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While not as abundant or conspicuous as the more familiar Canada and snow geese, the great white-fronted goose represents one of the first signs of fall. The greater white-fronted goose is gray-brown in body color and has orange feet. Adults have the namesake white forehead, pinkish-orange bill, and black speckled/barred breast and belly. Laugh-like calls from small skeins of these birds are heard high overhead in August through September in the north Willamette Valley and across the Cascades to south central Oregon and northeast California. Hear the call of the greater white-fronted goose Photo by Dave Budeau, ODFW

The Golden eagle is the largest soaring raptor inhabiting open country and mountainous terrain in eastern Oregon. A powerful and skillful hunter, the Golden eagle has become the National icon of the American West. A very large, dark raptor, the nape golden in all plumages, the females are slightly larger. Juvenile birds show white patches at the base of the primaries and a white tail with a broad dark terminal band. They are common residents in all Oregon counties east of the Cascade range. The Golden eagle inhabits shrub-steppe, grassland, juniper, and open ponderosa pine and mixed conifer/deciduous habitats. It…

The enigmatic Solitary sandpiper may be one of the least understood of Oregon's regularly occurring shorebirds. As its name implies, the species is most often found singly, and it rarely occurs in groups of more than two individuals. The Solitary sandpiper frequents habitats not often utilized by other migrant shorebirds, such as smaller and often partly wooded patches of water, and high-altitude bogs and wet meadows. It is an uncommon to rare migrant in fresh water or brackish habitats throughout Oregon; rarest along outer coast and in alkali habitats. Spring adults more common in the western interior valleys; fall juveniles…

This tall, pale wader is often first detected by its ringing calls as a small flock maneuvers to land in shallow water along an estuary or lakeshore. The long, often slightly upturned bill and very long yellow legs make this one of the easier shorebirds to identify despite its subdued, speckled gray and white plumage. It is an uncommon to locally common migrant on shorelines and open wet areas statewide. It winters on the coast and locally inland. In addition to using shallow water in estuaries and along lake margins, these birds can often be found in flooded pastureland, especially…

The noisy and frenetic Ruddy turnstone is a stocky, plover-like bird who's breeding plumage is a clown like pattern of black, rust and white. Ruddy turnstones have been found foraging in the company of many other shorebird species. Found on rocky shores, jetties, open ocean beaches, mud flats, salicornia marshes, grass flats and flooded fields, the Ruddy turnstone is an opportunistic feeder. It is an uncommon to common spring and fall transient along the coast; a few birds remain to winter there each year. The largest flocks are seen during spring and fall migration at Bandon. They are an irregular…

During the breeding season Pigeon guillemots are easily seen flying low over the water along rocky coastlines or in estuaries. They have striking red feet, legs, and mouth linings and their large white wing patches contrast markedly with the rest of their black plumage. When standing on land they have a distinctive upright posture and often emit a high-pitched squeal. In the non breeding season they move offshore and look entirely different when their black plumage becomes mottled with white. The Pigeon guillemot occurs during the breeding season all along the Oregon coast wherever offshore islands or rocky cliffs are…

One of the most startling sounds in the black of night is the loud, harsh call of the Barn owl as it flies over field or marsh in search of small rodents. They are white to tan beneath with fine spotting ranging from almost none to fairly extensive. The face has a well-defined facial disc that acts as a parabolic dish collecting the faint sounds of its prey, allowing it to hunt successfully in total darkness. Male and female Barn owls are similar in appearance though the female is somewhat larger. The Barn owl is a fairly common permanent resident…

The Barred owl expanded its range from the eastern United States. It was first reported in Oregon in the early 1970s and has since spread to forested areas throughout most of the state. Sometimes confused with the closely related Northern spotted owl, the Barred owl is large with grayish-brown and white feathers and stripes on its chest and throat. It is easily distinguished from the Northern spotted owl by the pronounced horizontal barring across the throat and upper breast, and vertical brown streaks on the lower breast and abdomen. The Barred owl is now a permanent resident in forests of…

The White-headed woodpecker is the only woodpecker that relies heavily on the seeds of ponderosa pine for food. It occurs mainly in open ponderosa pine or mixed conifer forests dominated by ponderosa pine. They usually excavate nest cavities in snags but may use stumps, leaning logs and dead tops of live trees. It is an uncommon permanent resident in forests of the Ochoco, Blue, and Wallowa mountains and the east side of the Cascades, but suitable habitat is restricted. The White-headed woodpecker is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Blue Mountains, East Cascades, and Klamath Mountains ecoregions. Hear the…

The down-slurred pee-eer call of this flycatcher is one of Oregon's most characteristic summertime bird sounds. Wherever there is a canopy of mature deciduous trees, one is likely to hear the call during warm afternoons when most other birds are silent. Because the call can easily be heard, it can usually be found perched near the tip of a dead branch from which it frequently flies a short distance to capture a flying insect, or to chase an intruder from its territory. The Western wood-pewee is a common migrant and fairly common breeder statewide in open groves of trees or…

