["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Welcome to the fifth and concluding volume of your Audubon Society's Video Guide to
the Birds of North America.
In this volume, we meet the rest of that cosmopolitan and varied group called the passerines or
perching birds, birds united by song, color, and simply said by the habit of perching on
a twig or its modern equivalent, the utility wire.
For many who love birds, this may be the most exciting volume in the video guide because
here we spend an intimate interlude with a group many of us call the songbirds.
These birds are among the gifts of the North American land, living among us, gracing our
lives with their song and color, bird families like the wood warblers, the orioles, the tanagers,
and the finches, grosbeaks, and sparrows.
These birds, perhaps more than others, shape our perceptions of our daily world.
It's time we met.
For each species described in all volumes of the video guide, there's motion footage
to show behavior, still photographs to give details of markings, and computer-generated
maps of the North American ranges where they summer, where they winter, and where they
are present at all seasons.
Voice or other sound is included for nearly every bird described in volume five.
The importance of associating the sound with the bird cannot be overstressed, for we hear
much more than we see, and the songbirds speak to us constantly.
A graphic notation gives the length in a perched posture.
The correct common name and the Latin name of each bird appear in the colored name band
at the bottom of the screen.
This colored name band indicates the family to which each of the passerines belongs and
can be used to expedite locating a bird in the cassette when your VCR is in the search
mode.
This list of the species covered in volume five shows the video guide's reference number
for each bird.
If you would like to prepare an index, rewind the cassette to the opening and zero the counter
on your VCR.
Then play through the cassette, noting the counter values at the beginning of each description.
Thereafter, if you zero the counter at the same location each time the cassette is loaded
into your VCR, you can fast forward to the desired bird description.
The American warblers are sometimes called the butterflies of the bird world.
They are small and active, and most kinds are brightly colored.
Many warblers spend the winter in the tropics and migrate north to the Canadian forest for
the summer.
During their spring migration through eastern North America, it may be possible to see twenty
species of colorful warblers in one day.
Recognizing them in their fall migration can be more challenging, since many warblers change
to a dull plumage before they start southward.
One of the most common and widespread members of the family is the yellow warbler.
It is found in summer across most of North America, favoring open woods, especially willow
groves near water.
Bright yellow all over, slightly darker on the back, the male yellow warbler has thin
red stripes on the chest.
Females are duller, without obvious markings, and no other warbler is so uniformly pale
greenish yellow.
Found from the Mexican border to the Arctic in summer, the yellow warbler rarely winters
in North America, except on the Florida Keys.
Despite being named for a southern flower, the magnolia warbler spends the summer in
northern forests like most of its relatives.
It is patterned mostly in yellow and black, with black stripes on the sides, blue-gray
on the crown, and white patches in the wings and tail.
Females and fall-plumaged birds are paler and duller.
Most show some dark stripes on the sides below the wings.
Nesting in the northeast, the magnolia warbler migrates through the eastern states and winters
mostly in Mexico and Central America.
With a chestnut patch on the face and heavy striping of black and yellow on the underparts,
the male Cape May warbler in breeding plumage is a distinctive bird.
Spruce forest of the north is its favorite habitat in summer.
Female Cape Mays and birds in fall plumage can be much duller, but they are marked by
the extensive narrow streaking on the underparts.
Wintering in the Caribbean region, the Cape May warbler migrates mostly along the Atlantic
coast, and is rare west of the Mississippi.
While most of its relatives go to the tropics in winter, the yellow-rumped warbler spends
the winter mainly in North America.
During the cold months, it is abundant in coastal thickets of wax myrtle, and it will
sometimes come to bird feeders as well.
It is patterned with brown in winter, or with gray and black in summer, with accents of
yellow on the sides and rump.
The eastern form, often called myrtle warbler, has a white throat.
The western form, known as Audubon's warbler, has a yellow throat.
In its different forms, the yellow-rumped warbler is found throughout the coniferous
forests of the north, and the high mountains in summer.
A warbler typical of the deep south is the yellow-throated warbler.
Its bright yellow throat and strong black and white pattern on the face and sides make
it unmistakable.
In summer, it is often found in groves of sycamores along southern rivers, where it
forages rather slowly in the upper branches.
The yellow-throated warbler arrives early in spring on its nesting grounds, and it remains
commonly through the winter in parts of Florida.
A tiny bird wearing Halloween colors, the black bernion warbler is our only warbler
with extensive orange on the throat and breast.
Its upper parts are blackish, with a pattern of pale stripes.
Females and immatures wear a paler orange than adult males, but the pale back stripes
give them away.
We know the black bernion warbler as a summer resident of northern forests, but in winter
it is a common bird in the Andes of South America.
A warbler of the forest edge and second-growth woods rather than unbroken forests, the chestnut-sided
warbler is probably more numerous today than it was 200 years ago.
In summer it is known by its yellow cap, black stripe on the face, and chestnut sides.
Its song is much like that of the yellow warbler.
In fall, the bird looks very different with a lime green back and grayish-white underparts.
Common in summer in the northeast, the chestnut-sided warbler spends the winter in Central America.
With a golden-winged patch and a striking face pattern, the golden-winged warbler is
easily recognized.
It lives in brushy areas and thickets, especially of alder.
Females and young birds are duller, but have the same basic pattern.
The golden wing often interbreeds with its close relative, the blue-winged warbler, producing
hybrids with intermediate patterns.
The blue in the wings is really a subtle blue-gray, so the blue-winged warbler is more easily recognized
by its yellow head with a black stripe through the eye.
This is another warbler found mainly in brushy areas or second-growth woods.
Nesting mostly south of the range of the golden-winged warbler, the blue-winged is gradually expanding
its range toward the north.
The cerulean blue on the back of the male cerulean warbler can be hard to see at times
because the bird is often high overhead in riverside trees.
A better mark from underneath is the narrow black ring across the base of the neck.
The female has a hint of the male's blue, but lacks the dark necklace.
Within its summer range, the cerulean warbler is localized in areas of tall trees and swampy
woods.
A rather stocky warbler found in the undergrowth of a deciduous forest, the male black-throated
blue warbler is unmistakable.
