Bird of the Week

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus Bill Rowe The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest of our trio of accipiters—hawks that specialize in hunting other birds—and distinguishing it from Cooper’s Hawk, the middle-sized accipiter, is a famous problem (see Identification). It helps a little…

Purple Finch, Haemorhous purpureus Bill Rowe If you are walking the woods any time from October to April, watch for plump little birds giving a high sharp pik note as they fly over, or quietly feeding on seeds in the crown of a…

Franklin’s Gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan Bill Rowe This small gull, especially handsome in its black-hooded breeding plumage, is the last of our four common gulls to be a Bird of the Week (the others being the Ring-billed, Herring, and Bonaparte’s Gulls). Yet…

Limpkin, Aramus guarauna Bill Rowe Why is a Limpkin—a bird of Florida swamps, according to the field guides—our Bird of the Week, and why now, when the warm season is winding down? Simply because this species is basically the Bird of…

Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo platypterus Bill Rowe One of the major spectacles that American birders watch for, or even travel to see, is the migration of the Broad-winged Hawk. This small buteo is a summertime inhabitant of mature forests across much of…

American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana Bill Rowe One of our largest shorebirds, the handsome American Avocet dominates any pool or mudflat with its bold color patterns and loud ringing calls. It is unusual, too, in being more western than northern in its…

Wilson’s Warbler, Cardellina pusilla Bill Rowe Getting to all the warblers, sooner or later, is one of the ongoing challenges of this series, with so many regular species here (36). So let’s move forward with Wilson’s Warbler, an engaging little bird…

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Dendrocygna autumnalis Bill Rowe And now for something completely different…a bird that was once unknown in Missouri but is now spreading so fast that we can barely keep up with it. And, in a pattern we are now accustomed…

Kentucky Warbler, Geothlypis formosa Bill Rowe It’s a fine day in June, and you are taking a hike through the woods on one of your favorite trails. After a while you begin to notice a recurring bird song—a vigorous chant with…

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla Bill Rowe Let’s begin with a reminder that the smallest sandpipers, the sparrow-sized ones, form a distinctive subset known as “peeps” in the U.S. (or “stints” in the U.K.). Worldwide, there are seven species, three of them…