March 2016: State Birds
- creativecaitlin
- Nov 28, 2018
- 5 min read
Hello fellow birders, and welcome to Caitlin’s Corner! This month, I am going to introduce you to the America’s state birds. By the end, I hope you are familiar with them. Now, let’s get started:
1. Baltimore Oriole (Maryland): Also known as Icterus galbula, the Baltimore Oriole is one of the smallest blackbirds (around 7 inches). The males have orange under their wings and are black, while the females have more yellow and brown under their wings and orange on their belly.
2. Bluebird (Missouri and New York): Also known as Sialia sialis, the Eastern Bluebird can be found in mostly open woods and orchards. Adults have white, bright blue, and red coloring.
3. Blue Hen Chicken (Delaware): Also known as Gallus gallus, the Blue Hen Chicken is gold, brown, maroon, brown, orange, and gray. Its gray feet and white patches make it different from the other chickens.
4. Brown Thrasher (Georgia): Also known as Toxostoma rufum, the Brown Thrasher lives in brush, living off of food found in leaves. It is mostly made up of brown and red plumage.
5. Cactus Wren (Arizona): Also known as Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, the Cactus Wren is one of the largest wrens (around 8 inches long). It has a more outgoing personality, with a very loud and jarring song. It has a brown head and the tail feathers have spots.
6. Common American Gull (Utah): Also known as the California Gull or Larus californicus, this bird lives in lakes in the west. It has a yellow beak, pink feet, and is white, gray, and black.
7. California Valley Quail (California): Also known as Callipepla californica, the California Valley Quail lives on the ground in shrubbery areas. Both male and female have brown feathers, but the male has a blueish chest.
8. Cardinal (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia): Also known as Cardinalis cardinalis, the Northern Cardinal has differences between female and male. Males are a bright red, while the females are a brownish color with reddish tints.
9. Chickadee (Maine and Massachusetts): Also known as Poecile atricapilla, the Black-Capped Chickadee is a songbird with a black head, beak, and neck. The rest of the bird is a light brown with gray wings.
10. Common Loon (Minnesota): Also known as the Great Northern Diver or Gavia immer, the Common Loon is pretty large and can be distinguished by its red eyes. It is also black and white in a kind of checkered and spotted pattern.
11. Eastern Brown Pelican (Louisiana): Also known as Pelecanus occidentalis, it is one of the smallest pelicans. However, it has a huge orange beak. This bird gets its fish from the air by diving into the water.
12. American Goldfinch (Iowa, New Jersey, and Washington): Also known as the Eastern Goldfinch or Carduelis tristis, this bird is around 4 inches. It molts and its beak turns orange. The males tend to turn yellow. During the winter, the feathers are browner.
13. Great Carolina Wren (South Carolina): Also known as Thryothorus ludovicianus, the Great Carolina Wren can be found in the US, Canada, and Mexico. It is brown with orange under parts with a really long white eyebrow.
14. Hermit Thrush (Vermont): Also known as Catharus guttatus, this is a small bird, around 6 inches. It has white and brown under parts with a red tail. What makes it cool is its pink legs, considering it does not live in water.
15. Lark Bunting (Colorado): Also known as Calamospiza melanocorys, the Lark Bunting is a sparrow and usually lives around prairies. It has a big beak for its kind. Males have black feather, but females have dark brown and white feathers.
16. Mockingbird (Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas): Also known as Mimus polyglottos, the Northern mockingbird can mimic other songs and is very aggressive with protecting its nest from predators. It is gray and white with a black bill and yellow eyes.
17. Mountain Bluebird (Idaho and Nevada): Also known as Sialia currucoides, the Mountain Bluebird lives in the country, usually mountain areas. It has a thin beak and is blue, and the females have gray in some areas.
18. Nene (Hawaii): Also known as the Hawaiian Goose or Branta sandvicensis, this bird is found in Maui, Kauai, and Hawaii. It is black and has adapted to the lava there by not having as much webbing on its toes.
19. Purple Finch (New Hampshire): Also known as Carpodacus purpureus, this finch lives in forests throughout New England and Canada. It has a brown tail and wings, males with purplish red on their head.
20. Ring-necked Pheasant (South Dakota): Also known as the Common Pheassant or Phasianus colchicus, this bird has brown feather with a little bit of green, purple, and white rings near its neck. It also has a bright red spot around its eye.
21. Rhode Island Red (Rhode Island): Also known as Gallus gallus, the Road Island Red is a popular chicken. It has mahogany plumage and yellow feet. The chicks tend to be more tan.
22. Roadrunner (New Mexico): Also known as the Chaparral Bird or Geococcyx californianus, the Roadrunner is in the cuckoo family and usually likes to be around cactus. It has dark plumage and even though it certainly can fly, it chooses to run 15 mph or more!
23. Robin (Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin): Also known as Turdus migratorius, the American Robin migrates throughout the US and Canada. It is usually around 10 inches long and the male has brighter orange and gray feathers than the female.
24. Ruffed Grouse (Pennsylvania): Also known as Bonasa umbellus, the Ruffed Grouse has two different colors it can turn: red and gray. It has a pretty epic mohawk, as well.
25. Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Oklahoma): Also known as Tyrannus forficatus, this bird has a very long, black and gray tail and eats insects. The rest of the bird contains grays. Other birds in the family tend to have shorter tails and duller colors.
26. Western Meadowlark (Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wyoming): Also known as Sturnella neglecta, this blackbird can be found in grasslands and fields in North American and Mexico. Adults tend to have yellow and black plumage.
27. Willow Ptarmigan (Alaska): Also known as the Willow Grouse or Lagopus lagopus, the Willow Ptarmigan is part of the grouse family and is found in Alaska and northern Canada forests, usually containing birch. How to identify this bird is by the red neck and white wings (the male has brown, but the female does not).
28. Yellowhammer (Alabama): Also known as Colaptes auratus, the Yellowhammer is a woodpecker in the northeast. The adult birds have black and brown on their back and wings, but have yellow underneath their tail and wings. A good way to spot this bird is by the black necklace it is wearing.
Here are some links to reference for the information I gave you above:
There you have it: all the state birds! I hope you learned something new today about these different types. Next time you visit a different state, you can show off your bird skills by naming its state bird and look for it in the state’s trees. Until next time, happy birding!
Comments