Roodborst / Robin

 Robin 

The robin is one of the most recognizable birds in the United States. You almost certainly have seen a robin in your yard, no matter where you live in America. The songbird is ubiquitous across the country. There is also the European robin, another incredibly recognizable garden bird found throughout Europe. However, throughout this article, we’ll focus on the American robin. 

Aside from their beautiful exteriors, robins are also known for being associated with the start of spring. Seeing a robin is usually a good indication that spring is coming. 

The lifespan of a robin who lives past its first year is 5-6 years in the wild. However, in captivity, they have been recorded to live for as long as 14-17 years old. 

The life expectancy of a robin greatly increases if it survives to at least a year old. This is because robin offspring are often quite susceptible to environmental stressors. In fact, only around a quarter of baby robins survive their first year. However, once they surpass the first year, a robin would have acquired many important life skills that would help them to survive. 

The robin’s lifespan is incredibly fragile during the first year, and it is this time that determines how long they will actually survive. Curious about how a robin goes from an egg to an adult songbird? Let’s find out! 

The Average Robin Life Cycle 

The robin life cycle is quite similar to many other bird species. Find out what the common life cycle stages are and how you might better sight a baby robin. 

Mating

At one year old, robins are already considered adults and are able to reproduce. Mating occurs mainly from late March to June. Robins have a courting ritual in which the male sings to and then feeds the female. Male robins will sing to announce that they are looking for a mate. Once they find a mate, they will sing to assert their territory. This occurs just before the eggs hatch.

Eggs 

The female will begin to construct her nest so that she may begin laying the eggs. During their initial nesting season, most robins will only lay around 3 to 4 eggs. Sometimes just two eggs are laid in the second and third nestings of the season. Robin eggs are instantly recognizable because of their beautiful blue color. After the last egg is laid, incubation lasts 12-14 days.

Twelve to fourteen days after the last egg is laid, the first baby hatches. Eggs typically hatch one day apart, in the sequence in which they were laid. These new baby birds are called hatchlings. For the next 13 days, the parents will be the main source of care for the babies. Both parents feed the young and they can have some hearty appetites. During the first four days of a hatchling’s existence, the parent birds regurgitate partially digested food into the mouth of each infant. Every day, the hatchlings consume more. Soon they are fed whole worms and large insects.

Fledgling

When baby robins are around 13 days old, they are ready to leave the nest. This means they have reached the fledgling stage, where they begin to learn to fly. When baby robins leave the nest, they are unable to fly well. To become powerful fliers, they must develop muscles and grow adult feathers. The parents will still continue to feed them for a few days, but once the mom leaves to lay new eggs, they are all on their own. 

Adult 

To reach adulthood, a robin must reach a full year of life. To accomplish this, they will often fly with a flock of experienced robins. The robin will continue to fly and find new ways to get food. They will then begin to prepare for winter, as many of them migrate to warmer areas during this time. 

What Factors Impact the Robin Lifespan

There are many external and environmental factors that will impact a robin’s lifespan. A young American Robin’s chances of survival improve if it survives its first winter. However, even if they do survive, robins do not wind up living very long in general. To learn more about what impacts how long a robin may live, keep reading.

Predators: robins fall prey to many predators, even when they’re still only in their eggs. There are a large number of predators that will attempt to steal robin eggs from their mother’s nest. These include squirrels, snakes, crows, blue jays, and even raccoons. Once again, robins are susceptible to becoming prey. Hawks, shrikes, and owls all hunt down robins. Cats are also another predator that robins have to watch out for. 

Food Availability: food availability issues can become a serious one for robins. When robins migrate during the winter it’s not usually because they can’t handle the winter. In fact, their feathers can keep them quite warm during the cold, harsh weather. The true incentive is food, or rather the lack thereof. As their diet of earthworms and insects dwindles because of the weather, robins start looking for new food. American Robins continue to be poisoned by pesticides because they graze on lawns and other open areas frequently treated with chemicals.

Collisions: every year, a few migratory robins are killed by communications towers. Other typical risks for a robin include collisions with glass, electrocution, and automobile strikes. 

