California is home to an abundant selection of aquatic birds that provide entertainment and education for bird watchers and wildlife enthusiasts. Some migratory birds may also be visible throughout California during particular seasons.
Discover Bufflehead ducks throughout Florida lakes and ponds by their easily recognizable black heads and backs with white sides and chests, distinguishable by black feathering on their sides and chests.
Eared Grebe
Eared Grebes are common migrants during spring and summer migration, typically breeding on shallow ponds or lakes with herbaceous wetland vegetation. Migrants and winter migrants may also be seen along coastal bays or inland saline lakes feeding by diving underwater to collect crustaceans, molluscs, tadpoles or small fish as food items while surface fishing also helps.
This small and compact grebe stands out for its breeding plumage of black and chestnut with wispy golden plumes on its head. Adults in wintertime tend to look duller, with dark caps that blend in with darker cheeks and necks smudged in with dark feathers; at close range one may spot its bright red eye visible through its muzzle; similar in appearance to its counterpart Horned Grebe but distinguished by having narrower necks and more peaked heads than its cousin.
This bird rarely steps foot on land; any evidence of walking indicates illness, dirty plumages or improper thermoregulation. Although strong swimmers, grebes tend to prefer water over land when it comes to walking and landing on its feet. Males engage in elaborate courtship rituals during breeding season such as showing their heads while calling out calls and posturing for each other while engaging in elaborate courtship rituals and calling rituals with each other; like other grebes they lay their eggs on platforms of aquatic vegetation.
White-faced Ibis
White-faced Ibises are large wading birds that breed during spring. In their breeding plumage, these birds appear dark rusty cinnamon with flashes of bright iridescent green and pink on the wings, and feature set back eyes with characteristically “face”. Their long legs curved upward provide another distinctive feature. Often seen flocks.
White-faced Ibises of the Southeast are closely related to Glossy Ibises. Both species often overlap in range and habitat, making identification challenging. Non-breeding plumage and young birds may be hard to distinguish from Glossy Ibises; however, during breeding season their White-faced relatives show off an easily identifiable white face that differentiates it.
White-faced Ibises nest in marshes, freshwater ponds, rice paddies and flooded fields. They feed by submerging their heads in water or mud and probing with their bills – collecting insects or items floating to the surface from insects on plants above water’s surface; as well as picking food off plants above its surface. Though usually silent outside breeding colonies they do give various calls such as an “oink” sound or loud ka-onk call when communicating between individuals; other calls include guttural babbling calls between individuals as well.
Great Egret
Tall, slender heron that flies and wades in shallow waters to feed on fish, reptiles, crustaceans and amphibians. Nests may be found either near water in trees near water or on land among reeds or grass; chicks fed via regurgitation will begin flying by six weeks; both male and female defend their territories aggressively with aggressive calls that sound similar to “corr.”
This heron has an expansive home range and effective dispersal behavior, tolerating manmade feeding sites while maintaining broad habitat preferences; its diet however remains narrow, leaving it energy limited (Elphick 2000).
Breeding areas extend from Mexico to Florida and as far north in California. Their habitat includes ponds, lakes, rivers, estuaries, rice fields, marshes and marshes; nesting sites include trees or shrubs in order to prevent ground predators from accessing its eggs; these eggs incubate for 23 to 26 days before hatching out on their own. Male herons use Stretch Display – full neck extension, bill pointed skyward with back plumes erect and fanning out at full strength with legs folded slightly down before retracting it all back before slowly retracting all at once – male herons also use Twig Shaking call and Circle Flights when advertising their eggs on to their future offsprings!
Cattle Egret
The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is an abundant species found throughout tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate regions worldwide. As part of the Ardeidae heron family, this bird can be found both near shorelines as well as open ocean environments.
Cattle Egrets differ from Great and Snowy Egrets by having orange-buff plumage on their heads, chests, and backs during breeding season; their legs turn yellow while their bill becomes black. Their short necks and hunched posture add to their distinct appearance; this heron breeds in open habitats such as pastures, ploughed fields, and wetlands; feeding on insects, crustaceans, grasshoppers, frogs, snakes, fish as well as seabird nests and eggs!
