- Mary K. Hanson
- Posted On
Tuleyome Tales: Wintering birds – coming to a wetlands near you!
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Central Valley, from Red Bluff through Bakersfield, is part of the 4,000-mile Pacific Flyway, the route taken by migrating birds from Alaska to Patagonia (at the southern end of South America).
This time of year our local region gets visited by a huge influx of Aleutian Geese, snow geese, white fronted geese, and bufflehead and northern pintails ducks, to name just a few, so this is the best time to grab your cameras and head out to your local wetlands areas.
The Pacific Flyway contains 60 percent of the habitat critical to wintering waterfowl in the region – and our area is ranked No. 2 on the list of the 25 most important and threatened waterfowl habitats in the entire continent.
So, being able to see these magnificent birds is a real treat and everyone should take advantage of the opportunity to see them.
Other migratory birds seen around this time of year include the American Wigeon, cinnamon teal ducks, canvasback ducks, and the American Coot.
Keep in mind, too, that the Berryessa Snow Mountain region is home to the second largest wintering population of bald eagles in the country.
Snow geese (Chen caerulescens) are sometimes also referred to as “blue geese” because there are two color morphs: the all-white version, and a blue-gray version.
It is the white morph that is most common in this region. They’re easily identifiable: an all-white body and wings with black wing tips. They also have rosy feet and legs, and pink bills with black tomia (the cutting edges of the bill).
Snow geese fly, eat and nest in large gatherings, and their numbers are on the rise (increasing about 5 percent each year according to some studies). They like to forage on fall grain – including wheat and rice – when they can find it.
The white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is another species of goose that winters here in our area in large numbers.
Unlike the white snow goose, the white-fronted goose is grayish brown with a speckled chest and a patch of light (usually white) feathers that borders the base of its bills.
They have bright orange legs and feet, and their bills are orange as well. White-fronted geese populations are affected greatly by weather conditions in their Arctic nesting areas.
If it stays cold for too long, or there’s a sudden spring snow storm, the hatcheries can suffer great losses. Still, in 2010 their populations numbered between 600,000 and 700,000 individuals. These geese prefer a diet of grains, seeds, grasses and berries.
Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola) are small sea ducks with golden-yellow eyes. Females are gray are a white patch behind the eye, but the males are especially striking: black and white overall with a shiny iridescent purple and green head and large white blotch behind the eyes. When they puff out their head feathers, their “buffalo”-like heads take on a very distinct oddly bulbous shape.
Oddly enough, too, buffleheads evolved over time into their smaller size so they could fit into their favorite nesting cavities: the nesting holes made by northern flickers.
In ecological circles this ability to benefit from a host without affecting the host is called a “metabiotic” relationship. Buffleheads are “diving” ducks, and usually forage on whatever insects, aquatic plants and fish eggs they can find.
The pintail (Anas acuta) is a species of duck with a very large range (including Europe, Asia and the United States). These ducks are larger than the buffleheads, but like the male buffleheads the male pintails are very handsome.
Their chocolate-colored heads have a bright white strip running down them from the back of the head to the chest, and the male’s central tail feathers are especially elongated (giving rise to its name “pintail”).
The male pintails also whistle – which is almost flute-like – while the drab-colored females have a harsh quack. Both males and females have gray legs and feet, and their bills are blue-gray. Like all dabbling ducks, pintails feed on plants and invertebrates in the water.
You can see many of these birds at your local wetland/wildlife preserves including the Cache Creek Nature Preserve, the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, the Sacramento National Wildlife Preserve and the Cosumnes River Preserve.
Bring your binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras and take lots of photos while the migration season lasts.
Tuleyome Tales is a monthly publication of Tuleyome, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Woodland and Napa, Calif. For more information about Tuleyome go to www.tuleyome.org . Mary K. Hanson is an amateur naturalist and photographer and author of The Chubby Woman’s Walkabout blog.