Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Kudos to everyone who made a guess at the photo id contest--it was pure evil on my part. The northern rough-winged swallow is not a bird I normally talk about, it's brown and nondescript and just not a bird people pay a lot of attention to--even though they are there and easy to see if you look. A big pat on the back to Leanne for the correct answer.
Here's the original photo of the bird that was zoomed in for the contest. We had two swallows fly into the nets at the same time at Carpenter--near the bird feeders of all places! Since these aren't birds that will come to bird feeders, our best guess is that they were chasing each other over a territory battle and both landed in the nets at the same time.
At first, there was some talk that it might be a swift, but a check of the tail--and running fingers along the wing confirmed that this was a northern rough-winged swallow. The barbs on in the primary wing feathers on a male rough-wing are distinctly hooked and running your finger over them kind of feels like running your finger over a nail file. Females do not have as distinct barbs. I don't think scientists have figured out the reason for the barbs yet--if anyone knows or has an idea, please let me know in the comments. I would have gotten a photo of the barbs, but the birds were flappy and stressed and we wanted them back out on the wing ASAP.Again, thanks to everyone who guessed. It's not easy to put your name to an id when you aren't sure.
Labels: banding, Carpenter Nature Center, ringing
posted by birdchick at 1:59 PM
2 Comments:
it's brown and nondescript and just not a bird people pay a lot of attention to
Not saying you share it, but I have to say, I'm baffled by the attitude some people have toward birds that aren't brightly colored (I've heard some birders refer to them as "junk birds"). Sure, it's cool to see flashy birds, but for me, birding isn't trainspotting (i.e. keeping a list of species I've seen or heard); I'm fascinated by bird behavior, and will sit and watch pretty much any species.
And I think swallows are beautiful, amazing birds, and have watched them for hours at a time on many occasions.
Sorry, don't mean to be preachy, just putting in a good word for the brown and nondescript.
klia
It's not so much that I dislike birds that are brown and nondescript -- I think all birds have an immense beauty of form -- but I personally find mainly brown birds darn hard to identify. A corner-of-the-eye glimpse tells you enough to say "goldfinch!" ... but if that's all you got, and it's one of the many brown birds out there, figuring it out can be frustrating.
Swallows are so fabulous. I love to watch them fly. Fighter jets of the bird world!
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