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  • The Marabou Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It breeds in Africa south of the Sahara, in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially waste tips
    One Ugly Bird.jpg
  • A Male Northern Cardinal Perched Against A Blurred Backdrop Of Spring Green
    Red Bird Pop On Green.jpg
  • Bird in the Hand.jpg
  • A Titmouse peeks down below to see what all the commotion is about under the bird feeder
    Titmouse Peekdown.jpg
  • A Male Northern Cardinals perched on a white feeder in the midst of a cold winter snow storm. The vibrant Cardinal red contrast against the chilly blues and white snow. The Northern Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis, it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal.<br />
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The Northern Cardinal or "Redbird" is probably one of most popular visitors to backyard bird feeders. Its range extends over most of the eastern USA, parts of extreme southeastern Canada, and south through Mexico to Belize. It has also been introduced to Hawaii. Its variable call, a loud "cheer cheer cheer" or "purty purty purty," is sung by both sexes and can be heard year round. Cardinals are nonmigratory, but some movement does occur in the later summer and fall.<br />
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The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They're a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can't take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don't migrate and they don't molt into a dull plumage, so they're still breathtaking in winter's snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.
    Chilly Cardinal Blues.jpg
  • The Cardinal is probably one of the most recognizable and popular backyard birds because of its brilliant red color and crested head. It is a great bird to admire year-round. The color contrast of the brilliant red against fresh white snow really is a high point during the winter months. Early settlers were said to have named this bird after the Cardinals of the Catholic Church who wore red robes.<br />
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Both sexes are accomplished songsters and may be heard at any time of year. Cardinals will mate for life and remain together throughout the entire year. That's why you will usually see a male and female together at your feeding station.<br />
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Male and female Cardinals both sing. Songs are loud, beautiful whistled phrases. Some songs you may hear sound like "whoit whoit whoit" and "whacheer whacheer." These songs are used in forming territories and in courtship. Male and female cardinals use "chirps" as contact calls and alarms. They also have many visual displays such as "tail-flicks" to signal alarm. The crest may be raised and lowered. Strongly territorial, males will fight other males, along with their own reflection in windows!
    Chubby Winter Redbird.jpg
  • The Blue and Gold Macaw Ara ararauna is one of the most beautiful large parrots. It is a sweet tempered and affectionate parrot, and has one of the best all around personalities of the large Macaws. This bird makes a great companion for a single person. But it is friendly with everyone, including other birds, when it's well socialized. Although some Macaws are one-person type birds, the Blue and Gold is right at home in a family type situation as well.<br />
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This large parrot is also sometimes called the Blue and Yellow Macaw, or you may come across a larger variant from Bolivia called the Bolivian Blue and Gold Macaw. The Bolivian variety is distinguished by its larger size and its coloring. On all these Macaws the colors are vibrant, but the Bolivian has more of a true blue rather than the teal blue seen in the average Blue and Gold. They all share the same wonderful personality and characteristics.<br />
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The Blue and Gold Macaw is very adaptive. Whatever environment they are in, it becomes quite normal for them. If they are around many people, they will accept many people. When well trained and socialized, Blue and Gold Macaws enjoy participating in all sorts of outdoor and public activities with their owners. We've seen them attending public festivals on their owners arms. One woman regularly took her Macaw with her to Western line dance classes. Another woman would take her Blue and Gold horseback riding with her. There are bird leashes available so you can take your feathered friend wherever you go, and they just adapt. They ride well in a car on a bird car seat
    Tropic Macaw.jpg
  • Few sounds symbolize American patriotism like the piercing shrill of a bald eagle. But just like George Washington and his cherry tree, that majestic call - is a myth. The screech associated with the bald eagle, in fact, belongs to a different bird. It's a cry that's synonymous with America's national bird. But there's a problem. If you were to look up at the bird making that sound in real life you wouldn't see a bald eagle. Unfortunately for the bald eagle, it has like a little cackling type of a laugh that's not really very impressive for the bird.<br />
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The hole in the tongue is not for swallowing, it's for breathing. The bird trachea (wind pipe) comes up through the tongue. The esophogus is behind that. This is very functional, actually. The eagle's tongue also has sort of a barb on it. When they are swallowing something large, like a fish, they will stick out their tongue so the barbs go past the morsel, then pull their tongue back in. The tips of the barb will pull the food back into their throat, where it can be swallowed. If an eagle's windpipe were behind the tongue like a human, they wouuld be unable to breath with a large piece of prey or whole fish in their their throat.  A situation like that is where the tongue comes into play. They will stick out their tongues to allow the barbs to get the bite of food, but while the tongue is extended, they will open the hole in their tongue to take a breath of air.
