White-headed jay continues on

This stunning white-headed blue jay appeared in my yard on January 12, and here's a photo from yesterday. He/she - although I dubbed it "Albert" - was out there raiding the feeders this morning. I wrote a bit more about this unique bird RIGHT HERE.

He's got a pretty good deal going here, with plenty of unshelled peanuts and other seedy fare. I hope he sticks around for some time. It's a gorgeous specimen, and really stands out from the typically pigmented jays, of which there are many to keep Albert company.

Perhaps the biggest threat is a good-sized (female, probably) Cooper's hawk that raids the yard daily. She's mostly after the house sparrows and smaller birds, but is more than capable of dispatching a jay. These hawks are incredibly aggressive and so cool to watch. Today, she ran into a dense forsythia shrub on foot in an attempt to rout the house sparrows lurking within. Hope she catches them all.

Woodlouse Spider

This woodlouse spider has taken up residence in my basement. I've got no problem with giving her free room and board, but did make her submit to a modeling session today. These spiders are armed with formidable fangs, but like nearly all spiders are inoffensive marshmallows towards us. However, you wouldn't want to be around her if you were a pillbug or "roly-polie" (sometimes called woodlice). The impressive fangs enable the spider to puncture the armoring of these little crustaceans.

Nature: Sighting of fox squirrel came with a colorful twist

This melanistic fox squirrel appeared in the writer's backyard on January 9/Jim McCormac

 A normally colored eastern fox squirrel/Jim McCormac

Sighting of fox squirrel came with a colorful twist

Columbus Dispatch

January 19, 2020

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Four species of tree squirrels reside in Ohio, and all have their charms.

The smallest and least known is the southern flying squirrel. It is common but seldom seen because of its strictly nocturnal habits.

Slightly bigger is the red squirrel, which occurs statewide but is more localized than other squirrels. It has a distinct preference for coniferous trees.

Most common is the well-known eastern gray squirrel, the typical squirrel of parks and suburbia in this area. Those who feed backyard birds wage war with this mammal. The squirrels often win.

Then there is the largest squirrel of all, the gorgeous eastern fox squirrel. A whopper can weigh 3 pounds and stretch 3 feet or more from nose to outstretched tail tip. If there were a beauty pageant for squirrels, this one might wear the tiara.

They are foxy indeed, with underparts tinted in showy burnt-orange. The upper pelage is a lovely grayish-black.

From my experience, gray squirrels far outnumber foxes in Columbus and its neighborhoods. The latter becomes more common in rural areas.

I recently moved to Worthington, an area I have long been acquainted with. Gray squirrels are abundant, but I have never seen a fox squirrel in my neighborhood — until Jan. 9.

That morning, I glanced out a back window to see a huge black squirrel sitting prominently on an open snag. It was as if it was posing for me. I usually keep a camera with a big telephoto lens at the ready, in case something bizarre appears at the feeders. Photographic prep paid dividends in this case.

Not only did I document the yard’s first fox squirrel, but it also was a rare melanistic morph, or form. My first thought was that it was a melanistic gray squirrel, but the massive size and tinges of orange bleeding through on the animal’s underside gave it away.

Black forms are far more common in gray squirrels, and in some parts of Columbus such animals are local celebrities. Melanin-enhanced fox squirrels seem to be virtually unknown, at least in Ohio. I have many biologically literate friends, and not one has said they have seen a black fox squirrel.

Melanistic fox squirrels are known to occur, just in far fewer numbers than grays. Most black fox squirrels appear in the southern reaches of the range, which spans the eastern half of the U.S. Conversely, melanism in gray squirrels is more prolific in the northern parts of its distribution.

Although the genetic mechanisms that produce melanism in squirrels is well-understood, the role of environmental factors that favor melanism, and possible gene flow between fox and gray squirrels, is lesser known.

I have not seen the dusky fox squirrel since the day I discovered it. Maybe it’s the vanguard of a wave to come, or it was a flash in the pan. Such animals would certainly enrich our squirrel diversity, that’s for sure.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet - a Small Forest Delight 

Golden-crowned Kinglet [Jim Carroll Photo]

The Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) is a small forest delight.  It is present year round in New Brunswick and can be counted on for its presence in our boreal forest.  There are two species of kinglets found in New Brunswick, the Golden-crowned and the Ruby-crowned.  The Ruby-crowned is a summer resident.  There are six species of kinglets worldwide; 2 in North America, 1 in Eurasia, 1 in Europe and North Africa, 1 in the Canary Islands, and 1 in Taiwan.  

