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 HeronArdea 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 GooseBranta 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
MallardAnas 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
MaleFemale
Wood DuckAix 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 HawkButeo jamaicensis
Song: Common Food Sources: Small/medium sized
mammals, birds, Interesting information:-North American population
is increasing-Common raptors-Mostly monogamous
OspreyPandion haliaetus
Song: Common Food Sources: Different types of fishInteresting information:-Dive feet first for prey-Only North American
raptor that eats almost only fish
Bald EagleHaliaeetus 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 WoodpeckerMelanerpes 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.
MaleFemale
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.
Male Female
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.
Male Female
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 (Dendroica caerulescens)Commonalities:Eat insects and spiders (food source)Found mainly in the northeastern U.S.Sexually dimorphic
Deciduous Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)
Differences: Yellow/Dark Blue Hooded population is
common and increasing in some areas
Blue population is stable
Aquatic Birds
Prairie: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus
occidentalis)Commonalities:Long NeckEatFoundNot sexually
dimorphic
Coniferous Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) Differences: Black/White Colors Whistle/Honk Weight: 800-180 g (Grebe) Weight: Weight: 7700-
12700 g
Ground Nesting Birds
Female Prairie Chicken
Male Prairie ChickenMale Wild TurkeyMale Spruce Grouse
Female Wild TurkeyFemale Spruce Grouse
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
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
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 & CanadaLead and Mercury poisoning are significant causes of deathAfter 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/recr
eational_land.html http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Sha
red/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/common-loon.jpg http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudi
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