Animal Signs: Bronzed Cowbird

A Bronzed Cowbird rest on a road sign:

Bronzed Cowbird

Flora and Fauna of The Azure Gate Bed and Breakfast: Bronzed Cowbird

The Bronzed Cowbird is not a frequent visitor, but hangs around for several days when he does come:

Bronzed Cowbird

Continuing with Patagonia - II

Whenever I go to Patagonia, either Patagonia Lake, of TNC's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, I like to stop at the Roadside Rest Stop and at Patton's. On this last trip I stopped at Patton's where I got my first decent photograph of a male Blue Grosbeak. And, of course, there were a couple of Violet Crowned Hummingbirds that would come to the feeders every 15 or 20 minutes. (Patton's is the best place -- probably in the US -- to find the Violet Crowned, so it is a real treat.

Blue Grosbeak Male

Bronzed Cowbird

Violet Crowned Hummingbird (probably female)

Black Chinned Hummingbird Female

Birds of The Azure Gate: Part Two

Here are a few more of the birds occasionally found at The Azure Gate.

Black Tail Gnatcatcher

The Black Tail Gnatcatcher is a small (4.5 inch) gnatcatcher found primarily in the lower desert brush of extreme Southeastern California, Southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Southwest Texas. He's probably around more often than we realize. He just doesn't come near our buildings much. Although, he did nest close to one of our guest houses this year.

Western Wood Pewee

The Western Wood Pewee breeds during the summer months in much of Western States. Then they migrate to South America at the end of summer. The female lays two or three eggs in an open cup nest on a horizontal tree branch or within a tree cavity. We don't see them often, yet obviously have tall enough trees to make them feel welcome. Both parents feed the young. They wait on a perch at a middle height in a tree and fly out to catch insects passing by. (This as opposed to the more common desert flycatcher the Pyrrhuloxia that seems to prefer the very top of a tree to perch).

Bronzed Cowbird

The red iris gives the Bronzed Cowbird away. It is found primarily in Southern Arizona, New Mexico,  Texas, and south through Central America to Panama. The Bronzed Cowbird is a "brood parasite" as it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds -- when those nests also have eggs.  In this way the "host" feeds both its own young, plus the young Cowbirds.