#17: Fulvous Whistling Duck

I learned a new word today, which I had to look up in the dictionary after I drew this one out of the Bird Jar: Fulvous, meaning a brownish-yellow, or tawny color. I guess that word (which I swear I have never heard before, even in the art world) pretty aptly describes this ducky that we haven't seen in a few years since first spotting it in a park in Scottsdale in January 2007. My Smithsonian bird book calls this one of the most widely distributed waterfowl in the world, but we sure don't get many here in central Arizona. As I recall, Randy and I made a special trip to see this duck, along with some rare geese which had stopped by on their migration. That was a fun day, I think on that one day we added something like 5 new birds to our list, which is big for us!

At any rate, here is the Fulvous Whistling Duck. I just love it when Randy scores a photo of birds cocking their heads at us like this:

#16: Western Kingbird

I cheated on this one, and did not draw the Western Kingbird out of my jar. Instead, I drew it as a tribute to the "Mystery Bird" that has been waking us up every night at 4am for the past week or so with an incredible, LOUD morning song. I mean, this song is SOOOO loud, it is truly remarkable. We had no idea what it was: an owl? a love-sick Grackle? So, the other morning, Randy got the camera out and took an audio clip of it, and posted it to his Birding Listserv. (You can listen to it here). Within minutes, we got a half-dozen responses back: Western Kingbird! Apparently, these guys have "morning songs" that sound like a dog's incessant squeaky toy, much different from the songs and calls they make during the day, the sounds we recognize as Western Kingbirds. Who knew? Apparently alot of people!

Anyway, my sincere thanks to the Listserve folks for solving our mystery. Western Kingbirds usually nest around our neighborhood in the spring. They arrived this year right around April 11th. They usually stick around through most of the summer, and we love watching these nimble yellow-and-gray birds float up into the sky from atop a tree branch to catch a bug, then flutter back into place. They are gorgeous birds. And, apparently, with alot on their mind at 4am. But it's nice to have them around, so I'm not going to complain, we are just going to keep our window shut at night!

#15: Marbled Godwit

For today, here is a relatively new bird on our list - we ID'd these on the beach at Carlsbad, CA, over our New Year's vacation.



I know absolutely zilch about the Godwits. But I admired this bird's long, slender beak with the dark tips. He seemed so elegant, strolling along the beach, poking about in the sand.

I drew this tonight with sepia colored pencil on vellum paper.

#14 Hermit Thrush

I don't even know what to say, it's been so long.

Thanks Mike for the kick in the pants.

Hermit Thrush. There is a very cool Native American tale about how this bird got the most beautiful song amongst all the birds on the earth, but because he cheated when he found it, he was ashamed and hid from the world in the underbrush of the trees. You can read it here.

I guess they still feel alot of guilt about it, because I don't know that I have ever really heard this bird make so much as a peep, it is so quiet, usually scratching stealthily in the brush underneath the trees, or sometimes sitting quietly on a branch overheard, waiting for us to move on.

One time, Randy asked me what bird I would be. Being a guy, he naturally said he'd be a hawk. Me, I think I am a Hermit Thrush.