| Birds
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All
About Whooping Cranes
This site is full of links that provide
information about the whooping crane.
http://bringbackthecranes.fws.gov/about/index.htm
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American
Crow
The common crow is widely distributed throughout
the continent of North America.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/corvus/c._brachyrhynchos$narrative.htm
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ARKive:
Whooping Crane
The ARKive project has taken on the goal of gathering films and photographs
of the world's species to preserve them for future generations. Their
whooping crane collection includes twelve stunning photos and nine
videos, as well as species quick facts such as Range & Habitat,
Biology, and Threats & Conservation. "Today, cranes remain
at risk from human development; collisions with power-lines are now
a serious cause of mortality."
http://www.arkive.org/whooping-crane/grus-americana/
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Belted
Kingfisher
Large, short-legged, big-headed, big-billed bird
that hovers over water
http://birds.cornell.edu/bow/belkin/
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BirdCam
Welcome back, viewers! Mae the Peregrine falcon
has returned to NSP's Allen S. King power plant nest box for her 11th
consecutive season. Watch the progress of her four chicks.
http://www.nspco.com/nspbird.htm
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Birdzilla - the Internet
Birding Site
Birdzilla is a colorful, easy-to-navigate site with practically everything
an aid birder could want. You can even keep your birding list on this
site.
http://www.birdzilla.com/
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Cornell Lab of
Ornithology
If you are interested in birds, this is an
amazing web site. There is information ... text, pictures, maps, diagrams
and charts ... for all ages and all level of interest. Check out the
following areas in particular.
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Citizen
Science
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/whatwedo_citizenscience.html
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Bird of
the Week
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/bow/
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Sound of
the Week
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/sow/
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Slide of
the Week
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/slow/
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The
Birdhouse Network
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/getting_started/tbnfaqs.html
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FAQ's
About Bird-feeding
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/FAQsBirdFeeding.htm
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http://www.birds.cornell.edu/
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Common
Raven
A large, black bird (the largest of all
entirely black birds) with a wedge-shaped tail. Has a peculiar hoarse,
resonant croak (calls frequently)
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/corvus/c._corax$narrative.html
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Golden
Eagle
The sacred bird of the Native Americans of this region, the Prairie
Edge, is the Golden Eagle. This member of the hawk family is native
to the plains, prairies, and mountains to the west of our location.
In pre-settlement times, only a few mating pairs of eagles (Golden)
nested in Minnesota. Preferred nesting sites are high rocky cliffs and
ledges, and such habitat is rare in this state. Most of the feathers
worn by our local Santee Dakotas were gotten through trade from areas
west of Minnesota.
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International Crane
Foundation
Cranes are a family of birds that have
long been revered by people living near them. In Japan, the cranes are
honored as symbols of long life and a happy marriage. In Viet Nam, cranes
are believed to carry the souls of the dead to heaven. In North America,
Africa, and Australia, native inhabitants have incorporated the crane's
graceful movements into their own dances and regard cranes as auspicious
symbols.
http://www.savingcranes.org/
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International
Crane Foundation: Whooping Cranes
This species field guide includes links to a photo gallery, a table
of whooping crane numbers from 1938 to 2006, and a migration map.
Unfortunately, the links are not underlined, so you'll really need
to hunt for them. Be sure to visit the Kids page for instructions
on building an origami crane, a printable Field Guild to Crane Behavior,
and answers to commonly asked questions. "Q: How many kinds of
cranes are there? A: There are 15 species in the crane family Gruidae.
According to the conservation status designations assigned by International
Crane Foundation, six of the species are considered endangered."
http://www.savingcranes.org/whoopingcrane.html
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The
Precocious Killdeer
http://www.birdwatching.com/stories/killdeer.html
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Journey
North: Whooping Cranes
Meet the Western Flock (the only wild migratory flock of whooping
cranes) and the Eastern Flock (a reintroduced flock seeded with eleven
chicks bred in captivity.) " With no wild parents to teach the
way, new captive-bred chicks added each fall learn their migration
route by following ultralight aircraft on their first journey south,
and a few are also released to follow older cranes south. Each spring
we eagerly wait to see if, when, and how the youngest crane-kids return
north – unaided, wild and free. The goal: 25 breeding pairs from
125 birds released in the Eastern Migratory Flyway by 2020, with 18-20
chick introductions each year."
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/crane/
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Knothead-The
Ugly Gosling
For most of us, being a Canada Goose is pretty easy and has some great
perks. Lots of people feed us bread and corn and then they "ooh"
and "ahh" when they see us swimming by or flying in the familiar
V-shaped formation for which we are famous.
http://www.folksonline.com/folks/commun/petstalk/gosling.htm
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National
Geographic: Whooping Crane Profile
"Whooping cranes nearly vanished in the mid-20th century, with
a 1941 count finding only 16 living birds. But since then, these endangered
animals have taken a step back from the brink of extinction."
This whooping crane overview from National Geographic includes an
audio of the whoopers' loud shriek (you might need to turn your speaker
volume down a tad!), and a short video describing their miraculous
comeback.
