Part 2

Common Mallard Anas platyrhynchos

The Mallard drake with green head, purple chestnut breast, reddish feet, white collar, black and white tail with a curled feather, combine to make a colorful duck. The female, more in keeping with her motherly duties, is content to wear a trim suit of buffy gray, streaked with brown. The orange to greenish-olive bill and pale orange-red feet give perfect clues to her identity.

Any pond, puddle, lake or stream is not overlooked by this bird and he is especially fond of shallow water where he can secure food by tipping up and extending his neck to muddy bottoms. These ducks are good divers but if not closely pressed, seem to dive only for pleasure.

The Mallard is not a good father, but leaves his mate soon after she has started to incubate her eggs. Her nest is well hidden and often found some distance from water. Her downy young soon can travel and the proud mother leads them to the nearest body of water as soon as possible. These trips are hazardous, for predators relish such dainty morsels. Turtles and fish also take their toll.

Hunters look forward to the fall flight of these ducks for they furnish a major portion of the annual duck harvest. They soon learn that guns are dangerous and often feed at night.

Oh, green-head, with your yellow bill, Your rapid flight gives us a thrill And when we hear your mate’s loud quack We’re always glad that you are back.

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura

Vultures play an unusual part in nature’s drama. They, along with Sexton Beetles, other insects and animals, form the sanitary unit. When we consider the heavy toll of wildlife along our highways, we can appreciate the usefulness of such a unit. Lacking talons, vultures are not equipped to catch their prey, but feed on whatever nature provides.

This vulture is almost eagle size, with a wingspread of 70 inches and can be identified by his long tail, small head, 2-toned wings, and habit of soaring, the wings forming a dihedral or open V-shape. On close inspection, you will find the head bare and a reddish color. The young have blackish heads which is one of the marks of the Black Vulture, but the latter is smaller with a square tail and shows white spots under the wing when flying. This is a southern cousin.

No other land bird soars so gracefully. Every air current carries this bird with little effort on his part. From high in the air, he scans vast areas for food, not forgetting to check his neighbors who are riding other currents in like manner. When one bird descends, every vulture in the air soon joins him.

Whether you call him “Turkey Buzzard, Carrion Crow or Turkey Vulture,” you will admire his flight.

Black omen floating far o’erhead, Your mission, to remove the dead. A useful bird, we must agree Whate’er the cost, you’ve earned your fee.

Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis

Red-tails, like other hawks, show a great variation in plumage. The dark phase of a Western Red-tail compares favorably with the plumage of an adult Golden Eagle, but the smaller size and the reddish upper tail surface which reflects the sun as the bird soars, furnishes the clue. Typical plumage shows a dark belly-band with bright, reddish upper tail, while some birds show a light breast and belly.

This bird prefers open woodlands or a dead tree with fields adjoining. There he may sit for hours, but ever watchful for some movement which might indicate the presence of a gopher, field mouse, rat or even a snake. All add to his varied menu. Rodents soon become pests when these hawks are scarce. This bird often is killed by farmers and poultry raisers when the real culprit, the Cooper’s Hawk, lives on to enjoy the flock.

The Red-tail’s size and habit of perching in exposed places make him a ready target for anyone who carries a gun. Slow flight combined with his habit of soaring also add to his high death rate.

He adds a few sprigs of green foliage to the mass of sticks, which goes to make his nest, usually placed in a tall tree near the edge of timber.

Your great broad wings, red, fan-shaped tail, The ease and power with which you sail, We recognize a noble clan Which spends its life in helping man.

Sparrow Hawk Falco sparverius

This little falcon, about the size of a Robin, is also known as Kestrel. Calling him a Sparrow-hawk is misleading, for insects and spiders, along with a generous portion of mice, go to make up his daily fare. Grasshoppers seem to be a special delicacy. Like other birds, he feeds on whatever is available. In cities, this includes English Sparrows.

The smallest of the hawk family can be found along highways where he uses telephone poles, wires or dead trees, while scanning the fields and fence rows for prey. Dressed in colorful plumage with spotted breast, slate-blue wings, red-brown back and tail, with head showing 2 black lines and a dot, he easily is seen and readily identified. The female is slightly larger, shows more banding on the tail and lacks the blue wings, hers being browner.

These birds nest in holes in trees or around buildings and join the Kingbirds, Chimney Swifts and Martins in chasing other predators out of the neighborhood. Their rapid swallow-like flight makes them a mean contender in any aerial joust.

The Sparrow Hawk ranges as far north as Southern Canada and winters from the central states south into South America.

Your high-pitched call, Your rapid flight, A friend to man, From dawn ’til night.

Prairie Chicken Tympanuchus cupido

Those who live near prairies and brushy grasslands have a chance to become acquainted with this brown hen-like bird which formerly ranged over much of the middle west. Cultivation and hunters have reduced the numbers until they no longer are common. The large size, the short, dark, rounded tail, the heavily barred underparts, the rounded wings, all are descriptive of this bird. In flight he reminds you of king-size Meadow Larks, flapping then sailing, as he journeys to and from favorite feeding grounds.

In early spring these birds gather in a selected location known as a “booming ground”; there the males defend a certain area against other males, yet welcome the hens by strutting, inflating their yellow throat sacks and erecting the feathers over their heads until they resemble ears. These antics are accompanied by clucks and a series of 3-noted hoots which make up their love songs. The males often engage in fighting to protect their area.

Their food includes insects such as crickets, grasshoppers and beetles with plenty of roughage such as leaves, seeds and berries. Waste corn, wheat, rye or sorghums are relished in season. Heavy snows drive the birds to sumacs and elm buds.