Its pattern of black and dark blue is set off by white on the underparts and a conspicuous
white spot in the wing.
The female shares the white-winged spot, but otherwise her coloring is more subtle, with
an olive back, buffy underparts, and dark face patch.
Strictly an eastern bird in summer, the black-throated blue warbler spends the winter on islands
in the Caribbean.
A flash of gold in a dark southeastern swamp is the prothonotary warbler.
The unmarked, brilliant yellow of its head and underparts is set off by blue-gray in
the wings and tail.
Unlike most warblers, the prothonotary builds its nest in a hole in a tree, often in a dead
tree surrounded by water.
The female prothonotary is somewhat duller, but shows enough of the general color scheme
to be recognizable.
Very common in summer in parts of the south, this warbler is scarce and local toward the
northern end of its range.
Although it is rather plain in color, the palm warbler may be recognized by its habit
of wagging its tail up and down as it forages, usually on or near the ground.
In fall and winter it is brownish, but has a pale stripe over the eye and a spot of yellow
under the tail.
Warblers in spring are somewhat more colorful, with chestnut on the crown and more yellow
on the underparts.
In summer the palm warbler lives far from any palms, in northern spruce bogs, but in
winter it is common in Florida and some nearby areas.
The prairie warbler is another species with the tail wagging habit.
It is usually brighter and more yellow than the palm warbler, and is less likely to be
seen feeding on the ground.
The male in spring can be known by the characteristic black stripes on its face and sides.
Not a bird of the open prairies, the prairie warbler lives in brushy second growth woods,
and in southern mangrove swamps.
One of the rarest birds in North America is Kirtland's warbler, found in only a few spots
in Michigan.
For its summer home it requires a young stand of jack pine trees less than 15 feet tall,
a habitat that exists for only a few years after a fire.
This serves as an example of how a forest fire may be a natural and necessary process
in certain habitats.
Kirtland warblers migrate every fall from Michigan to a winter range in the Bahamas,
but they are almost never seen during migration.
The name identifies the habitat because the pine warbler is almost always found in tall
pine trees.
It is rather heavy set for a warbler and often more deliberate in its movements than most.
Birds in spring are olive above and yellow on the chest, but have relatively few distinctive
markings.
Some females and young birds can be very drab, gray or brown.
The pine warbler is a short distance migrant and can be found all year in many areas of
the southeast.
The colorful bird of the treetops, the male Bay Breasted Warbler in breeding plumage is
unmistakable, with its contrasting pattern of black, chestnut and buffy pink.
In summer it is found in northern woodlands of spruce and other conifers.
Before migrating south in fall, it molts into a new identity, mostly greenish, with just
a touch of bay on the sides.
Swimmering mostly in eastern and central Canada, the Bay Breasted Warbler is a common migrant
through the eastern states.
The male Black Pole Warbler in spring is a striking bird with white cheeks and a black
cap topping off a clean, monochrome pattern.
It spends the summer in spruce forest of the far north.
In fall plumage, the Black Pole looks completely different, a streaky yellow-green bird similar
to the fall Bay Breasted Warbler.
Its yellow feet sometimes make a good field mark.
One of the great travelers among the warblers, the Black Pole summers to Alaska and migrates
as far as Brazil for the winter.
Its name is almost a full description of the male black-throated green warbler, but it
also has yellow cheeks and white on the underparts.
This is another warbler found mainly in the treetops in coniferous forest in summer.
Females and young birds lack most of the black on the throat, but have the same pattern otherwise.
Like most of the warblers that nest in the northeast, the black-throated green migrates
mostly through the eastern states and is rare in the west.
Townsend's Warbler is a western replacement for the black-throated green warbler.
Some of its songs are almost the same, and it looks similar as well, but the Townsend's
has a prominent black patch on the face and more yellow on the underparts.
Females and young birds are like a paler version of the male.
Summering in humid evergreen forests of the northwest, Townsend's Warbler can be found
locally in winter along the Pacific coast.
Although it lacks bright colors, the black-throated gray warbler is smartly patterned.
Its wheezy song is a common sound in summer in western woodlands of juniper and oak.
Patches of solid black on the face and crown will separate the black-throated gray from
other warblers.
Females and young birds are paler than adult males, but show most of the same head pattern.
Summering widely in western foothills and canyons, the black-throated gray can be found
locally in winter in the southwest.
A warbler that frequently behaves like a nut hatch is the black and white warbler.
It is often seen foraging on the trunks or larger limbs of trees.
Compared to warblers with similar colors like black pole or black-throated gray, the black
and white may be known by its behavior and by the striped pattern on the top of its head.
Although all ages are recognizably similar, adult males have more black on the face and
throat than females or immatures.
A common summer resident in eastern North America, especially in deciduous woods, the
black and white warbler may be found locally in winter in the southeast.
Glowing like a candle flame in the woods, the male American red start wears brilliant
patches of orange on the sides, wings, and tail.
It often holds the tail and wings half spread, as if to show off this color to best advantage.
The female American red start is more modestly colored, mostly gray instead of black, with
the bright orange patches replaced by yellow.
Widespread in summer in open woods and forest edge, the American red start is much more
common in the east than in the west, but it may show up as a migrant practically anywhere.
The stunning warbler found only in the southwest is the painted red start.
Like the American red start, it often fans its tail and wings to show off the contrasting
pattern there.
But this pattern is black and white, and the under parts are deep red at the center.
Unlike most warblers, the males and females look the same.
The painted red start lives in mixed forest in canyons in the mountains and builds its
nest on the ground.
Only in the southwest are there warblers with bright red in the plumage.
The male and female red faced warbler look the same as each other, but completely different
from any other bird, with a unique black scarf to frame the red face.
This is a common summer resident in mixed woodland of conifers and oaks in high mountain
areas.
Primarily a Mexican bird, the red faced warbler is found north into Arizona and New Mexico,
but rarely visits the adjacent states.
The little northern parula can be hard to spot when it is singing from the top of a
tall tree, but it is easily identified by its rising, buzzy song.
Blue, gray above, and yellow on the chest, it has wing bars and a partial white eye ring.
The male has a dark chest band.
This warbler hides its nest among hanging strands of vegetation, Spanish moss in the
south, other kinds of moss in northern forest.
