Common Birds of Foothill Horizons Compiled by Pam “Tenaya” Hardy, updated and amended by Dan Webster Acorn Woodpecker This is the most common woodpecker seen at Foothill Horizons. It has a black back with white wing bars. In flight, it is most easily identified by white patches on the underside of its black wings. On the top of its head is the classic bright red woodpecker patch. This is the marking that will most easily distinguish it from any of the other woodpeckers likely to be seen at Foothill. The other two likely to be seen are the downey or hairy woodpeckers. Both of these species have the red stripe around the back of their head rather than on top of it. Males, females, and juveniles are very similar. The female has a bit less red on her head. Acorn woodpeckers have some of the most interesting habits of any of the birds around Foothill. They collect acorns in the fall and then dig holes into the soft bark of the ponderosa pines to store them in for the winter. If you look carefully around the property, you will find trees riddled with these acorn-size holes. These trees are called granary trees, and are used by the same birds year after year. It is obviously important for this bird to live in an area with both oaks and some sort of soft barked tree. On the coast, they prefer the redwood trees. They live on the west coast of the U.S. from the middle of Oregon down to Baja California, and in the Southwest down into Mexico. Anna's Hummingbird The most obvious field mark on the male Anna's hummingbird is its bright pink iridescent head. Sometimes you won't see the bright pink on its head. You have to be at just the right angle with the sun to see it. Usually the best angle is looking at it straight on. If you don't see the color, the head feathers may look black. If you look carefully, you may be able to see a white eye stripe. The female throat may show just some red flecks of color. The rest of the bird is the same, the under parts are grayish, and the upper parts are a dusky metallic green. Juveniles look very similar to the female, but the male may show a few red specks on the head as well as the throat. Anna's hummingbirds are very territorial. There is usually only one in a well-defined area. If you see a hummer at a feeder three or four times in an hour it is probably the same hummer. These birds will fight endlessly until one goes away to another territory. They do this because flowers can only produce so much nectar at a time and food is fairly scarce. So, when a hummer finds a good territory he wants to keep it. When a female shows up, the male in the territory will try to fight her off too. You can usually tell a bird is a female in this situation because she will just sit and listen to the male squawk and scream, whereas another male would fight back. Eventually, the male will stop trying to fight her off, she will nest in the male's territory and mate with him. The male will then protect the territory for the both of them while she raises the young. Anna's hummingbirds only live on the west coast of North America, but within that range they live in all sorts of habitats from mountains to deserts. On the west coast, the Anna's is the most common hummingbird. Due to its size and territorial nature, it can be difficult to see it in the wild. Recognizing its song helps. Anna's don't migrate far. There are only a few places at the extremes of their range that they are only seasonal. If they do migrate it is more likely to be simply uphill or downhill depending on local conditions. Hummingbirds eat both flower nectar and insects. Occasionally, you may see them doing what looks like flying around in dizzy circles in the air. They are catching flying bugs. Black-Headed Grosbeak This large finch is named for its very large, triangular bill and its black head. The male has cinnamon-orange colored under parts with black upper parts and white wing bars. The female is the same size and shape but with more yellow under parts, brown upper parts and the same wing bars. The female also has a strong distinguishing eye stripe, which makes for remarkable camouflage when on the nest. During its first season the male looks very similar to the female. This colorful bird is most commonly seen in the dense foliage of trees and is frequently seen in the bird blind in spring. The black-headed grosbeak is only in the western U.S. in the summer months. It winters in southern Mexico and Central America. The large size of its beak shows that the black-headed grosbeak is mainly a seedeater. Black Phoebe This little flycatcher is almost entirely black with a white belly and white tail covers. The male and the female are virtually identical, but the juvenile is browner with cinnamon-colored wing bars. This bird is most commonly seen around water flying out from the bank or a branch, catching an insect, and coming back. The black phoebe is mainly a Mexican bird whose range extends north into Arizona, New Mexico, and along the temperate coast of California. Being a flycatcher, this bird feeds mostly on insects. Brown-Headed Cowbird At first glance, the male of this species looks like a black bird. With a closer look, you can distinguish a duller dark brown head from a black body which shows an almost metallic green color in the right light. The female is the same size and shape, and is gray-brown above and paler below. The juvenile male resembles the female, but it is a bit more streaked. Cowbirds have a very interesting behavioral adaptation; they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The other birds then raise the cowbird chicks as their own young. The cowbird eggs are only slightly larger, and hatch more quickly than most birds' eggs, so when the young cowbirds hatch, they often out-compete the other babies in the nest for the mother's attention and food. Over 270 species of birds have been documented as victims of cowbird parasitism. Brown-headed cowbirds are found year-round in the eastern U.S. and in parts of California. Over the rest of the U.S. they are only found during the summer months. Bushtit The bushtit is one of the smallest birds on campus. It is gray above, and paler below, with a long tail. It is distinguished from the plain titmouse by its smaller size, differing behavior, and lack of a crest. Bushtit behavior is probably one of their most important identifying characteristics. They are most commonly seen in groups of 5 - 15 birds moving from bush to bush making a chattering sound together. Bushtits live in Mexico and the western parts of the U.S. at lower elevations where they can find woodlands and chaparral. California Towhee (Formerly "Brown Towhee") The California towhee is the closest bird we have to the classic "little brown bird." Its upper parts are brown, and it is a bit paler below. It is brown all over with a short triangular shaped bill made for eating seeds off the ground. It is just a bit bigger than the spotted towhee. This bird varies a bit in different parts of its range, but for the most part it is the same for male, female, and juvenile. Behavior is probably the best identifier of this bird. It is found in the same places behaving virtually the same as the spotted towhee. That is, it digs around in the leaves for seeds and bugs. Often it can be found by listening for its repetitive high-pitched "chink" call that it makes even when on the ground digging around for seeds. Again, it is very similar to the spotted towhee. It likes streamside thickets in woodlands and forests where it can find plenty of seeds and insects. The California towhee is less widely distributed than the spotted towhee. Foothill Horizons' climate is just about the coldest, most northern area that it is found in. It does not migrate and lives year-round on the west coast and in the warmer areas of the Southwest and Mexico. Dark-Eyed Junco Dark-eyed juncos are also informally called executioner birds. This is because they have what looks like a black hood. This is their most obvious field mark. They have a short, thick, triangular-shaped bill made for eating seeds. They have brown backs and wings with no wing bars. Their belly is white. Their tail is black and when they flick open their tail you can get a glimpse of the white tail feathers on the outside edges. Males and females are very similar. The only difference is that females are just a bit more faded looking, as if someone may have washed them on the hot cycle one too many times. Juncos usually travel in fairly large flocks of ten to twenty birds. They are primarily a seed eating bird so they are often seen on the ground scratching around in the dirt. Juncos are very comfortable in this habitat and are found all over campus and down to Phoenix Lake.