the U.K.; one of which was actually scientifically described from a specimen collected in (old) Hampshire!
Great pics as usual. At first glance, the Avocet looked like a bird flying upside down.
Excellent American birds. I can’t say much for our human populace, but our birds sure are nice. 🙂
Incredible photos!