Birding


	Common Birds of Lapland Lake
	Loon- A loon is the size of a large duck or small goose, which it somewhat resembles in shape when swimming, but they are completely unrelated to waterfowl. Their plumage is largely black-and-white, with grey on the head and neck in some species, and a white belly, and they have a spear-shaped bill. Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water and the wings for assistance. Because their feet are far back on the body, loons are badly adapted to moving on land. They usually avoid coming ashore, except for nesting.
	Great Blue Heron- The Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America, approaching 132 cm (52") tall in height, 126 cm (four feet) in length, with a 213 cm (seven-foot) wingspan and a weight of up to 2.5 kg. Adults have blue-grey wings and back and a white head with a black cap and a long black plume. The face is white, with a black streak extending from behind the eye to the back of the head. They have a long neck, streaked with white, rust-brown, and black, which is generally held in a s-curve while wading, and a short tail. The beak is yellow, long, and and tapers to a point. Legs are long, and greenish-yellow in color. In flight, the head is held close to and aligned with the body by a downward bend in the long neck. The long legs trail behind. This bird flies with strong deliberate wing beats. The males and females appear relatively similar, but males have a puffy plume of feathers behind their heads, and tend to be slightly larger than females.
	Common Raven- At maturity, the Raven is between 56 to 69 cm (22 to 27 inches) in length, with a wingspan of 115-130 cm (45-51 inches). Recorded weights range from 0.7 to 1.63 kg, making it one of the heaviest passerines. It has a longish, strongly graduated tail, mostly black plumage and a dark brown iris. The throat feathers are elongated and pointed and the bases of the neck feathers are pale brownish-grey. The bill is large and slightly curved. Apart from its greater size, the Raven differs from its cousins the crows by having a larger and heavier beak and wedge-shaped tail. The species has a distinctive, deep, hollow pruk-pruk-pruk call, unlike any other corvid call when known. The species has a very wide and complex vocabulary, includes a high, knocking toc-toc-toc, a dry, grating kraa, a low guttural rattle and some calls almost of a musical nature.
	Common Mergansers- Males and females are easily distinguished, since the male merganser has a dark green head, while the head of the female is reddish-brown. The Common Merganser is 70 cm long with a 78-94 cm wingspan. These large fish-eaters have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey. Along with the Smew and the other Mergansers, they are therefore often known as "sawbills". They also eat mussels and shrimps; young birds mainly eat aquatic insects. North American birds migrate south in small groups to the United States wherever ice free conditions exist on ponds, lakes and rivers; on the west coast, some birds are permanent residents.
	Black-Throated Blue Warbler- Adult males have white underparts with black throat, face and flanks; the upperparts are deep blue; immature males are similar with upperparts more greenish. Females have olive-brown upperparts and light yellow underparts with darker wings and tail, a grey crown and a brown patch on the cheek. All birds have a small white wing patch, not always visible, and a thin pointed bill. Like many warblers, this bird has colourful plumage during the spring and summer, but its fall plumage is drab and less distinctive. In the fall, it can still be identified from other similar warblers by its small white wing patch.
	Ovenbird- Ovenbirds are 14cm long and weigh 18g. They have white underparts streaked with black, and olive-brown upperparts. They have a white eye ring, pinkish legs and a thin pointed bill. They have an orange line on the top of the crown bordered on each side with dark brown. They forage on the ground in dead leaves, sometimes hovering or catching insects in flight. This bird frequently tilts its tail up while walking. These birds mainly eat insects, spiders and snails, also seeds in winter. The song of the Ovenbird is a loud teacher-teacher-teacher. The syllables can also be reversed, producing the pattern erteach-erteach-erteach. The call is a dry chut.
	Black-throated Green Warbler- It is 12cm long and weighs 9g, and has an olive-green crown, a yellow face with olive markings, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, an olive-green back and pale underparts with black streaks on the flanks. Adult males have a black throat and upper breast; females have a pale throat and black markings on their breast. Black-throated Green Warblers forage actively in vegetation, sometimes hovering or catching insects in flight. They mainly eat insects, especially caterpillars, also some berries during migration. The song of this bird is a buzzed zee-zee-zee-zooo-zeet or zoo-zee-zoo-zoo-zeet. The call is a sharp tsip.
	Northern Waterthrust- The Northern Waterthrush is 13.5cm long, weighs 15g, and has a plain brown back, and white underparts streaked with black. There is a strong white supercilium, and the legs are pink. All plumages are similar, but young birds have buff underparts rather than white. The breeding habitat is wet woodlands near standing water. Northern Waterthrushes nest in a stump or among tree roots, laying three to six eggs (cream- or buff-colored, with brown and gray spots) in a cup nest of leaves, bark strips, and rootlets. They are terrestrial feeders, eating insects, mollusks, and crustaceans among the leaf litter. Their song is a loud swee swee chit chit weedleoo; their call is a hard chink.
	American Redstart- The American Redstart is 12cm long and weighs 8.5g. The breeding male is unmistakable, jet black above apart from large orange-red patches on the wings and tail. The breast sides are also orange, with the rest of the underparts being white. Other plumages show greenish upperparts except for the black central tail and grey head. The orange patches of the breeding male are replaced by yellow in the female and young birds. These birds feed on insects, usually caught by flycatching, sometimes by hovering to pick prey from leaves. This is a very active species. The tail is often held partly fanned out. The song is a series of musical see notes. The call is a soft chip.
	Hermit Thrush- This species is 15–17cm in length, and has the white-dark-white underwing patterm characteristic of Catharus thrushes. Adults are mainly brown on the upperparts, with reddish tails. The underparts are white with dark spots on the breast and grey or brownish flanks. They have pink legs and a white eye ring. Birds in the east are more olive-brown on the upperparts; western birds are more grey-brown. The Hermit thrush has the habit of cocking its tail up and dropping it slowly.
	Pileated Woodpecker- Adults are normally 40-49cm long and weight 250-350g and are mainly black with a red crest and a white line down the sides of the throat. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these are black. They show white on the wings in flight. These birds mainly eat insects (especially beetle larvae and carpenter ants) as well as fruits, berries and nuts. They often chip out large and roughly rectangular holes in trees while searching out insects.
	Purple Finch- Adults have a short forked brown tail and brown wings. Adult males are raspberry red on the head, breast, back and rump; their back is streaked. Adult females have light brown upperparts and white underparts with dark brown streaks throughout; they have a white line on the face above the eye. These birds forage in trees and bushes, sometimes in ground vegetation. They mainly eat seeds, berries and insects. They are fond of sunflower seeds, millet, and thistle.
	Bald Eagle (only winter)-Adult females have an average wingspan of about 7 feet (2.1 meters); adult males have a wingspan of 6 ft 6 in (2 meters). Adult females weigh approximately 12.8 lb (5.8 kg), males weigh 9 lb (4.1 kg). The smallest specimens are those from Florida, where an adult male may barely exceed 5 lb (2.3 kg) and a wingspan of 6 feet (1.8 meters). The largest are the Alaskan birds, where large females may exceed 15.5 lb (7 kg) and have a wingspan of approximately 8 feet (2.4 meters). An immature Bald Eagle has speckled brown plumage, the distinctive white head and body developing 2-3 years later, before sexual maturity. This species is distinguishable from the Golden Eagle in that the latter has feathers which extend down the legs. Also, the immature Bald Eagle has more light feathers in the upper arm area, especially around the 'armpit'.