Online Bird watching in West Virginia Welcome class

Wood Duck Natural cavities for nesting are scarce, and the Wood Duck readily uses nest boxes provided for it. If nest boxes are placed too close together, many females lay eggs in the nests of other females. The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times over a mile away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water. The mother calls them to her, but does not help them in any way. The ducklings may jump from heights of over 50 feet without injury.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Yellow-billed Cuckoos are among the few bird species able to eat hairy caterpillars. In the East they eat large numbers of tent caterpillars—as many as 100 in one sitting. Yellow-Billed Cuckoos don’t lay their eggs all at once: the period between one egg to the next can stretch to as long as five days. This “asynchronous” egg laying means the oldest chick can be close to leaving the nest when the youngest is just hatching. When food is in short supply the male may remove the youngest bird from the nest, though unlike their relative the Greater Roadrunner, they don’t feed them to the older siblings.

Chuck-will's-widow The Chuck-will 's-widow hunts actively by flying low over the ground in search of insects. Occasionally, small birds and bats are included in its diet. The oldest recorded Chuck-will's-widow was a male, and at least 14 years, 10 months old when he was shot in the Dominican Republic and Haiti in 1992. He had been banded in Florida in 1978.

American Avocet In response to predators, the American Avocet sometimes issues a series of call notes that gradually changes pitch, simulating the Doppler effect and thus making its approach seem faster than it actually is. Nesting American Avocets aggressively attack predators, sometimes physically striking Northern Harriers or Common Ravens.

Forster's Tern Forster's Tern is the only tern restricted almost entirely to North America throughout the year. Spawning common carp are so vigorous that they can dislodge Forster's Tern eggs from floating nests.

Common Loon The Common Loon swims underwater to catch fish, propelling itself with its feet. It swallows most of its prey underwater. The loon has sharp, rearward- pointing projections on the roof of its mouth and tongue that help it keep a firm hold on slippery fish. Loons are water birds, only going ashore to mate and incubate eggs. Their legs are placed far back on their bodies, allowing efficient swimming but only awkward movement on land.

Belted Kingfisher The breeding distribution of the Belted Kingfisher is limited in some areas by the availability of suitable nesting sites. Human activity, such as road building and digging gravel pits, has created banks where kingfishers can nest and allowed the expansion of the breeding range. The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male. Among the nearly 100 species of kingfishers, the sexes often look alike. In some species the male is more colorful, and in others the female is.

How Go birding by ear How to Go Birding by Ear It takes practice to effectively identify bird sounds. To begin birding by ear… Get Familiar: Listen to common bird calls and songs for your regional species so you know what tones and sounds to listen for in the field. Recordings are available from bird compilation CDs, websites, specialized books and electronic downloads. Use multiple resources to help you practice listening to bird songs and tune your ears to the right notes. If you can easily recognize the most familiar, common birds, you will be quicker to recognize when a bird sounds different.  Visit Early: Birds are more vocal with distinctive songs in the early morning since still, cool air will carry their songs further and louder. This also makes the songs easier to identify if you are birding early in the day. This is especially important during spring and early summer when birds are part of the dawn chorus, and more birds will be vocalizing.

Videos birding by ear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9dy3rbBXJA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZE8vGhOs5c

Birding by sight You need spot birds fast even smaller birds. Be able to know how to use your eyes to spot and then use your binoculars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_cy6- qKy3s&t=12s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvHHVhdRZtA

Up and down flight pattern Wood peckers: moderate rises and falls Finches: steep roller coaster pattern

Flapping VS Gliding Northern goshawks, sharp shinned hawks, and Coppers hawks: several wing flaps, then glide Buteo Red tail hawk: soaring sky pattern

Crow vs raven Crows perform several wing flaps and glide Ravens flap, then soar in the sky

Head on flight patterns Turkey vultures: shallow V Bald Eagles: hold their wings flat Red Tailed hawk: is somewhat flat but not completely flat Most hawks and eagles hold their wings flat

Alphabetical order vs taxnomic order Alphabetical order is not best way or either by arranging them by habitat. By trying to sort birds by color is hard, because both male female and young are different colors. Because Alphabetical order in no help if you don’t know birds name. Because these birds have different habitats. Taxonomic order is largely used in bird identification because of the association between species in families; however, a downside to this categorization occurs when scientists make discoveries which change bird names or the family they belong to.

The best way to Study Birds Is through your book. By studying bird families here, you can become more familiar with the field as you go out. Illustrations are important in learning how to identify the field marks of birds. Bill shape Facial pattern Body size Manner of flight

Finding The Correct Bird Guide Fundamentals: your guide should detail the different bird family groups, and information on where and when you can find each bird. Photos can aid you in identifying birds in the field, but some people prefer and work better with illustrations. Some field guides only cover birds from America. Others cover birds all over world. Popular field guides: Stokes Peterson Sibley National Geographic Wildlife Federation.