#squawktober

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The black oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) is a conspicuous black bird found on the shoreline of western North America. It ranges from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to the coast of the Baja California peninsula. The black oystercatcher is the only representative of the oystercatcher family (Haematopodidae) over most of its range, overlapping slightly with the American oystercatcher on the coast of Baja California.

The black oystercatcher is a large entirely black shorebird, with a long (3.5 inches) bright red bill and pink legs. It has a bright yellow iris and a red eye-ring. Its plumage varies slightly from north to south, being darker further north.

The black oystercatcher is restricted in its range, never straying far from shores, in particular favoring rocky shorelines. It forages in the intertidal zone, feeding on marine invertebrates, particularly molluscs such as mussels, limpets and chitons. It will also take crabs, isopods and barnacles. It hunts through the intertidal area, searching for food visually, often so close to the water's edge it has to fly up to avoid crashing surf. It uses its strong bill to dislodge food and pry shells open.

The black oystercatcher is a territorial bird during the nesting season, defending a foraging and nesting area in one territory. Some pairs have been recorded staying together for many years. Nests are small bowls or depressions close to the shore in which small pebbles and shell fragments are tossed in with a sideward or backward flick of the bill. Around 2 to 3 eggs are laid in this nest, these are very hard and can even survive being submerged by a high tide or very high water levels. Incubation takes around 26–28 days. The chicks are capable of leaving the nest after one day, and will stay in the territory for a long time after fledging (40 days). The fledged juveniles will stay in the territory until the next breeding season. If the parents migrate, that year's chicks will migrate with them.   

This species is not considered threatened, its global population size is estimated between 8,900–11,000 individuals. The black oystercatcher is a species of high conservation concern throughout its range (U.S., Canadian, Alaskan, and Northern & Southern Pacific Shorebird Conservation Plans), a keystone indicator species along the north Pacific shoreline, a management indicator species in the Chugach National Forest, and a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service focal species for priority conservation action.

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The white-winged robin (Peneothello sigillata) is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae. The white-winged robin is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is found in the highlands of New Guinea. 

Measuring 5.5 to 5.9 iches, the adult white-winged robin has black plumage, with largely white wings. The male and female are identical. The bill and feet are black, and the eyes are dark brown. Juveniles have a variable streaked brown plumage.

Within the forest the robin is found in pairs or small troops of several birds in the understory or on the ground. It is insectivorous, but does also eat some seeds. The somewhat bulky cup-shaped nest is constructed in a tree fork.

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The black jacobin (Florisuga fusca) is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in or near the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina. It is generally common, and therefore considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and consequently the IUCN. Adults of both sexes are overall black with green-tinged back and wing-coverts, and white lower flanks and outer rectrices. The white in the tail is often flashed conspicuously in flight. The commonly seen immatures, sometimes incorrectly referred to as "females", have a distinctive rufous patch in the malar region.

The Black Jacobins primarily feed on nectar taken from a variety of brightly colored, scented small flowers of trees, herbs, shrubs and epiphytes. Many native and cultivated plants on whose flowers these birds feed heavily rely on them for pollination. The mostly tubular-shaped flowers actually exclude most bees and butterflies from feeding on them and, subsequently, from pollinating the plants. They also take some small spiders and insects - important sources of protein particularly needed during the breeding season to ensure the proper development of their young. Insects are often caught in flight (hawking); snatched off leaves or branches, or are taken from spider webs. A nesting female can capture up to 2,000 insects a day.

Hummingbirds are solitary in all aspects of life other than breeding; and the male's only involvement in the reproductive process is the actual mating with the female. They neither live nor migrate in flocks; and there is no pair bond for this species. Males court females by flying in a u-shaped pattern in front of them. He will separate from the female immediately after copulation. One male may mate with several females. In all likelihood, the female will also mate with several males. The males do not participate in choosing the nest location, building the nest or raising the chicks.

The female Black Jacobin is responsible for building the cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers woven together and green moss on the outside for camouflage in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers, animal hair and feather down, and strengthens the structure with spider webbing and other sticky material, giving it an elastic quality to allow it to stretch to double its size as the chicks grow and need more room. The average clutch consists of two white eggs, which she incubates alone.

The female alone protects and feeds the chicks with regurgitated food (mostly partially-digested insects since nectar is an insufficient source of protein for the growing chicks). The female pushes the food down the chicks' throats with her long bill directly into their stomachs. As is the case with other hummingbird species, the chicks are brooded only the first week or two, and left alone even on cooler nights after about 12 days - probably due to the small nest size. The chicks leave the nest when they are about 20 days old.

