Birds Exam 1 Flashcards
Least Tern
- smallest tern
- long pointed wings
- black cap & eyestrip
Diet: Fish
FM: High Dives
Forster’s Tern
- forked tail
- batman mask with white lores
Diet: Fish
FM: High DIves
Royal Tern
- orange bill
- orange & black feet
- batman mask that starts at eyes
Diet: Fish
FM: High Dives
Caspian Tern
- red/orange bill
- black cap extends to forehead
Diet: Fish
FM: High DIves
Black Skimmer
- lower mandible longer than upper mandible
Diet: Fish
FM: Skims
Immature and Adult
Western Gull
- Immature brown all over
- Adult has darker gray on wings than California Gull
- very square tails
Diet: Fish
FM: Low patrol
California Gull
- lighter gray than Western Gull wings
- wings extend past square white tail
Diet: Terrestrial Invertebrates
FM: Low Dives
Ring-billed Gull
- ring around bill
- smallest of gulls
Diet: Omnivore
FM: Ground glean
Heerman’s Gull
- white head, gray body, darker wings, red bill
Diet: Fish
FM: High Dives
Common Loon
- Fish-eating bill
- webbed feet
- legs back on body (can’t take off flying from land because of this)
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface Dives
Pied-billed Grebe
- Lobed toes/feet
- black throat
- line on bill
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Eared Grebe
- lobed toes/feet
- looks like Clark’s and Western Grebes but smaller
- gray on neck
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Clark’s Grebe
- lobed toes/feet
- white lores in breeding season
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Western Grebe
- lobed toes/feet
- dark lores in breeding season
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Immature and Adult
Brown Pelican
- Immature all brown
- Adult has black, white, & orange on head
- totipalmate feet
Diet: Fish
FM: High dives
Adult Brandt’s Cormorant
- totipalmate feet
- long white filament feathers on back
- light below bill on chin
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Immature Brandt’s Cormorant
- totipalmate feet
- all brown, with lighter brown under bill on chin
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Adult Double-crested Cormorant
- totipalmate feet
- black tufts on side of head
- tails longer than Brandt’s Cormorant
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Immature Double-crested Cormorant
- totipalmate feet
- immature all brown with larger tail than Brandt’s Cormorant
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Great Blue Heron
- Black & white body
- gray neck with white & black head
Diet: Fish
FM: Stalk and strike
Green Heron
- rust colored breast and nape
- green back, cap, & wings
Diet: Fish
FM: Stalk and strike
Great Egret
- yellow bill
- black legs & feet
Diet: Fish
FM: Stalk and strike
Cattle Egret
- yellow bill
- yellow legs & feet
Diet: Terrestrial Invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Snowy Egret
- black bill & legs
- yellow feet
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Stalk and strike
Brant
- white spotted ring around black neck
- smaller than Canada Goose
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dips
Canada Goose
- white chin & rump
- black neck
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dips
Female Ruddy Duck
- Brown stripe through white patch on head
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Male Ruddy Duck
- all white patch on head
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Redhead
- demarkation from black to white is a wide V shape
- darker toward rump
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dives
Canvasback
- demarkation from black to white is in a straight line
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dives
Female American Wigeon
- distinct demarkation from brown to white on chest
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Dabbles
Male American Wigeon
- Green stripe through eye
- White on head
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Dabbles
Male Mallard
- Green head, white ring around neck
- purple speculum
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Dabbles
Female Mallard
- brown with white chin
- purple speculum
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Dabbles
Female Northern Pintail
- no pattern/ brown
- pointed tail
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Dabbles
Male Northern Pintail
- Brown & white with black tail
- tail pointed
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Dabbles
Male Cinnamon Teal
- Cinnamon//rust colored
- Green speculum
- Baby-blue wing patch
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Surface dips
Female Cinnamon Teal
- Baby-blue wing patch
- **No white crescent on face like Blue-winged Teal**
Diet: Seeds/grains
FM: Surface dips
Blue-winged Teal
- Brown with white crescent moon on face
- Green speculum
- Baby-blue wing patch
Diet: Seeds
FM: Surface dips
Male Green-winged Teal
- Copper colored head with green stripe
- Green speculum
Diet: Seeds
FM: Ground glean
Female Green-winged Teal
- Green speculum
Diet: Seeds
FM: Ground glean
Lesser Scaup
- Black with white belly
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface Dives
Female Northern Shoveler
- no pattern, but shovel bill
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dips
Male Northern Shoveler
- Shovel for bill
- Black head, white chest, copper body
Diet: Vegitation
FM: Surface dips
Male Bufflehead
- Purple on face with large white patch
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Female Bufflehead
- Smaller white patch on face than male
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Surface dives
Male Red-breasted Merganser
- Bill looks like it has teeth
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Female Red-breasted Merganser
- Bill looks like it has teeth
Diet: Fish
FM: Surface dives
Osprey
- Large white and black raptor
- Will hold fish parallel to body
Diet: Fish
FM: High dives
Peregrin Falcon
- Long, pointed wings
- Brown spots on cream underbelly
Diet: Birds
FM: Aerial Pursuit
Clapper Rail
- Flanks barred
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Probes
Sora
- Flanks barred
- Smaller than Clapper Rail
Diet: Seeds
FM: Ground glean
American Coot
- All black
- Lobed toes/feet
Diet: Omnivore
FM: Surface dips
Whimbrel
- Bill decurved
Diet: Terrestrial Invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Marbled Godwit
- Recurved bill
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates
FM: Probes
Greater Yellowlegs
- Yellow legs
- Long bill, long legs
Diet: Fish
FM: Probes
Willet
- Prominent white wing patch
Diet: Aquatic Invertebrates
FM: Probes
Willet
- Prominent white wing patch
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates
FM: Probes
Spotted Sandpiper
- Small black dots on white belly
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Short-billed Dowitcher
- Long bill
- Short legs
- Feeds like a sewing machine
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates
FM: Probes
Sanderling
- Small prober
- No spots like Spotted Sandpiper
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
FM: Probes
Western Sandpiper
- Very small
- Whiter than Least Sandpiper
Diet: Terrestrial Invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Least Sandpiper
- Very small
- Browner than Western Sanpiper
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
FM: Probes
Killdeer
- Bulbous bill
- Two black bands on white chest
Diet: Terrestrial Invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Semipalmated Plover
- Bulbous bill
- One band on chest
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Snowy Plover
- Bulbous bill
- Partial band on chest
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
Black-bellied Plover
- Bulbous bill
- Larger than other plovers
- Black belly only during breeding season (this one has winter plumage)
Diet: Terrestrial invertebrates
FM: Ground glean
American Avocet
- Very recurved bill
- Looks like a toasted marshmallow
Diet: Omnivore
FM: Sweeps
Black-necked Stilt
- Very long legs
- Black bill
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates
FM: Probes, Ground glean
