Re: [cobirds] Sandhill Crane in Pawnee Grasslands

Does anyone know if  it's common for female orioles to sing a full male song?

I can answer this question!  Yes, orioles are one of the bird groups in which females sing complex songs.  In many species, such as Bullock's Oriole, female songs may be somewhat simpler than male songs, or they may be almost identical.  In at least one population of Streak-backed Orioles in Mexico, researchers found that females actually sang more often than males.

I'll defer to others on the questions about cranes and grasshoppers!

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

On Wed, Jul 8, 2015 at 1:49 PM, Carol Kampert <carolkampert@gmail.com> wrote:

Yesterday afternoon (July 7) my husband and I were amazed to see a Sandhill Crane in the  Sand Creek drainage in the western section of Pawnee National Grasslands.  It was roughly 1/2 mile west of CR 69 and 1 mile north of CR 96, where there is a grove of large willow trees in the creek bed (the only trees for miles around). To get there, you can drive or walk on CR 69 one mile north from CR 96 where you'll see an interpretive sign about Swainsons Hawks on the left side of the road (next to a two-track dirt road which would be CR 98, if it were were a real road).  You can park there and walk along the two-track to the grove of trees, which is easy to see from the road.

 
We watched the crane for several minutes as it walked about foraging for food.  It was in a field next to a narrow, long pond in the creek drainage about 200 yards north from the trees where we were standing.  I took a few pictures - pretty fuzzy because of the long distance, a new camera and no tripod - but I at least have proof that it was there. It had that characteristic reddish-brown plumage that cranes sometimes get during the nesting season when they preen their feathers with iron-rich mud. It eventually flew off towards the north, treating us to its special crane call as it left.  Does anyone know if Sandhill Cranes nest in Pawnee  Grasslands?  Or could this one be an early migrant or an individual who's lost its mate?

 

Another puzzle for you expert birders: While eating breakfast, Dave and I watched a female Orchard Oriole for about an hour in Crow Valley Campground.  After seeing her fly into the nest, we then heard her singing off and on while in the nest, where she was probably incubating eggs.  We know it wasn't the male in the nest because he was in a nearby tree, preening and singing and occasionally fluttering around the nest to check it out.  The nest is roughly 12 feet off the ground in the fork of a small tree right next to our campsite (#3)   It was easy for us to see her tail sticking up out of the nest while she was singing.  She would occasionally leave the nest to feed in the vegetation close to the nest, then fly back in, so we know it was her singing. Does anyone know if  it's common for female orioles to sing a full male song?

One more puzzle: the ground in the fields around Sand Creek was littered with thousands (millions?) of dead grasshoppers, the huge greenish types with red legs (maybe the "plains lubber"?) Does anybody know what might have caused this die-off? I hope it isn't due to pesticides or herbicides being sprayed in nearby fields. I worry about the Swainsons Hawks.  We saw three of them: 2 juveniles and one adult.

Non-bird note: Lots of very pregnant pronhorn in the Grasslands right now!  It was also fun to see several females with young, which were  running just as fast as the adults when they saw us. 

As Dave Leatherman says, the Grasslands are lusher and greener than any time in the recent past.  All that rain in May June is paying off, resulting in carpets of wildflowers, too.  And this cool, breezy, rainy weather is perfect for exploring the area by car or on foot.

Thanks to any of you for answers to my questions, and happy birding. 

Carol Kampert 

 

  

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGdTUTaGLwKw-R%3D9_RxYaRRF%3DUjqKxZ50qP-YqPYU4Dtrc-CfQ%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAFhaDVL0_Gf_P7AW1EFtKjxW818R5uhS9T0ZF7x%2B9ajZh1dqGw%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.