Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Spotted Mystery

A storm-toppled tree in the Ravine in Prospect Park made a natural bridge for squirrels and chipmunks before it was sliced up. The horizontal trunk was also being used for a plucking station, as these remains attest. The main predators of birds in the park include other birds, raccoons (but mostly of nestlings), and cats. These are contour feathers, which cover the underside of a bird, especially the breast, where most of the muscle (and hence meat) is on a bird.

The otherwise estimable Feather Atlas only covers flight feathers. Bird Tracks & Sign by Mark Elbroach does include contour feathers, but only for a limited number of species. Birds with spotty breasts include several thrushes, Ovenbird, and Northern flicker.
Any ideas?

2 responses to “Spotted Mystery”

  1. What a handsome feather! Could size be used to eliminate Ovenbird as a possibility, at least? Since they’re quite a big smaller than thrushes or flickers, wouldn’t their contour feathers be correspondingly smaller? Or perhaps not. Regardless, I love that single round black spot.

    1. Size is a good point. And timing: most Ovenbirds have passed through, but Prospect Park is still ringing with flickers.

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