    Down The Hatch.jpg
  • A cold Male Junco bird gland on a dormant winter bush covered with snow, sunflower seed in his beak
    Snowy Male Junco.jpg
  • The bird needs a long distance to gain momentum for take-off, and is ungainly on landing. Its clumsiness on land is due to the legs being positioned at the rear of the body: this is ideal for diving but not well-suited for walking.
    Common Loon 4.jpg
  • Minnesota's state bird, the common loon, is more at home in the water than on land. built like a torpedo, it swims under water in search of prey. Minnesota has more common loons than any other state except Alaska.
    Common Loon 2.jpg
  • In summer it can seem that every patch of woods in the eastern United States rings with the rolling song of the Carolina Wren. This shy bird can be hard to see, but it delivers an amazing number of decibels for its size. Follow its teakettle-teakettle! and other piercing exclamations through backyard or forest, and you may be rewarded with glimpses of this bird's rich cinnamon plumage, white eyebrow stripe, and long, upward-cocked tail. This hardy bird has been wintering farther and farther north in recent decades.
    Carolina Wren.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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Though their numbers have grown in much of their range, bald eagles remain most abundant in Alaska and Canada. These powerful birds of prey use their talons to fish, but they get many of their meals by scavenging carrion or stealing the kills of other animals. (Such thievery famously prompted Ben Franklin to argue against the bird's nomination as the United State's national symbol.) They live near water and favor coasts and lakes where fish are plentiful, though they will also snare and eat small mammals.<br />
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Bald eagles are believed to mate for life. A pair constructs an enormous stick nest�one of the bird-world's biggest�high above the ground and tends to a pair of eggs each year. Immature eagles are dark, and until they are about five years old, they lack the distinctive white markings that make their parents so easy to identify. Young eagles roam great distances. Florida birds have been spotted in Michigan, and California eagles have traveled all the way to Alaska.
    Baldy On Lookout.jpg
  • Yes even a robin can have some majesty and prowess.<br />
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The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast, cheery song, and early appearance at the end of winter. Though they're familiar town and city birds, American Robins are at home in wilder areas, too, including mountain forests and Alaskan wilderness. <br />
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The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely<br />
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A distinctive, potbellied bird. Forages on lawns and other areas of short vegetation for earthworms and other invertebrates in a run-and-stop pattern typical of terrestrial thrushes. Adult: depending on sex and subspecies, head, with white eye arcs, varies from jet black to gray, with white supercilia and throat, blackish lores and lateral throat stripe. Underparts vary, often in tandem with head color, from deep, rich reddish maroon to gray-scalloped, peachy orange. Males tend to be darker, females grayer, but overlap makes determining sex of many problematic.
    Majestic Robin Blues.jpg
  • This Blue Hyacinth Macaw Strikes A Funny Pose.<br />
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The large Hyacinth Macaw Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus is a majestic beauty. Visually it appears to be the largest parrot in the world. But that is not quite so. The elongated body of the Hyacinth reaches about 37' (95 cm) in length and it has an impressive wingspan up to about 42 inches across, which is the most expansive parrot in the world. But the Hyacinth is not all that hefty, it only weighs up to about 3.7 lb.<br />
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The worlds largest parrot is actually a flightless, ground-dwelling bird. It is the species Strigops habroptila, commonly called Kakapo which means night parrot. This hefty bird only extends to 24' (61 cm) in length, but in weight a mature adult can be up to 9 pounds (4 kg)! The Kakapo is endemic to New Zealand and is quite a pretty bird in its own right. Rather than being blue like the Hyacinth, it is a yellowish green color mottled with dark stripes and spots giving it an owlish appearance. Its scientific name actually means 'owl-faced soft feathers'.<br />
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The beautiful Hyacinth is pretty much an all blue large Macaw. The rich cobalt blue of its coloring is what influenced its name. It is a calm Macaw and known to make an excellent pet. Hyacinth Macaws have a very even temperament. They are sweet, extremely gentle, and are not inclined to make a great deal of noise. They are affectionate and playful, and become quite attached to their human families.
    Hyacinth Pose.jpg
  • No doubt about it - the flamingo is a curious-looking bird. Its body is extremely slender, its head small, its bill strangely curved and hooked. And then there's the matter of color - how many animals can you name that are HOT PINK?<br />
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Flamingos are social birds. They live in large groups, sometimes up to tens of thousands of birds, an undulating ocean of pink. The sound of a large flamingo flock is also impressive (they're often mistaken for geese) and can be heard a great distance away. The birds are very vocal and use a wide variety of honks, alarm calls and other vocalizations.<br />
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Flamingos in a colony feed together, breed together, and fly together. They eat by day, but when a feeding area no longer provides enough food for the flock, the birds move to another location at night.<br />
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The birds are quite distinctive looking in flight. They stretch out their long necks and legs and spread their wings so the black undersides are visible. A flamingo's wingspan can range from three to five feet, depending on the size of the bird.
