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Show 8 - FUTURE TIMES - MAY 1992 Castle Valley Birds marked. She is similar to the female oriole, but the tail is darker and the bill Spring has sprung and the birds are chirping away. It seems that as time goes on, more and more birds are moving in. Have you wondered what some of these birds are? Besides the customary raven, magpie, pheasant, mourning dove, and occasional hawk or less sharply pointed. These birds eat insects and some fruit, but they aren’t as prevalent as other birds here and don’t snatch much fruit. Usually they migrate through and can be seen in the spring and fall. The Oriole is smaller than a robin, eagle there are others that may not be brightly colored, and belongs to a sub- as commonly identified. family of the blackbird group. The The Western Kingbird has a yellowish belly, gray head, and a long black beak. The long black tail has a narrow white edging on each side. They range from SW Canada to N New Mexico and live (besides here) on g variety seen here is the Bullock’s Oriole. The males have bright orange cheeks and breast with white patches on their wings. The females have a lime hidden red shoulder color, whereas the females have only dark striping and may have a pinkish tinge around the throat These gregarious birds travel and roost in flocks. : A surprise—a mockingbird. My husband first spotted one of these two have a red area like a mustache on the holes under eaves of houses. A beautiful little bird, the Western Tanager male is mostly yellow with a black back, wings, and tail and bright red head in spring and summer, changing to the female’s year-round dull olive color in fall and winter. The female’s olive color extends down her back. She has a yellowish breast with white and yellow wing bars. The male has these defined lines of color on his wings too; this is a distinctive feature and they are the only tanagers so or three years ago. Neither of us had ever seen one before, and it was quite an event. As it turned out, there was a nesting pair very near us. Last year we yellow breast with yellow head. These birds—beautiful as they are—are some of the worst offenders at robbing our fruit trees and grape vines. Other pesky fruit diners include house finches and robins. Nylon netting is a good way to save fruit by keeping them out. A bird that is wily identified by its beautiful song is the Western Meadowlark. This bird can be identified by its bright yellow breast crossed by a black V. They are shaped species, we identified the Northern Mockingbird. They eat insects and fruit, although I doubt that we’ll blame the first disappearance on these birds. Brownish gray, nine to eleven inches, large white patches on the underside of The Brown Headed Cowbird is a small blackbird with a short bill. I usually see eight to ten at a time. Their wing and tail visible when in flight. A bird that is similar in appearance is the Shrike, but the white area under its wings is smaller. Nor does it produce the same beautiful song. Mockingbirds sing a varied, prolonged succession of Box 2106, CVSR, Moab, Utah 84532 Creator: 0/ fine Landscapes 259-8274 ANYTIME Licensed Landscape Contractor Km HARDY NATIVE PLANTS élfiégan‘s NATIVE GRASS & OUICKLAWN SHADE TREES - ALL SIZES mun GIVE us A CALL WE DELIVER ,-..~ imitate other birds.” They range from the Canada to Argentina. Out of 35 posts and dining on insects. PLANTING 0 IRRIGATION SYSTEMS - DRIP IRRIGATION HEADQUARTERS .(n " thrushes, because they sometimes and slimmer and longer-tailed than a robin, their identifying marks are the KEN and ALICE DROGIN . spotted them again, but we haven’t seen them yet this year. These interesting birds are often referred to as mimic like starlings and enjoy sitting on fence CASTLE CANYON NURSERY M , Itt immature males and developed females the characteristic blackbird shape, with sharply pointed bill. The males are more mottled than females and have the enjoy resting in rain gutters, and they make a fair amount of enthusiastic noise. The Red Shafted Flicker is a somewhat large bird that exposes beautiful salmon-red wings and tail linings while in flight. Males and females look alike, except the males flickers are known to roost in cubby- margin that outlines the red. The look alike. They are brownish and have _ farms and in semi-open country. They sides of their beaks. Their long beak enables them to easily feed on ants. Another way they enjoy using their beaks is by noisily pecking on houses. Next time you hear tiny footsteps on the roof, followed by loud pecking, you can assume it is a flicker. In addition, song is unique and sounds like a drop of water falling into a bucket. That might be hard to imagine, but once you’ve heard it you’ll know what I mean. Another common blackbird is the Red-Winged Blackbird. The males are seen strutting around in springtime, showing off the bright red patch located on the shoulder part of their wings. Most of the time, however, this scarlet area is hidden by other feathers, revealing only the greenish—yellow notes and phrases. They repeat their song about a half-dozen times or more before trying something new. They often sing at night, which is nice. I hope more of these birds come in and that you’ll see one in your yard. Castle Valley’s bird population is varied and thriving. I hOpe that we can appreciate their beauty and songs, even as we struggle to keep them from disturbing our fruit! — Karen Clark |