Reddish Egret

Geography/Habitat:

Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) is uncommon to locally common along the Texas coast year round. Most inland records are post-breeding dispersal of juveniles, but they predominantly stick to the coastal areas. There are records in all regions of Texas, but the Western and Panhandle areas have limited sightings with the exceptions of the West Texas reservoirs. Outside of Texas, Reddish Egrets range along the Gulf Coast from the Yucatan around to Florida and the Pacific Coast from southern California through Central America. Most of the nesting locations are limited to small uninhabited islands that are vulnerable to tropical storms, hurricanes, and ship traffic erosion. They typically lay two to seven pale blue-green eggs in a stick nest that is built in a low tree, mangrove, or on the ground. Incubation is about 25 days and is carried out by both parents. Their preferred habitat is shallow coastal lagoons and estuaries with a diet consisting of small fish, frogs, and crustaceans.

Identification:

Reddish Egret is a member of the Ardeidae Family that consists of bitterns, herons, and egrets. Reddish Egret is a medium size egret that has a slender long neck and long legs. The bill is fairly heavy and pointed and is pink with a black tip. During the breeding season, the lores are violet. There are two morphs (Dark and White) for this species. The dark morph’s head and long neck is covered in shaggy feathers that are rufous in color. The body and legs are blue-gray in color. The white morph’s head, neck, and body are entirely white. The white morph make up approximately five percent of the population. They have a large wingspan at four feet and stand two and a half feet high. Juveniles are very similar to an adult with the dark morph being a pale color and lacking the rich rufous neck color. Their typical weight is one pound. They call infrequently except when disturbed. The call is a soft groan and a short grunt. While displaying, they will frequently clatter their bills.

Interesting Facts:

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Reddish Egrets is their hunting technique. They are very animated while hunting with their neck feathers flared, constantly prancing around, jumping and spinning, and spreading their wings.

Reddish Egret populations were devastated by commercial hunting in the late 1800s and early 1900s when they were sought for their beautiful feathers.

The population has recovered from a century ago with an estimated 6,000-10,000 breeding pairs in the continental United States. However, the species is still on the concerned species list due to the degradation and destruction of its preferred coastal habitat.

A group of egrets has many collective nouns, including a “congregation”, “heronry”, “RSVP”, “skewer”, and “wedge” of egrets.

Cinnamon Bittern

 Cinnamon Bittern (Ixubrychus cinnamomeus) is one of the common breeding visitors in northern Thailand. They can be frequently seen while flying over wetlands and rice fields during wet season, but proved to be quite difficult to find when on the ground. 

The cinnamon bittern or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances.

Despite the brightly coloured plumage, the male Cinnamon Bittern is, interestingly, more often seen than the female. The female is usually more secretive and seldom come out to feed in the open unlike the male. During wet season,  the males walking around in open rice fields looking for various types of food including amphibians, small fish and insects. The females, however, are mostly seen in grassy areas and mostly seen when flushed from dense cover.

Female Cinnamon Bittern has duller plumage with pale buffish spots on wing coverts and dark streaks on the neck.

Description

It is a small species at 38 cm (15 in) length, though it is one of the larger Ixobrychus bitterns. Possessing a short neck and longish bill, the male is uniformly cinnamon above and buff below. The female is similar but her back and crown are brown, and the juvenile is like the female but heavily streaked brown below. When surprised on its nest or concerned, it assumes the characteristic attitude of bitterns, termed the on-guard. The neck is stretched perpendicularly, bill pointing skyward, while the bird freezes and becomes very hard to see among the surrounding reeds.

Behavior

The cinnamon bittern breeds in reed beds, nesting on platforms of reeds in shrubs. Four to six eggs are laid. The species can be difficult to see, given their skulking lifestyle and reed bed habitat, but tend to emerge at dusk, when they can be seen creeping almost cat-like in search of frogs. Cinnamon bitterns feed on insects, fish and amphibians.

BEST Books About Birds

 Education AND Entertainment 

 I love learning about birds but also enjoy a good and entertaining story. These books do a great job of combining the two.

1. The Genius of Birds

 The author goes on a scientific exploration around the world to learn and explore bird intelligence. Anyone that reads this book will immediately question the assumption that birds are dumb or someone has a “birdbrain.” This is a highly entertaining journey that touches on many stories and species of birds. Because it mixes science with entertainment, you don’t have to be obsessed with birds to enjoy this book.