    Flamingo Speaks.jpg
  • A Female Dark-Eyed Junco Foraging For Food in the Snow During A Cold Blue Winter Day.<br />
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Females and juvenile birds are generally paler and show a greater mixture of brown in the plumage. Generally, there is less white on the outer tail feathers in juvenile and female birds. There is, however, much individual variation.<br />
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The Dark-eyed Junco is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. Dark-eyed Juncos are neat, even flashy little sparrows that flit about forest floors of the western mountains and Canada, then flood the rest of North America for winter. They're easy to recognize by their crisp (though extremely variable) markings and the bright white tail feathers they habitually flash in flight. One of the most abundant forest birds of North America, you'll see juncos on woodland walks as well as in flocks at your feeders or on the ground beneath them. <br />
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Juncos are the "snowbirds" of the middle latitudes. Over most of the eastern United States, they appear as winter sets in and then retreat northward each spring. Some juncos in the Appalachian Mountains remain there all year round, breeding at the higher elevations. These residents have shorter wings than the migrants that join them each winter. Longer wings are better suited to flying long distances, a pattern commonly noted among other studies of migratory vs. resident species.
    Blue Christmas Junco.jpg
  • Tufted Titmouse - Hopefully I have identified the bird correctly, as this is really my first time trying to capture a bird. I had to dig out an identification book, but I am pretty confident I got the right one. I tried to make a mission for myself to get a bird shot yesterday to expand my subject selection.<br />
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I don't really have an appropriate lens for these distances, especially with such little birds, so I tried for more of an overall composition to the shot as I could not isolate the bird with any kind of real quality. I pretty much left the shot as is, with a couple of color pops and a little bit of work to help accentuate the depth in the tree as it was such a large part of the shot, I though giving the branches a bit of character helped bring it all together.
    birdie.jpg
  • Mr. Sparrow looking to the sky while perched on the top of a bird house.
    Chipper Looking Up.jpg
  • The East African Crowned Crane (Grey Crowned Crane) gets its name from the distinctive golden crown of feathers on its head. The Grey Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats.They can also be found in marshes. This photo was taken at the Saint Louis Zoo<br />
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This species and the closely related Black Crowned Crane are the only cranes that can roost in trees, because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches. This habit, amongst other things, is a reason why the relatively small Balearica cranes are believed to closely resemble the ancestral members of the Gruidae.<br />
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The body of the Grey Crowned Crane is mainly gray. The wings are predominantly white, but contain feathers with colors ranging from white to brown to gold. The head is topped with a crown of stiff golden feathers. Cheek patches are white, and a red gular sack is present under the chin. The gular sack is similar to a wattle, except that it can be inflated. Legs and toes are black. The bill is short and dark gray. <br />
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West African crowned cranes are monogamous birds that form pairs for life. Pairs can be seen together even in the middle of a large flock, which suggests an exceptionally strong pair bond. Adult cranes reinforce their pair bond by dancing for and with each other. They perform ritualistic dance displays that include bows, leaps, runs, wing flapping, short flights, jerky bouncing, running, and stick tossing. Cranes of all ages dance. Among younger birds, dancing may serve to reduce aggression with other cranes, provide physical exercise, and possibly relieve anxiety.
    Crowned Crane Consistency.jpg
  • An Eagle grabs a fishy snack to cure a powerful appetite. The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle.<br />
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The Bald Eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species.<br />
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The plumage of an adult Bald Eagle is evenly dark brown with a white head and tail. The tail is moderately long and slightly wedge-shaped. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration, but sexual dimorphism is evident in the species in that females are 25 percent larger than males. The beak, feet and irides are bright yellow.<br />
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There are two subspecies of bald eagles. The "southern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus, is found in the Gulf States from Texas and Baja California across to South Carolina and Florida, south of 40 degrees north latitude. The "northern" bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus alascanus, is found north of 40 degrees north latitude across the entire continent. The largest numbers of northern bald eagles are in the Northwest, especially in Alaska. The "northern" bald eagle is slightly larger than the "southern" bald eagle. Studies have shown that "northern" bald eagles fly into the southern states and Mexico, and the "southern" bald eagles fly north into Canada. Because of these finding, the subspecies of "northern" and "southern" bald eagles has been discontinued in recent literature.
    Bald Eagle Snacks.jpg
  • A male Northern Cardinal flies through the winter storm dodging the tree branches in the woods laden with icicles. The skies were dull and grey with a bit of a purple tint, the air was brisk and chilly. The only signs of beauty and life was this bold red bird flying from tree to tree on this cold winter day in my Missouri back yard.
    Flight Of A Winter Cardinal.jpg
  • A little gray bird with an echoing voice, the Tufted Titmouse is common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeders.
