Turduckin

Ross and Jess brought home a bird today, a turduckin.

Turduckins are rare in Ketchikan, Alaska. There are about

ten a year made by the local butcher

Turduckins are large birds, this one weighed 23lb!

No feathers or bones makes for easy identification

Fox sparrow

Alive Fox Sparrow

First Snow! Thought this would slow hunting, note Alva wearing bell.
So this was a tricky one. I sent a picture to ADF&G and they identified it as a Fox Sparrow. I thought it was a gray cheecked thrush which is a species of concern and wanted to double check if it was, but it wasn't. Fox sparrows have a conspicuous buff eye ring (check) and this ring rules out Gray-cheeked Thrush because they have a indistinct eye ring. Fox sparrows also has a speckled area in front of eyes. Their beeks are a yellow/brown in color as well, unlike the thrush.

ADF&G also noted cats are effective hunters (even when de-clawed and belled.) Also noted was that I should keep my cats inside and walk them outside on a leash and be careful not to let them too close to birds even then.

Common in southeast Alaska in fall

Habitat mixed deciduous conifers, shrubs, thickets. Nests low in tree or bushes.

Darked eyed Junco 3

Another dark-eyed Junco, male (black hood), diffently caught by Ivor. Sorry about the blood, fresh kill. I did notice though Varied Thrushes have orange legs and Juncos have black. Junco's upper back is also a dark brown, not really coming up well in the photos. Ross is getting tired of juncos and thrushes

Varied Thrush 3

Not sure who caught this one, but I'm guessing Ivor

It's a male varied thrush because of the black band around neckIts been a week since the last bird was brought home. I was starting to think that birding may be over for the season. Ross and I were leaving to get a bottle of champagne for Saturday morning mimosas when Ross discovered the bird. "You have another blog posting"

Alva's Dark eyed Junco

Arrow pointing to Dark eye Junco

Ross and I were eating breakfast when Alva brought in her bird. Note she was wearing her bell.

Dark-eyed Junco 'Oregon Race'

When I came home from work today I did not think there was any birds in the house until Ross came home. He thought there was only one bird till I told him there was two heads and four legs.

Flashy white tail feathers with a pink bill. Juncos breeding south of Yakutat Bay have (males)black hood and (females) gray hood. This is a male, I mean they are males. There are four related 'races' all have a dark hood and light outer tail feathers.

Nests on ground. Common in southeast Alaska in Fall months

Varied Thrush 2

Another Varied Thrush today. Notice the black band around the next indicating this is a male. After identifying the thrush yesterday I have noticed there are many in the area right now, they must be migrating through.