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Swimming and diving with grace and energy, red-breasted mergansers arrive in fall but save their complex, contorting courtship display for early spring. A ragged-crested dark green head and reddish brown breast mark the male, along with a dark back and gray sides. Females share the ragged crest; their rufous heads and gray bodies may make separation from common merganser females difficult. Their bills, however, are noticeably slimmer. Red-breasted mergansers are common from fall through spring, mostly in coastal bays and estuaries but occasionally on the open ocean. Hear the call of the red-breasted merganser Photo by Jason Badger, ODFW

Chukars are ground-loving birds that quickly run uphill or burst from cover with rapid wing-beats and a characteristic whitoo call if alarmed. Introduced by managers wishing to increase hunting opportunities in arid western North America, the chukar is a very successful exotic species that occupies habitats where few other gamebirds exist. It is the most harvested upland bird in Oregon. It is a common permanent resident of eastern Oregon. Populations are distributed in steppe habitats along the breaks of the Columbia, John Day, Snake, Owyhee, Deschutes, Malheur, Burnt and Grand Ronde rivers and lesser watercourses or reservoirs. Hear the call…

Ruffed grouse are named for a series of black iridescent feathers on the sides of the neck called the ruff, which is erected by males to form an ring around the neck during courtship displays. This forest-dwelling species, favored by upland game-bird hunters, is well known for the drumming of the males during courtship displays in the spring. It is a common resident throughout most forested regions of the state. It occupies most forests at low to moderate elevations east of the Cascade crest, primarily the east slope of the Cascades from Ft. Klamath and upper Klamath Lake and Blue…

A big, well-mannered bird of friendly, even playful disposition, with an abundant curiosity as to human presence and activities within the realm of open ocean over which he presides. Long-winged, to seven feet, and dark sooty-brown; adults have a white rump and feathering, which juveniles lack, around the base of a large bill. Every sighting of these gentle giants gliding up to the boat evokes delight. The black-footed albatross is a regular visitant spring through fall offshore, but is irregular in winter. They glean squid, fish and fish eggs from the ocean surface and also eat galley scraps. Hear the…

Characteristic of open country and cold weather, the Rough-legged hawk can be found soaring over exposed terrain or perched on utility poles across much of the state in winter. The rough appearance of its legs comes from the feathers covering their length, an adaptation that provides extra warmth in frigid weather. In flight, dark wrist patches and belly help identify this large buteo, though like other hawks it is subject to much variation in plumage. From a distance it frequently appears to have a frosty upper half. It often hovers over fields while hunting, a behavior that is rare among…

One of the most impressive sights in the unforested regions east of the Cascades is a Prairie falcon strafing a Belding's ground squirrel colony repeatedly at full speed in hopes of catching one emerging from its burrow at just the wrong moment. Prairie falcons are most common in rimrock country where they nest, but may travel great distances in search of prey. Prairie falcons are large, sandy brown above and off-white with variable amounts of streaking below. The face has a vertical stripe below the eye, as do many falcons. In flight, the long, pointed wings and long tail identify…

A conspicuous wader of shallow wetland habitats with a striking appearance and graceful movements. These long-legged shorebirds have contrasting black and white upperparts and during the breeding season, the head and neck turn from gray or white to a deep rust color. One of their most notable traits is a long, slender upturned bill. It is a common breeder east of the Cascades at wetlands of south central and southeast Oregon. Distribution and number of breeding birds vary annually depending on regional and local water levels and habitat availability. Regardless, most breeders occur in the western Great Basin counties of…

A large, long-legged wader distinguished from similar species in a flight by flashing rufous underwings and dark brown primaries. Its feet extend beyond tail tip in flight. Flocks generally consist of fewer than 50 birds on the coast. Juveniles migrate south several weeks later than most adults. After mid-November, a few stragglers are seen until late December. The Marbled godwit is a regular spring and fall migrant on the Oregon coast. Spring migration commences in early April and extends through early June on the coast. Its average arrival at the Malheur National Wildlife Reserve is April 27. Hear the call…

Heermann's gulls, the warm-water gulls of summer and fall, accompany Brown pelicans as they fly north each summer. Although most feed along the shore or in the ocean, some feed on tide flats. They often steal food from Brown pelicans. They may take fish directly from the pelicans' bills immediately after a dive or claim food that pelicans have located, discarded, or disturbed. This gull is common on the outer seacoasts, beaches, bays and estuaries. They are strongly associated with outer coasts and adjacent ocean waters, usually within a few miles of shore. A few wander inland during the fall…

