Bird of the Day - American White Pelican

The bird of the day is the American white pelican.  I will occasionally see them on the Gunflint Trail, but they can be a lot more common in other parts of the state.  Last April, my family and I drove along the Mississippi from Onalaska, Wisconsin to the Twin Cities and saw many large flocks of these beautiful birds.  I took the included pictures on about April 14, 2019.

The spoon-shaped plate on top of the beak is only on the breeding adults.  According to the National Geographic Field Guide to Birds of North America, the plate is shed after the eggs are laid.

The American white pelican is a very large bird.  It is roughly 62 inches long, with a wingspan of 108 inches.  Put another way, it is 5 feet, 2 inches long, and has a wingspan of 9 feet!

Bird of the Day - Mallard

The mallard is one of the most widespread ducks in the world.  It has populations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.  The only continent in which it does not reside is Antarctica.

An interesting fact about mallards is that the males arrive with their bright colors in the spring, turn brown (like the females) for much of the summer, and have the bright feathers again when they depart on their migration in the autumn.  The reason for this is autumn is courtship season, and spring is mating season.  They don't need to have their bright feathers in the middle of the summer to attract a mate, and those fancy feathers take a lot more upkeep than the duller brown feathers.

Bird of the Day - Pied-billed Grebe

Grebes are a fascinating group of ancient diving birds.  The modern grebes are said to go back 40 million years, and their ancestors are thought to go back 80 million years.

The pied-billed grebe is one of the smaller grebes found in Minnesota.  I have seen it throughout the eastern half of the state.

Other species of grebe I have spotted in Minnesota include many sightings of the red-necked grebe, and one sighting of the horned grebe.

Bird of the Day - Wild Turkey

 The bird of the day for today was the runner up for the national bird of the United States.  Benjamin Franklin wanted to wild turkey instead of the bald eagle.

 When I was growing up in the Twin Cities, I never saw a wild turkey.  They were even rare in far southern Minnesota.  Through very successful reintroduction efforts (since 1971 according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources), the wild turkey has spread across the bottom 2/3 of Minnesota.  It is now a common bird.

The pictures of this wild turkey male were taken in the Twin Cities.  There was a female nearby which he was trying to impress with this display.

Bird of the Day - Ring-billed Gull

One of the most common gulls in Minnesota is the ring-billed gull.  It is smaller than the herring gull (Minnesota's other extremely common gull), and has a distinctive black ring around the bill and yellow feet.  In the Arrowhead region of Minnesota, you are more likely to see the ring-billed gull in the inland lakes, and the herring gull by Lake Superior.

Bird of the Day - Canada Goose

One of the most common types of geese in the upper-midwest and Great Lakes regions is the Canada goose.  It is a large goose who likes lakes, ponds, fields, and golf courses.

Interestingly enough, the plural of Canada goose is Canada geese (not Canadian geese).  The ornithologists did not talk to the grammar experts before putting out the common name of this bird.

A great Canada goose movie is called Fly Away Home.  It is an inspirational birding movie where a father and daughter lead a flock of Canada geese from Ontario to the south-eastern United States with ultralight planes.  It's based off of real life experiments in which whooping cranes were led on their first migration with ultralights.

Bird of the Day - American Robin

One of the great symbols of spring is the American Robin.  This beautiful bird is a member of the thrush family, which includes such birds as: the veery, hermit thrush, wood thrush, and Swainson's thrush.

The American robin is named after the European robin.  They both have darker backs with red-orange breasts, but are not actually related to each other.  The European robin is smaller, and the red-orange color extends to the bottom of their faces.  Interestingly enough, the American robin is related to the European blackbird, and the European robin is related to the American blackbird.