    Afternoon Titmouse.jpg
  • The quintessential early bird, American Robins are common sights on lawns across North America, where you often see them tugging earthworms out of the ground. Robins are popular birds for their warm orange breast, cheery song, and early appearance at the end of winter. Though they're familiar town and city birds, American Robins are at home in wilder areas, too, including mountain forests and Alaskan wilderness.
    Robin at Sunrise.jpg
  • The Common Starling, also known as the European Starling or in the British Isles just the Starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae.<br />
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First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent?s most numerous songbirds. They are stocky black birds with short tails, triangular wings, and long, pointed bills. Though they?re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they?re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. For much of the year, they wheel through the sky and mob lawns in big, noisy flocks.
    Starling On Lime Grass.jpg
  • Snowflakes land on this closeup photograph of a Tufted Titmouse perched on a red bird feeder in winter, contrasted against a vibrant sparking green backdrop
    Titmouse Lime.jpg
  • A tiny Downy Woodpecker grabs some suet from the bird feeder on a cold winter day
    Hello Winter Downy.jpg
  • An Evil Grackle Eyes a Nearby Feeder waiting for an innocent bird to approach so he can torment them.
    Ominous Molting Grackle.jpg
  • The red-bellied woodpecker is not technically considered a migratory bird. Woodpeckers build their nests within the relatively sheltered trunks of trees, which allows them to stay warm during cold weather. Because of the recent expansion of their breeding range, many woodpeckers are showing more migratory behavior during the coldest months of the year, moving south to the milder locations within their breeding territory over the winter.
    Must Be Spring - Redbelly Returns.jpg
  • A Female Northern Cardinal Perched on a Red Bird Feeder with some fun pastel colors and sharp impressions.
    Female Cardinal Pastelation.jpg
  • Bursting with black, white, and rose-red, male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are like an exclamation mark at your bird feeder or in your binoculars
    Male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak On Branc...jpg
  • It was so windy out yesterday, all of my bird shots look like this
    Titmouse In The Breeze.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus) is found only on the North American continent. Adult male eagles generally weigh about 9 pounds. Adult females weigh in at between 12 and 13 pounds. Adult eagles have a wing span of up to 7 feet. Immature eagles are mottled brown and white. The distinct white head and tail of the mature bird is developed between 4-5 years of age. In the wild, bald eagles live to between 30 and 35 years. In captivity, they have been known to live up to 50 years.<br />
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Eagles do not live in isolation! Because they are near the top of the food chain, they become an irreplaceable indicator for measuring the health of the entire ecological system in which they live. After being listed as an endangered species in 1978 following a dramatic drop in population that began at the turn of the century, the Bald Eagle's status was upgraded to Threatened on August 11, 1995. Although efforts to replenish populations of the Bald Eagle have been successful, it continues to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the Bald Eagle Protection Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
    Spread Eagle.jpg
  • The Tufted Titmouse is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family. The active and noisy tufted, North America's most widespread titmouse, is remarkably uniform morphologically, genetically, vocally, and behaviorally throughout its range. Besides gleaning trees and shrubs for arthropods, it spends more time on the ground searching leaf litter than do chickadees and most other titmouse species.<br />
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A little gray bird with an echoing voice, the Tufted Titmouse is common in eastern deciduous forests and a frequent visitor to feeders. The large black eyes, small, round bill, and brushy crest gives these birds a quiet but eager expression that matches the way they flit through canopies, hang from twig-ends, and drop in to bird feeders. When a titmouse finds a large seed, you'll see it carry the prize to a perch and crack it with sharp whacks of its stout bill. <br />
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Tufted Titmice are acrobatic foragers, if a bit slower and more methodical than chickadees. They often flock with chickadees, nuthatches, and woodpeckers and are regular visitors to feeders, where they are assertive over smaller birds. Their flight tends to be fluttery but level rather than undulating.
    Tufted Titmouse Twinkle.jpg
  • The Black-capped Chickadee is a small, North American songbird, a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada.
    BCCH Defined.jpg
  • Cardinal Birds are a family of birds found in North and South America. ..I captured this shot of a beautiful male cardinal bird in a pine tree at Broemmelsiek Park.
    male_cardinal_in_pine_tree.jpg
  • The Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) is a member of the Columbidae family. The bird is also called the Turtle Dove or the American Mourning Dove or Rain Dove, and formerly was known as the Carolina Pigeon or Carolina Turtledove. It is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds.
