For all the lady birds...

I've been getting really good looks at female birds lately.  I think many of the drabber ladies get passed over or missed altogether because they're often secreted away on nests and not singing garishly from exposed perches like their testosterone-filled counterparts.

I've come to call passing over the lady birds "Painted Bunting Syndrome" or 'PBS' because the condition first became apparent to me in Florida while looking for a Painted Bunting (PABU) at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  We could practically taste the sighting of a colorful lifer because the birds are regular clients at the visitor center feeders.  Yes, an easy score but also a chance to see an amazing creature fairly close and undisturbed.  We waited nonchalantly on the boardwalk hoping for a glimpse...

A female PABU came in and we were fairly excited, but admittedly sort of let down that it wasn't a male in all his breeding plumage splendor.  Egads, there we were - two women downplaying the sighting of a female PABU...Blasphemy!  Little did we realize this was even happening until the male PABU came in for a snack and changed the whole mood.  I realized afterward that I didn't even take any pictures of the female!  I vowed to be aware of this avi-sexism and to be better about it in the future. 

Female birds are really quite incredible.  They are often the sole caregivers and clearly work very hard for a living in the bird world.  Plus they're exquisitely beautiful.
  
How can one not appreciate the subtle hues of browns, grays, tans, russets, and creams of these female Red-winged Blackbirds?

Or the understated cap of this Missus Wilson's Warbler?

And could this Ms. Eastern Bluebird be any more coy?

This female Black-and-white Warbler is just so ladylike with minimal makeup...

And this lady Northern Cardinal is looking rather radical with that crest and orange bubblicious bill...

This female White-winged Crossbill is swank despite the snow...

And though she belongs to a species of evil incarnate, even this female House Sparrow is pretty damn cute with her pantaloomy sides...

Maybe we are just desensitized to sexual dimorphism by all the species that are generally impossible to sex, like Black-capped Chickadees...

Great-crested Flycatchers...

Cedar Waxwings...

And Gray Catbirds...

Maybe it's simply that we don't even care because of the commonness of a species.  Think of the last time you pondered over who-was-who in a pair of American Robins, Mourning Doves or Turkey Vultures...ummm, probably never.  

I think fowl are highly susceptible to PBS - clearly hens just don't provide the same satisfaction as drakes, as evidenced by this Northern Shoveler...

Hens tend to be better appreciated when accompanied by little fuzzy babies like these Common Eider mommas...

I think it's funny that some species can remain sort of sexless in our minds while the males of other species become crowning glories of life lists!  I swear to beware of Painted Bunting Syndrome and always appreciate the lady birds!
     

NOFU FOR YOU!!!

Northern Fulmars (NOFU) are possibly one of the coolest birds ever.  Deceptively gull-like to the non-bird-nerd eye, they are really very different from gulls.  These birds were a recent lifer for me and as always, the deeper I dorked out in the literature about fulmars, the more I was fascinated by the species.  I'll try not to bore you with too many details, BUT - these birds can live over 40 years, don't breed until they're around eight years old, and spend most of their lives at sea...which is not uncommon for seabirds in general, but is still very awesome.

Or how about that their main defense against predators is to eject stomach oil onto them?!  The scientific literature describes this oil as 'well-aimed' and highly-deterrent'.  Over 20 other avian species have been recorded dying because of fulmar oil contamination!  Those species included crows, owls, raptors, gulls, herons, and passerines.  Even the chicks possess this super power.  Don't believe me?  Check out this crazy video (sorry I'm not savvy enough to embed it from the website):

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/northern-fulmar-fulmarus-glacialis/oil-spitting-defense 

For you landlubbers out there, Northern Fulmars are tube-nosed seabirds.  They have raised structures at the base of the top bill called 'naricorns'.  Who needs unicorns when you can have naricorns?  These fused tubes encase the nostrils and help keep salt secretions out of their eyes.  Special salt glands secrete salt and this allows them to drink seawater and survive.  More awesomeness.

I was delighted to see them in the Gulf of Maine in late June.  This means these guys must have been non-breeders. 

In case you are bored with the whitish NOFU's above, they happen to be polymorphic and come in many shades of gray...

There is really no better way to beat the summer heat than cruising offshore in a big ol' fishing boat looking for birds.  Even if it is near impossible for me to get a decent photograph...

So there you have it - NOFU for you!!!  Say it like the soup Nazi from Seinfeld and it should make up for my less-than-exquisite photos.

Pleased to meetcha, or so I thought...

I heard a mystery bird song in the yard earlier this summer - it was an upslurred warbler-like song, but I was unable to match it to any song on CD, online, or even on the birdpod.  I was stumped.

It took a few days of patiently waiting it out, searching for the bird making this song.  I finally got my binos on it and it was nothing other than a Chestnut-sided Warbler (CSWA) singing an alternate song!  They usually sing 'pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha'.  Yeah, that's what I thought too.  I was dumbfounded until some further readings reassured me that the CSWA does indeed have an alternate "unaccented ending" song.  Little did I know there have been multiple scientific journal articles published on CSWA song.  

I of course got a recording of him for you... 


  CSWA alternate song by Burly Bird

And photos of him...

He has become a daily fixture in the yard and for the last few weeks has been singing from dawn til dusk.  I appreciate his company at a point in July when most of the warblers have gone quiet.  It doesn't seem that long ago I had over a dozen different members of the Parulidae family in the yard.  Now it's just the steady 'witchity witchity' of the Common Yellowthroats; the occasional 'teacher teacher' of the Ovenbirds; and the random squeaky-clown-bicycle-wheels of Black-and-white Warblers.  Meanwhile, this CSWA guy just keeps on belting out that alternate song... 

I read that some males sing both songs, singing the "pleased to meetcha" early in the breeding cycle to attract ladies, saving the alternate song for later during territory defense against other males.  I had to see him with my eyeballs - singing that song to believe it, and apparently other young male CSWA's also have to have a "visual tutor" in order to learn the two song classes.  Pretty awesome.

I also read that some males only sing the unaccented ending alternate song and that these males don't have as much luck attracting females.  Maybe the local lady CSWA's don't recognize this guy?  Poor fella'.  He does some crazy moves, conveniently and openly preening on the dead elms in the backyard...

The CSWA is a species of special concern here in Maine and I feel lucky to have had them in my yard all summer.  And it was great to get a hands-on lesson in their song repertoire.  What a pretty little bird!