Summering as far south as the gulf coast, this bird is called the northern parula because
there is another type of parula in the tropics.
The Nashville warbler shows fewer obvious markings than many of its relatives, but it
can be known by the combination of bright yellow throat, gray head, and complete white
ring around the eye.
Despite the name, this warbler passes through Nashville only in migration.
Its nesting range involves two separate populations, one in the west and one in the northeast.
Among the drabbest of warblers at all seasons, always looking olive gray with blurry streaks
is the orange-crowned warbler.
The concealed patch of orange on its head is rarely noticeable.
This is one of the few warblers that winters commonly in the southern states, and it will
sometimes come to bird feeders for suet or fruit.
Generally more common in the west than in the east, the orange-crowned warbler can be
found all year along the Pacific coast.
White eyebrow, gray cap, and green back are the elements of spring plumage in the Tennessee
warbler.
It looks somewhat like a virio but has a snappy three-parted song, marking it as a warbler.
Females and fall birds can be much more yellow.
Unlike the similar orange-crowned warbler, they lack any streaking below.
Another bird that was named on migration, the Tennessee warbler actually summers in
spruce forest across Canada, not in Tennessee.
It may become more numerous after major outbreaks of the spruce budworm.
The only warbler to nest commonly in the southwestern desert, Lucy's warbler, is mostly gray and
white with a very pale face.
Small spots of rufous on the crown and rump are diagnostic but may be hard to see.
This is one of the few warblers that builds its nest in cavities in trees.
An early migrant in both spring and fall, Lucy's warbler arrives in March and is usually
gone by September.
Open marshes and wet fields are the home of a warbler called the common yellowthroat.
The male wears a black mask bordered by white.
He frequently makes his presence known with a loud, rapid song or with a distinctive hard
call note.
The female gives a similar call note but has no black mask and looks rather plain.
Although its range covers much of North America, the yellowthroat is absent from places where
it cannot find suitable marshes.
A warbler that walks on the forest floor, the ovenbird is better known by its loud,
ringing song than by sight.
Seen in the open, it reveals black stripes underneath, a white eye ring and a contrasting
stripe down the center of the crown.
The name ovenbird comes from the shape of its nest, a dome with the entrance on the
side like an old fashioned oven.
Mainly found in the east in summer, the ovenbird also extends well northwest into Canada and
reaches the edge of the Rockies.
The so-called water thrushes are brown-backed warblers that walk at the water's edge.
Unlike the real thrushes, they have pale eyebrow stripes and a habit of bobbing the tail up
and down.
The northern water thrush is the more widespread of the two species.
Its underparts and eyebrow stripe are usually tinged with yellow, and it has a snappy, emphatic
song.
The northern water thrush breeds across the continent, mostly north of the Canadian border.
As a migrant, it is most common in the east.
The Louisiana water thrush replaces the northern as a nesting bird in the southeast, although
there is some overlap in their summer ranges.
In this species, the eyebrow stripe is always bold and white, and the underparts are white
with a tinge of cinnamon, never yellow.
The song of the Louisiana water thrush has more of a clear, whistled quality.
Living close to the ground in humid southeastern woodlands is the Kentucky warbler.
Its pattern is mostly simple, olive above and bright yellow below, but its face is marked
with trailing black sideburns and yellow spectacles.
The rich, rolling song of the Kentucky warbler can be heard from some distance away.
This is one warbler with an appropriate place name.
It is common in summer in Kentucky and the surrounding states.
A black hood enclosing the yellow face is the trademark of the male hooded warbler.
This is another warbler found in the undergrowth of deciduous woodlands, especially along the
edges of swamps.
The female may have a trace of the black hood, or may be simply olive and yellow, but the
white spots in the tail are often noticeable.
Most common in the southeast in summer, the hooded warbler barely reaches the southern
edge of Canada.
Wilson's warbler would be a rather plain bird without the round, black cap it wears.
It has a rather long tail, which is often flipped up and down expressively, or held
above the level of the back.
Some females lack the black cap, but they can be recognized by the overall golden color,
and by the absence of white spots in the tail.
Although it is widespread, Wilson's warbler is usually a more common migrant in the west
than in the east.
Many kinds of warblers nest in Canada, including the Canada warbler, a bird of the undergrowth
in dense forest.
It is blue-gray above and yellow below, with yellow spectacles, but the best field mark
is the necklace of short, black streaks on the male.
This necklace may be less distinct on females and young birds.
For a change in surroundings, the Canada warbler undertakes a long migration, spending the
winter in South America.
The largest and most bizarre of all warblers is the yellow-breasted chat.
Hiding in dense tangles, it sings with all the enthusiasm of a mockingbird, but without
the same musical quality, giving off a discordant series of squawks, rattles, and clear notes.
It may even sing at night.
Widespread in summer across North America, the chat is most common in the southern states.
The starling family is native to the old world, but one species, brought to North America
by man around 1890, has become one of the most abundant birds on the continent.
The European starling is an adaptable, aggressive bird.
It feeds on practically anything, and because it takes over nesting sites from other birds,
it has caused serious problems for bluebirds and some other native species.
The starling is unrelated to our black birds, and it can be recognized by its very short
tail and pointed yellow bill.
In winter, it develops many white spots and buffy edges on the plumage.
Young birds are all gray at first, but have the same shape as the adult.
The so-called blackbird group includes many birds with yellow or orange patterns, as well
as those that are all black.
One of the colorful ones is the bobble ink, a bird of hay fields and wet meadows.
The male in summer is black below and brightly patterned above.
The female is much plainer, buffy brown with dark stripes, and all bobble inks wear a plumage
like this in fall migration.
The bobble ink is more common in the east than in the west, and it winters in South
America.
One of the best known of all marsh birds is the red-winged blackbird.
The red on its wing is just a patch on the shoulder, bordered in yellow, and at times
it is mostly hidden by black feathers.
When the male is singing, his red shoulder patches are displayed prominently.
The female red-wing is streaky and brown, with a buffy eyebrow.
Although it nests in marshes and wet meadows, the red-wing may feed in plowed fields or
other dry habitats.