    Mourning Dove 1.jpg
  • A Female Red-Crested Cardinal Taken in Maui, Hawaii. The red-crested cardinal gets its common name from its prominent red head and crest. Some disagreement exists as to whether this bird species belongs in the tanager family or the Bunting family
    Red-Crested Cardinal Female Closeup.jpg
  • This handsome little finch, the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington, is welcome and common at feeders, where it takes primarily sunflower and nyjer. Goldfinches often flock with Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls. Spring males are brilliant yellow and shiny black with a bit of white. Females and all winter birds are more dull but identifiable by their conical bill; pointed, notched tail; wingbars; and lack of streaking. During molts they look bizarrely patchy.
    American Goldfinch - 3.jpg
  • This handsome little finch, the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington, is welcome and common at feeders, where it takes primarily sunflower and nyjer. Goldfinches often flock with Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls. Spring males are brilliant yellow and shiny black with a bit of white. Females and all winter birds are more dull but identifiable by their conical bill; pointed, notched tail; wingbars; and lack of streaking. During molts they look bizarrely patchy.
    American Goldfinch - 1.jpg
  • The white-tailed doe realized that by tilting the bird seed holder the food would fall out a little.
    white_tailed_doe14.jpg
  • The double-crested cormorant is a little more than two feet long with a wingspan of about four feet. It has dark brown to black feathers, a long hooked bill with an orange throat pouch, a long tail, and webbed black feet. Adults have tufts of feathers over their eyes. Males and females look alike.<br />
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The double-crested cormorant nests in colonies. Both the male and female will build a nest of sticks, twigs and seaweed. Nests are built in trees and shrubs and on the ground of rocky cliffs and islands. The female lays three to five eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs for about a month. Both parents also feed and take care of the chicks. The chicks fledge in 35-40 days.<br />
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The double-crested cormorant breeds from the coast of Alaska and Nova Scotia south to Mexico and the Bahamas. It winters on both coasts north to southern Alaska and southern New England.<br />
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The bird family Phalacrocoracidae or the cormorants is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.
    Cormorant Peek.jpg
  • This handsome little finch, the state bird of New Jersey, Iowa, and Washington, is welcome and common at feeders, where it takes primarily sunflower and nyjer. Goldfinches often flock with Pine Siskins and Common Redpolls. Spring males are brilliant yellow and shiny black with a bit of white. Females and all winter birds are more dull but identifiable by their conical bill; pointed, notched tail; wingbars; and lack of streaking. During molts they look bizarrely patchy.
    American Goldfinch - 2.jpg
  • I photographed these beautiful Flamingos at the Saint Louis, Missouri. Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird.
    pink_flamingo.jpg
  • The white-tailed doe trying to decide the best way to eat the bird seed.
    white_tailed_doe13.jpg
  • A bird soars past the bright sun on a winding back road drapes by Autumn trees basked in warm sunlight
    A Road Thru Nature.jpg
  • The Rock Dove or Rock Pigeon is a member of the bird family Columbidae. In common usage, this bird is often simply referred to as the pigeon
    IMG_3333.jpg
  • This blue jay was resting under a heat lamp on a cold and snowy winter day in my Missouri backyard. Having a pretty close vantage point I was able to get a dent amount of detail in the feathers of this lovely bird. A close look reveals the water droplets from the falling snow that has melted from the heat of the lamp.<br />
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The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory.<br />
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This common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest; blue, white, and black plumage; and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.<br />
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Blue Jays prefer tray feeders or hopper feeders on a post rather than hanging feeders, and they prefer peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet. Planting oak trees will make acorns available for jays of the future. Blue Jays often take drinks from birdbaths.
    Winter Heat Blue Jay.jpg
  • I photographed these beautiful Flamingos at the Saint Louis, Missouri. Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird.
    flamingos.jpg
  • A wood duck swims in green grassy waters. The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of perching duck found in North America. It is one of the most colorful North American waterfowl.<br />
The population of the Wood Duck was in serious decline in the late 19th century as a result of severe habitat loss and market hunting both for meat and plumage for the ladies' hat market in Europe. By the beginning of the 20th century Wood Ducks had virtually disappeared from much of their former range. In response to the Migratory Bird Treaty established in 1916 and enactment of the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, wood duck populations began to recover slowly. By ending unregulated hunting and taking measures to protect remaining habitat, wood duck populations began to rebound in the 1920s. The development of the artificial nesting box in the 1930s gave an additional boost to Wood Duck production.
    Woody Green Striations.jpg
  • For such a powerful bird, the Bald Eagle emits surprisingly weak-sounding calls - usually a series of high-pitched whistling or piping notes. The female may repeated a single, soft, high-pitched note that has been called 'unlike any other calls in nature', apparently this signals her readiness for copulation.
