Bird of the Month: Audubon Warbler

Audubon's warbler, also known as the yellow-rumped warbler, is commonly seen in Southern California during their winter migration. A few stay year-round. The species eats not only insects, but seeds and berries, which means you can see them at your bird feeder.

Bird of the Month: Western Tanager

 

This female tanager is more drab than her male counterpart, which has a bright red head and bright yellow underside. Tanagers, which spend the winter in Mexico, are migrating north this time of year. We found this one foraging for bugs and berries at Town Center Community Park.

Bird of the Month: Acorn Woodpecker

acorn woodpecker

Acorn woodpeckers are described as having a clown face because of their red head patch and large eyes. They are gregarious and not especially shy around people, which makes them fun to watch and photograph. These birds are obsessive about gathering and storing acorns,  which they do by drilling numerous holes into a tree trunk to create a “granary tree.” We found this one drilling into an oak tree at Santee Lakes.

Bird of the Month: Cooper’s Hawk

Cooper's hawk

Cooper’s hawks tend to fly low to the ground when pursuing their prey.  They’ve been known to  linger near  residential bird feeders, ambushing unsuspecting smaller birds. When in flight, their wing motion is a distinctive flap-flap-glide pattern. They are common residents of the riparian habitat along the San Diego River in Santee. We frequently see them in the Mission Creek neighborhood and at Mast Park.

Bird of the Month: California Quail

We’ve seen this bird along the hillside trails above Santee City Hall. The California quail happens to be the state bird.

They have a distinct curving crest or plume, made of six feathers, that droops forward: black in males and brown for females; the flanks are brown with white streaks.

Here’s what Wikipedia says about them: The California Quail is a highly sociable bird that often gathers in small flocks known as "coveys". One of their daily communal activities is a dust bath. A group of quail will select an area where the ground has been newly turned or is soft, and using their underbellies, will burrow downward into the soil some one to two inches.They then wriggle about in the indentations they have created, flapping their wings and ruffling their feathers, causing dust to rise in the air. They seem to prefer sunny places in which to create these dust baths.

Bird of the Month: Raven

We found this guy at Town Center Community Park.

They're sometimes called the Common Raven or the Northern Raven. But there’s nothing at all common about the raven, which is the largest passerine (perching) bird and highly intelligent.

 Ravens are different from crows in that they are larger, have heavier beaks and sport shaggy feathers around the throat. In flight, crows have cut-off tails, while ravens have rounded wedge-shaped tails.

 Ravens thrive in a variety of climates and are opportunistic, feeding on everything from road kill to grain, insects, small mammals and human garbage.

Santee Bird of the Month: Anna’s Hummingbird

 

Anna’s are among the most common type of hummingbird  found in Southern California. It’s the only one in North America with a crimson-red crown, but only the males have that colorful feature. The one pictured here is a female Anna’s, which is less colorful because it needs to camouflage itself from predators. These birds feed on nectar from flowers and on insects.

Bird of the Month for August – Snowy Egret

A member of the heron family, the snowy egret  has a slim black bill and long black legs with yellow feet.   They are about two feet  long with wingspans of three feet. We found this one foraging for food in Woodglen Vista Creek near Mast Boulevard.

The cheek area in front of the eyes  is yellow but turns red during breeding season, when they regrow fancy plumes that give them a shaggy look. They range from the lower Great Lakes and southwestern U.S. to South America.

They can be found in fresh or saltwater habitats located inland or along the coastline in marshes, swamps, shorelines, mudflats and ponds. They eat fish, crustaceans, insects, frogs and small reptiles.

Santee’s Bird of the Month: Wood Duck

Male wood duck at Santee Lakes

With its ornate plumage, the male wood duck (shown here) is among the most easily recognized waterfowl species in the U.S. As is true throughout most of the bird world, the female is more drab because of the need to be camouflaged from predators.

Unlike most waterfowl, wood ducks perch and nest in trees. They are one of the few duck species with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches.

Wood ducks feed primarily on plants, but will also consume seeds, fruit and insects.

We’re fortunate to have a year-round population that resides near Lake 5 at the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve. These birds nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around the shoreline of a lake.

Santee Bird of the Month for May

While walking the dirt haul road along the Walker Preserve east of Magnolia Avenue, we spotted a flock of cormorants frolicking in a pond in the San Diego River.

Here’s what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website says about these water birds:

“The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking, matte-black fishing bird with yellow-orange facial skin. Though they look like a combination of a goose and a loon, they are relatives of frigatebirds and are a common sight around fresh and salt water across North America—perhaps attracting the most attention when they stand on docks, rocky islands, and channel markers, their wings spread out to dry. These solid, heavy-boned birds are experts at diving to catch small fish.”

Santee's Bird of the Month for April

With its black tuxedo and white cummerbund, the black phoebe is a handsome species of flycatcher commonly found near the San Diego River in Santee.

We snapped a pic of this one on just beyond the lodge pole fence at the south side of Town Center Community Park.

Black phoebes always live near a water source, which provides them with ample flying insects to eat and the mud they need to construct their nests. A typical specimen is about 6.3 inches in length. The phoebe is often seen wagging and fanning  its tail. 

Santee’s Bird of the Month

We found  our bird of the month for March, an immature or juvenile red-shouldered hawk, perched on a branch and scanning for a meal along the San Diego River at Town Center Community Park.

Red-shouldered Hawk at Town Center Community Park

These forest hawks are typically found in habitats that feature tall woods and water. They prey on everything from small mammals to frogs and snakes. Red-shouldered hawks are smaller than red-tail hawks, which have broad, pale wings with a dark bar at the leading edge.

Santee has a wealth of  riparian habitat along the San Diego River, as well as hillsides with chaparral and coastal sage scrub surrounding the city that offer great bird-watching opportunities.

Bird of the Month: California Thrasher

The California thrasher is found in the hills with coastal sage scrub habitat  that surround the city of Santee. The thrasher’s most distinctive characteristic is its curved bill.

At 12 inches long, it’s one of the larger songbirds you’ll find in Southern California.  The thrasher is the  Mozart of the bird kingdom. In addition to its musical call, the thrasher has the ability to mimic sounds similar to what  mockingbirds do.  

The thrasher's diet includes beetles, spiders and other bugs, so they are great for pest control.

They rarely fly in the open, preferring instead to remain hidden in dense brush.

January's Bird of the Month

January’s bird of the month is the rind-necked duck. We photographed this one at Santee Lakes, Lake 5 near the Santee Teen Center.

 At first, we thought this duck might be a greater or lesser scaup, which also has a partial blue bill.

However, the ring-necked duck has a peaked, angular head profile, distinctive white bill markings and dark upper wings that distinguishes it from the scaup.

The "ringneck" name is derived from a faint brownish ring around the base of the neck, which is visible only upon close inspection. The legs and feet are gray-blue and the iris is yellow. Ring-necked ducks dive in shallow water to feed on the tubers, seeds and leaves of and aquatic plants. They also eat aquatic insects, snails and clams.

December’s Bird of the Month

The bird of the month for December is the great egret. We found this one spearing minnows in the shallows at the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Santee is a birder’s paradise because of the variety of habitats found here. Raptors, flycatchers and many types of songbirds can be seen in the riparian zone along the San Diego River.

We recently spotted a kingfisher along the river, but it was skittish and wouldn’t sit still for a photograph.

The chaparral and coastal sage scrub habitat common to the hills surrounding Santee are home to native species such as the California gnatcatcher, scrub jay, and the state bird, the California quail.