Green-Wood

The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) who came to stay? An unusual species for Brooklyn, this bird over-wintered in Green-Wood, and quite locally, too: this is the same tree — snags are perfect habitat for them — I photographed it in back in January. You can see how the red feathers of the head have really…

A female Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus). Less common in our area than the smaller but otherwise very similar Downy Woodpecker. I find that the best way to differentiate these species is to look at the bill/head size ratio. Note how this bird’s bill is almost as long as her head; the Downy’s bill length is…

One of the earliest arriving birds of Spring is the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). I saw one yesterday in Green-Wood. There was much tail-wagging on the part of the bird, a characteristic of the species when it is perched, and rejoicing on mine (also characteristic of the species). The American Woodcock is an even earlier…

A pair of Redheads (Aythya americana) in Green-Wood. The male, in front, sports that beacon of a head. These two, along with two slightly smaller female Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris), very craftily kept their distance from me as I circled the blob-shaped Valley Water twice, as I aimed for the best distance and light.Here’s the…

In the last week, I’ve seen 9 raptors, nearly half of them while I was walking down various streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan. My best day was Sunday, when I saw five birds of four different species in Green-Wood. This Merlin (Falco columbarius) was the highlight. Merlins are falcons, just slightly larger than Kestrels. I…

An uncommon visitor to Brooklyn, this Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) has been hanging out in Green-Wood Cemetery this winter. This is a juvenile bird, on its way to getting the bright red head of an adult. The adult bird looks like a flag: red, black, & white.