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/whooping-crane.html
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National
Wildlife Foundation Cranes
The following resources provide lots of
great information about one of North America’s best-known endangered
species: the whooping crane.
http://www.nwf.org/wildalive/crane/
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Operation
Migration: Whooping Crane Reintroduction
Operation Migration is my whooping crane pick of the day. It includes
photos, field journals, lots of sound files, population counts, and
a kids section. The site navigation, however, is not up to par, so
use the site map to find your way around. "What is aircraft-led
migration? This technique relies on the birds' natural instinct called
imprinting. Imprinting means the just-hatched waterfowl chick immediately
trusts the first object it sees and follows the object. As soon as
the chicks hatch, they bond with their parents and become inseparable.
The OM team acts as surrogate parents, helping the birds imprint on
the aircraft and conditioning them to fly with it."
http://www.operationmigration.org/
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Peregrine
Falcon Facts
THE PEREGRINE falcon's scientific name is Falco
Peregrinus, which means Falcon Wanderer.
http://www.raptorresource.org/facts.htm
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Peregrine Falcon
Recovery
The Raptor Resource Project is a nonprofit, 501c3 dedicated to restoring
the Midwest's population of Peregrine falcons and other raptors. Welcome
to our website!
http://www.raptorresource.org/
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Peregrine
Falcon Slideshow
The following pictures were taken by the live Northern State Power's
Web Cam from May 6, 1998 to June 9, 1998. The 36 pictures show the development
of Smoke and Prescott, two peregrine falcons (and their mother Mae),
from just out of the egg to flapping their wings as they get ready to
fledge.
http://www.halcyon.com/arborhts/falcon/
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Pileated
Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpeckers sleep (roost) and
nest in cavities (holes) of live pine trees.
http://www.birdsofna.org/excerpts/pileated.html
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Operation Ruby Throat
Building Environmental Cooperation and Understanding
Throughout North and Central America
"Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird
Project" is a cross- disciplinary international initiative in which
people collaborate to study behavior and distribution of the Ruby- throated
Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). Although K-12 teachers and students
are the primary target audience, Operation RubyThroat is open to ANYONE
interested in hummingbirds.
http://www.rubythroat.org/
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Raven
Ravens are all black and are 24 inches
tall; crows are only 17 inches tall. The wedge-shaped tail also identifies
it from a crow which has a fan-shaped tail. Although relationship cannot
be denied, some ravens are seriously offended when somebody calls them
'an old crow'...
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0268.htm
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Ruby-Throated
Hummingbird
The
ruby-throated hummingbird is a member of one of the world's most unique
family of birds. They were a surprise and curiosity to the European
settlers in the U.S. who had never before seen hummingbirds; these birds
are only found in the Western Hemisphere.
http://www.birdsofna.org/excerpts/rth.html
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Swan
Identification
There are three species of swans in North America.
The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) and Tundra Swan (C. columbianus)
are indigenous, while the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a Eurasian species
that has been introduced and now breeds in the wild in some areas. All
three are very large all-white birds.
http://www.trumpeterswansociety.org/id.htm
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The
National Eagle Repository
The Director may issue a permit authorizing the taking, possession,
and transportation of bald or golden eagles, or their parts, nests,
or eggs for the religious use of Indians.
http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/law/eagle/index.html
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The National Foundation
to Protect America's Eagles
Welcome to Eagles.org. A website dedicated to
the protection and preservation of the majestic bald eagle.
http://www.eagles.org/
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True
Geese of the World
True Geese belong to the sub family Anserinae.
They are colored in blacks, whites, greys, and browns. The sexes are
very similar in appearance. Most of the true geese are fairly large
birds with only one molt so there is no eclipse phase as is found with
ducks. True geese are mainly terrestrial in their feeding habits and
have strong bills adapted for grazing. They tend to mate for life and
both sexes care for the goslings.
http://www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/trugeese2.shtml
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Vulture
Turkey vultures have reddish heads while
the heads of black vultures are black. http://wld.fwc.state.fl.us/critters/vulture.asp
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Vultures
27 inches long with small bare red head
and white tipped bill. It has a long tail and a 72 inch wingspan with
silvery linings on the underside and "fingered" tips.
http://www.dqinc.com/webdev5/Hvhiking/Vulture.htm
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What
Am I?
Here's an interactive game to see if you can
identify Alaskan birds
http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/wildlife/geninfo/birds/whatami.htm
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Wood
Duck
http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/hww-fap/woodduck/woodduck.html
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Wood
Duck Nest Box
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/woodwork/woodduck/woodduc.htm
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Wood Duck Nest Box, Build a
Nest
boxes should be constructed of a weather-resistant wood; cedar or cypress
is often recommended. The wood can be painted, stained, or treated,
but only on the outside surface. The entrance hole should have a 4-inch
diameter or be an oval that is 3 inches high and 4 inches wide.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/1999/woodduck/wdnbox.htm
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Woodpeckers
The Woodpeckers are a large family of similarly
designed birds found in forested areas around the globe. The have specially
evolved to deal with chiseling wood, including "shock-absorber"
head musculature, extremely long tongues, and stiff tail feathers helping
them perch upright on trees.
http://montereybay.com/creagrus/woodpeckers.html
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