    Screming Eagle.jpg
  • The White Ibis is a rather quiet bird, only grunting or croaking on breeding grounds
    Ibis on Evening Pond.jpg
  • I guess the white-tailed doe has decided bird seed will be dessert.
    white_tailed_doe11.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer9.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer5.jpg
  • Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid a cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Among them, you might see a dark form with a white head?a color variant called the ?Blue Goose.? Snow Geese have skyrocketed in numbers and are now among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent. <br />
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The Snow Goose, also known as the Blue Goose, is a North American species of goose. Its name derives from the typically white plumage. The genus of this bird is disputed. Snow Geese don't like to travel without the company of another couple dozen geese and can form flocks of several hundred thousand. Family groups forage together on wintering grounds, digging up roots and tubers from muddy fields and marshes. In flight, they are steady on the wing with even wingbeats.
    Snow Geese Over New Melle.jpg
  • The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking, matte-black fishing bird with yellow-orange facial skin. Though they look like a combination of a goose and a loon, they are relatives of frigatebirds and boobies and are a common sight around fresh and salt water across North America?perhaps attracting the most attention when they stand on docks, rocky islands, and channel markers, their wings spread out to dry. These solid, heavy-boned birds are experts at diving to catch small fish.<br />
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Adults are brown-black with a small patch of yellow-orange skin on the face. Immatures are browner overall, palest on the neck and breast. In the breeding season, adults develop a small double crest of stringy black or white feathers.<br />
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The Double-crested Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America.
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  • This prairie dog was just trying to eat and this little bird just kept trying to take the food right out of the prairie dogs mouth.  It was really funny to watch and the prairie dog did not seem to care.
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  • This little hummingbird sure loved these flowers at the Saint Louis Zoo. This beautiful bird was so hard to try and photograph as it flies so fast.
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  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer12.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer8.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. The name of killdeer is imitative of its cry...This picture was the first of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
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  • The American White Ibis is a species of bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is found from the mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the United States south through most of the New World tropics.
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  • I took this shot of the Male Indigo Bunting in my front yard. The Indigo Bunting is a small bird. It displays sexual dimorphism in its coloration; the male is a vibrant blue in the summer and a brown color during the winter months, while the female is brown year-round.
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  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer14.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer15.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer13.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer11.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer7.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer6.jpg
  • Bird Photography On A Cold, Wet, Damp and Gloomy Afternoon
    Finch In Gloomy Tree.jpg
  • Several KillDeer have made the trees on the Gold?s Gym parking lot home for the next 26 to 28 days of their incubation period. ..The killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. These are photos of the "broken wing act". This is a beautiful and fascinating bird.
    killdeer10.jpg
  • A Bird flies high in the skies catching some rays. There is freedom in flight
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  • The grey crowned crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats.
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  • The American White Pelican is a large aquatic bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America, in winter. This shot was taken at the Saint Louis Zoo.
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  • tree, branch, bird, titmouse, tufted titmouse
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  • The Common Starling, also known as the European Starling or just Starling, is a passerine bird in the family Sturnidae. This species of starling is native to most of temperate Europe and western Asia.
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  • A Male House Finch On A Tree Branch
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  • The common crane, also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane.
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  • The Roseate Spoonbill is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae.
    Roseate Spoonbill - A.jpg
  • A Wood Duck swims towards the camera casting reflections in the warm water below.<br />
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The wood duck is one of the most beautiful of the North American ducks. In the early 1900s, the species was considered in danger of extinction throughout its range due to market shooting, habitat loss, and hunting seasons that extended into the breeding season. <br />
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With the implementation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 between the United States and Canada, market shooting was outlawed and judicious hunting season lengths and bag limits were instituted. These changes, together with the construction and placement of nest boxes during the last seven decades, have resulted in a dramatic comeback of wood duck populations.<br />
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Wood ducks are among the most productive egg layers of all the duck species. This evolutionary adaptation occurs because wood ducks experience very high duckling mortality rates. If the first nest fails, the female will attempt up to 2 re-nests to raise a brood.
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  • The Canvasback (Aythya valisineria) is the largest of the North American diving ducks. The adult male (drake) has a black bill, a chestnut red head and neck, a black breast, a grayish back, black rump, and a blackish brown tail. The drake's sides, back, and belly are white with fine vermiculation resembling the weave of a canvas, which gave rise to the bird's common name
    Canvasback Drake.jpg
  • This bird gets its name from the distinctive golden "crown" of feathers on its head. It lives in open areas and grasslands, where it feeds on grass seeds, insects, frogs and lizards. Crowned cranes usually mate for life. Both the male and female cooperate in building the nest, and in defending the eggs and the chicks. Crowned crane parents often pretend to be injured to lure predators away from their nestlings.
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  • A bird walks the shoreline at Busch Wildlife
    Wildlife Watching at Busch.jpg
  • Loons are well equipped for their submarine maneuvers to catch fish. Unlike most birds, loons have solid bones that make them less buoyant and better at diving.
