By Ben Young I’m often asked by my students to name my favorite birds. I can sell them on the kingfishers, hummingbirds, trogons, and owls without much persuasion, but when I mention the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), many are puzzled. How could such a common and seemingly ordinary bird be among my favorites? Consider the…
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By Lewis Young The Northern Shrike is a solitary “masked hunter” that may be found in the northern U.S., including the Flathead Valley, during the winter. Its scientific name is Lanius excubitor and means “butcher watchman.” It is a pale gray bird with lightly barred under-parts and black wings, tail, and mask. The black wings…
Read MoreBy Lisa Bate The Vaux’s Swift (Chaetura vauxi) is the smallest swift in North America, just slightly smaller than its eastern counterpart, the Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica). Best described as a “flying cigar,” this species is easily recognized by its small, cigar-shaped body with long, pointed wings, and short stubby tail. Typically, they can be…
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By Ben Long All wild ducks are beautiful but for my money, the most beautiful is the Northern Pintail. They have a combination of aerial grace, striking plumage, heft and old-fashioned class. They are ducks with elan. There are some 35 species of ducks in North America, many of which find their way to the…
Read MoreBy Ben Young And the winner for the North American “Bird of the Decade” award is . . . the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto). That was my determination at the turn of the decade, and I’d make a case for it three years later. Likely no other bird species on record has stormed the North…
Read MoreBy Ben Long The official name of Montana’s “Blue Grouse” is now the “Dusky Grouse.” But I always think of them as Kamikaze Grouse. Here’s why. My family was driving a mountain road one May when we spied a male Dusky Grouse doing its spring mating dance along the barrow pit. The handsome fellow’s tail…
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By Gail Cleveland Even though I have been watching birds for more than 25 years, I can bring to mind most instances when I have seen the more elusive members of the family Rallidae (coots, rails, crakes and gallinules). I remember seeing my first Virginia Rail in a marshy area in the lower Flathead Valley….
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