salvadorcabrera21's Favorites

One very sleepy Great Horned Owl that was not at all disturbed by our presence. They like to roost on the large horizontal stems of the mature California Fan Palms.
Link to California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) A.k.a. Desert Palm observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192412485
Link to another Great Horned Owl in same oasis: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200537207

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) Large owl in the Strigidae family that stands up to 56cm (22 inches) tall. It has prominent, widely spaced ear tufts (feathers) at sides of head. It is found in a large variety of habitats including dense woods, prairie, deserts, and in wooded towns and suburbs. It is typically well-camouflaged beige and dark brown overall, but varies in color. Often engages in haunting duets, with males and females hooting back and forth. Preys upon a variety of animals, including mammals, birds and reptiles.
Feeding Behavior: Hunts "mostly at night, sometimes at dusk. Watches from high perch, then swoops down to capture prey in its talons. Has extremely good hearing and good vision in low light conditions.
Mammals make up majority of diet in most regions. Takes many rats, mice, and rabbits, also ground squirrels, opossums, and skunks. Eats some birds (especially in the north), up to size of geese, ducks, hawks, and smaller owls. Also eats snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, scorpions, but rarely fish.
Feathers: Because of their nocturnal habits, Owls tend not to exhibit sexual dimorphism in their plumage. Specialized feathers and wing shape suppress the noise produced by flying, both taking off, flapping and gliding. This silent flight allows owls to hunt without being heard by their prey. Owls possess three physical attributes that are thought to contribute to their silent flight capability. First, on the leading edge of the wing, there is a comb of stiff feathers. Second, the trailing edge of the wing contains a flexible fringe. Finally, owls have downy material distributed on the tops of their wings that creates a compliant but rough surface (similar to that of a soft carpet). All these factors result in significant aerodynamic noise reduction."

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/grhowl/ and https://ebird.org/explore

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Bubo%20virginianus

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-horned-owl

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp. 294-295.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 220-221.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 282.

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ (enter common name)

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coachella Valley Preserve: For thousands of years, particles of sand from the San Bernardino Mountains and Indio Hills washed into the Coachella Valley forming a system of sand dunes. Today, these dunes are part of the Coachella Valley Preserve System, a 20,000-acre sanctuary, a desert oasis for many species of birds, reptiles, plants, and human visitors.
The Coachella Valley Preserve contains several palm oases that sit on top of San Andreas Fault lines. Underground water rises to the surface through these cracks. California Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera) grow along the cracks where the water seeps up creating a desert oases. Many plant species thrive in the alkaline soil.
Coachella Valley sits at the convergence of four vast ecological systems - the Colorado (or Sonoran) Desert, the Mojave Desert, and the coastal and peninsular mountain ranges.

Birding Hotspot. Current access information: https://www.cnlm.org/portfolio_page/thousand-palms-oasis-preserve-coachella-valley-preserve/ (usually open Wed-Sun, street parking only)
and general information about the Preserve: https://www.blm.gov/visit/coachella-valley-preserve

The Red-tailed Hawk appeared after the Bald Eagle had been chasing the Osprey for about five minutes, wanting to steal a fish the Osprey had just caught. The hawk went ballistic on the eagle, hitting it repeatedly. I final blow caused the eagle to suddenly drop in altitude and give up on chasing the osprey. The Red-tailed Hawk never went for the Osprey.

Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...

This dove literally landed in my lap during offshore sailing passage from Bahamas to Beaufort North Carolina. It was very tired and wet, dried and preened its feathers while catching a ride for about 24 hours before it flew away.