Beauty of Birds

"Beauty of Birds" Series

Birds are really one of the wonders of the earth. So many incredible shapes and colors, sizes and wingspans. And they can fly! It's no wonder that in the ancient world, birds were considered to be the messengers to the gods. For example, the Greek god Hermes, the messenger, is shown with bird wings on his feet, connoting his ability to traverse the distance between the heavens and the earth.

Birds also played a significant role in the Biblical world. The Holy Spirit is revealed in the shape of a dove on two occasions, but even before that, birds figured into biblical events. Noah used both a raven and then a dove to determine if it was time to leave the ark. Some birds were used as burnt offerings in the Temple. Quail fed the Israelites in the desert.

Still today, we are mesmerized by birds. We hang up bird feeders. We go birdwatching and support the Audubon Society. We buy Hallmark "Beauty of Birds" ornaments. The ornaments below are stylized versions of the original birds, which is a highly appropriate form of human art. Since time began, humans have attempted to copy visually what we see around us, in order to share it, explain it and better understand it. Our ability to recreate is an example of our being "made in the image of God." Like God, we are creative beings who appreciate what has already been created, as well as enjoy creating ourselves. I always think this particular series takes after the Art Deco form of art. Beautifully rendered in bright colors and outlined in metal, each bird is shown grasping a natural object in its claws. These ornaments are certainly fitting tributes to the original models. On this page, rather than reflect on the meaning of each particular bird, I've matched the ornament with the real thing.

Mountain Bluebird

2017
with red berries and leaf
by Edythe Kegrize

The powder-blue male Mountain Bluebird is among the most beautiful birds of the West. Living in more open terrain than the other two bluebirds, this species may nest in holes in cliffs or dirt banks when tree hollows are not available. It often seeks its food by hovering low over the grass in open fields. During the winter, Mountain Bluebirds often gather in large flocks, even by the hundreds, sometimes associating with Western Bluebirds.

Both parents feed nestlings. Young birds leave the nest about 17-23 days after hatching, are tended by parents for another 3-4 weeks. They typically have 2 broods per year.(www.audobon.com)

Pine Grosbeak

2016
with blueberries and twig
by Edythe Kegrize

The pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) is a large member of the true finch family. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and Siberia. The species is a frugivore, especially in winter, favoring small fruits, such as rowans (mountain-ashes in the New World). With fruit-crop abundance varying from year to year, pine grosbeak is one of many subarctic-resident bird species that exhibit irruptive behavior. Individuals can move long distances in search of suitable food supplies, bringing them farther south than is typical of years with large fruit crops. In such years, they may occur well south of the typical extent of winter distribution, which is the northern Great lakes region and northern New England in the United States.

Watch and hear one here: https://youtu.be/AE4rd224thE

Blue Bunting

2015 mini
with blueberries
by Edythe Kegrize

The blue bunting (Cyanocompsa parellina) is a species of passerine bird found in northern Central America. Measuring 5.5 inches (14 cm) in length with a wingspan of 8.5 inches (22 cm), it is one of the smaller members of its genus. The male has a dark blue body, with brighter blue highlights on the supercilium, forecrown, malar region, rump and lesser wing coverts. The female is an unstreaked warm brown, slightly paler below. (www.wikipedia.com)

See and hear one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIKg8VTy12Q
Learn more here: https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/blue-bunting

Western Tanger

2015
with pinecone
by Edythe Kegrize

A clear look at a male Western Tanager is like looking at a flame: an orange-red head, brilliant yellow body, and coal-black wings, back and tail. Females and immatures are a somewhat dimmer yellow-green and blackish. These birds live in open woods all over the West, particularly among evergreens, where they often stay hidden in the canopy. Nevertheless, they’re a quintessential woodland denizen in summertime, where they fill the woods with their short, burry song and low, chuckling call notes. (www.allaboutbirds.org)

Hear one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX0KkkQSs8w
See one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGeHaOKbpE0

Lady Western Tanger

2015 Limited Edition
with pinecone
by Edythe Kegrize

Here's the female counterpart to the male above. The female Western Tanger lays 3-5 eggs, that are pale blue or bluish green, with brown blotches sometimes concentrated at larger end. Incubation is about 13 days, and both parents bring food for the nestlings. Young birds probably leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching. The male sings during late spring and summer to defend nesting territory. Early stages of courtship may involve the male chasing the female among the trees. The nest site is usually in coniferous tree such as fir or pine, sometimes in aspen, oak, or other deciduous tree. The nest (probably built mostly by female) is a shallow open cup made of twigs, grass, rootlets, lined with animal hair and fine rootlets. (www.audubon.org)

