Every bird watcher and nature observer has his or her "lists." Here are mine for Birds, Insects, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles, and Crustaceans, complete with pull down menus.
BIRDS
Categorized by genus/species, placed chronologically by common name
American Coot
American Crow
American Flamingo*
American Goldfinch
American Kestrel
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
American White Pelican
Bald Eagle
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black-Capped Chickadee
Black Vulture*
Blue Jay
Blue-Winged Teal
Bobwhite
Brown Creeper
Brown-Headed Cowbird
Brown Thrasher
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Canvasback
Cedar Waxwing
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Common Goldeneye
Common Redpoll
Cooper's Hawk
Dark-Eyed Junco
Double-Breasted Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Goldfinch - See American Goldfinch
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Towhee
Eurasian Coot*
European Starling
Fox Sparrow
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Gray Catbird
Graylag Goose
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Greater Flamingo*
Hairy Woodpecker
Harlequin Duck
Hermit Thrush
Herring Gull
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
Lesser Scaup
Lincoln's Sparrow
Mallard (Domestic)
Mallard (Wild)
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Northern Shoveler
Orange-Crowned Warbler
Palm Warbler
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-Breasted Nuthatch
Red-Headed Woodpecker
Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-Winged Blackbird
Ring-Billed Gull
Ring-Necked Duck
Rock Pigeon
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
Scarlet Tanager
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Spotted Sandpiper
Swamp Sparrow
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vulture
White-Breasted Nuthatch
White-Crowned Sparrow
White-Throated Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-Rumped Warbler
INSECTS, ARACHNIDS, MYRIAPODS & GASTROPODS
Categorized by family, placed chronologically by common name
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis - also known as the Eastern Goldfinch (here in Iowa, anyway), Chardonneret jaune (French), Dominiquito viajero (Spanish), Dominiquito triste (Spanish).
This week’s theme is “plastic,” another difficult one for a nature blog. But I managed. Six American Goldfinches on two “plastic” bird feeders.
One of my all-time favorite birds, the American Goldfinch (we call them the “Eastern Goldfinch” around here) is very abundant in Iowa year-round. Goldfinches specifically like thistle and will flock to thistle feeders in great numbers (see above) (at one point last summer I counted 25 Goldfinches at the feeder at one time).
Easily identified by their gold color and small stature, the male distinguishes himself from the female by donning a black cap. The female is without the cap. In the winter, both the male and female molt, with the male losing the cap and getting an “olive brown” color on his head, nape and back. The female molts into an “olive green” color. Thus, the male and female Goldfinches are distinguishable year-round. Goldfinches are also the only bird in its family to molt twice (in spring to the bright yellow, in fall to the dull browns and greens). The birds above appear to be in several different stages of molting (the one male on the right has fully molted into his bright summer plumage, the others don’t appear to have fully molted yet (it’s only April!)).
Taken with the Canon Digital Rebel XT / 350D and a Sigma 70-300mm Lens on April 28, 2007 in Davenport, Iowa.
This blog is about: Iowa, Illinois, Midwest, United States, nature, wildlife, animals, birds, ornithology, insects, bugs, entomology, Davenport, Bettendorf, Rock Island, Moline, Quad, City, Cities
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