An Ozark Naturalist

 

One evening in early February, I filled the bird feeders one last time before the day faded into darkness. Cold gripped the Ozarks and the birds would appreciate the easy calories. On a lark, I sat in the truck, using it for a blind to wait for my customers to return. As the minutes passed, snow began to fall, but strangely, no birds came back to the feeders. They usually come pouring back from the trees as soon as I walk back towards the house.

Finally, just before I called it quits, I saw movement in the Eastern Redcedar at the yard’s edge. A Fox Sparrow materialized in the brush next to the Redcedar, then another and a third. The snow fell more heavily and the light deteriorated even further, but I shot a few photos anyway. Had I been shooting film, I would have passed on the opportunity, but digital costs nothing and I shot away.

The photos were dark and noisy. Brightening the image created even more noise. I almost discarded my work at this point but decided to run a de-noise filter first. And I’m glad I did. The falling snow and painterly feel combined to create a rather attractive image. At least I think so. I’ll take all the Happy Accidents I can get.

• The bird in question is molting (look at his forehead.) My first thought was that the molting process was causing the tail to look so white. But once I learned that goldfinches don’t replace their wing or tail feathers during their spring molt, I tossed that hypothesis.
• Our bird also holds his wings in a very loose, drooping posture, where most goldfinches keep them folded across the back, In fact, I couldn’t find a single photo of a goldfinch holding its wings in this way. But even in in-flight photos, with the tail exposed, none have tails that look that white. This posture does allow more of the white part of the tail to be seen. But that doesn’t account for the reduced black at the end of the tail.
• That brings us to the possibility of leucism. All the leucistic goldfinches I’ve found online have been affected over a larger area of the body, usually from the neck down, but including the head on occasion. I did, however, find one account of a bird with a white patch on the top of his head and no other abnormal coloring. I also found other species of birds with leucism that only had white tails and they looked similar to what we have here.
• According to Feederwatch, occasionally a bird will lose feathers in a close call with a predator. When this happens the new feathers sometimes grow in white and then change back to the normal color at the next regular molt. This kind of white coloring looks like leucism but is not and most often happens in the tail, causing a bird that lost its tail feathers to a predator to have an all white tail. that’s not the case here since our bird doesn’t have an all white tail, instead still having black in reduced amounts.

References:

• “Abnormal coloration in birds: Melanin reduction.”Sibley Guides. August 05, 2011. Accessed March 04, 2018. 
• “Bird Plumage Variations and Abnormalities.” Bird Academy – The Cornell Lab. March 29, 2017. Accessed March 04, 2018.
• “Leucism in Birds.” Hawks Aloft Blog. April 14, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2018. 
• “The annual plumage cycle of a male American Goldfinch.” Sibley Guides. March 03, 2016. Accessed March 04, 2018. 
• “Unusual Birds.” Project Feederwatch – The Cornell Lab. Accessed March 3, 2018. 

 

Dayna and I were passing Willow Springs on our way to Springfield, when I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on the roadside. This happens a lot when we’re traveling and most of the time we continue without stopping. However, if a bird is close to the road, in a good spot to try for a photo or is an unusual color phase, we’ll turn back and “work” it.

This bird was in a tree, high above the road on an embankment. Facing east into the morning sun, her breast shone like a beacon. As we passed, I could see that her underside appeared unmarked and I was sure I saw a white head. Hoping she was a Krider’s, a pale morph of the eastern subspecies of Red-tail, I had Dayna take the Hwy 76 exit and go back.

Dayna pulled the car to the shoulder, distant enough that I didn’t think she would skedaddle. I usually try to get a few shots from a “safe” distance, then work my way closer if the bird will permit it. This way I at least have an image or two to document the bird.

She was wary though, even by Red-tail standards, and bailed as we came to a stop.

She zipped across the road (divided, 4-lanes) and landed in a tree. I managed a few shots as she passed, all blurry and out of focus. Still, they were good enough to confirm that her head was white and that her tail appeared to be white or maybe pink. This was looking good if I could find a way to get a decent shot.

A second bird joined her, this one more typically colored and noticeably smaller. This is why I’ve been calling the first bird “she,” since female Red-tails are larger than males. They played a short game of chase, then against all odds, the first bird flew back to our side of the road and began circling.

As she soared round, slowly gaining altitude, I shot over a hundred photos. To say that I’m very disappointed in the photo quality would be an understatement. I had excellent light and was shooting at a high shutter speed (1/2500^th of a second.) This combination usually produces good results. But the bird wasn’t quite close enough and someone— who shall remain nameless to protect the stupid—forgot to turn off the lens’ Vibration Control. This feature is fabulous if you’re trying to hand-hold your camera and photograph non-moving objects. But if you’re trying to track a flying bird, it tries to compensate for your movement as you do so. This is not a good thing.

Therefore, we have crappy photos to look at. But they’re good enough to serve my purposes here. Field marks and plumage coloring are all visible and that’s the important thing.

So was she was a Kriders? I compared her field marks with those listed in Wheeler’s book:

• White face and throat ✓
• Partial dark collar ✓
• Belly and legs clean, almost unmarked ✓
• Brown patagial marks (the stretch of skin on the leading edge of the wing) ✓
• Barred wing feathers ✓
• Dark fingers ✓
• Dark band on the rear of the wings ✓
• Pale, near-white tail with a thin, dark sub-terminal band ✓

Those are all close matches, so I believe she was a Krider’s Hawk. The thing that confuses me though, is that she and the second hawk seemed to be together, a mated paired. This, in itself, isn’t odd. It’s March and Red-tails should be paired and preparing to nest. But according to Wheeler, Krider’s Hawks only breed in the Dakotas, parts of Montana and Wyoming, and adjacent Canadian provinces. I don’t know about you, but I can’t find southern Missouri in that description.

So maybe she isn’t a Krider’s. Goodness knows there’s enough variation in Red-tail plumage that she could simply be a lighter morph without being an actual Krider’s. Maybe she is a Krider’s, breeding outside of the expected range. Or maybe she and the other bird weren’t together after all.

I don’t have any clear-cut answers, but when you’re dealing with nature, there often aren’t any. I finally accepted that some time ago, but I still don’t have to like it.

If the weather is decent this coming weekend, I plan to go back to see if I can relocate her. I want another chance to see if I can’t get better photos and redeem myself. I know I’d feel a lot better if I could.

References:

• Hawkwatch International. “Red-tailed Hawk.” Accessed March 6, 2018.
• Tallman, Dan. “Red-tailed Hawk Identification.” South Dakota Ornithologists’ Union. Accessed March 6, 2018.
• Wheeler, B. K. 2003. Raptors of Western North America.Princeton Univ. Press. Princeton, NJ U.S.A.

I was hoping to find a Lapland Longspur mixed with the larks, but I hadn’t even considered finding a Pipit. I hadn’t seen one in the area before though I know they are regular visitors (there are eBird reports for most years). I didn’t have a photo of one before, so the unexpected opportunity tickled the crap out of me.

A Song Sparrow tries to keep his toes dry, Pool 29, Otter Slough Conservation Area. I didn’t notice the reflection while taking the photo, only once I saw it on the computer screen. I love happy accidents.