Spirited vocalizations make this handsome clown-faced woodpecker one of the more conspicuous residents of much of Oregon's oak woodland. It is unique among Oregon woodpeckers with its habits of communal living and acorn storage. It is fairly common in the Rogue Valley and adjacent hills and locally common in the Klamath River Canyon in southwest Klamath county and the southern part of the Willamette Valley. Acorn woodpeckers are Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in both the Klamath Mountains and Willamette Valley ecoregions. Loss of oak woodlands poses a major threat to this bird. Hear the call of the Acorn woodpecker Photo…

The plumage and perching habits of the Eastern kingbird make it one of the more conspicuous birds in open habitats of eastern Oregon. The plumage is well defined: black on the upperparts and white on the underparts, and a white band on the terminal tip of the tail feathers. It is a relatively large flycatcher, often perching on powerlines, fences, or exposed perches on trees or snags. They hawk aerial insects during the breeding season. The Eastern kingbird breeds throughout non-forest of most of northeast Oregon lowlands with spotty distribution in central and southeast Oregon. They are most abundant in…

With its long, forked tail and long wings, it is the most graceful of all land birds and reminds one of the smaller terns not only in shape but in behavior. The Barn swallow has taken so completely to nesting on human-made structures that one forgets they were once restricted to caves and rock crevices. Almost every farm in the state has a pair or two nesting in an outbuilding, and very few bridges do not have a pair or two. It is the best known of the swallows. It is a fairly common to locally abundant summer resident and…

An acrobatic flier with a dashing white eye-stripe, the Mountain chickadee is a common year-round resident of Oregon's high-elevation coniferous and mixed forests. This species is distinguished from other North American chickadees by its white eyebrow, gray flanks, and gray undertail coverts and by its drawling, hoarse-sounding chick-a-dee-dee-de call. It is resident in all types of forests from two to 10 miles west of the Cascades summit and east, in the Blue, Siskiyou, Wallowa and Warner mountains and on Hart, Steens and other isolated mountains east of the Cascades. Hear the song of the Mountain chickadee Photo by Simon Wray…

A group of twittering, tiny gray birds streaming through bushes and trees and across openings surely are Bushtits. Females' eyes are pale, males' dark. They are highly gregarious except when nesting. The intricately made sock-like nest is unusually large for the size of the bird. Bushtits show a distinct indifference to humans and regularly nest within residential neighborhoods and establish foraging routs throughout many cities. They regularly take suet at bird feeding stations and visit backyard birdbaths. The Bushtit is a fairly common resident throughout Oregon except in Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties and at higher elevations of mountain ranges…

Few birds are as astonishing as the American dipper. This nondescript, dark brown to gray bird is seldom seen more than a few feet from the water's edge. Its elaborate song, which can come forth even on cold winter days, is readily heard above the noise of rushing streams. This bird's ability to dive into a rushing stream to forage on aquatic invertebrates and reappear in the same location has elicited wonder and excitement from ornithologists, naturalists, and birders as well as envy and adoration from fly-fishers. It is an uncommon year-round resident in montane streams and rivers throughout Oregon…

This is a mouse-like bird, only occasionally musters the courage to dart from its shadowy domain. The male and female are generally indistinguishable by external characters. Both sexes are small and brown, with dim streaks on a paler, often pinkish breast; generally paler and grayer in drier regions. Both sexes sing; the female's repeated single note is easily distinguishable from the male's fast trill introduced by several individual notes. The Wrentit is a resident along the coastal slope; in the Columbia River Lowlands and in the south inland to the west Klamath Mountains. It uses a wide range of habitats…

The Chipping sparrow is a small and slender sparrow that has a distinctive sharp chip note and simple, trilling song. Breeding adults display a chestnut crown, a black eye-stripe, and crisp white eyebrow. After nesting season, both male and female lose their distinctive bright cap for a streaky dull brown head pattern that is similar to other winter sparrows. It is a common summer resident in open forests and drier woodland edges throughout Oregon and is especially abundant in the Blue Mountains. The Chipping sparrow is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Willamette Valley ecoregion. Hear the song of…

The song of this bird is one of the characteristic sounds of spring evenings in much of the high desert country of eastern Oregon. This temperate migrant is a ground-nesting, ground-foraging bird of most of the grassland, agricultural land, and shrubs steppe habitats of Oregon. The streaked brownish plumage of the Vesper sparrow is similar to that of several small to medium-sized sparrows, except for white outer tail feathers, shown most conspicuously in flight. The Oregon vesper sparrow is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Klamath Mountains and Willamette Valley ecoregions. Hear the song of the Vesper sparrow Photo…