Birds of Minnesota By: Alan Thompson and Anastasia Nereson

Common Loon Gavia immer Song: Common Food Sources: salt and fresh water fish, such as: pike, trout, bass, and herring Interesting information: -MN state bird -dive up to 200 feet underwater to fish -heavy bones and eyes that focus both in air and water adapt for diving

Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Song: Common Food Sources: mostly fish, but also: frogs, snakes, birds, small mammals, crayfish, dragonflies Interesting information: -Length: 38 inches -Wingspan: 70 inches -Long neck, legs -Holds neck in an "S" curve at rest and in flight -Swallow their food whole, choke on too large of prey Female GBHMale GBH

Canada Goose Branta canadensis Song: Common Food Sources: Interesting information: -Some migratory populations don’t go as far south as they previously did -Large water bird -Has a white chinstrap

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos Song: Common Food Sources: Insects, larvae, aquatic invertebrates, seeds, aquatic vegetation, grain Interesting information: -Ancestor of nearly all domestic duck breeds -Mostly monogamous -Sexually dimorphic -Female incubates and cares for eggs Male Female

Wood Duck Aix sponsa Song: Common Food Sources: vegetation, insects, snails, tadpoles, and salamanders Interesting information: -Forages while swimming -Females lay 9-15 eggs -Preferred habitats include wooded swamps and freshwater marshes MaleFemale

Red-Tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis Song: Common Food Sources: Small/medium sized mammals, birds, Interesting information: -North American population is increasing -Common raptors -Mostly monogamous

Osprey Pandion haliaetus Song: Common Food Sources: Different types of fish Interesting information: -Dive feet first for prey -Only North American raptor that eats almost only fish

Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus Song: Common Food Sources: fish, ducks, muskrats, turtles, rabbits, and snakes Interesting information: -most commonly found in Alaska -open water is a necessity for eagles -adopted as national bird in 1782

American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos Song: Common Food Sources: Interesting information: -Most victimized by West Nile virus -Wingspan is cm -14 years, 7 months is the oldest recorded age of a wild crow

Red-Headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus Song: Listen Listen Common Food Sources: Beech and oak mast, seeds,nuts, berries, fruit, insects, bird eggs, nestlings, mice. Interesting information: -One of four woodpeckers that stores food -Only one known to cover the stored food with wood or bark -Attacks other birds to keep them out of its territory -Known to remove the eggs of other species from nests, destroy nests, and puncture duck -Most omnivorous woodpecker

Ring-Necked Pheasant Phasianus colchicus Song: Common Food Sources: Seeds, grain, grasses, leaves, roots, nuts, insects Interesting information: -Males are brightly colored, -Female smaller and cryptically colored -One male keeps other males away from group of females breeding season - Long tail, which is often held cocked up at an angle Male PheasantFemale Pheasant

WARBLERS Coniferous Black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens) Commonalities: Eat insects and spiders (food source) Found mainly in the northeastern U.S. Sexually dimorphic Deciduous Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina) Differences: Yellow/Dark Blue Hooded population is common and increasing in some areas Blue population is stable

Aquatic Birds Prairie: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) Commonalities: Long Neck Eat Found Not sexually dimorphic Coniferous Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Differences: Black/White Colors Whistle/Honk

Ground Nesting Birds Female Prairie Chicken Male Prairie ChickenMale Wild TurkeyMale Spruce Grouse Female Wild TurkeyFemale Spruce Grouse

Ground Nesting Birds Coniferous Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) Food: spruce needles and buds Weighs g Sexually dipmorphic Found in northern MN only Generally quiet Olive eggs with variable spots Deciduous: Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Food: buds, grasses, grain, berries, insects, frogs and snakes Weighs ,800 g Sexually dimorphic Lost by one vote in 1782 to become national bird Prairie: Greater Prairie- chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) Food: plants & insects Weighs g Sexually dimorphic Very rare and near- extinct due to habitat loss Do not migrate Male ritual of “booming”

MN state bird: Common Loon Description of a basic adult: Pale gray bill Gray-brown cap, forehead, nape, and back White face, eye ring, chin, throat, foreneck and belly Identification Tips: Length: 24 inches Wingspan: 58 inches Sexes similar Large diving bird, large bill Feet set far back on body Found in northern MN, Alaska & Canada Lead and Mercury poisoning are significant causes of death After molting its wing feathers in winter, the loon is flightless Also known as the “Great Northern Diver”

Works Cited: ges/recreational_land.html ges/recreational_land.html GS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/co mmon-loon.jpg GS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/co mmon-loon.jpg imalAudioID=345 imalAudioID=345 sounds.htm sounds.htm nts/information/Aves.html nts/information/Aves.html