 2. The Thing With Feathers

This book explores the unknown intelligence of birds from all around the world. From the extraordinary homing abilities of pigeons to the fantastic memories of nutcrackers. The author does an excellent job of educating readers and weaving in captivating stories and humor.

 3. Gifts of the Crow

You will never look at a crow the same!

Crows have brains that are too big for their bodies, but this allows them to think, plan and consider their actions. The authors team up to tell wonderful stories of the high intelligence of crows. From gathering around their dead to recognizing people to even murdering other crows!

Best Bird Watching Books: Tips and Tricks

4. Bird Watching for Dummies

Are you just starting your birding adventure? Not sure what this crazy obsession is all about?

This is a great bird book for absolute birding beginners. I initially read this many years ago to try and get up to speed as quickly as possible. Even though it’s 20 years old, the information is still accurate and useful. It’s effortless to read and designed to skip around to the sections that are relevant to you.

5. Sibley’s Birding Basics

This book is a perfect complement to the author’s field guides (Sibley’s Bird’s East and West) as it builds upon the necessary skills of bird identification. It has helped immensely, both in the field and using field guides.

 Sibley gives excellent information to help make a positive identification. In addition, he offers advice on many topics, from sketching birds in the field to feather shapes to analyzing different birding gear.

6. Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White

This book is the sequel to “Good Birders Don’t Wear White.” It follows the same concept as the original, with birders sharing their wisdom and advice and what drives their passion for birds. It also covers a wide range of topics, and it’s an easy book to skip around to find your favorite articles.

There is definitely something for everybody. Contributors include many well-known birders, such as Richard Crossley, Pete Dunne, Kenn Kaufman, Michael O’Brien, Bill Thompson, and Julie Zickefoose.

 Best Birding Books: Big Years and Listing

 I think most of us dream of the day we can drop everything and spend the year trying to see as many birds as possible. Warning! Reading any of these bird books will only make you want to pursue a “Big Year” even more!

7. The Big Year

This book was turned into a movie a few years ago. It’s a great way to get introduced to the crazy annual competition of who can see the most birds in a year. Trust me; it will get you thinking about how you can accomplish your big year.

8. To See Every Bird On Earth

This book holds a special place in my birding heart. It helped propel me into the bird-watching fray.

I initially checked it out from the library as an audiobook many years and subsequently listened to it three times. It does an excellent job of introducing some of the birding subculture’s oddities and illustrates how bird watching can turn into an obsession. 

9. Kingbird Highway

Many of us have dreamed of completing our own “big year.” Now imagine hitting the road as a teenager without much money, mostly hitchhiking your way across the country and eating cat food to save money.

Kenn Kaufman has become one of the biggest names in birding, but it all started in the early 1970s when he tried to set the North American big year record.

I love this book for its adventure and insights into the birding subculture more than 40 years ago! Birding has come a long way.

10. Lost Among the BirdsBest Birding Books of 2017

What do you do when you are at a life crossroads after quitting a high-paying job and a failed relationship?

Easy answer. Go birding! Or at least that is what author Neil Hayward did.

He started his “Big Year” in 2013 mostly as a distraction, but ended up breaking the longstanding ABA Big Year record…. sort of accidentally  This book is very entertaining with lots of great stories and explores the human element of birding.

11. Birding Without Borders

Wow! Talk about an extremely big year. In 2015, Noah Strycker broke the global big year record. He spent an entire year traveling across the globe trying to see as many birds as possible and ended up seeing over 6,000 different species!

This book details his many adventures along the way. Loved that he partnered with locals at every step of the journey to help. Amazed at how popular birding seemed throughout the world and that most people genuinely want to conserve these wild places.

Indian Cuckoo Bird

Koel Bird is considered one of the cleverest birds. Their scientific name is EUDYNAMYS SCOLOPACEUS and they belong to the cuckoo family the Cuculiform. Their life span is for about 4 to 6 years.

More than 100 species around the world can be found in koel birds. Mostly they are found in the Asian and African regions. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent, China, and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely related black-billed koels, and Pacific koels which are sometimes treated as subspecies.

