Birds of Watrous Island SNA

General description: Large black bird.

Size: About 15 1/2 - 21 inches.

Color: All black, slightly iridescent.

Sounds: Hoarse, cawing call.

Food
Crows are omnivores. They are opportunists and will eat nearly anything.

Habitat and range
The crow's habitat selection is quite varied. They prefer agricultural or grassland settings for foraging, and woodlots and forest edge habitats for roosting and breeding. This omnivorous bird is also comfortable in urban settings, where it can forage for food humans make available through trash, pet foods, bird feeding, etc. Some crows migrate short distances, but many remain on their territories throughout the winter months.

Population and management
They participate in flocking behavior. Large flocks gather in winter feeding and roosting areas. Communal roosting occurs from autumn through mid-winter, typically in areas with large trees.

Fun facts
All Corvids are highly intelligent. Crows demonstrate an ability to make and use tools, a trait until recently only attributed to humans and a few other highly developed mammals. less ↑

The American robin (Turdus migratorius) is a migratory songbird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. The American robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. less ↑

The bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus, from Greek hali "sea", aiētos "eagle", leuco "white", cephalos "head") is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.

The bald eagle is an opportunistic feeder which subsists mainly on fish, which it swoops down and snatches from the water with its talons. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest tree nests ever recorded for any animal species, up to 4 m (13 ft) deep, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide, and 1 metric ton (1.1 short tons) in weight. Sexual maturity is attained at the age of four to five years.

Bald eagles are not actually bald; the name derives from an older meaning of the word, "white headed". The adult is mainly brown with a white head and tail. The sexes are identical in plumage, but females are about 25 percent larger than males. The beak is large and hooked. The plumage of the immature is brown.

The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its seal. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States. Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. government's list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the contiguous states on June 28, 2007. less ↑

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a small, nonmigratory, North American songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests. It is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is the state bird of both Maine and Massachusetts in the United States, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick in Canada. It is well known for its capacity to lower its body temperature during cold winter nights as well as its good spatial memory to relocate the caches where it stores food, and its boldness near humans (sometimes feeding from the hand). less ↑

The blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States, although western populations may be migratory. Resident populations are also found in Newfoundland, Canada, while breeding populations can be found in southern Canada. It breeds in both deciduous and coniferous forests, and is common near and in residential areas. less ↑

The cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow bird named for its wax-like wing tips. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, and insects. less ↑

The common raven (Corvus corax), also known as the northern raven, is a large all-black passerine bird. Found across the Northern Hemisphere, it is the most widely distributed of all corvids. There are at least eight subspecies with little variation in appearance, although recent research has demonstrated significant genetic differences among populations from various regions. It is one of the two largest corvids, alongside the thick-billed raven, and is possibly the heaviest passerine bird; at maturity, the common raven averages 63 centimetres (25 inches) in length and 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) in mass. Common ravens can live up to 21 years in the wild. less ↑

The gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American perching bird of the mimid family. It is the only member of the "catbird" genus Dumetella. Like the black catbird (Melanoptila glabrirostris), it is among the basal lineages of the Mimidae, probably a closer relative of the Caribbean thrasher and trembler assemblage than of the mockingbirds and Toxostoma thrashers. less ↑

The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a medium-sized plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific vociferus is Latin and comes from vox, "cry" and ferre, "to bear". less ↑

General description: A large puddle duck that's most easily recognized by the male's glossy green head and white neck collar.

Length: About 24 inches long.

Weight: 2 1/2 to 3 pounds.

Color: Male mallards (drakes) have a glossy green head and white neck collar. Females (hens) are mostly brown. Males and young birds look like females in the summer. Both sexes have a blue patch on the wing.

Sounds: Mallards are very vocal. Hens use a loud, long series of quacks; drakes have a low-pitched "wheat" call.

Reproduction
In Minnesota, mallards mate in late winter or early spring. Nests are built in dense vegetation, and hens lay five to 14 eggs, which take 26 to 30 days to hatch. Newborns are covered with down; they begin to fly 49 to 60 days after they're hatched.

Food
Sedge seeds, grasses, smartweeds, aquatic plants and insects, corn, grains, snails and wild rice.

Predators
Foxes, coyotes, skunks, mink and raptors.

Habitat and range
Lakes, marshes and flooded grain fields. Mallards range more widely than any other duck. They're found throughout the United States and Canada during the breeding season, and migrate to many southern states in the fall. They're also found in Africa and Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and almost everywhere in between.