Kinglets are our smallest forest songbirds.  They prefer the upper canopy of the boreal forest where small flocks glean insects from buds and bark.  They can sometimes be seen hovering under a leaf feeding on insects.  

Golden-crowned Kinglet [Mark Morse Photo]

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a tiny little mite,  just 10 cm (4 in) long.  It is greenish-olive on the back and light gray below.  It has a white supercilium (line over the eye), black eyeline and a yellow crown outlined with black.  This yellow crown has orange in the centre which is difficult to see, usually only when the bird is agitated and it appears to raise it.  One of the species in the United Kingdom and Europe is called the 'Firecrest' for the brilliant orange on the crown of the male.  I have seen the orange on the crown of our kinglet a few times and it is brilliant,  just like fire.  See the photo at top of this post by Jim Carroll showing the orange on the crown.

Golden-crowned Kinglet [Internet Photo]

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a permanent resident in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia. It is a summer resident for most of the rest of Canada.  The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is similar-looking and would need to be distinguished from the Golden-crowned by its head pattern.  The Ruby-crowned does not have the white supercilium or the yellow crown.  It also has a very long melodious song.  The song of the Golden-crowned is a very high-pitched, tsii tsii tsii.  This song is so high it is difficult for some to hear.  Some people say they have never seen a kinglet and that is because the kinglets are in the upper canopy and their song is so high-pitched.  They are easy to find because they are so prevalent.

Golden-crowned Kinglets nest high in coniferous trees (9-18 metres above the ground).  Their nest is made of lichens and moss and lined with bark chips, rootlets and feathers.  Five to eleven creamy white eggs spotted with brown and gray are incubated for 14-15 days by the female.  Two broods are often raised.

An interesting fact about this species is that each nostril is covered by a single, tiny feather.  This undoubtedly helps with winter survival.  The range of this species is expanding into spruce plantations in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.  That is good news when so many species' ranges are shrinking.  If you have never seen a Golden-crowned Kinglet I hope you go for a walk into the boreal forest and look up and listen for the high-pitched song of this beautiful little bird.  

And now, a (partially) white blue jay!

So, just a few days ago, a melanistic fox squirrel appears in the yard. I wrote about that oddity in my last post. This morning I glance out the back window and what do I see? This strange and beautiful creature! It's a partially leucistic blue jay, absent the black (melanin) pigments that mark the face and neck of a typical jay. When I first saw the bird, it was consorting with several other jays at a feeder, and it stuck out like a sort thumb.

NOTE: I am referring to the animal as partially leucistic, even if that's being a bit general. One can get extremely bogged down in what seems to be largely unverifiable explanations for various conditions of pigment anomalies. For a good general discussion about anomalies in pigmentation, with a key to place birds into six general categories of color aberrations, CLICK HERE.

As a frame of reference for our odd jay, here is a typically plumaged blue jay. The black collar, eye line and dark saddle across the base of the bill are conspicuous plumage highlights of a blue jay.

Thanks to Julie Zickefoose (she authored THIS BOOK about blue jays) for aging this jay as a hatch-year bird (born last spring/summer). Whatever all the factors that caused its excessively snowy plumage, it is a beauty. The jay has been coming in to the feeders intermittently today, usually in the company of several other jays. I hope he sticks around. I'll certainly try and help by keeping the jay smorgasbord going.

A melanistic fox squirrel

As always, click the photo to enlarge

Right time, right place. I happened to glance out the porch windows into the backyard this afternoon, and was stunned to see a huge black squirrel perched prominently 25 feet away. It was the only time all afternoon that I glanced out there. My first reaction was to grab my big telephoto, which I often leave set up on a tripod for emergency situations. Unfortunately, I had to shoot the beast through a window, but the images came out okay in spite of that.

While my initial thought was that the unusually pigmented animal was a melanistic gray squirrel, as soon as I looked closer I rethought that identification. This squirrel was noticeably larger and chunkier than several nearby gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), and through the lens I could see its interesting orangish cast, caused by underlying hairs. This orangish tint is especially apparent on the squirrel's belly, face, and eye ring.

It was a melanistic fox squirrel, Sciurus niger! I had heard of such a thing, but had never before clapped eyes on one. I've seen many melanistic gray squirrels, and have written about them HERE. Indeed, at my annual forays at NettieBay Lodge and vicinity in northern Michigan, this is the common form of gray squirrel. Here in Ohio, "black" grays are far less common, but there are numerous enclaves scattered about. Melanistic gray squirrels appear glossier and more uniformly black than does this one, with a less robust tail, head and neck, and a skinnier gestalt. A typical fox squirrel is a beautiful mammal, with a deeply orange pelage. HERE is a post about them from long ago.