This koyal bird is the national bird of Jharkhand, India 

They have a very sweet and melodious voice which can easily attract someone. Koel birds are mostly hidden under the branches of dense trees, but from their singing, we can come to know about their existence. In Indian culture, we can see the usage of the cuckoo birds in different mythological poems and short stories.

We can hear their singing in the Spring season which is considered as their breeding or reproduction period. You all will be amazed to learn that only, male koyal birds can sing the melodious song, whereas, the female bird doesn’t sing songs. Researchers have recorded over 16 different calls by males, while females emit only 2 kinds of calls. When the atmosphere is calm, we can hear the sound of cuckoos at a distance of 2-3 km.  

Koyal bird weighs in, 200-300 grams and the length of their body is from 41-47 cms. The male bird is jet black, with red-colored eyes whereas, female birds have a pattern of grey freckles on their body.

They belong to the omnivorous family, where they eat fruits, vegetables, and various other small and large insects. 

Koel birds are considered to be “Brood Parasites” because they lay their eggs in different bird’s nests. The Asian koel is a familiar brood parasite of, crows and mynas throughout the Indian subcontinent the breeding season of koel coincides with house crow which extends from May to September. The female bird is in the chance of finding a ready-made nest of another bird, where she silently lays her eggs and throws the egg of another bird just to make a space for her eggs. Mostly she lays her eggs in Crow’s nest. When the young ones hatch they mimic the crow. Only when they grow big enough to take their first flight, they start singing and the crow would chase them away. Koels and crows agave common neighborhood over the years,

The entire process of this parasite nesting precedes the rain, that’s when the crows pair and build the nests. The only members of the cuckoo family who build their nests are Greater coucal and Southern coucal.

Rhinoceros Hornbill

 The Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros, is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Sarawak. For some Dayak people, the Rhinoceros Hornbill represents their war god, Singalang Burong.

The Rhinoceros Hornbill lives in captivity for up to 35 years.

Distribution

They live in the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and are only found in only the highest form of rain forest.

Descriptions.

The Rhinoceros Hornbill is one of the largest hornbills. Adults are about 110-127 cm (43-50 in) long and weigh 2-3 kg (4.4-6.6 lbs).

Like most other hornbills, the male has orange or red eyes, and the female has whitish eyes.

This bird has a mainly white beak and casque (the tip of the casque curves upward strikingly), but there are orange places here and there. It has white underparts, especially to the tail.

Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros

Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros Breeding

The courtship and bonding of these birds are critical, as the female must trust the male to provide her with everything when she is incubating and raising chicks.

These Hornbills lay their eggs inside tree trunks, the females stay inside with the eggs, while the male will bring her and the young food. After the eggs are laid the male collects mud, and the male and female pack that mud, food, and feces to ‘mud-up’ the tree cavity entrance. This creates a very small hole, only large enough for the male to feed the female (and later chicks) and for the female to defecate out the hole.

Once the babies are old enough (fully feathered)to leave the nest the female and male chip away the dry mud so the babies can get out.

Diet / Feeding

The rhinoceros hornbill eats fruit, insects, small reptiles, rodents and smaller birds.

Violet-green Swallows

 These aerial insectivores perform acrobatic stunts over lakes and streams high in the sky in search of flying insects. Violet-green Swallows can look dark at first, but their true colors come to life when sunlight illuminates their metallic green backs and iridescent purple rumps. They are a common sight in the West in spring and summer, but they vanish to Mexico and Central America for the winter. They can be distinguished from other swallows by the white patches on the sides of their rump and their white cheeks.

Find This Bird

One of the best places to look for Violet-green Swallows is to head out to a river, pond, or lake early in the morning and keep your eyes to the sky. Watch for birds swooping and twittering over the water snatching up insects. They tend to be in groups from 10 to over 100 and they often hang out with other swifts and swallows. To pick one out of the crowd look for the white saddlebags on the sides of the rump and a clean white belly. It can be difficult to get a good look at flying Violet-green Swallows, but you might have an easier time following one with your binoculars if you spot one a little bit further away. That way the swallow won’t zip out of your field of view as soon as it enters. They often perch on power lines and dead trees, so you’ll be able to get a better look at perched birds in those spots.