Almost every freshwater marsh in North America has red-winged blackbirds in summer.
In winter, flocks may number in the tens of thousands.
In some areas along the Pacific coast, the red-wing overlaps in range with the tricolored
blackbird, a very similar bird.
Red-winged blackbirds are very sociable, usually nesting in dense colonies.
The male looks like a red-wing, but the red patches on its shoulders are bordered with
white, not yellow.
The female is almost identical to a dark female red-winged blackbird.
The name is the description for the male yellow-headed blackbird.
A bird of the inland marshes in the west and midwest, it often joins other kinds of blackbirds
feeding in open, dry fields when it is not nesting.
Its harsh, scraping song is considered by some to be the worst bird song in North America.
The female yellow-headed blackbird is dusky brown on the back and head, but has enough
yellow on the throat to be recognizable.
Widespread and common in the marshes in summer, it is much more localized in the southwest
in winter.
The chunky, short-tailed blackbird of the open fields is the eastern meadowlark.
It wears a camouflage pattern of brown streaks on the back and wings, and dusky stripes on
the head, but its chest is brilliant yellow, crossed by a bold black V.
Walking on the ground in dense grass, probing for insects with its long pointed bill, the
meadowlark often flicks its tail nervously.
When it flies, the tail shows conspicuous, white outer feathers.
A permanent resident in parts of the southwest, the eastern meadowlark is found mostly east
of the high plains.
In the west, where grassland habitat is more prevalent, the western meadowlark is common.
It overlaps the range of the eastern meadowlark in some areas.
Although the western may be slightly paler in color, the two species of meadowlark are
virtually identical in appearance.
The western is most easily recognized by its rich, bubbling song, unlike the clear whistles
of the eastern meadowlark.
The largest of our blackbirds is the great-tailed
grackle of the southwest, glossy black with yellow eyes, the male has a very long, broad
tail, usually dragging behind the bird like an afterthought.
The grackle gives an incredible variety of calls, including squeaks, whistles, and rattles.
Females are browner and somewhat smaller, and are usually quieter as well, except when
their nesting colonies are disturbed.
The great-tailed grackle is a success story among birds.
In recent years, it has more than doubled its range in the United States, spreading
well north into the Great Plains.
Limited to the immediate coastline, except in the interior of Florida, is the boat-tailed
grackle.
This is another very large blackbird with glossy plumage.
It usually looks rounder-headed than the great-tailed grackle.
On the Atlantic coast, it usually has yellow eyes, but on the Gulf coast, its eyes are
usually dark, unlike the great-tailed, which is also found there.
Female boat-tailed grackles are brown, and smaller than the males.
Widespread in the north and east is the common grackle.
It looks like a smaller edition of the male great-tailed or boat-tailed grackles, but
its tail is not quite so exaggerated in shape, and it has richer iridescence of bronze or
purple in the plumage.
Common grackles often nest in dense evergreens.
In winter, they wander through the countryside in large flocks, associating with other kinds
of blackbirds as they feed in fields and marshes.
Traditionally a bird of the east, the common grackle has been extending its range toward
the west in recent years.
In open country of the west, Brewer's blackbird is often conspicuous, feeding on the ground
around ranch houses, pastures, and plowed fields.
The male is glossy black with yellow eyes, like a grackle, but it does not have the grackle's
excessively long tail.
Male Brewer's blackbirds are solid dusky gray and have dark brown eyes.
In recent years, Brewer's blackbird has extended its summer range eastward to the Great Lakes.
In winter it can be found locally as far east as the Carolinas.
In breeding plumage, the male rusty blackbird looks almost identical to Brewer's blackbird,
but without most of the iridescent gloss on the plumage.
In fall and winter, it becomes a much more distinctive bird with rich, rusty edges on
the feathers and a buffy eyebrow stripe.
Rusty blackbirds are usually found feeding on the ground in swamps and other wet places.
Nesting around northern bogs and wintering in the southeast, the rusty blackbird is a
very early migrant in spring.
Before the pilgrims landed, the cowbird was a buffalo bird following the great herds of
bison on the Great Plains.
Today flocks of brown-headed cowbirds can be seen around cattle anywhere in North America,
waiting for the grazing animals to flush insects from the grass.
The spread of the cowbird has meant trouble for other species.
The female cowbird lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, forcing the foster parents
to raise young cowbirds instead of their own.
Found in practically all habitats in summer, the brown-headed cowbird is more localized
in winter when its flocks are always in open country.
The bronzy sheen of the bronzed cowbird is not an obvious field mark.
It is more easily recognized by the ruff of feathers on its neck and at close range by
its red eye.
A resident of the southwest, the bronzed cowbird is a nest parasite like the brown-headed,
but tends to be more specialized in its targets.
The female usually lays her eggs in the nests of orioles or other medium-sized birds.
Found mainly in Arizona and Texas, this cowbird has been expanding its range, with some showing
up as far east as Florida.
Orioles are treetop birds, the males with striking color patterns.
Our most familiar species is the northern oriole.
The eastern form of this species, often called Baltimore oriole, is common in summer in elms
and other shade trees.
Its nest is an intricately woven bag hanging from the end of a branch.
The Baltimore is the only orange and black oriole native to the east.
The female is planar, mostly dusky above and yellow-orange below.
The western form of this bird, sometimes called Bullock's oriole, looks very different in
adult male plumage.
It has an orange eyebrow and face and a big white wing patch.
Both forms of northern oriole are widespread and common in their respective ranges in summer.
Where they overlap on the western Great Plains, they produce hybrids of intermediate appearance.
The male orchard oriole wears dark chestnut tones, unlike the orange or yellow shown by
its relatives.
It is also our smallest oriole.
When it is foraging in the dense foliage of the treetops, it can be hard to spot, but
its rich, rapid song will give it away.
The female is a much more greenish-yellow than the female northern oriole.
Found over much of the east in summer, the orchard oriole is rare toward the northern
edge of its range.
Both male orioles have black heads, but this one has a hood of orange surrounding the black
face.
The hooded oriole is a bird of the west and southwest, often found around palm trees where
it may build its nest.
The female hooded oriole is mostly plain greenish-yellow.
