Diario del proyecto Rouge National Urban Park - Birds

The Pileated Woodpecker. Everbody’s favourite Woodpecker!
This of course is Canada’s largest woodpecker measuring between 16 and 19 inches in length. Usually heard before seen. Either drumming away at a tree where it excavates its large trademark rectangular hole in search of ants, beetle larvae and other insects. Else reminiscent of Woody Woodpecker the cartoon character loudly calling its laugh-like Cuk-Cuk-Cuk-Cuk for all to hear.

This months sighting by @kellysteele . With its bright red crest contrasting against its white neck and black body and with the Autumn colours of the forest serving as a backdrop, this made for October’s sighting of the month. Pictured here is the male with the identifying red cheek stripe.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.



Dryocopus pileatus - male , photo credit @kellysteele

Close by @kellysteele also observed the female Pileated Woodpecker of the pair (No red cheek stripe).

Dryocopus pileatus - female , photo credit @kellysteele

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Rouge National Urban Park -Birds (members) @juliaphillips @bam_lee @brithikesontario @galloots13 @kkachurina @marymakc @firebreathingcookie @allthingsnature @gary-james @tswabey @marlene-d @

Wilson’s Phalarope a relative of the Scolopacidae family (Sandpipers and Allies). These waders breed primarily in shallow prairie lakes, marshes and mudflats on the plains of Western Canada. Records of smaller isolated individuals have been documented in Ontario. Wilson’s Phalaropes are long distance migrants spending their winters on Salt lakes and ponds in the Andes as well as marshes and wetlands in southern South America. Phalaropes are sometimes observed swimming/spinning in circles creating a whirlpool effect that brings small insects and invertebrates to the surface to feed upon.

This months sighting by @pinemartyn . With its needle like bill this Phalarope was seen foraging in the marsh on it’s own.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.

Phalaropus tricolor , photo credit @pinemartyn

It’s not yet Fall but the migration back down south has already begun. Many shorebirds including the Lesser Yellowlegs spend their summer breeding season in the Boreal forest region of North America. They are typically seen in Southern Ontario on their way back down to the Gulf coast, Central America and South America where they will overwinter.

Slightly smaller and with a shorter straighter bill then its larger lookalike the Greater Yellowlegs. The Greater Yellowlegs bill is slightly upturned and is sometimes slightly lighter in colour at the base. Typically the Lesser Yellowlegs bill is the same length as its head whereas the Greater Yellowlegs bill can be one and a half times as long as its head, but length can vary.

This month’s sighting is of a Lesser Yellowlegs by @marlene-d. This individual is seen on it’s lanky yellow legs wading through the Water lilies, stirring the waters about with it’s long bill in search of various insects, bugs, flies and small crustaceans.

Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this shorebird was observed.

Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes , photo credit @marlene-d

Out and about this month in the Rouge Park this Blue Jay calling from above caught the attention of @pinemartyn.
The feathers of birds wear out over time and need to be gradually replaced. In the case of Blue Jays they sometimes drop (molt) all their capital head feathers at the same time in which they go through a bald phase lasting for a week or two.

Click on photos to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.


Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata , photo credit @pinemartyn

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The Pied-billed Grebe, One of three Grebes that breed in Ontario. Usually found in quieter marshes , bays, small ponds and even sewage lagoons. The Grebe patrols these still waters in search for its varied diet of crustaceans, small fish, frogs and insects.
Able to control their buoyancy by trapping and releasing air between their feathers, Grebes sometimes swim about stealthily with only their head above the water resembling a submarine with periscope in the up position.

This months sighting by @gary-james .Sporting his namesake pied-billed (having two or more colours) beak this Grebe paddles quietly along the calm pond waters.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.

Podilymbus podiceps , photo credit @gary-james

Considered at one time to be it’s own species, DNA testing now shows that the Lawrence’s Warbler is a hybrid between the Golden-winged Warbler and the Blue-winged Warbler. The offspring of these two species can sometimes take on two different looking hybrid forms depending on the genes that are passed on.

When the recessive genes for a black throat and overall yellowish plumage are passed on you get the rarer Lawrence’s Warbler hybrid.
When the more dominant genes are passed on you get the more common Brewster’s Warbler hybrid which lacks the black throat and is lighter in colour overall.

This months observation by @pinemartyn is of the Lawrence’s Warbler hybrid (Golden-winged × Blue-winged Warbler) with it’s black throat and mask and overall yellow plumage.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.

Vermivora chrysoptera × cyanoptera , photo credit @pinemartyn

May brought with it a flourish of bird activity in the Rouge National Urban Park. Birds were busy building nests and at the same time fattening up on emerging insects. Birders were out looking and listening for Spring Warblers. In the park 15 different species of Warblers were observed this month. Among them, Canada, Mourning, Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided Warblers. As usual the Yellow Warbler was the most frequently observed.

