Bird of the Week

Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps Bill Rowe Within any given class of living things, the first big subdivisions are the orders. Thus, among the class Aves, birds that belong to different orders are widely separated in evolutionary terms, i.e., not closely related to each other.…

Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina Bill Rowe The Chipping Sparrow, just about the epitome of a “cute little bird,” is one of those standard, widespread species that we all need to be familiar with, as we are sure to find them at…

Broad-winged Hawk, Buteo platypterus Bill Rowe One of the major spectacles that birders can 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…

Sabine’s Gull, Xema sabini Bill Rowe This week we introduce a bird that is a rarity in the Midwest: a handsome little Arctic gull named after a distinguished Irish scientist and naturalist, Edward Sabine, who apparently pronounced his name to rhyme…

Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe Bill Rowe So far, this series has included three of our common flycatchers, or “tyrannids” (family Tyrannidae), each representing a different genus. Another common one, representing a fourth genus, is the Eastern Phoebe, a plain but distinctive…

Chestnut-sided Warbler, Setophaga pensylvanica Bill Rowe The Midwest is rich in warblers: besides the ones that nest here, there are many more that occur only on migration, spring and fall, as they pass through en route to their breeding grounds farther…

Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis Bill Rowe Missouri is home to over 400 species of birds, nearly all of them native to this continent, along with a handful that were introduced by humans for one reason or another. This week’s bird, however,…

Blue-winged Teal, Spatula discors Bill Rowe Birders often identify ducks the easy way, by looking for the males, which tend to show bold patterns and colors for much of the year; they are more obvious and distinctive than the females, clad…

Prothonotary Warbler, Protonotaria citrea Bill Rowe Out of the 35 species of warblers that we see regularly, fifteen are breeding birds—that is, they stay here in the summer to nest in larger or smaller numbers. One of these is the Prothonotary…

Least Sandpiper, Calidris minutilla Bill Rowe Shorebirds are back now, though “back” simply means passing through again on their return trip south from Canada and Alaska, where they nested. For most of them, this occurred on the Arctic tundra; they have…