It has a thinner and more de-curved bill than most other orioles.
A summer resident from Texas to California, the hooded oriole may sometimes stay through
the winter, visiting hummingbird feeders for the sugar water.
Scotts' oriole, a bird of dry foothills and western grasslands, wears a striking pattern
of yellow and black.
Its rich, warbling song may bring to mind the voice of the western meadow ark.
The nest is often placed in a yucca plant, where it is protected by the sharp pointed
leaves.
The female Scotts' oriole is more dusky olive yellow than most species, and it may have
much black on the face.
Common in summer in the southwest and Great Basin region, Scotts' oriole rarely stays
through the winter near the Mexican border.
Most tanagers are brightly colored tropical birds.
Only a few species are found north of the Mexican border.
Summer tanagers have rather thick, pale bills.
They feed mainly on insects in the treetops.
In southern woods, the languid whistles of this bird might be passed off as the song
of a robin, but when it is seen the male summer tanager is easily recognized because no other
bird in its range is unmarked rose red all over.
It is common in dry woods of oak and pine in the southeast and along rivers in the southwest.
The female is dull golden yellow, somewhat darker on the back, and is best known by the
typical tanager bill shape.
At the northern end of its range, the summer tanager tends to be scarce and localized.
Flaming scarlet with black wings and tail, the male scarlet tanager is unmistakable.
Its rather hoarse, burry song is a common sound in summer in deciduous forest of the
northeast, but the bird may be difficult to spot among the dense foliage of the treetops.
The female scarlet is a more greenish yellow than the female summer tanager and has darker
wings.
The nesting range of scarlet tanager is centered farther north than that of the summer tanager,
but the two are found side by side in some places.
It has far less red than other tanagers, but the male western tanager has a striking pattern
all its own, bright yellow and black with a red head.
It is a common summer bird in evergreen forest of the west.
The female is greenish yellow, but has two pale wing bars, unlike other female tanagers.
It might be mistaken for a female oriole, but it has a thicker, shorter bill.
Although they nest in coniferous forest, migrant western tanagers can be seen in all habitats,
even in the desert.
Birds with short, thick bills used for cracking seeds include the gross beaks, buntings, sparrows
and towhees among others.
For convenience, they may be known collectively as finches.
These are among the birds most easily enticed to backyard feeding trays with offerings of
bird seed.
No fewer than seven states have chosen the popular northern cardinal as their official
state bird.
Its brilliant red color, black mask and crested head make the male cardinal unmistakable,
and its whistled song can bring cheer to the coldest of winter days.
A frequent visitor to bird feeders, it is notably fond of sunflower seeds.
The female cardinal is more modestly colored, but has the same crest and the same bright
red bill.
Called northern only because it has relatives farther south in the tropics, the cardinal
is actually most common in the southern states.
Found alongside the cardinal in parts of the southwest is its relative the pyruloxia.
Common in many desert areas, the pyruloxia is another crested bird, but the male is mostly
gray with touches of red in the plumage.
Its call notes and song can be very similar to those of the cardinal.
The female lacks most of the red and might easily be mistaken for a female cardinal.
However, the thick stubby bill of the pyruloxia is yellow, not red, and the pyruloxia has
a longer crest.
In the treetops of eastern deciduous woodlands, the male rose-breasted gross peak is sometimes
uncommon but always unmistakable.
Its black and white pattern is accented with a rose-red triangle on the chest and rosy
patches hidden under each wing.
The streaky brown female might be mistaken for a sparrow, but she has a very thick bill
and a strong contrasting pattern on the head and wings.
The rose-breasted gross peak is only a summer resident in North America.
Rarely, one will show up at a bird feeder in winter.
A fast, whistled song in western woodland sounding like a nervous robin is the voice
of the black-headed gross peak.
This bird is often very common in the oaks in canyons and foothills.
The male is patterned in rusty orange and black, with big white spots and bars in the
wings.
The female looks very similar to the female rose-breasted gross peak, but is more buffy
on the underparts with fewer dark streaks.
Found all over the west in summer, the black-headed gross peak overlaps with the rose-breasted
on the western Great Plains.
A chunky bird of dense thickets in the south, the male blue gross peak is blue all over
except for broad bars of reddish brown in the wings.
Its very thick, heavy bill will distinguish it from all other blue birds in North America.
The female blue gross peak is brown, with hardly a trace of blue, but it has the same
thick bill and wide, buffy wing bars.
Very common across the southern states and rare in the north, the blue gross peak mostly
winters in the tropics.
Like a smaller version of the blue gross peak and often found in the same areas, the indigo
bunting lacks the rusty wing bars and has a smaller bill.
The bunting is dark indigo blue all over, but it may look black at a distance when it
is singing from an exposed perch.
It is common in summer in brushy fields in the east.
The female is brown all over, with faint streaks below.
In fall, males also molt into a plumage that is mostly brown.
Extending farther north than the blue gross peak in the eastern half of the continent,
the indigo bunting is rare and local in the west.
The male painted bunting wears a color pattern that is almost unbelievable, with patches
of red, blue, and lime green.
This gaudiness is often hidden, because the painted bunting is usually a shy and elusive
denizen of thickets in the south.
It may perch in the open when singing.
The female is as plain as a female indigo bunting, but is entirely unmarked green.
Even in summer locally across the southeast, the painted bunting sometimes comes to bird
feeders in Florida in winter.
The lazuli bunting, a sky blue bird with a rusty chest, is a western replacement for
the indigo bunting.
It might be mistaken for a blue bird, but the lazuli has a short, thick bill like other
buntings and prominent white wing bars.
The female is plain pale brown, more buffy on the chest, and has whitish or buff wing
bars.
The lazuli bunting is common in summer in brushy, open woods.
On the western Great Plains, it may interbreed with the indigo bunting.
In farmland and prairie country of the Midwest, the dickcistle can be heard singing an approximation
of its name in summer.
The male is a handsome finch with a yellow eyebrow, chestnut shoulders, and a black patch
on the yellow chest.
The female is duller and does not have the black patch.
In various parts of its summer range, the dickcistle may be common one year, but rare
the next.
Now found mostly west of the Mississippi, it was once common on the Atlantic seaboard
as well.