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  • The Ruby-throated Hummingbird does not show a strong preference for any particular color of feeder. Instead, it prefers specific feeder locations. uby-throated Hummingbirds normally place their nest on a branch of a deciduous or coniferous tree; however, these birds are accustomed to human habitation and have been known to nest on loops of chain, wire, and extension cords.<br />
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You can attract Ruby-throated Hummingbirds to your backyard by setting up hummingbird feeders or by planting tubular flowers. Make sugar water mixtures with about one-quarter cup of sugar per cup of water. Food coloring is unnecessary; table sugar is the best choice. Change the water before it grows cloudy or discolored and remember that during hot weather, sugar water ferments rapidly to produce toxic alcohol. Be careful about where you put your hummingbird feeders, as some cats have learned to lie in wait to catch visiting hummingbirds.<br />
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The Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a species of hummingbird. As with all hummingbirds, this species belongs to the Trochilidae family and is currently included in the Apodiformes order.
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  • he Brown-headed Cowbird is well known--and widely disliked--for its practice of laying eggs in the nests of other species. Males are black birds with dull brown heads. Adult males are shiny black, while first-year males are duller black. Females are much smaller and solid brown with a whitish throat and light streaking on their undersides. Juveniles look similar to females, but are more heavily streaked with lighter bellies and light edging on their wing feathers. Cowbirds have more finch-like conical beaks than other blackbirds.
    Male BHCB Profile.jpg
  • The Snow Goose has two color plumage morphs, white (snow) or gray/blue (blue), thus the common description as snows and blues. White-morph birds are white except for black wing tips, but blue-morph geese have bluish-grey plumage replacing the white except on the head, neck and tail tip. The immature blue phase is drab or slate-gray with little to no white on the head, neck, or belly.<br />
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Outside of the nesting season, they usually feed in flocks. In winter, snow geese feed on left-over grain in fields. They migrate in large flocks, often visiting traditional stopover habitats in spectacular numbers. Snow Geese often travel and feed alongside Greater White-fronted Geese; in contrast, the two tend to avoid travelling and feeding alongside Canada Geese, which are often heavier birds.<br />
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The breeding population of the Lesser Snow Goose exceeds 5 million birds, an increase of more than 300 percent since the mid-1970s. The population is increasing at a rate of more than 5 percent per year. Non-breeding geese (juveniles or adults that fail to nest successfully) are not included in this estimate, so the total number of geese is even higher. Lesser Snow Goose population indices are the highest they have been since population records have been kept, and evidence suggests that large breeding populations are spreading to previously untouched sections of the Hudson Bay coastline.
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  • A Black-crowned Night Heron in Green Waters. The Black-crowned Night Heron, commonly abbreviated to just Night Heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, except in the coldest regions and Australasia. Black-crowned Night-Herons are stocky birds compared to many of their long-limbed heron relatives. They're most active at night or at dusk, when you may see their ghostly forms flapping out from daytime roosts to forage in wetlands. In the light of day adults are striking in gray-and-black plumage and long white head plumes. These social birds breed in colonies of stick nests usually built over water. They live in fresh, salt, and brackish wetlands and are the most widespread heron in the world. <br />
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Black-crowned Night-Herons often spend their days perched on tree limbs or concealed among foliage and branches. They forage in the evening and at night, in water, on mudflats, and on land. In flight they fold their head back against their shoulders, almost making the neck disappear.<br />
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These are social birds that tend to roost and nest in groups, although they typically forage on their own. Look for them in most wetland habitats across North America, including estuaries, marshes, streams, lakes, and reservoirs.
    Black-crowned Night Heron 2.jpg
  • Two pink flamingos highlighted in blue and purple fantasy lighting, taken at the Saint Louis Zoo.<br />
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Flamingos often stand on one leg, the other leg tucked beneath the body. The reason for this behavior is not fully understood. Recent research indicates that standing on one leg may allow the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading in cold water. However, the behavior also takes place in warm water. As well as standing in the water, flamingos may stamp their webbed feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom.<br />
Young flamingos hatch with grayish reddish plumage, but adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-Carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored and thus a more desirable mate; a white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished. Captive flamingos are a notable exception; many turn a pale pink as they are not fed carotene at levels comparable to the wild
    Flamingos In Fantast Lights.jpg
  • The Catalina Macaw has two very popular types of macaws as its parents. The Scarlet Macaw, one of the most highly favored, is described as "beautiful and striking". The Scarlet has been the best known South American parrot for over 100 years. The other parent, the Blue and Gold Macaw, has been has been one of the most popular pet birds in the trade, renowned not only for its beauty but for its gentle, amiable nature.<br />
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   Hybrid macaws are bred for color. The Catalina Macaws are a first generation hybrid macaw, though today there are second generation Catalina Macaws whose parents are both Catalinas. Because they are a mixture of more than one type of macaw, the offspring are influenced by the traits and characteristics of both of its parents. Father's have the dominant gene, so this will generally influence the offspring's coloration and overall appearance. The Catalina inherits its gorgeous coloring from these two striking parents.
