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Surf Scoter flock. Photo: Tim Bowman Surf Scoter, Melanitta perspicillata Bill Rowe First, a disclaimer: in Missouri, you’ll never see a big flock of Surf Scoters like the one in the photo above, which might be on the Atlantic or…

Swamp Sparrow. Photo: David Mollenhauer Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana Bill Rowe The New World sparrows, family Passerellidae, are a diverse and important part of our bird life, with 19 species regular in Missouri—some in summer, some in winter, some mainly…

Say's Phoebe. Photo: Steve Greenwood Say’s Phoebe, Sayornis saya Bill Rowe The New World flycatchers, or “tyrannids” (family Tyrannidae), form an important group of our birds, with many different subgroups that may proliferate in the tropics but have at least…

American Pipit, Anthus rubescens Bill Rowe Some readers may be wondering…what is a pipit, anyway? The fact is that pipits are not always easy to find and observe in our part of the world, and they don’t come to feeders.…

Merlin, Falco columbarius Bill Rowe Worldwide, falcons are recognizable by their long, pointed wings, their dashing flight, and their laser focus on pursuing their prey. These qualities have inspired the sport of falconry for millennia, and now they elicit the…

Chimney Swift, Chaetura pelagica Bill Rowe You hear high-pitched, chittering calls overhead; you look up, and there is a small brown bird darting across the sky, its body, head, and tail all seemingly rolled into one tube-like shape with narrow,…

Green-winged Teal, Anas crecca Bill Rowe You’re watching a wetland, trying to see the ducks hidden in the grass, when an eagle swoops over the area and flushes them all up, bigger ones like Mallard and Gadwall along with a…

Western Sandpiper, Calidris mauri Bill Rowe World-wide, there are seven species of small sandpipers that are collectively called “peeps” by us and “stints” by the British. Three of these are North American, and two, the Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, are common…

Yellow-breasted Chat, Icteria virens Bill Rowe Most birders will agree that the Yellow-breasted Chat is a cool bird—it’s handsome, interesting, and …different. Through many decades and many iterations of field guides, it was classified among the warblers in the family…

Bonaparte’s Gull, Chroicocephalus philadelphia Bill Rowe Bonaparte’s Gull, the smallest of our four common gull species, breeds far to our north, in the Canadian and Alaskan taiga (a Russian word meaning the boreal forest of pine, fir, and spruce). There, unlike…