A stocky finch of the western plains, the male lark bunting is unmistakable in summer
when it is black with bold white wing patches.
It often flutters above the prairie while giving its complicated song.
The female is a planar bird with brown streaks, but it has a hint of the white wing patch.
In winter, when the male is brown like the female, flocks of lark buntings range over
the southwestern grasslands.
Most common in summer just east of the Rockies, the lark bunting may extend its range to new
areas in years of good rainfall.
In its usual role, scratching among dead leaves on the ground under dense thickets, the rufous
sided tohi may go unnoticed.
But when it comes out in the open, it is easily recognized by its black and chestnut pattern
with a white stripe down the stomach and white spots in the wings and tail.
Female tohis in the east are patterned like males, but with the black replaced by brown.
Rufous sided tohis in the west have heavy white spotting on the back, and the females
are usually black or gray above, not brown.
Rufous sided tohis are common over most of the warmer parts of North America, nesting
in deciduous forests or pine oak woods.
The brown tohi of the west has few distinctive markings aside from the rusty patch under
the tail.
Like other tohis, it scratches on the ground among dry leaves.
Around the Pacific coast, the brown tohi is often found in backyards.
In the interior of the southwest, it is usually in canyons or foothills.
The coastal and interior populations of brown tohi have very different voices, and some
researchers believe they represent two different species.
This riverside growth in the desert southwest provides a haven for abears tohi.
It is a warmer, cinnamon brown color than the brown tohi, and it has a paler bill, but
is most easily recognized by the irregular black patch on its face.
The calls of abears tohi are sharp and ringing, and they are heard far more often than the
bird is seen since it usually hides in thick undergrowth.
The olive green on the green-tailed tohi covers not only the tail but also the back and wings,
providing contrast for the gray underparts and the small rusty cap.
This small tohi, the size of a large sparrow, is often detected by its soft, cat-like mewing
call.
The green-tailed tohi is a mountain bird in summer, found in thickets at high elevations.
It winters in brush near streams in the southwest.
When most people think of sparrows, what they have in mind is the abundant house sparrow
introduced to this continent from Europe.
Our native sparrows, like the white-throated sparrow, are not city birds, but they will
come into town to visit bird feeders.
The white-throated sparrow is known by the yellow spot in front of its eye, its head
stripes of white or tan, and its neatly defined white throat.
Young white throats, during their first winter, are browner and duskier overall, with less
distinct head stripes.
A summer bird of northern woods, the white-throated sparrow is common in winter in the eastern
states and very uncommon in the west.
More prevalent in the west than in the east is the white-crowned sparrow.
It has contrasting head stripes, but no distinct patch on the throat, and its bill is pink,
not black.
The bird usually has a cleaner and grayer look than the white-throated sparrow.
Young white crowns have head stripes of chestnut and buff.
Large flocks of white-crowned sparrows can be found in winter in brushy places in the
west.
Most white crowns nest in the high arctic or the high mountains and have to leave for
the winter, but along parts of the Pacific coast they are present all year.
A big, dusky sparrow related to the white-crowned, the golden-crowned sparrow may not always
show the gold on the crown.
The adult in breeding plumage has heavy black stripes bordering the gold patch, but immatures
and many winter adults are mostly brown on the head.
This is a western bird, often found in mixed flocks with white-crowned sparrows in winter.
Summering in Alaska and western Canada, the golden-crowned sparrow winters mainly along
the Pacific coast and is rare in other western states.
This sparrow is a specialty of the interior of the continent, nesting in central Canada
and wintering on the eastern edge of the Great Plains.
It is a rare visitor east and west of this range.
This is one of our larger sparrows and the adult is recognized by its black face and
bright pink bill.
Immatures in their first winter lack most of the black on the face and are very buffy
on the head.
A large sparrow with foxy red stripes, the fox sparrow lives on the ground under dense
thickets where it scratches to find insects and seeds among the fallen leaves.
At times it will come to a bird feeder to find seeds more easily.
Reddish fox sparrows are found mainly in the east and in parts of the west they may be
gray or chocolate brown but all have the same general pattern despite their different colors.
Nesting in the north and in the mountains the fox sparrow winters across the southern
states and along the entire Pacific coast.
The song may not be very musical but it has a quick and cheerful quality making the song
sparrow a popular bird in parks and gardens.
It is striped above and below and the stripes on the chest often coalesce into a central
dark spot.
Song sparrows are not especially shy but they like to have dense bushes nearby for cover.
Unlike some other kinds of sparrows they are found only in pairs or family groups never
in large flocks.
Across their wide range song sparrows vary in size and in their shade of brown but all
have the same basic pattern.
Lincoln's sparrow is a shy and elusive bird found in dense brush and wet thickets.
Even in areas where it is common it never travels in flocks.
It looks something like a song sparrow but tends to look more richly colored with a buffy
chest crossed by narrow black streaks.
Lincoln's sparrow has a softer and more musical song than the song sparrow.
Nesting in the north and in high mountains, Lincoln's is generally much more common in
the west than in the east.
Cat tail marshes and other wet places attract the swamp sparrow.
It is a chunky dark looking sparrow, gray on the under parts and chestnut on the back
and wings.
In summer it usually has a rufous cap.
In its dense habitat the swamp sparrow can be difficult to see but like other sparrows
it can often be lured into the open with squeaking noises.
Although the swamp sparrow is widespread in summer in northern marshes it is most common
in the east.
Among our native sparrows none is more common in backyards in summer than the little chipping
sparrow.
It has a reddish cap in summer set off by a white eyebrow and black stripe through the
eye.
Its under parts are plain pale gray.
The dry rattle of its song might be passed off as the sound of an insect.
In winter the chipping sparrow may look much browner on the head but traces of the reddish
cap usually show through, found almost throughout the continent in summer the chipping sparrow
mostly withdraws to the southern tier of states for the winter.
The American tree sparrow seems to be poorly named.
It is no more partial to trees than the other sparrows and is usually found in loose flocks
in weedy fields in the winter.
It has a reddish cap like the chipping sparrow but the tree sparrow has a bi-colored bill,
a black spot in the center of the chest and a more musical voice.
