Birds of Virginia: A Falcon Field Guide
Todd Telander
Language: English
Pages: 107
ISBN: B00MJD76IK
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Falcon Field Guides are full-color, visually appealing, on-the-go guides for identifying plants and animals and learning about nature.
bordering the scapulars. The underside is white with extensive black barring. The legs are short and pale greenish yellow. Plumage is similar in all seasons. While feeding, the Common Snipe probes rhythmically and deeply into the muddy substrate to extract worms, insect larvae, and crustaceans. Its voice is a loud skipe! when alarmed and a whit, whit, whit, whit. Secretive and solitary it will abruptly lift off in flight when alarmed. Its flight is erratic and zigzagging and includes “winnowing,”
is a black bar on the outer primaries. Least Terns often hover over the water before plungediving to catch small fish. They also pick worms and insects from the ground. This sensitive bird was once threatened by development of its coastal sandy breeding grounds. The breeding adult is illustrated. 41 FFG_Birds_VA_3pp.indd 41 9/6/12 9:50 AM Forster’s Tern, Sterna forsteri gulls, terns Family Laridae (Gulls, Terns) Size: 14" Season: Year-round Habitat: Coastal areas, lakes, marshes The
rich yellow to yellow-orange, and the undertail coverts are white. The wings and tail are blue-gray, and the mantle is olive green. Females and juveniles are paler overall, with an olive cast to the head. Prothonotary Warblers forage through the understory for insects. The adult male is illustrated. WOOD-WARBLERS Worm-eating Warbler, Helmitheros vermivorum Family Parulidae (Wood-Warblers) Size: 5.25" Season: Summer Habitat: Dense growth in woodlands, often near streams The Worm-eating Warbler
large blackbird but smaller than the Boattailed Grackle. The body is elongated with a long, heavy bill and long tail, which is fatter toward the tip and often folded into a keel shape. Plumage is overall black with a metallic sheen of purple on the head and brown on the wings and underside. The eyes are a contrasting light yellow color. Quite social, Common Grackles form huge flocks with other blackbirds and forage on the ground for just about any kind of food, including insects, grains, refuse,
while in Virginia for the winter months. The Common Loon can be distinguished from other loons by the horizontal posture of its large bill (not held upward). It’s fairly common in winter, scattered singly or in pairs along the coast. The nonbreeding (bottom) and breeding (top) adults are illustrated. Horned Grebe, Podiceps auritus Family Podicipedidae (Grebes) Size: 14" Season: Winter Habitat: Coastal bays, inland marshes, lakes The Horned Grebe is a sleek, compact, relatively heavy waterbird