Tag: american bird conservancy

The Whimbrel(Numenius phaeopus) is a large shorebird, about the size of an American Crow(Corvus brachyrhynchos).
Like many members of its family, this bird has drab-looking brownish plumage; its most distinctive features are a long, down-curved bill, reminiscent of the closely-related Long-Billed Curlew(Numenius americanus), and a brown-striped crown. Its genus name, Numenius, is Greek for “new moon,” and refers to the crescent shape of the Whimbrel’s bill.

This species is the widest-ranging of the world’s curlews, nesting in Arctic regions across North America and Eurasia. The North … Continue

Here they come! It’s almost springtime in North America, and beloved migratory birds like the Painted Bunting(Passerina ciris), Rufous Hummingbird(Selasphorus rufus), and Canada Warbler(Cardellina canadensis) are returning to North America to breed and raise their young.

But many of the migratory species we all love are disappearing — fast. What if some spring morning we no longer heard the ethereal song of the Wood Thrush(Hylocichla mustelina), or witnessed the incredible aerial acrobatics of a Common Nighthawk(Chordeiles minor… Continue

Persistent scratching sounds amid thick shrubbery and a shrill call, “towhee!” reveal the presence of this striking New World sparrow. The dapper Eastern Towhee(Pipilo erythrophthalmus) and its western relative, the Spotted Towhee(Pipilo maculatus), were once considered one species — the Rufous-Sided Towhee — but were split into distinct species in 1995. The two species sometimes hybridize in the Great Plains, where their ranges meet.

One way to tell an Eastern Towhee from its Spotted relative is by its dark back, marked only by a small white patch at … Continue