The song of the black jacobin is a rapid, oscillating tune that resembles a cricket’s more than a bird’s, and can be heard by humans. But the song reaches a pitch higher than the known hearing range of any other species of bird, and it’s unclear whether black jacobins themselves can hear each other’s songs. Perhaps the birds have exceptional hearing, or maybe their vocalizations aren’t meant to be heard at all, say Claudio Mello of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland and his colleagues, who recorded the birds’ song.

The black jacobin shares its forested habitat with up to 40 other hummingbird species and subspecies. The researchers speculate that the jacobins evolved high-frequency communication and hearing to identify each other amid the avian hubbub.

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The Crested Myna (Acridotheres cristatellus) is a species of starling native to southeastern China and Indochina. Unlike other similar mynas, its bill is dull whitish rather than orange-yellow.

The Crested Myna is a medium-sized (10 in) glossy black bird with a whitish bill, yellowish orange legs and a distinct black crest at the base of the upper mandible. The tail is finely tipped white, there is a white patch in the wing formed by the white bases of the primaries, and the undertail coverts are barred black and white. The iris is reddish brown.

The Crested Myna is endemic to southeastern China and Indochina. Around 1890, the Crested Myna was introduced into the Vancouver region of British Columbia. It was initially successful, reaching a population in the thousands, without spreading far from the Lower Mainland. By the mid-twentieth century, numbers began declining, and the bird is now extirpated in North America. The last two Crested Mynas in Vancouver, BC are thought to have died mid february 2003 marking the end of an era. A small number were reported in southern Florida in the 1980s. They have been released or escaped in Florida, U.S, but not confirmed to be breeding. Population persists only with repeated introductions and/or escapes of individuals. They were discovered breeding around Lisbon in Portugal in 1997, they are established on both sides of the Tagus estuary to the west of Lisbon and also on the Setúbal Peninsula.

The Crested Myna has a large range, estimated globally at 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 square kilometers. It is native to the nations of Asia and prefers grassland and pasture land ecosystems, though it has been known to reside in rural and urban areas. The global population of this bird has not been determined, but it does not appear to meet population decline criteria that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. The current evaluation status of the Crested Myna is Least Concern.

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The white-collared blackbird (Turdus albocinctus) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in the Indian subcontinent, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland.

On the Tibetan Plateau White-collared Blackbirds can breed twice a year. The first breeding attempt results in small clutches where a few nestlings fledge in high body condition. Contrasting with the second attempt where larger clutches result in more chicks fledgling but these are in lower body condition. These differences are thought to be driven by parental feeding behaviour and seasonal variation in food availability. White-collared Blackbirds feed their chicks plant material, especially berries, and invertebrates such as arthropods and annelids.

This aptly-named species has a bright white collar, which is its most notable field mark. Like most other blackbirds, males are predominantly black while females are dark brown. Breeds in alpine and upper subalpine meadows, open forests, and gardens where it forages on the ground, often singly or in pairs. Sometimes descends to upper foothills in the winter. [x]

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The grey-winged blackbird (Turdus boulboul) is a species of bird in the thrush family. It is found in south-eastern Asia from the Himalayas to northern Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

A large forest thrush whose name describes its key feature; males are black and females are brown, but both have flashing silvery wings. Its bright orange bill and eye ring are eye-catching in dark forests. Forages quietly in the forest understory, usually solitarily. Tends not to visit gardens and parks like Tibetan and Chinese Blackbirds, but does occasionally visit feeders at hides. [x]

This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and degradation. [x]

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The tricolored blackbird (Agelaius tricolor) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae. Its range is limited to the coastal areas of the Pacific coast of North America, from Northern California in the U.S. (with occasional strays into Oregon), to upper Baja California in Mexico. The common name is taken from the male bird's distinctive white stripes on bottom of their red shoulder patches, or "epaulets", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying. This highly social and gregarious bird forms the largest colonies of any North American landbird, with a single breeding colony often consisting of tens of thousands of birds.

The species' call sounds slightly more nasal than that of the red-wing's - a nasal kip and a sharp check. The male's song is a garbled on-ke-kaaangh. The bird migrates south during the colder seasons to Mexico and back to northern California during the warmer seasons.

In 1990 the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) of California, based on significant decline in population numbers documented in the 1980s, added the tricolored blackbird to the published list of "Bird Species of Special Concern". This classification is an "administrative designation intended to alert biologists, land managers and others to a species declining status and encourages them to provide additional management considerations". At this time the tricolored was added to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service list of Birds of Conservation Concern.

