One of the great pleasures of birding, among many, is that you’re never done. There’s always another day and there’s always another bird. I don’t know if you keep a personal life list of all the birds you’ve seen, but I do and my list is pretty short compared to many.
For today’s Dawn Chorus, I thought it would be fun to share some of the birds on our various bucket, or target, bird lists. As birders, we all know that location and habitat matter a great deal when it comes to birds. The birds common in your area may not be common in mine and vice versa. That’s what makes this sharing fun. I’m sticking to birds in the U.S. for this edition of Dawn Chorus and will do international birds at a later date. Without further ado, here are some of the birds on my bucket list. These are birds I’ve never seen in real life, but hope to someday.
The Scarlet Tanager was my spark bird or the first bird that got me interested in birds. I saw it in one of those Little Golden Books when I was about four years old. I told my mother it was the prettiest bird I’d ever seen. She agreed with me, as mothers of four-year-olds do. I’m now in my 60’s and I’ve still never seen this damn bird!
I live in the west, and like the Scarlet Tanager, Atlantic Puffins (as their name implies) do not live in the west. We have Tufted Puffins out here which I have seen, but Atlantic Puffins remain on my bucket list. They’re so odd-looking, they’re cute!
Of the zillions of warbler species in the U.S., the Black-and-white Warbler is the one I most want to see. While so many of the other warblers are colorful or even multi-colored, the Black-and-white Warbler to me is gorgeous because it stands out with just two colors. I know we have them in my area on occasion, but even during the prime warbler migration, I see Yellow Warblers, Townsend’s, Wilson’s and Hermit Warblers, but nary a Black-and-White. I really want this one and one of these days, I’m going to get it.
These birds are so huge and impressive. That massive head just makes me swoon thinking about encountering one. Its range does dip down into Northern California, but it’s uncommon. It prefers boreal forests with dense conifers for nesting and roosting. Way, way up in Northern California they have been seen. California is such a long state, north to south, more than 1,000 miles. Several years ago, there was a Great Gray Owl sighting in Humboldt County which is almost to the Oregon border. I live in Northern California but it would have been a five-hour drive for me to get there. That’s how long California is! I was working at the time and couldn’t manage it. I’m hoping for another opportunity.
So those of you in Texas and Oklahoma will probably scoff at this one since Painted Buntings are somewhat common for you, but this California gal is still waiting and wanting to see one. The bird in this photo is so colorful and is, of course, the male of the species. The female is plain green and has no markings. Figures. The females in the birding world are always less than dazzling with a few exceptions.
The White-headed Woodpecker is another on my bucket list that I actually do have a shot at seeing since they can be found in California. I live in the Sacramento Valley, but valleys are not where you will find this bird. I’m going to need to travel to mountain areas and elevations around 4,000 to 6,000 feet to find it. The White-headed Woodpecker diet consists of pine nuts and they seldom travel away from mountain pine forests. They prefer pines with large cones or prolific seed production such as Ponderosa, Jeffrey, and sugar pines. Guess I’m going to have to find an app for my phone that can show me these pine trees and head up to the forests near Lake Tahoe!
Finally, the last bird on the bird bucket list I’m sharing today (I have many more, but I’ve got to stop somewhere) is this dazzling bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Again, friends in Texas and Oklahoma are definitely familiar with this bird — it’s the state bird of Oklahoma, for heaven’s sake!
On the southern Great Plains, this beautiful bird is common in summer and can be seen resting on roadside fences and wires, just as we see from most species of flycatchers. They are no different except when they take flight. That’s when they show off the salmon-pink coloring under their wings and their long tail streamers. They use them to maneuver in flight to catch insects. What a bird!
Now it’s your turn. What U.S. birds are on your bucket list? Be sure to tell us where you live when you share. Also, feel free to share any other birdy news and photos in your area.