Cool Facts

• Violet-green Swallows have been recorded flying at 28 miles per hour—a pretty respectable speed considering that the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird of prey, averages about 25–35 miles per hour in traveling flight.
• Sometimes late hatching young are at a disadvantage, but female Violet-green Swallows invest more antimicrobial proteins in the eggs laid later within a clutch possibly reducing infection for late hatching young and giving them a leg up.
• The Violet-green Swallow is very similar to the Tree Swallow, both in appearance and habits, but it is more closely related to two other swallows found in the Caribbean: the Golden Swallow and Bahama Swallow.
• A pair of Violet-green Swallows was observed assisting a pair of Western Bluebirds in raising young. The swallows guarded the nest and tended the bluebird nestlings, and after the bluebirds fledged, the swallows used the nest site for their own young.
• The oldest recorded Violet-green Swallow was a male, and at least 9 years, 1 month old, when he was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in California in 1993. He had been banded in the same state in 1985.
• The scientific name for Violet-green Swallow is Tachycineta thalassina. Tachycineta means fast moving and thalassina means of the sea referring to the sea-green color of their backs.

Northern Lapwing

Northern Lapwing: Large, unique plover with black breast, face, crown, and long upright head plumes; back is green-tinged purple and copper. Belly and sides are white, uppertail is white with a black tip, and undertail coverts are rich rufous-orange. Wings are dark with white tips; legs are pink. Sexes are similar. Winter adult shows less black on face and has white edges on dark back feathers. Juvenile resembles winter adult but has fine spots on dark back, and shorter head plumes.

Range and Habitat

Northern Lapwing: This species is found in a wide variety of open areas with bare ground or low grasses. It is widespread in Europe and Asia; this bird occasionally wanders in the autumn to eastern Newfoundland and Labrador, extreme eastern Quebec, and the northeastern United States from Maine to Maryland.

Breeding and Nesting

Northern Lapwing: Breeds in a wide variety of open habitats ranging from wetlands to pastures and old fields. Lays four or five brown eggs with black markings that are primarily incubated by the female for 26 to 28 days. Chicks are independent soon after hatching but are guarded by one or both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Northern Lapwing: Feeds in open fields and areas of bare ground, where it hunts for insects and small invertebrates by sight. Will run a few steps, pause and probe in ground, run a few steps.

Vocalization

Northern Lapwing: Call is a plaintive whistle “peewit.”

Similar Species

Northern Lapwing: Rare vagrant and unlikely to be confused with any species in North America.

Where and when to see them

Lapwings are found on farmland throughout the UK particularly in lowland areas of northern England, the Borders and eastern Scotland. In the breeding season prefer spring sown cereals, root crops, permanent unimproved pasture, meadows and fallow fields. They can also be found on wetlands with short vegetation. In winter they flock on pasture and ploughed fields. The highest known winter concentrations of lapwings are found at the Somerset Levels, Humber and Ribble estuaries, Breydon Water/Berney Marshes, the Wash and Morecambe Bay.

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American Goldfinch

Starting in spring and continuing through much of summer, male goldfinches are a bright lemon yellow with black foreheads, black wings and white markings above and beneath their tails. (Females are olive above and dull yellow beneath.) Come winter, both sexes turn a drab brown—so dull they often are mistaken for sparrows. The change occurs through the process of molting. The American goldfinch is the only finch species that molts its body feathers twice a year, once in late winter and again in late summer.

Late Breeders

Frequent molting is both time-consuming and physiologically taxing for the birds. Some scientists suggest this may be the reason goldfinches breed so late in the season—rarely beginning in earnest until mid-July. Another possibility is that the birds wait to nest until thistle, milkweed and other plants have produced fibrous seeds, which goldfinches not only eat but also use to build their nests.

Goldfinches are among the strictest vegetarians in the bird world, selecting an entirely vegetable diet and only inadvertently swallowing an occasional insect. This diet helps protect goldfinches from cowbirds: Though the parasitic birds may lay eggs in goldfinch nests, the hatchlings cannot survive long on an all-seed diet.

Color and Fitness

 Choosy female goldfinches prefer to mate with males that have the brightest plumage. “Color matters”.

Why? One possibility stems from the fact that the male’s color comes from carotenoid pigments (the chemicals that make carrots orange) that he acquires through his diet. By selecting the brightest males, females also may be getting the best food providers for their offspring.