Birding in Maine» HD

The Melodic Song Sparrow

John Briggs — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 21:09:52 +0000

Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia

From nearly every prominence on the vegetation that grows in our backyard, a Song Sparrow is singing. The glorious sounds of Spring and the hope that ol’ man Winter doesn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve.

Song Sparrows have the greatest number of genetically distinct populations of any bird in North America. There’s much debate on the total number of subspecies, but a recent study suggests there are perhaps as many as 34.

Song Sparrows are noted for scratching the ground with its feet to expose invertebrates hidden under surface litter. They forage primarily on ground, picking food from the ground or at bases of bushes. These birds also search the mud or shallow water along streams and I have seen them on the mudflats during low tide.

A Song Sparrow apparently has an inborn tendency to sing songs of two general types, but it learns its phrases by listening to other, nearby Song Sparrows. As a result, the songs of different birds in a local population contain similar notes and phrases (but usually arranged differently), while the songs of birds in separated populations contain different phrases. The farther away two populations are, the less likely they are to use similar phrases in their songs.

The following photos and video was taken in our backyard.

Dimension: 560×480 | Length: 26 sec. | File Size: 10.6mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Video: Song Sparrow Singing | ©2011 John Briggs Photography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-bEIhfqQng

Happy birding!

Wordless Wednesday: Backyard Canada Geese

John Briggs — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:24:29 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y933uh6LkIM

Dimension: 560×480 | Video bit rate: 1000Kbps | File Size: 32.6mb
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Video: Canada Geese | ©2011 John Briggs Photography

Get Wordless over at Wordless Wednesday.

Hummingbird Preening

John Briggs — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:59:56 +0000

This little jewel loves to perch on the very tip of one of our feeder branches and sits there looking pretty. She is only 6″ from a fresh supply of nectar. With the Hummingbird activity around our feeders this past week, she gets harassed on occasion. I was able to capture this female Ruby-throated Hummingbird preening during a break in the activity.

Once the video has started, clicking on the video will take you to You Tube where the video is hosted. Once on the You Tube site, clicking the HD icon will place the video in HD widescreen mode, which is the best playback.

Dimension: 520×390 | Video length: 1:17
Playback: Click Play Button | Broadband Connection Recommended
Streaming HD Video of Hummingbird Preening | ©2009 birdingmaine.com

Happy birding!