    Colorful Catalina Macaw.jpg
  • The Bald Eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that. These regal birds aren't really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings. Look for them soaring in solitude, chasing other birds for their food, or gathering by the hundreds in winter. Once endangered by hunting and pesticides, Bald Eagles have flourished under protection. <br />
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The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board. <br />
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Look for Bald Eagles near lakes, reservoirs, rivers, marshes, and coasts. For a chance to see large Bald Eagle congregations, check out wildlife refuges or large bodies of water in winter over much of the continent, or fish processing plants and dumpsters year-round in coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
    Eagle With an Attitude.jpg
  • An American White Pelican Swims In The Lights Of Night<br />
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One of North America's largest birds, the American White Pelican is distinctive for its nine-foot wingspan, conspicuous white body, and the improbable proportions of its large bill and pouch. Despite their size, the pelicans are graceful fliers, with flocks soaring high in the air and wheeling in unison. In flight, black wing tips and trailing edges are good field marks. American White Pelicans may be seen cooperatively foraging in shallow waters, or at adjacent loafing sites, where they are tolerant of human observation at a respectful distance.
    Pelican Swims At Night.jpg
  • Most of the country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, calling out in a short, wavering voice or abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect. Marvelous birds to capture in your binoculars, male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look.
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  • The Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a member of the ibis and spoonbill family (Threskiornithidae). Birds in this family are wading birds with long, downward-curved bills that they use to probe in mud or grass for invertebrates and other prey. Sacred Ibises are larger than Florida's native ibises. <br />
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They have very distinctive long, black feathers or plumes on their rumps. During the breeding season the feathers on the sides of their chests and on the outer wings (near the edge when folded) may have a yellowish (or reddish) tinge, and their lower legs may be tinged with reddish-copper; bare patches of scarlet-red skin may also be visible under their wings. The heads and necks of young Sacred Ibises are covered with black and white feathers, giving the head and neck a mottled appearance.<br />
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Sacred Ibises look very similar to the native Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), a member of the stork family (Ciconiidae) that is federally listed as an endangered species.<br />
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Sacred Ibises are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Madagascar; historically, they were also found in Egypt, where they are now extinct. These large birds are often depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphs as the earthly representation of the god Thoth (also shown as an ibis-headed man) and were considered sacred?hence the common name. They are very similar in appearance and so closely related to the Black-headed Ibis (T. melanocephalus) in South Asia and the Australian White Ibis (T. molucca) that many scientists consider the three a "superspecies," and some believe they may actually all be the same species. In their native range, they inhabit coastal estuaries, lagoons, marshes, and other inland wetlands such as flooded agricultural fields and urban retention ponds.
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  • A Double-Crested Cormorant casts a shadow against textured peeling paint at the Saint Louis Zoo. The Double-crested Cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It occurs along inland waterways as well as in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America. he Double-crested Cormorant is a large waterbird with a stocky body, long neck, medium-sized tail, webbed feet and a medium sized hooked bill.<br />
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Recently the population of Double-crested Cormorants has increased. Some studies have concluded that the recovery was allowed by the decrease of contaminants, particularly the discontinued use of DDT. The population may have also increased because of aquaculture ponds in its southern wintering grounds. The ponds favor good over-winter survival and growth.<br />
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Adult Double-crested Cormorants are black or dark brown and have an orange-yellow patch of skin at the base of their bills. In breeding plumage, adults have two whitish tufts behind their eyes, hence the description 'double-crested.' First-year birds are pale on the upper breast and darker on the belly. Double-crested Cormorants have slender, hook-tipped bills that are often tipped up at an angle as they swim. They can be distinguished from the other two Washington cormorant species by their thicker bills and by the pronounced kink in their long necks in flight.
    Cormorant By Cracked Paint.jpg
  • Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus
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  • A bluebird perched on a rotting tree branch on a moody overcast day.<br />
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The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family. Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and rose beige, plumage.
    Bluebird Blues.jpg
  • Like most owls, the Great Horned Owl makes great use of secrecy and stealth. Due to its natural-colored plumage, it is well camouflaged both while active at night and while roosting during the day. Despite this, it can still sometimes be spotted on its daytime roosts, which are usually in large trees but may occasionally be on rocks. This regularly leads to their being mobbed by other birds, especially American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Since owls are, next to Red-tailed Hawks, perhaps the main predator of crows and their young, crows sometimes congregate from considerable distances to mob owls and caw angrily at them for hours on end. When the owls try to fly off to avoid this harassment, they are often followed by the corvids.
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  • With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It's one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics.<br />
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Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions. Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don't move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.
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