Hear one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=669mzRoF3dA
See one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_R5hZrzB8

Winged Wonder Hummingbird

2014
with blossom
by Edythe Kegrize

A flash of green and red, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is eastern North America’s sole breeding hummingbird. These brilliant, tiny, precision-flying creatures glitter like jewels in the full sun, then vanish with a zip toward the next nectar source. Feeders and flower gardens are great ways to attract these birds, and some people turn their yards into buzzing clouds of hummingbirds each summer. Enjoy them while they’re around; by early fall they’re bound for Central America, with many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds fly straight and fast but can stop instantly, hover, and adjust their position up, down, or backwards with exquisite control. They often visit hummingbird feeders and tube-shaped flowers and defend these food sources against others. You may also see them plucking tiny insects from the air or from spider webs. (www.allaboutbirds.com)

See one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p3Hb6e-YZA
and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPvu5IJjutk

Winged Wonder

2014 Limited Edition
with blossom
by Edythe Kegrize

Central and Eastern South America are where you will find the Versicoloured Emerald Hummingbird. They have a very wide distribution and seem to thrive in a variety of different habitats. Some of the common areas where this Hummingbird is found include Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. The Amazon Basin the most well known area for them. This is due to the fact that they are able to find plenty of plants due to the water being so close. This Hummingbird is from 3 to 4 inches in length when it is fully grown. They have a very long bill that is slender and slightly curved. It is a black color. They have a dark colored tail that can be green, gray, or black. They feature those same colors on their back. The shades and colors vary depending on the location where these Hummingbirds reside.
They feature very nice shades of green, blue, and turquoise on the top of their heads and the breast area. The belly is a light gray or a cream color. They have large eyes that are dark in color.

Cedar Waxwing

2013
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

With thin, lisping cries, flocks of Cedar Waxwings descend on berry-laden trees and hedges, to flutter among the branches as they feast. These birds are sociable at all seasons, and it is rare to see just one waxwing. Occasionally a line of waxwings perched on a branch will pass a berry back and forth, from bill to bill, until one of them swallows it. This species has a more southerly range than the Bohemian Waxwing, and is a familiar visitor to most parts of this continent south of the Arctic.
Its breeding habitat is influenced by the availability of fruiting trees and shrubs, often most common in "edge" situations, as along forest edges, streamsides, overgrown fields, edges of swamps, suburban yards. In winter, it may be in any wooded or semi-open area where berries are abundant.
The nest (built by both sexes) is a rather loosely built open cup of grass, weeds, twigs, plant fibers, lined with finer materials such as moss, rootlets, fine grass, hair. (www.audubon.org)

Painted Bunting

2012
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

With their vivid fusion of blue, green, yellow, and red, male Painted Buntings seem to have flown straight out of a child’s coloring book. This bird is sometimes called the "Nonpareil," meaning "unrivalled," a fair way to describe the unbelievable colors of the male Painted Bunting. This species is locally common in the Southeast, around brushy areas and woodland edges. It is often secretive, staying low in dense cover. However, males sing their bright warbling songs from higher in the trees, partly hidden among foliage or sometimes out in the sun on an exposed perch. Some lucky Floridians have Painted Buntings coming to their bird feeders in winter.

Watch one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNBuxsNToXo
Hear one sing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJePJtsQonQ

Lady Painted Bunting

2012 Limited Edition
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

Painted Buntings forage mostly on the ground, with some foraging up in shrubs and low trees. During migration, they may forage in mixed flocks with Indigo Buntings. They have 3-4 eggs at a time, sometimes 5, which are whitish to bluish white or pale gray, with reddish brown spots often concentrated at larger end. Incubation is done by female only, 11-12 days. Young: Nestlings are fed by the female. The young leave the nest about 12-14 days after hatching, and the male may take over feeding them if the female begins second nesting attempt. They have 2 broods per year, sometimes 3, perhaps rarely 4. (www.audubon.org)

Watch a painted bunting couple live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERg02OeYn4M