May Warbler numbers:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-05-01&d2=2023-05-31&place_id=any&project_id=rouge-national-urban-park-birds&taxon_id=71349&verifiable=any&view=species

But this months sighting is not of a Warbler but of the secretive Cuckoo. In Ontario we have 2 different species of breeding Cuckoos, the Black-billed and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Woodland edges and thickets are their preferred habitat. Here they hop about small trees and shrubs looking for caterpillars (often tent caterpillars) and grasshoppers which is the main staple of their diet. Spongy moths which we have plenty of in the park are also thought to make up a portion of their food supply.
If you’re wondering why they are called Cuckoo birds it is from the sound they call out. But it is the Common Cuckoo found in Europe that makes the namesake “cuckoo -cuckoo” sound. All other species in the Cuckoo family including the Black-billed Cuckoo have different but loud vocal calls.

This months sighting by @kalvinchan . A Black-billed Cuckoo with bright red eye-ring and long tail perches in a Black-walnut tree.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this Cuckoo was seen.

Coccyzus erythropthalmus , photo credit @kalvinchan

Spring is now well under way in the Rouge National Urban Park. As the temperatures slowly rise so do the number of bird species seen in the park. This month 76 species of birds were observed and documented in the park on Inaturalist compared to only 54 last month.

This month’s sighting is of an early returning Great Egret by @pinemartyn . Our second largest of the Ardeidae (Herons, Egrets and Bitterns) family in Ontario. Only the Great Blue Heron being larger. Dressed in white with an S shaped neck the Egret appears a stately regal figure. During breeding season its facial skin has turned from yellow to a brilliant green. It has also grown in its long wispy trailing feathers that are spread out during courtship displays.

Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this Egret was seen.

Great Egret Ardea alba , photo credit @pinemartyn

Bird with the heartiest appetite this month is of a Turkey Vulture spotted by @galloots13 . This ravenous scavenger was seen dining on a meal of what looks like raccoon.

Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this Vulture was seen.


Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura , photo credit @galloots13

To many avid birders Spring means WARBLERS! And on schedule @firebreathingcookie was the first Inaturalist user to observe a returning Warbler to the Park on April 17, 2023.
Black, grey and white with yellow patches on its cap, sides and rump. This Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler can almost blend into the yellow flowers of the Forsythia shrub it has alighted upon.

Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this warbler was seen.


Yellow-Rumped Warbler Setophaga coronata , photo credit @firebreathingcookie

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The last few days of March started a “Wild Goose Chase” for many in the birding community. Rarely seen in North America a Pink-footed Goose was first spotted in the Duffins Creek Corner Marsh in Pickering on March 30th. At some time the next day it was seen feeding in one of the many agricultural fields within the Rouge National Urban Park. Many birders were out and about hoping to get a sighting of this goose, a lifer (first time sighting) for many.

The Pink-footed Goose makes Greenland and Iceland its summer breeding grounds. It typically spends its winters in Northern Europe but occasionally has turned up in Eastern North America.

This months sighting by @adam_capparelli . After spending some time feeding in an agricultural field within the Rouge National Urban Park this Pink-footed Goose (middle) took flight with a group of Canada Geese. Eventually they returned to nearby Reesor pond where they spent the night.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this goose was seen.

Anser brachyrhynchus , photo credit @adam_capparelli

While the interior of Rouge National Urban Park appeared fairly quiet in February, the action this month was taking place at the mouth of the Rouge River where it empties into Lake Ontario.
Here at the most southern end of the Park among the many Mallards, Trumpeter Swans and small groups of Bufflehead and Goldeneyes were a few notable dabbling ducks that flew in for a short stay. Unlike diving ducks, dabbling ducks feed just beneath the surface by tipping up headfirst, butt held high as they forage for aquatic plants, pondweeds, algae and hunt for crustaceans and insects. Alternatively they may feed by stretching out the neck while padddling about skimming the water surface.

This month’s sighting is of a pair of Northern Pintail ducks by @firebreathingcookie . The male and female pair have been lingering about the lower river and marsh area for a few weeks and have been seen by birders and passerbys alike. An elegant looking male sporting a white slash running down his neck (Left), while his female partner is seen (Right).

Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park these ducks were seen.

Northern Pintail Anas acura , photos (L & R) credit @firebreathingcookie

Another dabbling duck seen in the vicinity is runner-up for sighting of the month, a male American Wigeon observed by @pinemartyn
Both species of ducks are most commonly seen during migration periods in our area.

Click on photos to see full observation details including when and where in the park these ducks were seen.


American Widgeon Mareca americana , photo credit @pinemartyn

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The American Kestrel, Ontario’s smallest falcon. They are usually observed perched upon phone lines/poles near open fields where they scope out their prey of mice, voles, beetles, dragonflies, butterflies, frogs, grasshoppers and smaller birds. Their occasional appetite for sparrows as part of their diet is thought possible reason this bird was previously called the Sparrow Hawk. While out hunting they need also stay vigilant as not to become prey themselves to larger birds such as the Red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks found in the same habitat.

This months sighting by @galloots13 . A colourful male Kestrel identified by the slate blue head and wings that offset his copper coloured back.
Click on photo to see full observation details including when and where in the park this bird was seen.

Falco sparverius , photo credit @galloots13