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    Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds
    Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds
    Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds
    Ebook610 pages1 hour

    Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds

    By Nancy J. Hajeski

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    About this ebook

    The biggest book on North American birds this century!

    John James Audubon would be proud to know that a life-size bird book is alive in the twenty-first century. You won't need Sotheby's auction house to buy this volume, though! Full-size images of beautiful feathered friends offer a detailed look at each North American species, while scaled photographs of larger birds allow you to see the entire animal. Fun facts pepper the pages, and a summary of general information accompanies each avian. Get an up-close, personal look at the world's masters of flight!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThunder Bay Press
    Release dateNov 1, 2015
    ISBN9781626865150
    Life-Size Birds: The Big Book of North American Birds
    Author

    Nancy J. Hajeski

    Author Nancy J. Hajeski has been a birder for decades—her passion has resulted in her traveling to remote areas to look for specific species, such as raptors or wading birds; birding at wildlife sanctuaries in Florida, New Jersey, and New York; attending birding seminars, workshops, and talks at birdwatcher meetings and garden clubs; and becoming a member of the National Audubon Society. She has produced young adult nonfiction for Hammond as well as writing Ali: The Official Portrait of the Greatest of all Time and The Beatles: Here, There and Everywhere for Thunder Bay. She recently finished Complete Guide to Herbs and Spices for National Geographic. As Nancy Butler, she is the  RITA-winning author of twelve Signet Regency romances, and her graphic novel adaptation of Pride and Prejudice for Marvel spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She currently lives beside a Catskill trout stream where bald eagles and mergansers are regular visitors.

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      Book preview

      Life-Size Birds - Nancy J. Hajeski

      HUMMINGBIRDS

      Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)

      These tiny jewel-like creatures can be seen buzzing around gardens in bloom. They feed on plant nectar as well as small insects and spiders, and are brash visitors to hummingbird feeders, often ignoring any human presence. Ruby-throats, the only hummingbird found east of the Mississippi, are members of the family Trochilidae. The males have an iridescent green upper body, a fiery red throat patch (gorget), and a forked tail. Females lack the red throat and have a blunt tail. These aerial acrobats flit, dart, and hover with wings beating 40 to 80 times a second, but their relatively small feet make it difficult to hop along branches as other birds do. Hummingbirds do not pair bond after mating, so the female builds her nest alone in a protected tree or shrub, lays two tiny white eggs, and does all the parenting. The male, however, will fiercely protect his territory.

      FACT FILE

      LENGTH: 2.8–3.5 in.

      WINGSPAN: 3.1–4.3 in.

      WEIGHT: 0.07–0.2 oz.

      LONGEVITY: Males: 5 years; females: 7 years

      VOCALIZATION: Rapid, squeaky chirps as warning; courting males make a tik-tik tik-tik with their wings.

      HABITAT: Ruby-throats have the largest breeding range of all hummingbirds and typically breed in deciduous and pine forests, at the edge of forested areas, and in orchards and gardens. These tiny birds migrate long distances, spending the colder months in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies.

      DISTRIBUTION: All of eastern North America and the southern Canadian prairies to the Maritime Provinces.

      HUMMINGBIRDS

      Costa’s Hummingbird (Calyptae costae)

      While the ruby-throat is the only hummingbird found east of the Rocky Mountains—excepting western birds that occasionally venture into the South—Arizona there are more than a dozen species on view. The Costa’s Hummingbird is one of these … an exquisite jewel of the desert. The male has a metallic green back and flanks, black tail and wings, and iridescent purple cap and throat feathers. Females are less flashy, a grayish-green above and white below. These birds feed on nectar from agave, chuparosa and desert honeysuckle blooms, and any small insects they find. Courtship involves exuberant displays of swooping and arcing dives by the male, who keeps the sunlight angled properly to show off his vibrant violet feathers. Birds breed in late winter or early spring—to avoid the severe heat of summer—and the female prepares a cup-shaped nest of plant fibers on a yucca stalk or tree limb.

      FACT FILE

      LENGTH: 3–3.5 in.

      WINGSPAN: 11 in.

      WEIGHT: 0.1 oz.

      LONGEVITY: Unknown

      VOCALIZATION: Males have a thin, high-pitched whistle.

      HABITAT: Costa’s Hummingbirds prefer deserts, washes, and sage scrub, as well as open habitats with a wide cross section of plants.

      DISTRIBUTION: These birds are found in the deserts and suburban gardens of the American Southwest and along Mexico’s Baja California.

