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Field
Guide IDs: BREEDING:
Open fields with
scattered trees, open woodland, scrub. 2, occ 3
broods in s. DISPLAYS:
Courtship: male
feeds female and performs flight display back and
forth about 20' from female. Mock pursuits occur
also. NEST:
Usu hidden below
crown in crotch or on large branch, occ in vine
tangle; bulky, well made of twigs, forbs, bark
strips woven together, lined with fine
materials. EGGS:
Grayish-buff,
marked with gray, browns, black, often near large
end. 1.0" (24 mm). DIET:
Mostly large
insects, esp in w; includes esp birds, mice,
lizards. CONSERVATION:
Winters s to c
Mexico. Blue List 1972-86; declining everywhere,
esp in c U.S.; San Clemente (CA) subspecies
Endangered. Habitat loss and pesticides (esp in c
portion of range) implicated in decline. NOTES:
Often sits immobile
for long periods watching for prey (vision is
excellent). Lacking the talons of raptors, it stuns
or kills flying birds with a blow from its powerful
beak; often caches prey by impaling on plant spine
or barbed wire -- leading to the common name
"butcher bird." Strong male fidelity to breeding
territory. Nests earlier than most passerines. Male
feeds incubating female, occ from his food cache;
occ most of food fed by female to nestlings comes
from male caches. Young fed 3-4 weeks postfledging.
Sexes hold separate territories in nonbreeding
season. Occasional visitor
to the Dish and Lagunita, especially from fall
through spring. Forages on arthropods and small
vertebrates in open areas. Ostensibly suitable
breeding habitat present, but not known to nest on
campus currently. ESSAYS: REFERENCES:
Applegate, 1977;
Bohall-Wood, 1987; Fraser and Luukkonen, 1986;
Morrison, 1980; Smith, 1973. |
