Spicing Up a Winter Day
- eaglesandowls816
- Jan 19
- 2 min read
We've finally settled into what feels like winter, or at least this week's brief visit from old man winter. Fluctuating temperatures have led some plants to think it's spring, including some bluebonnets emerging at Washington on the Brazos Historic Site. The vibrant colors of spring wildflowers and summer blooms have been replaced by crisp browns in various shades. While driving locally to observe wildlife, we encountered some colorful highlights. Our first major discovery was the rare Ferruginous Hawk, Buteo regalis. Known as the "king of hawks," this bird was basking in the bright sunshine along a quiet country road. We've seen this hawk several times this winter, and it's always exciting to spot. It boasts regal orange and red hues and is the largest and most colorful of the buteo hawks—a truly majestic sight outside its usual western range.
The next surprise was a Couch's Kingbird, Tyrannus couchii. This bright yellow and green insectivore is named after Lieutenant Darius Nash Couch. Couch was a naturalist and Civil War soldier. Before the war began, he made an expedition to Mexico and became quite a good birder. However, on shooting a bird for collection and hearing the cry of its mate, he resolved to "desist from making further collections in natural history." Even though this bird was first described in the late 1850's it was not given full species status until 1980. For all those years in between, it was believed to be a subspecies of the Tropical Kingbird.
Shortly before spotting the Couch's Kingbird, we enjoyed watching a very bright Red-headed Woodpecker chasing off two Northern Flickers. The yellow of the flicker's feather shafts and the red of the Red-headed were bright pops of color against the blue, cloudless sky. Northern Flickers are highly migratory, and we can spot them here in the winter, but sadly only infrequently.
Our next bright visitor was a beautiful male Vermillion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus. This bird's scientific name suits it very well. Pyrocephalus means fire-headed.
These birds often roam and have been observed in some northern regions, far from their usual habitat in the southern southwest and Mexico. Males are attentive suitors, frequently presenting potential mates with a colorful butterfly or another vibrant insect to attract a female.
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