Bird of the Week

Red-bellied Woodpecker, Melanerpes carolinus Bill Rowe This bird causes confusion: some call it a "red-headed woodpecker," and it is. But it isn't a Red-headed Woodpecker, capitalized, which is a different species with an entirely red head. The Red-bellied Woodpecker has a…

Green Heron, Butorides virescens Bill Rowe For anyone who grew up in the midwestern countryside, summer may evoke the memory of a little Green Heron flying over the fields at sunset from one pond or creek to another—a regular sight nearly…

Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus Bill Rowe This year marks a special sesquicentennial: it was in 1870 that North America’s first Eurasian Tree Sparrows were released in Lafayette Park, St. Louis City, as part of an effort by German immigrants to…

Great Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus Bill Rowe One group that’s important to learn, with thirteen regular species in our area, is the family Tyrannidae, the New-World flycatchers—birds of trim shape and alert posture that capture insects of all types. A good…

Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula Bill Rowe The Baltimore Oriole, state bird of Maryland, is the first blackbird to be our Bird of the Week. Wait…what? Yes, that’s right: orioles are in the blackbird family Icteridae, known to birders as icterids.…

Wood Duck, Aix sponsa Bill Rowe Here in Missouri we see a wide variety of handsome waterfowl—a well-defined term meaning ducks, geese, and swans—but nearly all of them arrive in the fall, perhaps spend the winter, and then head back north…

Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia Bill Rowe Sparrows don’t seem to get much respect—or at least they don’t elicit oohs and aahs of admiration as do the brightly-colored warblers, tanagers, and buntings. Yet their patterns are often intricate and handsome in a…

Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea Bill Rowe A first view of a male Indigo Bunting, especially through a scope, will reliably stun people who have never seen one before. Nearly the whole bird is an intense blue, although the tone varies from…

Mississippi Kite, Ictinia mississippiensis Bill Rowe Elegant and classy, Mississippi Kites wheel over rivers, woodlands, and suburban yards and parks in their daily search for prey, which mostly consists of large insects like grasshoppers, dragonflies, and cicadas, although they will also…