Hurricane Island Natural History Guide
Guide to the plants, mammals, invertebrates, and birds found on Hurricane Island, Vinalhaven, Maine
www.hurricaneisland.net
Barn Swallow
The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. A distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts, a long, deeply forked tail and curved, pointed wings, it is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the Swallow; in Northern Europe it is the only common species called a "swallow" ...more ↓
Northern Parula
The Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) is a small New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida.
Scarlet Tanager
The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family (Thraupidae), it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.
Eastern Phoebe
The Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe, is a small passerine bird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal USA.
Common Loon
The Great Northern Loon, Great Northern Diver, or Common Loon (Gavia immer), is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. The species is known as a Common Loon in North America and the Great Northern Diver in Eurasia, its current name is a compromise proposed by the International Ornithological Committee.
Common Eider
The Common Eider, Somateria mollissima, is a large (50–71 cm body length) sea-duck, which is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters.
Black Guillemot
The Black Guillemot or Tystie, Cepphus grylle, is a medium-sized alcid at 32-38 cm in length, and with a 49-58 cm wingspan.
Greater Black-backed Gull
The Great Black-backed Gull, Larus marinus, is a very large gull which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic. It is fairly sedentary, but some Great Black-backed Gulls move farther south or inland to large lakes or reservoirs.
Herring Gull
The Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, is a large gull (up to 26 inches or 66 cm long), and is the most abundant and best known of all gulls along the shores of Asia, western Europe, and North America. It breeds across North America, Europe and Asia. Some Herring Gulls, especially those resident in colder areas, migrate further south in winter, but many are permanent residents, ...more ↓
Laughing Gull
The Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe. (There was an influx into North-west Europe in late October 2005 when at ...more ↓
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, is one of the few woodpecker species that migrates, and is the only woodpecker that commonly feeds on the ground. There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker. Among them are: ...more ↓
Dark-eyed Junco
The Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis, is the best-known species of the juncos, a genus of small grayish American sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. It is a very variable species, much like the related Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca), and its systematics is still not completely ...more ↓
Cedar Waxwing
The Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It breeds in open wooded areas in North America, principally southern Canada and the northern United States.
Swainson's Thrush
Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), also called Olive-backed Thrush, is a medium-sized thrush. This species is 16-18 cm in length, and has the white-dark-white underwing patterm characteristic of Catharus thrushes. Swainson's Thrush was named after William Swainson, an English ornithologist.
American Redstart
The American Redstart, Setophaga ruticilla, is a New World warbler. They breed in North America, across southern Canada and the eastern USA.
Common Yellowthroat
The Common Yellowthroat, (Geothlypis trichas), is a New World warbler. They are abundant breeders in North America, ranging from southern Canada to central Mexico. Northern races are migratory, wintering in the southern parts of the breeding range, Central America and the West Indies. Southern forms are largely resident. This species is a very rare vagrant to western ...more ↓
Gray Catbird
The Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), also spelled Grey Catbird, is a medium-sized northern 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 ...more ↓
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England. An all-white Caribbean population was once known as a ...more ↓
Belted Kingfisher
The Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) is a large, conspicuous and noisy water kingfisher, the only member of that group commonly found in the northern United States and Canada. It is depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $5 note. All kingfishers were formerly placed in one family, Alcedinidae, but recent research suggests that this should be divided into three. All six ...more ↓
Sea Vase
Ciona intestinalis or vase tunicate is a Urochordata (sea squirt) whose genome has been sequenced. It has become, over the past decade, a major experimental model for developmental biologists. It is widely distributed in North European waters, but has also spread to other parts of the world as an invasive species.
Pollock
The pollock is an abundant, shallow water, coastal fish that can often be seen swimming nearby docks and piers. Pollock have three dorsal fins, a distinct lateral line, two anal fins, and forked tails.