The calendar is often the best way to tell these two sparrows apart.
The tree sparrow is found only in the far north in summer.
South of Canada it shows up only in winter when most chipping sparrows have gone farther
south.
A rather long-tailed sparrow of brushy overgrown fields is the field sparrow.
It has a rufous cap like several other kinds of sparrows but its pale face gives it something
of a baby-faced expression and it has a pink bill at all seasons.
The song of the field sparrow has a clear and plaintive quality and the bird may sing
all day even in summer's heat.
Found only east of the Rockies the field sparrow is widespread in summer but winters mostly
in the deep south.
In open country of the west one of the most common sparrows is also one of the plainest.
Brewers sparrow is pale gray-brown with narrow black streaks on the upper parts and unmarked
grayish-white below.
Despite its plain appearance it enlivens the open sagebrush desert with its complicated
song of churs and chips and trills.
Flocks of brewer's sparrows may even sing on warm days in winter.
Resting both on sage flats and above treeline in the mountains, brewer's sparrow spends
the winter in arid brush of the southwest.
At first glance the Vesper sparrow may seem like a streaky brown bird with no real field
marks but with a closer look it shows a white eye ring, a small rusty patch at the shoulder
and white outer tail feathers.
The musical song of the Vesper sparrow is heard in open meadows and dry fields in summer
often in the evening.
The Vesper sparrow is common in both the east and the west and winters all across the southern
tier of states.
A small sparrow of open field, the savanna sparrow is best known by its short tailed
shape, fine streaks on the chest and dark stripes on the crown.
It usually has a yellow stripe over the eye.
Not as elusive as some of the grassland sparrows, the savanna may perch in the open on weeds
or fence wires.
It is sometimes in flocks with Vesper sparrows in winter.
Nesting from the arctic tundra south to the prairies, the savanna sparrow is common in
winter in southern fields.
The dry buzzing sound of a grasshopper in an open field may actually be coming from
a bird, the grasshopper sparrow.
This is a small chunky sparrow with a short tail and a flat headed look.
Its crown is marked with two heavy dark stripes and it has an unmarked, buffy chest.
When it is not singing, it hides in the grass where the intricate streaking of its back
gives it good camouflage.
The grasshopper sparrow has a rather patchy range in summer.
On its winter range in the southern states, it is easily overlooked.
Salt marshes along the Atlantic coast and Gulf coast provide the only home of the seaside
sparrow.
With many local populations, the seaside sparrow is variable in appearance, but all have a
long billed look, a yellow spot in front of the eye, streaks on the under parts and a
harsh, buzzy song.
Because of its narrow habitat, this bird is vulnerable to disturbance.
One local form, called the dusky seaside sparrow, is now extinct.
With a face pattern like a quail and a rather long tail, rimmed in white, the lark sparrow
is one of the most distinctive members of its tribe.
It prefers semi-open country where areas of bare ground are interspersed with brush or
dry woods.
The lark sparrow is less elusive than many other sparrows and flocks can often be found
perching in the open.
It is most common in the west where its arid habitat is easy to find and it is scarce and
local east of the Mississippi River.
In the deserts of the southwest, living on or close to the ground is the smartly patterned
black-throated sparrow.
Plain and unmarked on the back and under parts, it has sharp white stripes on the face setting
off the black throat patch.
Its song has a rather metallic quality and it also gives light, tinkling call notes.
The summer range of the black-throated sparrow is somewhat variable.
It may be more widespread in drought years.
The junko, often called snowbird, is only a winter visitor to most neighborhoods.
Recognized by its soft gray color, white outer tail feathers, short pale bill and ticking
call note, it frequently comes to bird feeders in the company of white-throated sparrows
or other birds.
White junkos in the east are all gray and white, but in the west they are more variable.
Some western junkos have dark hoods and rusty brown sides.
Others are mostly gray with reddish back patches.
Junkos nest in the coniferous forest of the north and the mountains and winter in brushy
areas, towns and open woods.
The rich, warbled song of the Lapland longspur is a sound for cold climates because this
bird breeds only on the tundra of the high arctic.
A rusty neck patch and a white border to the black face and chest mark the male in summer
plumage.
When Lapland longspurs come down from the north, they are more obscurely patterned with
much dark brown and chestnut on the back and wings.
Blocks of longspurs feed on the ground in winter on prairies, plowed fields and beaches
often with horned larks.
Found at temperate latitudes all year is the chestnut-collared longspur, nesting on the
Great Plains and wintering on southwestern grasslands.
The male in summer is distinctive with a buffy face, black chest and half collar of chestnut.
It often sings in flight, hovering above the prairie.
In winter, the chestnut-collared longspur can be much plainer.
When winter flocks are flushed from the grass, they show much white in the tail and they
give a soft, double-noted call in flight.
When the snow flies in late autumn, flocks of ghostly pale snowbundings come down from
the far north.
Feeding on the ground in barren fields and along shorelines, they are often in flocks
with lapland longspurs or horned larks.
The pallid look, pale brown wash, and big white wing patches identify the snowbunting
in winter.
It is more distinctly marked in summer when the male is all black and white.
Nesting only on the high arctic rim of the continent, the snowbunting winters mainly
near the Canadian border.
Unrelated to our native sparrows, the house sparrow was brought to North America from
Europe more than a century ago.
It thrives on the doorstep of civilization, and today it is a noisy and abundant resident
of cities, suburbs and farms all over the continent.
The adult male is almost attractive, with a black throat and a chestnut and gray head
pattern.
The female has more subtle markings.
Although the house sparrow is found practically wherever there are houses, it is still absent
from most wild and undisturbed areas.
With a cheerful, warbling song and a touch of red in the plumage, the house finch is
a common and popular bird in cities and towns.
It is native to the American West, although in the East it is a newcomer.
The male can be recognized by its red eyebrow, red chest and brown streaks on the sides.
The female has a relatively unmarked brown head and blurry brown streaks on the underparts,
unlike the female house sparrow.
Native to the West, the house finch was accidentally introduced near New York around 1940, and
the eastern population is still spreading.
Although it is often confused with the house finch, the purple finch is a chunkier, shorter
tailed bird with a more uniform wash of dull rose red in the male.
