#BirdoftheDay #120 Male House Sparrow on the patio with some bird seed. This is the first year that I have seen them in my yard. They are one of two (that I know of) Old World Sparrows that are in the US. Introduced to take care of a caterpillar problem in Brooklyn in the 1850.

#BirdoftheDay #119 Cliff Swallow in flight. There was a colony of nests under a bridge nearby. There were so many of them flying in and out, it was busier than the 6 lane road that the bridge was for. This was park of the Pittman Wash in Henderson, NV. The colony can have up to 3,700 nests.

#BirdoftheDay #118 Female House Finch in a tree. Female house finches apparently try to mate with the reddest males in the area. They are native to Westen N America and because of humans are pretty much everywhere in N America now.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #117 Male Summer Tanager taking a second to rest between verses. This bird is a wasp and bee eating machine. It catches them in flight and rubs them on trees to remove the stingers. The range goes from S America to the Midwestern states.
A lifer for me.
@birds #birds #tanager

#BirdoftheDay #116 Male Great Tailed Grackle strutting through a field in a Henderson park. Seeing the tail from this angle the great tailed name makes sense. When not in the sun their purple iridescent feathers are difficult to see. @wiscobirder have you seen these birds?

#BirdoftheDay #115 Male House Sparrow on the patio near some bird seeds. House Sparrows are said to be one of the most widely distributed wild birds in the world, they are on every continent except Antarctica. Which make sense with their spread being closely tied with humans.
@birds #birds #sparrow

#BirdoftheDay #114 I believe a male American Robin hunkered down in some grass. Robins are the largest N American thrush, other birds in the family Turdidae are Thrushes, Bluebirds, Veerys, and Solitaires.
#birds @birds #robin

#BirdoftheDay #113 Canada Goose family getting ready to jump down into a pond at Sunset Park in Las Vegas. I think they're from 2 different broods, the size and color differences make me think they might be part of a gang brood or multiple broods sharing adults' responsibility.
@birds #birds #geese

#BirdoftheDay #112 Male Lucy’s Warbler in a bush. This native breeds in the Southwest deserts then winters in Coastal Mexico or the Rio Grande. They are one of the only US warblers to nest in a cavity, the other is the Prothonotary Warbler in the East.
@wiscobirder

#BirdoftheDay #111 Baby Killdeer next to Railroad Lake in cityofhenderson. My children were chased by an adult Killdeer in this area almost exactly a month prior, which matches up with the 22-28 day incubation period. They blend well and are often heard before being seen by me.

#BirdoftheDay #110 Male Phainopepla perched at the top of a tree. These desert birds have been known to congregate when food is abundant and when food is scarce one will defend a few trees that have mistletoe on them.
@wiscobirder here is a picture of a male.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #109 Male Costa’s Hummingbird perched on a line with it’s tongue out. It is not noticeable here, hummingbird tongues are bifurcated or forked. This species hangs out in coastal Mexico, Baja and a few Southwestern states. @wiscobirder @birds #birds #hummingbird

#BirdoftheDay #108 Mourning Dove on the desert rocks in my backyard. These doves are wide spread throughout the US, Mexico, and Central America. They also go into Canada a bit. The oldest known individual was 30 years old.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #107 Male House Finch in a tree. They are native to the western part of the continent, they were brought to the East Coast to be sold as Hollywood Finches in NY. Shop owners released them when they realized they were being tracked for arrest. The Finches thrived.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #106 Canada Gosling. Spring is in there air when I see goslings in Vegas. There were about 25 in the group with 6 adults. Their clutch size is up to 8 so this was probably 4 families all eating in the same area. Is it just more or do they look worried?

#BirdoftheDay #104 Male Wilson's Warbler in my grapevine.
A small warbler that is found through much of N. America and migrate from Central America and Mexico through much of the US to breed in Canada.
@Birds #birds #warbler

#BirdoftheDay #103 Dusky Flycatcher perched in a tree in a little desert oasis.
I am fairly certain it's a Dusky and not a Hammond's, the location is surrounded by miles of scrubland which I have read is the habitat of Dusky. Hammond's prefer coniferous forests. @wiscobirder @birds

#BirdoftheDay #102 Female Phainopepla. A bird of Southwest N. America.
It eats a bunch of desert mistletoe berries (up to 1,100/day) and I have read that if you see Desert Mistletoe then there are probably Phainopeplas in the area. @wiscobirder @birds
#birds #desert

#BirdoftheDay #101 Eurasian Collared Dove on a cable for lights.
These Doves get their species name Decaocto from Greek mythology. There was a woman who was paid 18 coins annually for her labor and she complained to the gods who turned her into a collared dove.
#mythology #birds @birds

#BirdoftheDay #100 Male Costa's Hummingbird getting some nectar from a lavender flower in the backyard.
Costa's awake resting heart rate is around 500-900bpm, and when it goes into it's torpor state at night it can drop down to 50bpm.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #99 Rock Pigeons on a bird feeder log.
I have transversed Vegas for birds and am tired. There'll be more repeats but with more bird info.
From what I have read Rock Pigeons use Earth's magnetic field to navigate back to their home over distances even if blindfolded.

Well I went to cuddle with dogs earlier and passed out. Stupid warm dogs. So I woke up crazy at like 3am and wasn't tired. I uploaded some bird pictures to my website. I need to update that thing more regularly. www.ScottWGonzalez.com

#BirdoftheDay #98 House Wren eating aphids off of a crimson clover flower stem.
House Wrens use spider egg sacs in their nesting material to help control parasites that feed on the young wrens. The spiders hatch and attack the parasites. @birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #97 Adult Great Horned Owl and a baby watching me watch them. Seen in Las Vegas, NV. These Owls are native of the Americas and can be found all over the US except Hawaii. They have a nickname of Tiger Owls because they are exceptionally quiet hunters.
@birds #Owls #birds

#BirdoftheDay #96 Great Horned Owl fledgling in Las Vegas. Great Horned Owlets grow quickly, from 35 g at hatching to 800-1k g in a month. They can hunt on their own but will continue to be fed by parents for up to 5 months.
I feel the same as this owl when I see the sun.

#BirdoftheDay #95 Eurasian Collared Dove. Another repeat. A relatively new species to N. America. Spread from escaped/released birds in the Bahamas in the 70s, they made their way to Florida and are now Coast to Coast. The half collar on their neck is how they got their name.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #94 Mourning Dove in the backyard. Sorry about the repeat birds. A kid is sick and then she got me sick. Just colds, keeping me from going out though to track down birds.
They get their sad name because someone heard them and thought it sounded like laments.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #93 Male House Sparrow in the backyard pomegranate bush, this is an Old World Sparrow.
My longest streak of no repeats so far is done. 17FEB until now 44 days. Maybe with new bird migrating I can top it.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #92 Clark's Nutcracker in a pine tree near Lee Canyon in Clark County, NV. These nutcrackers hide thousands of pine seeds some of which they forget about which helps with new growth of pine forests.
@birds #birds

#BirdoftheDay #91 Male Ruddy Duck showing off his toned back, the color not the musculature. During breeding season their bill and feathers change colors. Non breeding males are dull brown with a gray bill. Seen at Las Vegas's Sunset Park.
@birds #birds