FEMALE PILEATED WOODPECKER, CRANBERRY MARSH, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITBY, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023

 

CHIPMUNKS & THEIR FRIENDS: MOURNING DOVE, COMMON GRACKLES & NORTHERN CARDINALS, CRANBERRY MARSH, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITB, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023

 

JUVENILE BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO , CRANBERRY MARSH, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITBY, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023 - NEW LIFE SPECIES

   We can ID this bird as a juvenile Black-billed Cuckoo as follows:

• Large bird with a long tail.  We estimated the bird was about a foot long, which is the size of a Black-billed Cuckoo.
• Dark, slightly downcurved bill with a hooked tip on the upper mandible.
• Feet are zygodactyl, i.e. there are two toes in back and two toes in front.  In the photos you can see that the cuckoo has only two toes on one side of the limb on which it is perched.  Zydodactyl feet occur in cuckoos, parrots, woodpeckers and some owls.
• Narrow, yellowish orbital ring ( in the adult the orbital ring is red).
• Light yellowish, buffy throat.
• Whitish underparts.
• Grayish-brown upperparts.

   The Black-billed Cuckoo is a new species to our Photographic Life List.  Our ebird Life List now stands at 1,079.

 

MALE & FEMALE NORTHERN CARDINALS, CRANBERRY MARSH,LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA,WHITBY,ONTARIO , 9/1/2023

   The first two photos show a female Northern Cardinal.  The last photo shows a male Northern Cardinal.

 

BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, CRANBERRY MARSH,LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA ,WHITBY, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023

 

COMMON MERGANSERS, CRANBERRY MARSH, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITBY, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023

 

CANADA GEESE, CRANBERRY MARSH, LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA, WHITBY, ONTARIO, 9/1/2023