Baltimore Oriole

2011
with blueberries
by Edythe Kegrize

Baltimore Orioles got their name from their bold orange-and-black plumage: they sport the same colors as the heraldic crest of England’s Baltimore family (who also gave their name to Maryland’s largest city).
Unlike robins and many other fruit-eating birds, Baltimore Orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit. Orioles seek out the darkest mulberries, the reddest cherries, and the deepest-purple grapes, and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe. Baltimore Orioles sometimes use their slender beaks to feed in an unusual way, called “gaping”: they stab the closed bill into soft fruits, then open their mouths to cut a juicy swath from which they drink with their brushy-tipped tongues.
Young male Baltimore Orioles do not molt into bright-orange adult plumage until the fall of their second year. Still, a few first-year males in drab, female-like plumage succeed in attracting a mate and raising young. Females become deeper orange with every molt; some older females are almost as bright orange as males.(www.allaboutbirds.org)

Lady Oriole

2011 Special Edition
with blueberries
by Edythe Kegrize

The rich, whistling song of the Baltimore Oriole, echoing from treetops near homes and parks, is a sweet herald of spring in eastern North America. Look way up to find these singers: the male’s brilliant orange plumage blazes from high branches like a torch. Nearby, you might spot the female weaving her remarkable hanging nest from slender fibers. Females and immature males are yellow-orange on the breast, grayish on the head and back, with two bold white wing bars. Fond of fruit and nectar as well as insects, Baltimore Orioles are easily lured to backyard feeders, and are more often heard than seen as they feed high in trees, searching leaves and small branches for insects, flowers and fruit. You may also spot them lower down, plucking fruit from vines and bushes or sipping from hummingbird feeders. (www.allaboutbirds.org)

Watch one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sto24aXwao
and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoga3dpPMnk

Eastern Bluebird

2010
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

Most country drives during an eastern North American summer will turn up a few Eastern Bluebirds sitting on telephone wires or perched atop a nest box, calling out in a short, wavering voice or abruptly dropping to the ground after an insect. Marvelous birds to capture in your binoculars, male Eastern Bluebirds are a brilliant royal blue on the back and head, and warm red-brown on the breast. Blue tinges in the wings and tail give the grayer females an elegant look.
Eastern Bluebirds live in meadows and openings surrounded by trees that offer suitable nest holes. With the proliferation of nest boxes and bluebird trails, bluebirds are now a common sight along roads, field edges, golf courses, and other open areas. (www.allaboutbirds.com)

Watch one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKitWY-ETvA
and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqx9LN0rULo

Lady Cardinal

2010 Limited Quantity
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

Cardinals, a non-migratory and socially monogamous bird, are one of many animals that perform behavioral displays. Many animals use behavioral displays to communicate territory ownership and reproductive events. Birds especially are known for their elaborate courtship performances.
Male cardinals, with red body feathers as opposed to the tan body feathers of females, have been known to show courtship behaviors, like turning and twisting their bodies while a female cardinal is present. In addition to this typical behavior, male cardinals also perform the song dance display.
Female Northern Cardinals have been sighted performing a song dance display on two separate occasions in southern Mississippi. These two sightings were right around the standard breeding season for Northern Cardinals. For the first observation, authors of the study played a pre-recorded male cardinal song to a female. This female cardinal performed the song and dance courtship display while hearing the pre-recorded male cardinal song.

Watch and hear one live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd1X7eVeu1w

Red-Headed Woodpecker

2009
with berries
by Edythe Kegrize

This striking and unmistakable bird was a favorite of early ornithologists such as Alexander Wilson and Audubon. Often conspicuous because of its strong pattern, harsh calls, and active behavior in semi-open country, it tends to occur in small colonies. Although it migrates only short distances, little groups of migrants may be noticeable in early fall and late spring. Once a very common bird in eastern North America, the Red-headed Woodpecker is now uncommon and local in many regions.
It lives in groves, farm country, orchards, shade trees in towns, large scattered trees, and avoids unbroken forest, favoring open country or at least clearings in the woods. Forest edges, orchards, open pine woods, groves of tall trees in open country are likely habitats. Winter habitats are influenced by source of food in fall, such as acorns or beechnuts. (www.audubon.org)

Watch one drilling here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Xn828F4CQ
and hear one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcBf0wxIek0

Beauty of Birds series