A2Z – Birds – Plover

Featured Photo by Kathy Buscher Physical Description: A medium-sized shorebird, the plover measures approximately 10 inches in length, with a wingspan of 22 inches and a weight of about 5.5 ounces. Plumage is speckled gold and brown on the back, with a black chest and belly, and a white rump. The plover’s face is black…

A2Z- Birds – Oriole

Featured Photo of the Baltimore Oriole by David Mark Physical Description: Orioles have black, yellow, and orange plumage; the female is duller than the male. The bird measures approximately 7 to 9 inches long, has a wingspan of approximately 10 inches, and a weight of 1 ¼ ounces. The oriole has a long slender beak…

A2Z – Birds – Nuthatch

Featured Image of White Breasted Nuthatch by Nick Saunders Physical Description: The nuthatch is a small, stocky bird with a white face, a buff or rusty breast, bluish-grey back, dark crown, and flashes across its eyes, and ark feathers in the wings. The tail and neck are short and the head is comparatively large with…

A2Z 2021 – Birds – Lark

Featured Photo by Dimitris Vetsikas Physical Description: The horned lark is a small brown bird with a buff chest, a black mask, and a black patch surrounded by pale yellow on its throat. This bird has two small feather crests on either side of the top of its head, giving rise to its name. Larks…

A2Z 2021 – Birds – Kingfisher

Image by Timo Schlüter from Pixabay Physical Description: A small bird with a long pointed beak, the belted kingfisher has a slate-blue head with a crest, a slate-blue back, a white front, and a white collar around its neck. The female has additional rust-colored markings along her chest and sides and is more brightly colored…

A2Z 2021 – Birds – Juan Fernandez Firecrown

Featured Photo by Héctor Gutiérrez Guzmán  Physical Description: The male is 11.5–12 cm long and weighs 10.9 g. Its color is mostly cinnamon orange, excepting dark grey wings, black bill, and iridescent gold crown. The female is 10 cm long and weighs 6.8 g. Its underparts are white with a dappling of very small green and black…

A2Z 2021 – Birds – Ibis

Image by ❤️A life without animals is not worth living❤️ from Pixabay Physical Description: The ibis is a wading bird with a long narrow neck and head, and a downward-curving thick beak measuring an average of 26 inches long. The ibis shares visual similarities with the heron, but the ibis’s beak is curved, whereas the…

A2Z 2021- Birds – Albatross

Featured Photo by Craig K. Lorenz Physical description: The albatross has a long, straight bill with a hook on the end with two tubes along it, one on each side, to allow the bird to expel seawater taken in with food. Its plumage ranges from browns to whites. The black-footed albatross measures approximately 27 inches…