THIS WEEK’S THEME: LIFE ON THE TRUNK
Five encounters from a morning spent photograpFive birds from five different families that have each evolved a remarkably similar way of searching tree trunks for food.hing the birds visiting my sister’s backyard feeding station in Fairfield Bay, Arkansas.
Scientific names
Mniotilta varia
Taxonomic groups
Parulidae — New World Warblers
Click photograph to view full size
A photograph is worth a thousand words, but the story makes it worth a few more.
BACKSTORY
I had flown to Florida to visit my son and grandchildren near Miami, and the grandkids wanted to take me birding at one of their favorite nearby spots. We visited the beach and, on the way back, stopped at Green Cay Wetlands to see if we could spot an alligator.
As we walked toward a likely-looking spot in the marsh, I noticed a small bird climbing headfirst down the trunk of a tree. My mind immediately started running through the nuthatches that might occur there—and I came up blank. It certainly acted like a nuthatch, but it didn’t look like one.
Then it circled around the trunk and came back into view. This time I could clearly see the bold black-and-white pattern across its head and body. My mystery “nuthatch” wasn’t a nuthatch at all. It was a Black-and-white Warbler, behaving exactly the way this unusual little warbler is famous for behaving.
IMAGE DETAILS
LOCATION INFORMATION: Green Cay Wetlands, Florida · January 9, 2019
EQUIPMENT INFORMATION: Canon EOS 70D · Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
SETTINGS INFORMATION: 400mm · ƒ/5.6 · 1/500 sec · ISO 1250