By 1991, the tricolor blackbird's breeding population had fallen to approximately thirty-five thousand adults. This prompted a petition submitted by the Yolo chapter of the National Audubon Society to the California Fish and Game Commission. The petition brought the tricolored blackbird under consideration for endangered classification. The classification was granted until the breeding season in 1992. It was then that researchers discovered a population exceeding three hundred thousand adults. A petition to withdraw the endangered classification was submitted and accepted. Conservation measures were supposed to be developed and implemented to avoid a future decline as seen before. These measures were developed, but only very limited progress was made in preventing the future decline of the tricolored blackbird. Interested groups started reconvening shortly after the year 2000. Managing groups found startling results when conducting population research.

In 2006 the tricolored blackbird was classified as Endangered by BirdLife International. Like the extinct passenger pigeon, the colonial nature of the tricolored blackbird makes it particularly vulnerable to extinction. Native grasslands once used for nesting and feeding have been lost to urban and agricultural development. Birds adapted to nesting in agricultural fields have been disturbed by harvesting during the breeding season. Once the tricolored blackbird was placed on the BirdLife Endangered Species list, it officially became a concern both regionally and nationally.

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The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. Claims have been made that it is the most abundant living land bird in North America, as bird-counting censuses of wintering red-winged blackbirds sometimes show that loose flocks can number in excess of a million birds per flock and the full number of breeding pairs across North and Central America may exceed 250 million in peak years. It also ranks among the best-studied wild bird species in the world. The red-winged blackbird is sexually dimorphic; the male is all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, while the female is a nondescript dark brown. Despite the similar names, the red-winged blackbird is in a different family from the European redwing and the Old World common blackbird, which are thrushes (Turdidae).

The common name for the red-winged blackbird is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or epaulets, which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying. At rest, the male also shows a pale yellow wingbar. The female is blackish-brown and paler below. The males of the bicolored subspecies lack the yellow wing patch of the nominate race, and the females are much darker than the female nominate.Young birds resemble the female, but are paler below and have buff feather fringes. Both sexes have a sharply pointed bill. The tail is of medium length and is rounded. The eyes, bill, and feet are all black. The female is smaller than the male, at 6.7–7.1 inches long and weighing 41.5 g, against his length of 8.7–9.4 inches and weight of 64 g.

The range of the red-winged blackbird stretches from southern Alaska to the Yucatan peninsula in the south, and from the western coast of North America to the east coast of the continent. Red-winged blackbirds in the northern reaches of the range are migratory, spending winters in the southern United States and Central America. Migration begins in September or October, but occasionally as early as August. In western and Central America, populations are generally non-migratory.

The red-winged blackbird inhabits open grassy areas. It generally prefers wetlands, and inhabits both freshwater and saltwater marshes, particularly if cattail is present. It is also found in dry upland areas, where it inhabits meadows, prairies, and old fields. The red-winged blackbird is omnivorous. It feeds primarily on plant materials, including seeds from weeds and waste grain such as corn and rice, but about a quarter of its diet consists of insects and other small animals, and considerably more so during breeding season.

The red-winged blackbird nests in loose colonies. The nest is built in cattails, rushes, grasses, sedge, or in alder or willow bushes. The nest is constructed entirely by the female over the course of three to six days. It is a basket of grasses, sedge, and mosses, lined with mud, and bound to surrounding grasses or branches. It is located 3.0 in to 14 ft above water.

Red-winged blackbirds are polygynous, with territorial males defending up to 10 females. However, females frequently copulate with males other than their social mate and often lay clutches of mixed paternity. Pairs raise two or three clutches per season, in a new nest for each clutch. A clutch consists of three or four, rarely five, eggs. Eggs are pale bluish green, marked with brown, purple, and/or black, with most markings around the larger end of the egg. These are incubated by the female alone, and hatch in 11 to 12 days. Red-winged blackbirds are hatched blind and naked, but are ready to leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching.

Since nest predation is common, several adaptations have evolved in this species. Group nesting is one such trait which reduces the risk of individual predation by increasing the number of alert parents. Nesting over water reduces the likelihood of predation, as do alarm calls. Nests, in particular, offer a strategic advantage over predators in that they are often well concealed in thick, waterside reeds and positioned at a height of one to two meters. Males often act as sentinels, employing a variety of calls to denote the kind and severity of danger. Mobbing, especially by males, is also used to scare off unwanted predators, although mobbing often targets large animals and man-made devices by mistake.