Its song is usually richer and lower pitched.
The female purple has a more contrasting pattern on the face than the female house finch.
Purple finches are fairly common birds of open woods in the north, wandering south in
small flocks in winter.
The range of the purple finch covers much of the east and the Pacific coast, but skips
most of the areas in between.
Replacing the purple finch in the Rockies and overlapping with it on the Pacific coast
is Cassin's finch.
It sometimes moves into the southwestern lowlands in winter.
The male is almost identical to the male purple finch, but is slightly larger and paler.
It has a sharply contrasting red cap, brighter than any other area of the plumage.
The female Cassin's finch has sharper, narrower streaks on the underparts than the female
purple finch.
A tiny finch of the far north, the red pole is only a winter visitor in areas south of
the Arctic.
Its red cap, black chin, and plaintive call notes are all good field marks.
Males have a pink wash on the chest.
Little flocks of red poles are found in weedy fields and open woods in winter, or they may
come to bird feeders for Niger or thistle seeds.
Like several of their relatives that are referred to as winter finches, red poles are very unpredictable
in their winter invasions.
A winter finch that is streaky and brown is the pine siskin.
It might be mistaken for some kind of sparrow, but the siskin has a thin, spiky bill and
patches of yellow hidden in the wings and tail.
Males of siskins may be found feeding in the treetops or in weedy fields, making a variety
of plaintive whistles, soft rattles, and buzzy notes.
Nesting in the north and in the mountains, the pine siskin has a variable winter range,
but sometimes arrives in large numbers throughout the southern states.
Nicknamed wild canary, the male American goldfinch in summer is brilliant yellow with black and
white trim, including a small black cap tipped forward on its head.
The female is paler yellow without most of the black.
Both male and female lose much of the yellow in winter and look more golden brown.
Goldfinches may be found in mixed flocks with pine siskins in winter, foraging in weedy
fields or coming to feeders for thistle seed.
Found across much of North America, the American goldfinch often nests in late summer, using
thistle down to line its nest.
In the west and southwest, found alongside the American goldfinch in some places is the
lesser goldfinch.
It is a common bird along rivers, through dry country, and around meadows in open woodland.
The male lesser goldfinch always has a black cap, but its back may be either black or green.
White patches in the wings and tail are sometimes noticeable.
The female is smaller and more solidly greenish yellow than the female American goldfinch.
Live tree line in the western mountains and on barren ground in the far north, the rosy
finch is adapted to life in cold climates.
It is often seen picking up frozen insects from snow banks.
Rosy finches are variable in color.
Most local forms have a gray head patch, but the body plumage can be blacker or browner,
making the rose color more or less obvious.
In winter, flocks of rosy finches may move from the peaks down to middle elevations in
the mountains, or even out onto the plains.
The bizarre crossed bill of the red crossbill is designed for prying open the cones of spruce
trees and other evergreens to get at the seeds inside.
At a distance, this bill shape can be hard to see, but the male red crossbill is identified
as a short-tailed, brick red bird with blackish wings.
The female is dull yellow-green, with dark wings and tail.
When flocks of red crossbills fly overhead, they may be detected by their hard, double
noted call.
This winter finch wanders erratically in search of good cone crops, and in a given season
it can be abundant or absent.
It may often nest in midwinter.
The other crossbill is called the white-winged crossbill, but its wings are mostly black,
with two white bars.
The male white-winged is a paler rose color than the red crossbill.
The female is yellow-green, sometimes with a streaky or mottled look, and has the same
white wing bars.
The white winged is just as unpredictable in its travels as the red crossbill, but it
tends to be found farther north.
The pine grosbeak is a big northern finch, with a long tail and short bill, usually found
in spruces and firs, not pines.
It is rather tame, allowing a close approach.
The male is rosy and gray, with white wing bars.
Females in young birds are mostly gray, with mustard yellow on the head.
Although the pine grosbeak can be found all year in the boreal forest and in high mountains
of the west, it invades the northern states in small numbers during some winters.
One of the most colorful of the winter finches, arriving unpredictably in noisy flocks, is
the robust, golden-yellow evening grosbeak.
The yellow eyebrow and burnt gold color mark the adult male.
The female wears softer colors.
In any plumage, evening grosbeaks have thick, pale bills and a striking black and white
pattern in the wings.
At feeders, these birds will consume large amounts of sunflower seed, but because they
add so much life and color to the wintry landscape, they're welcome visitors.
A century ago, evening grosbeaks were only scarce winter wanderers to the northeast,
but now they are found there at all seasons and are very common in some winters.
Your Audubon Society's video guide to the birds of North America has been created under
the direction of some of America's top ornithologists at the National Audubon Society in the hope
that it will be instructive and inspirational for you.
In 1988, the year of the video guide's completion, the National Audubon Society celebrates its
centennial birthday, 100 years of helping Americans to understand and appreciate the
natural world upon which we all depend.
Events during even the five short years it took to produce your video guide make it all
the more imperative that each of us deepen his or her intimacy with our natural heritage.
We know now that the greenhouse effect, a result of pollution, is a reality.
The earth is becoming warmer and we can expect global weather changes along with a rise in
the level of the seas.
The ozone layer has been damaged, subjecting all living creatures to increased radiation.
We persist in destroying tropical forests, further disturbing weather patterns, and the
composition of the atmosphere.
And we continue to pollute the air so that now our own North American forests are dying
from acid rain.
Some of the birds filmed for the video guide are in alarming decline, mostly birds which
breed in North America and migrate to the tropics to find their winter forests stripped
away or their crucial staging areas usurped.
The American continents are stitched together by the travels of our bird life and the birds
are sounding a global alarm.
To continue the present pattern of environmental neglect could be mankind's worst collective
mistake.
The National Audubon Society and other fine conservation organizations offer an opportunity
to become knowledgeable, to become involved, and to have your voice heard in the decisions
now bearing upon earth's ability to sustain life.
For membership information, write your National Audubon Society, 953rd Avenue, New York, New
York, 10022.
The National Audubon Society, 953rd Avenue, New York, 10022, New York, 10022, New York,
10022, New York, 10022, 10022, 10022, 10022, 10022.