#birds of wisconsin

[uwmspeccoll]

A Crow-Attack Winter’s Feathursday

On this last #Feathursday of 2022 we present a scene of winter conflict with American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) mobbing a predator Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) from the 1963 book Birds of Wisconsin by the Wisconsin nature artist Owen J. Gromme (1896-1991), published for the Milwaukee Public Museum, where Gromme was curator of birds and mammals, by the University of Wisconsin Press. The original painting is oil on canvas from 1956 and measures 24″ by 30″. Gromme writes:

The familiar feud between owls and crows is portrayed in this study of a Great Horned Owl and it assailants. Powerful and well armed though it may be, many a battered and befuddled owl has been temporarily bested by these persistent tormentors, until nightfall reverses the advantage.

He goes on to state that hunters often take advantage of this natural enmity and use owl decoys to lure crows to their death. Gromme states: “Sometimes hundreds of crows are shot in a few hours by the use of such a decoy.”

Why anyone would want to slaughter hundreds of these majestic animals is beyond our comprehension. Appalling!!

Read more about Gromme and his book.

View more posts from Gromme’s Birds of Wisconsin.

View more Feathursday posts.

[zfotos]

a special encounter I had with a saw-whet owl

[jackpinebarrens]

[julesofnature]

In short, all good things are wild and free.

—from "Walking", by Henry David Thoreau

[microcosmicobservations]

When I was growing up, pelicans simply were not a thing in Wisconsin, then about a decade ago I started seeing them on the waterways when visiting family in the Fox Valley. It was surprising but not THAT weird since a lot of different bird species migrate through. Yesterday I saw this flock of pelicans in the wetlands near my home in the Madison area (and filmed them from my car because it was at the side of a busy highway). So cool!

[geeklywhimsical]

State Griffin: Wisconsin!

Robin (State Bird) + Badger (State Animal)

[driftlessdreams]

Newly hatched mourning dove!

[great-and-small]

What would you say for a better Wisconsin state bird? I lean towards a crane, seeing as how we have the ICF and are the home of one of two remaining (well, reintroduced!) whooping crane migratory breeding groups? But I might be missing other super cool birds we have! (the Sandhill Crane is also cool, but has a much wider range so *shrug*)

Ahhh a fellow craniac I see. Someone absolutely needs to have a crane as state bird, and Wisconsin would be a great selection. The Herculean efforts to re-establish historic whooping crane populations in WI would make this bird a good pick for the state in my opinion. I’ve also seen people pitch rose-breasted grosbeak, as more of them breed in Wisconsin than any other state.

[autumnmylife]

Ducks in Wisconsin

[geoffreyjayphotography]

"Battle Torn"

TAKEN WITH:

Sony a6000

Sony E 70-350mm G

[patiiences]

[uwmspeccoll]

A Pileated Feathursday

If you spend an amount of time in Wisconsin’s Northwoods or Driftless Area, you are bound to spot one of these giant beauties whacking away at a tree. The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America at about 16 to 19 inches, with a wingspan that can be almost 30 inches across. While most other woodpeckers make a rapid tapping sound when at work, these brawny lumberjacks, with their bright-red Mohawks and their mighty beaks, make a slower, deeply resonant drumming that sounds like an avian construction site. While carving out nests in dead trees, Pileateds have been known to break small trees in half!

This image is from a  painting by Wisconsin ornithologist, conservationist, and nature artist Owen J. Gromme (1896-1991) reproduced in his outstanding 1963 book Birds of Wisconsin published for the Milwaukee Public Museum, where Gromme was curator of birds and mammals, by the University of Wisconsin Press. Our staff get a little chuckle from this painting because it looks like one woodpecker is trying to explain something to the other who is listening in rapt attention.

Read more about Gromme and his book.

View more posts from Gromme’s Birds of Wisconsin.

View more Feathursday posts.

[zfotos]

the morning sunlight kissed this beautiful barred owl goodnight

[jackpinebarrens]

13 weeks, first bird.

[julesofnature]

If you were a bird, and lived on high, You’d lean on the wind when the wind came by, You’d say to the wind when it took you away: 'That’s where I wanted to go today.'

~A.A. Milne

[arcticarthropod]

Duck couple!