Bird of the Week

Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis Bill Rowe It may come as a surprise to hear just “gull” (the correct term), not “seagull” (a colloquial term), and to learn that gulls are common even in the Midwest, far from the sea. They…

Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis Bill Rowe High overhead, a hawk is wheeling around, showing you a pale chest with some streaking on the belly—which makes it a Red-tailed Hawk with near-certainty, even if you don’t see the red tail. In many…

Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis Bill Rowe All across Canada and the northernmost eastern states, and also down through the Appalachians and the western mountains, the Dark-eyed Junco is a common breeding bird; its song, a rich, sweet trill, enhances every coniferous…

American Robin, Turdus migratorius Bill Rowe The American Robin is one of our best-known birds, as well it should be: it is a common nesting bird in 49 states out of 50 (sorry, Hawaii) and all the Canadian provinces. It occurs…

Greater White-fronted Goose, Anser albifrons Bill Rowe All through October and November, day and night, flocks of geese pass overhead as they migrate from their nesting grounds to their wintering areas. Besides our common Canadas, these include several other species, of…

Pine Siskin, Spinus pinus Bill Rowe Watch your feeders: Pine Siskins are here already. Like some other species that nest in the boreal forest (the pine/spruce/fir forest of Canada and the northernmost states), they are irruptive, which means that every few years…

Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus Bill Rowe Owls make up the order Strigiformes, one of the most distinctive and easily recognized groups of birds the world over. Nearly anywhere you go, there will be multiple species of owls around, but your…

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata Bill Rowe Here in early October, most of our 35 species of warblers are getting close to finishing their passage through Missouri; the great majority of them are now farther south and heading for the tropics, with…

Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata Bill Rowe The familiar, handsome Blue Jay is one of three corvids that normally occur in Missouri—corvids being crows and their relatives in the family Corvidae (our other two actually are crows). Wherever you go in North America, in…

Forster’s Tern, Sterna forsteri Bill Rowe If you find yourself around a large lake or river, spring through fall, you have a chance of seeing some terns. These are close relatives of gulls, but more elegant and (to some) more appealing,…