![]() She incubates 4-7 light blue eggs for about two weeks. She uses her body to form the cup, lining it with finer plant material. NestingĪfter a mated pair settles down to housekeeping, the female does all of the nest building, gathering grass stems, animal hair & other vegetation for the bulk of the nest. Female bluebirds select a mate only on the basis of the location and quality of the nesting cavity he offers her, not on his appearance or singing ability. Once the male establishes his breeding territory, he waits for a female to stop by, courting her by singing, flight displays or offers of food. They winter in New Mexico and Texas and begin their spring migration early, the males arriving in late February or early March. The Mountain Bluebird is a thrush of open country and higher elevations. On a dull brown Montana landscape, the blue flash of a male Mountain Bluebird is a welcome sign of spring. ![]() Source: All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology The oldest recorded Yellow-rumped Warbler was at least 7 years old. Fall and winter birds are paler brown, with bright yellow rump and usually some yellow on the sides. Both sexes are a smart gray with flashes of white in the wings and yellow on the face, sides, and rump. Western populations move to the Pacific Coast to winter and other populations migrate to Mexico and Central America. They are the only warbler able to digest the wax found in bayberries and wax myrtles, which allows them to winter further north, sometimes as far as Newfoundland, but mostly across much of central and southeastern U.S. Yellow-rumped Warblers switch over to eating berries in the fall. They will also pick insects out of spiderwebs and grab them off piles of manure. You most likely will spot them fluttering from a tree branch to catch a flying insect. They are the most versatile forager of all warblers. This warbler with its trade-mark “yellow-rump” is the easiest to see during the fall migration, when they pass through in large numbers. The Yellow-rumped Warbler, one of our most common warblers, shows up early in the spring and is usually the last to leave in the fall. The oldest recorded Harris’s Sparrow was at least 11 years old when it was recaptured during banding operations in Kansas in 1983.Īs the leaves begin to turn color this fall, you may notice small streaky yellow and brown birds with a distinctive sharp chip call flitting through the trees around the Gallatin Valley. The causes of the decline are unknown, but it’s likely tied to habitat loss both in their breeding and wintering grounds. The population of Harris’s Sparrows has declined 63% between 1970-2014. The darker the throat patch, the more dominant the individual, who will chase or push younger, lighter colored birds out of the way. Little did he know that Thomas Nuttall collected the bird first in 1834 and named it “Mourning Finch.”Īs they get older, the black areas around the face change from patchy black to fully black. Audubon eagerly named the specimen thinking he was the first person to do so. Audubon, who collected a specimen in 1843. The Harris’s Sparrow was named after Edward Harris, a friend of John J. In winter, Harris’s Sparrow prefer hedgerows, agricultural fields & other shrubby areas of the southern Great Plains. The first nest was found in 1931 in Churchill, Manitoba. As is typical of sparrows, you’ll find them foraging on the ground, venturing boldly out into the open to look for food. The Harris’s Sparrow is the only North American songbird that breeds exclusively in the semiforested tundra of northern Canada. Because of its remote breeding grounds, it was one of the last species to have its nest described. This would be a Harris’s Sparrow, North America’s largest sparrow. During fall migration in Montana, you might be lucky enough to spot a large, plump sparrow with a pink bill, white belly and black bib.
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