Much has been written about melanism in Sciurus squirrels, at least the two eastern species, fox and gray. Here's an especially detailed and wonky paper should you wish to learn more - just CLICK HERE. Sometimes, populations or individuals of "white" gray squirrels occur, such as the famous white squirrels of Brevard, North Carolina (CLICK HERE for more). I made a special detour last year to see those squirrels, and will have to write about them sometime. I'm not sure if "white" fox squirrels occur regularly.

Anyway, today's oddity fox squirrel was especially odd to me, as I know of no population of variant color morphs of squirrels anywhere around here - Worthington, Ohio. I'm told there are some colonies of melanistic gray squirrels in and around Columbus, but I've not seen any. This was also the first fox squirrel in this yard, to my knowledge. This little slice of suburbia is full of typically colored gray squirrels, and I just posted a cute photo of one a few days ago, HERE. There is even a pair of eastern red squirrels, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, constantly tearing around here. But never one of the big, comparatively clumsy fox squirrels. And the first one turns out to be a real standout. I kept a close watch for the black/fox squirrel the rest of the afternoon, but did not see him again. I hope he becomes a regular.

NOTE: Regular color variants of an animal - such as this fox squirrel, gray squirrels, or rough-legged hawks, or snow geese - are correctly termed morphs, not phases. Morphs are stable, occur regularly, and do not change or shift color. If they are black, or white, they will remain black or white throughout their lives. Phase indicates a shift or change in development over time, such as in a phase of the moon. If squirrel variants did shift colors from black to orange in the course of their development, phase could be applied as a descriptor. However, they do not. I add this because I see the word phase so commonly misapplied :-)

Black-backed Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker - A Three-toed Woodpecker

Black-backed Woodpecker [Yvette Thibodeau Charette Photo]

The Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) is a native of New Brunswick.  It is an uncommon resident which breeds sparingly across the province mostly in the central and northern parts of the province.  It prefers coniferous forest, especially forests with plenty of dead or dying trees.  The photo above was taken on 5 January 2020 at Edmundston.  The woodpecker is feeding on insects found under the bark of a conifer, probably a spruce or a fir.  

The Black-backed Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker, about 24 cm/9 in long.  It is about the same size as our Hairy Woodpecker.  It is an uncommon woodpecker and seeing one makes a good day for a birder.  I have seen this species many times over the years and it is almost always in an area of dead trees, often an area where there are lots of tamaracks.  I hear a faint tapping among the trees and on listening carefully, I attempt to locate the source of the tapping.  Sometimes it will be a Black-backed.  It is a shy bird and not easily seen.  It will often continue feeding, usually placing the tree trunk between itself and the viewer.  It usually does not vocalize.  

Black-backed Woodpecker [Dorothy Chase Photo]

The photo above was taken on 6 January 2020 in the Ayers Lake area.  The individuals in each of the photos above are females.  The males have a conspicuous yellow patch on the forecrown.

The Black-backed Woodpecker has black upper parts.  Its head is black with a white malar patch which extends behind the eye.  It has barred flanks, a black tail with white outer tail feathers. The only other species one would need to distinguish this species from is the American Three-toed Woodpecker (see previous post on this blog).  The American Three-toed Woodpecker has a black-and-white barred back and a white line behind the eye.  

The Black-backed Woodpecker and the American Three-toed Woodpecker are the only three-toed woodpeckers in North America.  They have two forward-facing toes but just a single backward-facing toe.  Other woodpeckers have two toes in the back.  Both the Black-backed and the American Three-toed Woodpeckers share similar habitats.  They feed by flipping off large chunks of bark from dead and dying trees and feed on the insects and larvae underneath.  This leaves telltale evidence of their presence.  They are often found feeding in burnt-over forested areas or in areas devastated by insect damage.  The range of both species is similar; most of southern Canada including all of the Atlantic Canada and Quebec north to southern Labrador.  

The Black-backed Woodpecker's call is a sharp pik.  This species nests in holes in coniferous trees where it lays 2 to 6 white eggs which are incubated for 12 to 14 days.  The nest hole is often close to the ground but can be up to 4 m/15 ft high.  The young leave the nest after about 25 days. 

The diet of this species is mainly wood-boring beetles, grubs, weevils, ants and spiders.  They will also feed on berries, small fruits, acorns and nuts.  An interesting fact is that females have been shown to forage higher in the trees than males.  It is interesting to speculate why.  

The next time you are wandering around in the woods and you see softwood tree trunks with large patches of bark removed, there may be Black-backed Woodpeckers present.  Listen for their tap-tap and you just might be lucky enough to see one of our uncommon woodpeckers!