      HUMMINGBIRDS

      Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)

      This colorful acrobat is familiar to residents of the Pacific coast, especially during the winter when other hummingbirds have flown south. The male has a bronze-green back, pale chest, and a dark, forked tail, with a gorget and crown of iridescent magenta. Females display a smaller version of the gorget. These birds feed on flower nectar and tree sap, and they hunt insects in a novel way—rather than trying to jab flying insects with their pointy bills, they open their mouths wide and aim for their prey. They are also beneficial pollinators—adults can shake their bodies 55 times per second in flight, unloading pollen. During courtship, males hover in midair offering a squeaky song, then fly high and dive steeply toward the female, making a loud popping noise at the end with their tail feathers. Nesting begins in December or earlier; the female builds a cup of plant fibers and spiderwebs, camouflaged with lichens, in vines or under eaves.

      FACT FILE

      LENGTH: 3.9–4.3 in.

      WINGSPAN: 4.7 in.

      WEIGHT: 0.1–0.2 oz.

      LONGEVITY: 8.5 years

      VOCALIZATION: Perching males produce a buzzy song.

      HABITAT: The Anna’s Hummingbird seeks out open woodlands, shrubby areas, streamsides, chaparral, and coastal sage scrub, as well as gardens and city parks.

      DISTRIBUTION: This bird can be found year-round on the Pacific coast from British Columbia south to Baja California, and inland to Arizona. Some birds migrate to western Mexico in winter.

      SONGBIRDS

      Golden-Crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)

      These tiny, energetic, acrobatic passerines are only marginally larger than hummingbirds. Plumage is a pale olive-gray above and whitish below, with a distinctive white bar on the wings. The boldly marked head includes a black eye stripe and a lemon-yellow crest surrounded in black, and the adult male shows an orange patch in the yellow crown. They are members of the family Sylviidae, which includes both kinglets and gnatcatchers. Although these shy birds prefer to remain concealed high up in dense fir trees, they can be identified by their thin, high-pitched calls. They feed mainly on insects, hovering out from their secluded branches to reach them. While some populations remain year-round residents in the Northeast and far West, most Golden-Crowned Kinglets breed in Canada and then winter throughout North America. The nest consists of a concealed cup hanging from the branch of a conifer.

      FACT FILE

      LENGTH: 3.1–4.3 in.

      WINGSPAN: 5.5–7 in.

      WEIGHT: 0.14–0.28 oz.

      LONGEVITY: Up to 6 years

      VOCALIZATION: Call is a high see-see-see; song is a series of high, reedy, ascending notes ending in chatter.

      HABITAT: This bird breeds in tall, dense conifer forests—spruce and fir—and during winter might be found in deciduous forests, swamps, bottomlands, suburbs, and scrub. They range in altitude from sea level to more than 10,000 feet. During migration they might mix flocks with other insectivorous songbirds, such as warblers.

      DISTRIBUTION: Summers in Canada, winters in United States coast to coast into Mexico; some populations are maintained year-round in the far West and Northeast.

      SONGBIRDS

      California Gnatcatcher (Polioptila californica)

      This tiny bird, which cries like a kitten, is at the center of a conservation controversy. Despite being listed as endangered, the bird’s coastal sage scrub habitat on the Pacific Ocean is being developed, mainly because some scientists believe this bird is genetically the same as the abundant Baja California Gnatcatcher of Mexico. The plumage of the California Gnatcatcher is slate gray with a black cap and tiny, narrow black beak. The black tail is thin and shows white tips and edges. These birds seek out shrubs and low trees, where they hunt for insects, including beetles, caterpillars, scale insects, wasps, ants, flies, moths, and grasshoppers. They may hover to pluck prey from branches. Both male and female birds build a cuplike nest of bark, grass, leaves, and spiderwebs lined with plant fibers, feathers, and hair. Paired birds may remain together all year.

      FACT FILE

      LENGTH: 4.3 in.

      WINGSPAN: 5.5 in.

      WEIGHT: 0.2 oz.

      LONGEVITY: 8 years

      VOCALIZATION: A kittenlike mew of zeer, zeer, zeer.

      HABITAT: These birds are found only in the coastal scrub of California and in Baja California. Current populations are fragmented.

      DISTRIBUTION: Found year-round along the coast of Southern California into Baja California.

      SONGBIRDS

      American Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

      This tiny bird of bushy woodlands is more often known simply as the bushtit. It is the only member of the family Aegithalidae—the long-tailed tits—found in the New World, and the only member of the genus Psaltriparus. It is notable for its rounded head; compact, fluffy taupe-and-gray body; and long tail. The black bill is small and stubby. Males have dark eyes, females’ eyes are pale; coastal birds have a black cap, and inland birds show a dark mask. Bushtits are social and will flock and forage with small songbirds such as chickadees, warblers, and kinglets. They feed on leafhoppers, treehoppers, caterpillars, aphids, and spiders. During the breeding season, both sexes build a distinctive hanging sock nest composed of moss, spiderwebs, and grasses. If disturbed early in the nesting process, they might abandon the nest, and males may even seek a different

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