Naturalists in the 1800’s reported red-cockaded woodpeckers as very abundant throughout their range. Between 1970 and 2014, the red-cockaded woodpecker declined in numbers by 81% based on Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Count information.
Pinyon jays have an excellent spatial memory, likely because they are dependent on pinyon pine seeds for winter survival and an early breeding season. They cache seeds in leaf/needle litter and tree crevices and can find them later in the season without any apparent clues to the human eye. An individual bird can store around 2,600 seeds in the fall, while a flock of 250 birds can store up to 4.5 million seeds! Pinyon jays can also carry up to 40 seeds at a time in their throat to help them cache more seeds for the winter.
Birds can typically be identified by their song, but lazuli buntings make this a tad tricky. When young males arrive on their breeding grounds, they create their own unique song, which is a rearrangement of notes and syllables from other male lazuli buntings’ songs. They then sing their unique song every subsequent breeding season.
The golden-cheeked warbler is the only bird to breed in Texas exclusively. Males will return to the same nesting territory year after year and will often breed with the same partner in subsequent years.
Be cautious handling Couch’s spadefoot toads as they have a skin secretion that can cause allergic reactions in some people. Reactions to secretions can make cuts and scratches painful, as well as result in sneezing, running nose, and watery eyes.
Breeding territories vary in size and shape, but sagebrush sparrows can maintain some of the largest territories known for any sparrow species. Where sagebrush sparrows are uncommon, their territories can increase in size without limit. Also, the sagebrush sparrow has been split and lumped with Bell’s sparrow, but was recently split again as a separate species. Bell’s sparrow is found in California, southern Nevada, and Baja California.
Northern bobwhites have a high annual mortality rate and short life spans. When weather and habitat conditions permit, however, they can compensate for this high mortality with increased chick production. An adult pair can successfully produce two or more broods (≥25 offspring) during a single breeding season.
During the breeding season, scissor-tailed flycatchers live on their own or with a mate. However, before migrating south for the winter, scissor-tailed flycatchers often gather in large groups to rest (or roost). These flocks may contain a hundred or even a thousand individuals. The birds will also gather in large flocks on their wintering grounds, but they leave the flock to feed on their own or in pairs. They very rarely feed within the large flock.
Until the early 1900s, gray flycatchers were believed to breed only in northern Mexico and then wander north in the U.S. in the fall. After discovering new information about gray flycatchers, such as their distinct downward tail wag, ecologists were better able to distinguish the species in the field from other similar-looking flycatchers and document its breeding range.
Willow flycatchers closely resemble alder flycatchers, which also breed in wet, shrubby habitats further north. The two species are mainly identified in the field by their different songs. Until 1973, these two birds were considered the same species, Traill’s flycatcher, the scientific name for willow flycatcher.
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