Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
The Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) is an odd-looking creature, especially when you watch one creeping slowly through the salt marsh or perched high up in a tree. I do not want to add the demonic or monstrous label to them because they are lovable in their own way, but it feels like an appropriately strange species to highlight as we near Halloween. They can be found active throughout the day, but their somewhat secretive crepuscular and nocturnal feeding habits add to that feeling. I took these photos of a bird at a nest site earlier this spring. It was still working on...
Read MoreFish Crows
Every year in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds brings new challenges, but the Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) is a persistent problem across Connecticut. These clever birds know how to find Piping Plover nests when they are exclosed or not, sometimes devouring eggs or causing it to be abandoned regardless. They patrol the coast for all sorts of young birds and eggs to eat, and while I would much prefer them to stick to European Starlings and House Sparrows, they have a taste for the susceptible endangered beach birds. They are sometimes so aware that the chicks have hatched they...
Read MoreFish Crow Marauders
This is a marauding Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus), as identified by voice, flying through a neighborhood and searching for nests to raid. If you have a lot of experience with them you can get used to picking out the slightly smaller Fish vs. American Crow as well. Whether it is tiny hatchlings or developing eggs the many nests that fill our lands, from forest to shore, are often extremely tempting targets for corvids at this point in the season. Both a male and female Baltimore Oriole were aggressively attacking this bird until it vacated the area. Groups of Fish Crow are an enormous threat...
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