This colonial-nesting swallow places its nest at the end of a burrow dug into a soft cliff or bank. The nesting cliff often appears riddled with holes, but not all burrows are used for nesting. A highly social species, the Bank swallow is usually observed in flocks of its own or with other swallow species. It has dark wings and tail that contrast with the paler brown back. The underparts are whitish except for a distinct brown breastband. It is a generally uncommon, but locally common to abundant summer resident at mid- to low elevations east of the Cascades. Numerous…

This chunky swallow is readily recognized by its square tail and orangish rump patch. It nests colonially and has taken to human-made structures so well that it has greatly expanded its range into many areas otherwise not suitable for it. It does not do well in urban settings, however, and quickly disappears when areas become densely settled. The unique gourd-shaped mud nest is often usurped by other species for nesting and is often used for protective roosting sites by rosy-finches and other wintering species. It is a locally common to abundant breeding bird near water throughout most of Oregon. Its…

Among the largest of the world's nuthatches, White-breasted nuthatches also are noteworthy for an extensive repertoire of unusual behaviors and habits. Unlike most other North American passerines, White-breasted nuthatches maintain close pair bonds over most of the year. In spring, they cement their pair bond by exhibiting a variety of courtship displays. Elaborate display rituals also are used in antagonistic territorial interactions, and distraction displays are used to deter predators. The White-breasted nuthatch is common in western Oregon lowlands. It is most abundant in southwestern interior valleys, with specimens from Salem to Jackson County. It occurs in oak and mixed…

Brown creepers are the only North American birds that rely on both the trunk and bark of trees for both nesting and foraging. They are small birds, about five inches in length, and have a long, slender, down-curved bill used to probe for insects hidden in the furrows of tree bark. Their brown back, streaked with white, makes creepers on of the best-camouflaged girds of the forest. They most often forage upward from the base of a tree, using their long, stiff tail for support. The Brown creeper breeds and winters throughout forested areas of Oregon, from the coast to…

Arguably the most widely recognized of Oregon's birds, the American robin is the largest, most abundant, and most widespread thrush in the state. Ranging from sea level to treeline, the robin's loud, musical voice and conspicuous brick-red chest make it unmistakable to even the most casual of observers. The robin thrives in both human-dominated and natural landscapes and is considered to be a habitat generalist throughout its range. Considering the robin's natural history, we know most about its diet, which comprises primarily of soft invertebrates in the spring and summer and fruit in the fall and winter. It is most…

The House finch is the most widespread of Oregon's "red finches." It is a congenial, cheerful singer from urban areas to desert plateaus. The male has a red forehead, throat, eyebrow, rump and varying amounts of red in the breast. It may have small amounts of reddish wash in its otherwise brownish cheek, hindcrown, nape,and streaked back. In some males, red is replaced with red-orange, orange, yellow-orange or yellow. The female is drab grayish-brown, overall, with indistinct streaking above and no red. The House finch is a fairly common resident in lowlands, urban, rural, and agricultural areas throughout Oregon. They…

The rat-sized American pika is characterized by rounded ears, no external tail, bare planter pads, and hind feed scarcely longer than the front feet. The pika requires talus, creviced rock, and other high elevation microhabitats that provide cool microclimates. Adequate forage close to rocky crevices is needed. In Oregon, the species is limited to suitable habitats in the Cascade Range and the Wallowa, Blue, Strawberry, Steens, Hart, and Warner mountains, and at Newberry Crater in Deschutes County and Grizzly and Cougar peaks in western Lake County. The American pika is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species and is limited by its…

The pelage of this chipmunk is marked with five dark and four light stripes on the dorsum; the middorsal stripe is usually black and nearly always darker than the other four dark stripes. The sides of the face are marked with three brown and two light gray stripes, a patch behind the ear is light gray. The tail is blackish frosted with ochre dorsally and rusty brown ventrally. Allen's chipmunk produces a call of a rapid series of three or four to as many as 10 syllables. In Oregon, it occurs in forested areas along the eastern part of the…

Belding's ground squirrel is a medium-sized ground squirrel without spots, stripes, or splotches. The pelage is smoky gray with some pinkish on the face, feet, and venter, and with a more or less well-defined reddish or brownish band in the middorsal region. The tail is cinnamon on the ventral surface. This squirrel occurs south and east of a line connecting Enterprise, Heppner, Maupin, Wasco Sisters, Diamond Lake, and south to Fish Lake. It may occur in steppe and shrub-steppe area, particularly in meadows; sagebrush flats; and small-grain pasture , and hay-crop fields, and sometimes in openings in woodlands. The Belding's…