By: Alan Thompson and Anastasia Nereson 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 GBH Male 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 Female Male

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 Male Female

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 85-100 cm -14 years, 7 months is the oldest recorded age of a wild crow

Red-Headed Woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalus Song: 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 Pheasant Female Pheasant

Wild Turkey Meleagris gallopavo Sound: Common food sources: seeds and insects Interesting facts: turkeys are ground-dwelling birds, have extremely powerful legs, bare heads and necks, have slightly down-curved bill, tips of tail are chesnut-brown in the East and white in the Southwest. Male Female

American Robin Turdus migratorius Sound: Common food sources: berries, nuts, flower nectar, tree sap, dead animals, seeds, insects, worms. Interesting facts: have dark grey back with dark stripes on a white throat, largest thrush in North America (adults about 9-10 inches), nest in open woodlands and grasslands.

Eastern Bluebird Sialia sialis Sound: Common food sources: insects, other invertebrates, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, fruits like blackberries, honeysuckle, snails. Interesting facts: general habitat applies to hardwoods and grasslands, small thrush, medium-sized body, usually have more than one successful brood a year. Male Female

Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis Sound: Common food sources: sunflower and safflower seeds, fruits, insects. Interesting facts: the large, conical beaks are ideal for the Northern Cardinal in order to crack open the seeds they eat, often in family units versus flocks, Northern Cardinal couples are monogamous, females lay two to three eggs each times they give birth. Female Male

American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis Sound: Common food sources: grains, small seeds, thistles, sunflower seeds and lettuce. Interesting facts: American Goldfinch species is abundant, they are popular birds that can be tamed and kept in a cage, usually reside in shrubby places, old fields, parks and gardens. Male Female

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata Sound: Common food sources: fruits, nuts, seeds, insects, mice, frogs, and they often steal food from other animals. Interesting facts: the Blue Jays’ eating habits help plants disperse their seeds, these birds use “body-fluff” bobbing motions with their bodies when fighting to intimidate other birds, pairs form monogamous bonds that usually last until one of the birds dies.

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica Sound: Common food sources: flies, crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and dragonflies. Interesting facts: Barn Swallows are native in all biogeographic regions except Antarctica and Australia, incredibly adaptable birds as far as habitat goes, they fly over open areas when migrating, they weigh anywhere between 17 and 20 grams. Female Male

Northern Oriole Icterus galbula Sound: Common food sources: insects, caterpillars, fruit, nectar and spiders. Interesting facts: females have no solid black hood and are dull, whereas males are brightly colored with a black hood, have long and pointed beak, and long tails. The Northern American Orioles are named after similar-looking birds of the Old World.

Ruby Throated Hummingbird Archilochus colubris Sound: Common food sources: small insects, flower nectar and tree saps. Interesting facts: nests are constructed of thistle and dandelion down, eggs are white, female have a white throat and males have a red throat, the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds have green iridescent backs, and they hover at flowers. Female Male

Common Raven Corvus corax Sound: Common food sources: mostly feed on carcasses torn by wolves, etc. Interesting facts: Common Ravens are crafty, cunning and opportunistic. They are very intelligent and make good parents. When airborne, they look very graceful.

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

Aquatic Birds Commonalities: Long Neck Eat Found Coniferous Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Differences: Black/White Colors Whistle/Honk Weight: 800-180 g (Grebe) Weight: Weight: 7700-12700 g Prairie: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) Commonalities: Long Neck Eat Found Not sexually dimorphic

Ground Nesting Birds Male Spruce Grouse Male Wild Turkey Male Prairie Chicken Female Spruce Grouse Female Wild Turkey Female Prairie Chicken

Ground Nesting Birds Coniferous Spruce Grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) Food: spruce needles and buds Weighs 400-650 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 2500-10,800 g Sexually dimorphic Lost by one vote in 1782 to become national bird Prairie: Greater Prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) Food: plants & insects Weighs 700-1200 g Sexually dimorphic Very rare and near-extinct due to habitat loss Do not migrate Male ritual of “booming”

Owls Deciduous Forest Great Horned owl Bubo virginianus Prairie Grassland Burrowing owl Athene cunicularia Coniferous Forest Short-eared owl Asio flammeus All three owls sing alike, with the “ooo” sounds. Female and males look alike in each species, though the females are often a bit larger. Short-eared owls are medium-sized. Burrowing owls are small. Great horned owls are large owls.

Chickadees Coniferous Forest Boreal chickadee Peocile hudsonicus Deciduous Forest Black-capped chickadee Poecile atricapillus Both chickadees are small, short-billed, black birds with white cheeks. Both species hide their food for later recovery. Black-capped chickadees songs are complex and sound very language-like. Boreal chickadees songs are scratchy and sound like, “chick-a-dee-dee”.

Blackbirds Both birds are medium-sized songbirds. Deciduous Forest Brewer’s blackbird Euphagus asanocephalus Coniferous Forest Red-winged blackbird Agelaius phoenuceus Both birds are medium-sized songbirds. Brewer’s blackbird males are iridescent black and females are smaller and a dull gray-brown. Red-winged blackbird males are black with red shoulders and females are brown striped all over.

Nuthatches Both species have rapidly increasing population numbers. Deciduous Forest White-breasted nuthatch Sitta carolinensis Coniferous Forest Red-breasted nuthatch Sitta canadensis Both species have rapidly increasing population numbers. Red-breasted nuthatches migrate South very early, and they begin in around July. White-breasted nuthatches migrate in flocks in the winter.

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 http://www.wildlifeseeds.com/foodplots/turkey/ www.pbase.com jmusic-man.livejournal.com http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/ http://whatbird.com/ http://www.all-birds.com/feeding-birds.htm http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/eastblue/ebreq.htm www.statesymbolsusa.org http://www.aspensongwildbirdfood.com/wildbirds/speciesprofiles/detail.php?id=44 http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i1.treknature.com/photos/5415/femcardinalsnowberry-web http://www.answers.com/topic/american-goldfinch http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=male+american+goldfinch http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=female+american+goldfinch&btnG=Search+Images http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Hirundo_rustica.html http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=female+barn+swallow http://www.howardsview.com/Birds/BlueJay.jpg http://sdakotabirds.com/species/photos/baltimore_oriole_male.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Male_Ruby-Throated_Hummingbird_1.jpg http://farm1.static.flickr.com/65/196656256_f2016b728b.jpg http://kaweahoaks.com/html/raven01.jpg http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/feb/24/common-raven-no-birdbrain/

Works Cited: http://www.minnesotacabinandlandrentals.com/pages/recreational_land.html http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/common-loon.jpg http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=345 http://www.junglewalk.com/sound/Bird-sounds.htm http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Aves.html www.reference.com