Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds with White Feathers

Posted on February 26, 2021 by

52 Comments

Welcome to Week #37 of the Bird Weekly Photo Challenge. Week #37 challenge belongs to the Birds with White Feathers!

The feature image is a Laughing Gull in flight right under my nose.

Is white a color? Crayola sure considered it a color in 1930 when the white crayon was added to a 16 count box. However, technically black and white are not colors and are considered shades. Pure white is the absence of color. Our white feathered friends lack color but when you have other accent colors, the 50 shades of white are quite attractive.

Many of my white feathered birds are left out this week and will be in next week’s blog, Birds beginning with an “E”. No Egrets this week, but stay tuned for next week.

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull at Little Talbot Island State Park prancing along the beach.

Adult breeding Ring-billed Gulls have a solid white head. This Gull appears to be a non-breeding adult or just on the cusp of complete adulthood. Shorebirds are some of the hardest birds to identify and much harder to determine breeding vs. non-breeding and adult vs. juvenile or first winter. These gulls can be found on beaches, lakes, rivers, pasture land and even the garbage dumps. They like hanging out in parking lots looking for any morsel that has been dropped by a human.

Bonaparte’s Gull

Bonaparte's Gull swimming in one of the many ponds at St. Mark's Wildlife Refuge near Tallahassee, Florida.

This non-breeding Bonaparte’s Gull was seen at St. Mark’s Wildlife Refuge in January of this year. Did you know that Bonaparte’s Gull is the only gull species that regularly nests in trees?

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill caught red-handed scouring the river near Viera, Florida.

The Roseate Spoonbill is one of six spoonbill species in the world and the only one found in the America’s. I captured this one feeding in the riparian area between Viera Wetlands and River Lakes Conservation Area yesterday. Interesting fact: Spoonbills are much like humans. Many of us experience hair loss as we get older (me). Roseate Spoonbills loose feathers on top of their head as they age, making them bald in many cases.

Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker climbing and pecking for insects in Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge area in Georgia.

The largest woodpecker in North America at 15.8-19.3 inches (40-49 cm) and one of the loudest peckers there is. Other woodpeckers can be heard, but this one echos them all. The bill is long and tapered and is about the length of the head. Makes quick work on a tree that is infested with insects. White stripes on the face and neck blended with the black body and striking red triangular head, makes this an exceptional bird to add to your list. Woody Woodpecker never looked so good!

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-headed woodpecker clinging to a pine tree in the Okefenokee forest of the Wildlife Refuge in Georgia.

The Red-headed woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with a red head and big chisel-like bill. The back is black with white wing patches with an all white belly. The red head is striking against the shades of black and white.

Wood Stork

Wood Storks building a nest at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. Snowy Egrets are nesting below.

For the definition of color, the Wood Stork has none. They only have shades of black and white. These are large prehistoric looking birds at just over 3 feet tall (85-115 cm). Wood Storks nest in trees above standing water. They need this water to keep the nest cool. Both male and female gather sticks and build the nest together. It takes the pair 2-3 days to build the nest while they continue to make improvements throughout the nesting period. These Wood Storks, along with other birds (see Snowy Egret below), were frantically building their nests in the bird sanctuary at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. One of the largest rookeries in Florida.

Wood Storks building a nest at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Florida. This one has just flown in with a stick.
Wood Stork landed with a twig in its beak for the nest.

White Ibis

White Ibis searching for grubs.

White Ibis says it all. No color here except the face, bill and legs. Females are smaller than males and they weigh less, have shorter bills and shorter wings. The young have straight bills when they hatch. Their bills will begin to curve downward when they are 14 days old.

Canada Goose & Ross’s Goose

Rare sighting of a Ross's Goose that flew in with a flock of Canada Geese to Jacksonville, Florida a few years ago.

This pair came to Florida in a flock migrating south. The Ross’s Goose must have been along for the ride because he isn’t a regular visitor. This was a rare sighting at the University of North Florida a few years ago. Ross’s Goose is similar to Snow Geese with white feathers and black wingtips, however they are smaller with a shorter bill.

Tricolored Heron

Close up of an adult breeding Tricolored Heron.

The Tricolored Heron should be renamed Multi-colored Heron. The cobalt blue mixed with their dull yellow legs provides them with shades of pink and brown hues in their feathers. This heron is distinguished by its white belly. The breeding adult will have the white feathers at the top of their head.

Tricolored Heron on alert defending the nest nearby.

Upcoming challenges can be found on my Bird Weekly Challenge Page.

Next time…Week #38 – Birds beginning with the letter “E” (if a bird has more than one word of the name, you can use it as long as it begins with a “E”, ie: Egyptian Goose or Bald Eagle).

Category: birds, Birds Weekly Photo Challenge, nature, photo challenge, photography, travel, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

52 Comments on “Bird Weekly – Photo Challenge – Birds with White Feathers”

    • Well, there is a good chance we will make wishes come true once you make it here. I’m already looking forward to next week. I got several of my egrets ready because I was going to put them in this week before I realized that “E” birds were next week. Saving them now and they are all white! LOL! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thanks Deborah! I’m looking forward to my next birding adventures. Yesterday was great! Went to Viera, 80 degrees and birded for about 8 hours. Only picked up two new birds for the year, but it was great getting out of the house where I have been for the past 3 weeks. 🙂 Cabin fever in the worst way.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Well, he took me out of the boot because I got planters fasciitis in both feet because of the boot. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory that seems to be working along with icing and my new orthotics. I’m a ways from being able to hike but at least we were out on the driving trails yesterday and I walked more than I have in recent weeks. Physical therapy couldn’t see me until the end of March. In the meantime, I’m doing exercises I found online for this problem. Seems to be helping a lot. I go back to see him in April. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • I pretty sure I will. Not that I’m taking the anti-inflammatory, I hope it is only a few weeks. We are in prime time hiking right now. By the middle to end of April, it will be too darn hot! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

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  6. What a gorgeous selection for this week. We only have white stork here, and only further south. Until only a few years ago there where none at all, but the efforts to re-introduce the storks has succeded and now there are now approximately 50 couples that breed each year.
    Love the red-headed woodpecker.

    Liked by 1 person

    • That is good news about the storks. The Wood Storks are doing well. They are the only storks we have. 😊 I love the red-headed woodpecker too. I had one fly over the hood of my car at eye level when I went to the pharmacy the other day. They are not usually in town so it was quite the happy surprise. Too bad I was driving and didn’t have my camera. 😊

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    • Thank you Nora. Missed you last week. I’m so happy to hear someone else has visited there. It is impressive especially in March-April. I wished we were going this year, but it is always too crowded and I don’t want to be wearing a mask for 4 hours taking photos. But what an opportunistic place. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  10. So many wonderful birds Lisa, the White Ibis is a stunner. Love the stork photos 🙂 🙂
    I have gone with mostly white otherwise I would have been here all day.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks Marilyn. I purposely kept a lot of them out this week. We have a lot of waders which you will see next week. I wish you could take a ride in some of our wildlife refuges. You would go bonkers! 🙂

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    • Thanks Beth! It is unbelievable the bird photos I have that overlap in my own challenges. LOL! I just found that gull shot a few days ago and was like, okay…WOW! Perfect timing! 🙂

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