Range and management
The key to future mallard production is protecting wetlands and prairie grasslands throughout Canada, Minnesota and North and South Dakota.

Fun facts
Mallards swim with their tail held above the water, so when trouble comes, they can spring directly out of the water and into the air. less ↑

General description: Mourning doves are blue-gray birds about the size of a robin. They have small heads, large breasts, and a pointed tail.

Size: Adult mourning doves are about 12 inches long.

Color: They are bluish gray with a lighter, brownish breast, and a black spot near the eye. Males have iridescent feathers on their neck. When they fly you might notice that the tail has a white tip.

Sounds: Mourning doves make a soft cooing sound that some people confuse with the hooting of an owl.

Reproduction
Mourning doves pair in the spring. After the male chooses a nesting site, the pair spends three to four days building a nest from twigs and sometimes grass. It might be on the ground or up to 20 feet up in a tree. The female lays two white eggs, which both parents incubate. After the eggs hatch about two weeks later, both parents care for the young until they leave the nest at 11 to 15 days of age. A pair may raise two families in a single summer. Mourning doves mate for life - about seven to 10 years. But if a mate is killed, they will find a new mate.

Food
Mourning doves eat seeds, fruit, and insects. They also eat grain from farmers' fields.

Predators
Raccoons, cats, falcons and other birds of prey. Snakes sometimes eat eggs and nestlings.

Range and range
Mourning doves are common along country roads, and are also found in towns and open forests. In winter mourning doves migrate south; however, some can be seen year round in southern Minnesota.

Population and management
Doves are one of the most common birds in the United States, and dove hunting is legal in Minnesota during the dove hunting season each year.

Fun facts
Have you ever heard of a bird giving milk? Mourning doves have a special structure in their throats in which they make food for their young. Called "pigeon milk" or "crop milk," the food looks and smells like cheese. It has some of the nutrients found in cow's milk. less ↑

The northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) is one of the larger New World warblers and one of the Nearctic-Neotropical migratory songbirds. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada and the northern United States including Alaska. This bird is migratory, wintering in Central America, the West Indies and Florida, as well as in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador. It is a very rare vagrant to other South American countries and to western Europe. less ↑

The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a large woodpecker native to North America. This crow-sized bird normally inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast. It is the second-largest woodpecker in the United States, after the critically endangered and possibly extinct ivory-billed woodpecker. less ↑

The turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), also known in some North American regions as the turkey buzzard (or just buzzard), and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John crow or carrion crow, is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus Cathartes of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of South America. less ↑

The veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a small North American thrush species, a member of a group of closely related and similar species in the genus Catharus, also including the gray-cheeked thrush (C. minimus), Bicknell's thrush (C. bicknelli), Swainson's thrush (C. ustulatus), and Hermit thrush (C. guttatus). Alternate names for this species include Wilson's thrush (named so after Alexander Wilson) and tawny thrush. less ↑

The white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill, and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine subspecies differ mainly in the color of the body plumage. less ↑

General description: Broad wings and a long square tail.

Length: About 20 inches.

Weight: One and a half pounds.

Color: The male (drake) has a blue-green crested head with white stripes, a reddish brown breast, buff colored sides and red eyes. Females (hens) are brown with a white speckled breast, crested head, and distinctive white eye ring.

Sounds: A "wee-e-e-e-k, wee-e-e-e-k" whistle by the hen is the most commonly heard wood duck sound.

Reproduction
Wood ducks nest in hollow trees. Female wood ducks pluck down from their breasts to line the nest, where they lay about 10 to 15 eggs during the spring. Hatching takes place 28 to 31 days later. Ducklings begin to fly eight to ten weeks after hatching.

Food
Wood ducks eat acorns, weed seeds, berries, insects, and plants.

Predators
Mink, raccoons, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and human hunters.

Habitat and range
Wooded river bottoms, flooded hardwood forests and wooded potholes and lakes. Wood ducks nest throughout the United States and southeastern Canada. They spend the winter in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, and other southeastern states, as well as in California.

Population and management
Biologists believe more than 100,000 wood ducks breed in Minnesota each spring. The wood duck was once almost extinct because of habitat loss due to the lack of old, dead trees where these ducks nest. But management efforts, such as the use of artificial nest boxes, have helped restore wood duck populations.

Fun facts
Wood ducks are also called woodies. Unlike most ducks, wood ducks have a strong grip and can perch on branches. less ↑