Wildlife (continued)

BIRDS

The snowy peaks, the mountain meadows, the forests, the lakes and streams, and the salt water shores of the Olympic Peninsula constitute a variety of habitats for birds. The kinds of birds you can expect to see depend on where you are.

In summer, there are approximately 140 varieties of birds on the Olympic Peninsula. The following list includes birds which may be most easily identified and most likely to be seen, and those of special interest. Many common birds are not included.

Birds of the Mountain Peaks

1. ROSY FINCH. A rose-colored, sparrowlike bird, tame and easily observed. Feeds characteristically on or near open rocky slopes and snowbanks.

Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline

1. HORNED LARK. A brownish ground bird, whitish beneath, a little larger than a sparrow. Usually in pairs on bare field and open ground; utters a plaintive tee when startled into flight. At close range the forehead and throat show pale yellow, bordered and striped with black. The male has two black hornlike feather tufts on the head.

2. SPARROW HAWK. A small, slender hawk with pointed wings and a rusty-red tail and back. It commonly hovers in the air above fields and meadows. Numerous on the ridges during grasshopper season.

3. SOOTY GROUSE. A dark, hen-shaped bird commonly seen feeding on the ground in meadows and woodland.

4. OREGON JAY OR CAMP ROBBER. A usually silent, gray bird with a whitish area on top of the head and a black patch behind the white. It is a little larger than a robin. This jay appears at your camp or picnic expecting food and sometimes helping himself to it.

5. RAVEN. Distinguished from the crow by its greater size and coarse guttural croaks. Seen on the meadows when grasshoppers are abundant.

6. MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD. ". . . a flash of azure blue—a crumb from the blue sky above!"³

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³E. A. Kitchin. Bird of the Olympic Peninsula.

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7. OREGON JUNCO. Size of a sparrow, with black head, rusty-brown upper parts and white under parts. The blackish tail has white outer tail feathers.

8. RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. The smallest bird; can be identified by the rapid, darting, humming flight.

9. COOPER HAWK. A medium-sized hawk with short, blunt wings and a long tail. Its flapping, darting, twisting flight, with comparatively little soaring, is characteristic.

10. WESTERN RED-TAILED HAWK. A large soaring hawk with broad, blunt wings. In the adults the tail is red on top.

Birds of the Forest

Few birds live in the deep forest, but many prefer its edges near streams and openings.

1. ROBIN.

2. OREGON JUNCO. (Described in Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline.)

3. WINTER WREN. A tiny, dark-brown, short-tailed wren of the deep, quiet woods. It sings a trill song from atop a snag or small tree during nesting season and scolds at passers-by with staccato, rasping notes.

4. RUFFED GROUSE. Similar to the sooty grouse, but reddish-brown, with broad, blackish band toward tip of the tail.

5. WESTERN PILEATED WOODPECKER. A big, black, crow-sized woodpecker with a white streak down each side of head and neck. The male has a scarlet tuft on top of head.. Found in the deep forest, particularly where there are many dead trees and snags.

6. OREGON JAY. (Described in Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline.)

7. STELLER JAY. A harsh-voiced blue bird with black head and conspicuous black crest.

8. VARIED THRUSH. Somewhat resembles a robin, but has a black bib across the breast. It is a bird of the deep forests, where it is more often heard than seen. ". . . out of the silence comes a long-drawn quavering note with something of the quality of escaping steam; after a short interval the note is repeated in a higher pitch, again in a lower."⁴

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⁴Ralph Hoffman, Birds of the Pacific States.

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9. NORTHWESTERN FLICKER. A stoutly built woodpecker with a black bib across the breast and a white rump. Orange under wings can be seen when bird is in flight, which is markedly undulating.

10. HAIRY WOODPECKER. A medium-sized, black and white woodpecker. Distinguished from the downy woodpecker by its slightly larger size and the lack of black bars on the white outer tail feathers.

11. DOWNY WOODPECKER. A smaller edition of the hairy woodpecker; the white outer tail feathers are barred with black.

12. RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH. Distinguished by its russet back and brown-spotted, buff breast, it is smaller than a robin but larger than a sparrow. It sings in the late afternoon and evening; prefers a moist, shady streamside habitat.

13. RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. (Described in Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline.) Abundant in the spruce forests along the coast during nesting time.

Birds Along the Streams

1. DIPPER. A chunky, dark slate-colored bird, with a short wrenlike tail, seen among boulders along swift-running streams. It bobs up and down as it stands near the water and then plunges into the streams to feed on the bottom.

2. BELTED KINGFISHER. A grayish-blue bird with white under parts and a blue band across the breast. The female has a reddish sash. Distinguished by its large head, stout bill, and loud rattling call. It dives from a tree into the water for fish.

3. WESTERN HARLEQUIN DUCK. A rather small, dark-colored duck seen on the rivers in spring and summer. The male is bluish above, has reddish-brown flanks, a crescent of white in front of the eye, and various other striking spots and streaks on head and neck—hence its name. The female, though duller, also has white spots on the head.

4. GREAT BLUE HERON. A tall, lanky, slate-blue bird usually seen walking knee deep in water. In flight, the neck is drawn back in an S-shape.

5. BALD EAGLE. A large, powerful hawk with slow wing beats. Mature birds, but not the younger ones, have white head and tail. Seen along streams when fish are spawning.

Birds of the Ocean Shore

1. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL. Common along the shores even in summer.

2. GREAT BLUE HERON. (Described in Birds Along the Streams.)

3. BALD EAGLE. (Described in Birds Along the Streams.) Common along the roadless stretches of the Olympic Ocean Strip where it nests in trees near the shore.

4. BLACK OYSTER CATCHER. A large, black, sandpiperlike bird with a long red bill and pink legs and feet, about the size of a half-grown chicken.

5. CORMORANT. Large, slender, black bird with a slender hooked bill; often seen with body nearly erect on a rock in the water, particularly along the seacoast.

6. CROW. Occurs in flocks; caws, rather than uttering croaks like the raven.

7. RAVEN. (Described in Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline.) Is much larger than a crow and occurs chiefly in pairs, singly, or in small groups; not in flocks.