Loggerhead Shrikes “Mate Feeding”

Five days ago I posted a series of images of a male Loggerhead Shrike feeding his mate (a ritual that is part of the pair bond between mated birds) and at the time I mentioned that I had photographed the same behavior the day before from the same birds. This is that sequence of images.

Continue reading

Northern Harrier Males – “Grey Ghosts”

The degree of sexual dimorphism (the condition in which males and females of a species are morphologically different) in Northern harriers is exceptional among birds of prey.  Many raptors are sexually dimorphic in size (see my “Great Horned Owls on the Farm” post) but Northern Harrier males and females are distinctly different in both size and color.    Adult female Northern Harrier This bird is a juvenile female, identified by the mostly solid rufous chest and dark eye.  The adult female would look much the same but with a streaked breast and a lighter colored eye.   By weight, females are about 50% heavier than males.  Both sexes have the distinctive white rump patch that is so difficult to photograph without blowing the whites.       Adult male Northern Harrier Adult males are gray above, much lighter below and have black wing tips.   And their bright yellow eyes are quite distinctive.       Adult male hunting Juvenile birds of both sexes resemble the female in plumage color so relatively few adult males are seen and photographed.  For this reason mature males have long been referred to as “Grey Ghosts”.       Perched adult male Whether perched or in flight many believe the adult male harrier to be one of the most beautiful raptors.    Adult male flying past Phragmites  Eye color in the males can vary from orange-yellow to lemon yellow.  At times they’re so bright that some folks after seeing my images have thought that I had increased their saturation for effect during image processing.  I hadn’t and I don’t.    …

Continue reading