Cattle Egrets are serially monogamous birds. Each year they mate, and remain together through to the end of breeding season. Nesting takes place near bodies of water; usually in groups composed of herons or ibises; sometimes colonies with ducks, cormorants, and gulls can also cohabit peacefully.
This heron is less common in California than its relative, the Great Egret, yet can still be seen throughout Sonoma County – particularly at Ninth Street Rookery in Santa Rosa. Migratory birds spend their winter in southern Atlantic and Gulf coast areas such as Florida or Caribbean Islands.
Northern Pintail
The Northern Pintail duck is an abundant and sought-after waterfowl species, nesting across Alaska, much of Canada and the northern prairie, known as “Prairie Pothole Region.” When nesting season arrives, female hens choose shallow scrapes in grassy areas concealed by long blades of grass which conceal deep ditches lined with downy feathers a long distance away from any body of water – creating the “Prairie Pothole Region”. Although protected under Migratory Bird Treaty Act guidelines, hunting does provide significant revenue boost to towns near these flyways – making hunting an important contributory revenue source to towns near these migration flyways.
Pintail ducks feed like other dabbling ducks by floating along the surface of the water and submerging their heads underwater to collect algae or plant roots, or “up-ending” (tilting up their tails) their bodies to reach aquatic plants like alkali and hardstem bulrush seeds, sago pondweed, smartweeds, widgeon grasses, insects etc. In winter their diet shifts further by including more grass and weed seeds along with cultivate grain fields like rice wheat barley and oats.
The Northern Pintail duck is a medium-sized species with a slim profile and long, narrow neck. Its gray wings feature black spots on their wings while its blue-gray bill has black spots blotched onto it; its tail is long and pointed – males typically being chocolate brown while females being buff or gray in coloration.
American Wigeon
These birds can be found throughout California near lakes, ponds, rivers, and marshes. They are strong swimmers and divers who feed on fish, crustaceans and aquatic plants – providing important sources of nutrition to ecosystems. Ducks, geese and swans often form effective foraging partnerships as they share much in common.
Orioles can frequently be seen in groups during breeding season when males compete aggressively to defend their territory. Their calls include three note whistles and hoarse grunts and quacks; their nests are built in fields and grasslands on dry ground using grasses, reeds, cattails and down feathers for construction.
Their habitat consists of coastal estuaries with stable water supplies and agricultural lands with variable precipitation patterns; as well as inland wetlands and agricultural lands which depend heavily on annual precipitation. As a result, they are vulnerable to human disturbance; for instance during our study at Bolinas Lagoon we observed over half of 29 focal observations were disturbed by humans! In order to protect their habitat we should reduce human-wildlife interactions and pollution as this will ensure these types of water birds flourishing here in California – they deserve our protection and admiration whether you are an avid birder (like me, who loves bird watching in between my games of online poker on any of the sites mentioned over https://centiment.io) or simply appreciating nature these birds make an amazing sight!
Double-crested Cormorant
As with other cormorants, this bird feeds mostly on fish. Diving underwater to catch its prey and bring larger ones up to the surface before devouring them, the long, hooked bill of this bird helps capture and hold onto them for later consumption.
Double-crested Cormorants nest in stick nests on trees, cliff edges or the ground on islands near water. As social creatures that often live in colonies, Double-crested Cormorants use deep guttural grunt calls to communicate. Their numbers declined due to DDT use during the 1960s but have increased again since.
This large waterbird is black with patches of orange-yellow skin on its face and neck. It has long necks with wings that droop low when flying; during flight it travels in large V-shaped flocks that shift and reform as individual birds alternate between bursts of choppy flapping with short glides.
Although similar in appearance, the Double-crested Cormorant stands out by its smaller head and shorter neck as well as orange-yellow skin around its bill and chin, thick hook bills approximately the length of its head, and orange-yellow skin surrounding its bill and chin. After diving, this bird spreads its wings out afterward to dry them because its feathers do not possess well-developed oil glands which could help ensure waterproof feathers.