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Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos Bill Rowe The New World family Mimidae—called the “mimids” and including thrashers, catbirds, and mockingbirds—does indeed contain some species that are remarkable for their mimicry, none more famous or versatile than our familiar Northern Mockingbird, which makes…

Lapland Longspur, Calcarius lapponicus Bill Rowe Have you ever heard of a Lapland Longspur? Maybe not, if you aren’t yet an intense birder, and there are some good reasons for that, starting with the fact that its breeding grounds lie…

Downy Woodpecker, Dryobates pubescens Bill Rowe Wherever there are trees, there are woodpeckers, pretty much the world over. And in every region, there will be one or more very small ones—like the Downy Woodpecker, here in North America. In the western…

White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys Bill Rowe The North American sparrows are one of our most diverse groups: we have about 21 regular species in Missouri, with several more that have occurred as vagrants from the West. So far, however, we have…

Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus Bill Rowe Wait…there’s an owl that lives in grasslands and nests on the ground? Yes, indeed—it’s called the Short-eared Owl. On our own continent, this widespread bird breeds in Alaska, Canada, and some of the northern and…

Common Loon, Gavia immer Bill Rowe A loon is a big swimming bird with a slightly prehistoric look about it. There are five species worldwide, quite different from anything else—ducks, grebes, whatever—and forming a family of their own, Gaviidae. As a…

Golden-crowned Kinglet, Regulus satrapa Bill Rowe All over the northern hemisphere, there are little birds like this one; ours are called “kinglets” while the Old World species are called “goldcrests” and “firecrests.” Most of them tend to breed in coniferous forest but…

Northern Pintail, Anas acuta Bill Rowe Of all the many ducks that migrate through the Midwest, spring and fall, the Northern Pintail is one of the classiest, with its handsome color scheme (male only) and its elegant, long-necked silhouette in flight.…

Orange-crowned Warbler, Leiothlypis celata Bill Rowe It’s mid-October, and the warblers are mostly gone, with a few exceptions: some individual stragglers, the throngs of late-migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers—and the less abundant Orange-crowned Warbler, which peaks in October and may be seen on…

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.…