Nongame Bird Blog

On the final day of May 2015, I decided to do a little morning birding in eastern portions of the Rainwater Basin before picking up some mulch I needed to finish yet another yard project.  The weather was too nice not to get out for a while even though the frenzy and possibility of spring migration had waned.  The outing was an opportunity to search for leftover migrant shorebirds and also lingering waterbirds.  The latter is of interest because some of these birds …

It is time to commence the “name-the-chick” contest.  Once again, we look forward to a spirited contest with numerous imaginative entries.  Previous winning names can be viewed here.  Rules and important information are as follows: There is one male Peregrine Falcon chick. The period to submit names is 29 May June to 10:00 a.m. CDT 11 June. From all the entries, finalists will be selected and the public will be allowed to vote on their favorite.  Voting will end 19 June and the …

As you may already know, the Peregrine Falcon eyas, who we now know is a male, was banded and given a check-up today by staff from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery.  You may have already seen some video and photos on NGPC’s Twitter page.  Below are a few more photos from this morning’s event. We will be having a “Name-the-chick” contest and details will be coming soon.  All is well on the 18th Floor of the …

We were fortunate again this late spring to make the trek up to the Woodmen Building to band the Peregrine Falcon eyases in Omaha.  As usual, we partnered with personnel from Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery along with our friends from Woodmen of the World.  Below are a few photos from the event.  If you are curious about number of males and females and other juicy details, please visit the Woodmen’s Peregrine Falcon site. Good birding! Many thanks to Barb Miller, Nicole Steier …

If you been checking in on our American Kestrels you already know they had a successful nesting season.  The adult kestrels appear to have successfully fledged two female and two male young kestrels over the weekend, although one male remains in the nest box.  Hopefully, he takes his first flight soon and leaves his wooden prison (note: about 30 minutes after publishing this blog post, he bolted).  What came as a surprise over the weekend is the adults seem as though …

First off, there is the need to acknowledge it is all but certain only one egg out of the original four is going to hatch this year.  This outcome is a little bit of a surprise, but it does mean the parents can direct all their attention on the single eyas.  Let’s hope for good things.  The youngster is still only a few days old so it certainly needs a lot of care and attention from its parents.  If one of the …

Updated @ 2:16 p.m. One Peregrine Falcon egg hatched at the Capitol on Sunday, as expected.  This can be seen in the screenshots provided below. As of mid-morning on Monday, only one egg of the three eggs has hatched.   You may also noticed one of the eggs disappeared (there were originally four eggs, but for the past week there has only been three eggs).  It is unknown what happened to the missing egg. Update (1:35 p.m.):  It appears that …

The Black-bellied Whistling Duck is a stunning species of waterfowl that typical occurs south of Nebraska, primarily south Texas.  However, this species is increasing and expanding its range.  Nebraska has not been immune or untouched from this expansion, not that we would want to be.  In 1989, Nebraska claimed its first documented record of this species when a single bird was shot in Clay County.  Sightings have increased since 1989 and during the past decade this species has occurred almost …

It has been about a month since the Peregrine Falcons laid their eggs at Nebraska’s Capitol building.  This means it is time to officially issue the hatch watch for 2015.  A Hatch Watch means conditions are favorable for egg hatching to develop over the next several days.  Since it has been about 30 days, hatching might be expected to commence late this week or over the weekend. If eggs do indeed start hatching, you do not need to take shelter …

Over the last few days, millions of individuals have invaded our state.  If you’ve been outside recently, perhaps you’ve noticed it.  In fact, it may have been difficult to miss.  Since this blog is about birds and birding, you probably have guessed I am referring to birds.   Spring migration commenced all the way back in late February when waterfowl, Sandhill Cranes and Bald Eagles began moving into the state and it slowly gained momentum through March and April.  However, May …