No Rush to Leave…

Forster’s terns

One of the more common birds we find in Florida during the winter months are the Forster’s terns. Adult breeding birds will have an orange bill with a black tip and a black hood that extends quite a ways down onto the nape of the neck. Some of the birds we found today had only black eye/ear patches. They are probably this year’s young. This is pretty far north for these birds. While they are found along the Hudson River during the fall, most Forster’s terns that have ventured north for breeding purposes are concentrated along the coast. Earlier reports about these birds at Piermont Pier alluded to the fact that young birds were being fed by their parents and this is known to continue in some cases well into the fall and into migration! In the photo above, the bird on the right has a buffy brown mottled appearance and is probably a juvenile bird.

Non-breeding adult emerging from a shallow dive into the river…..

While many species of birds are well on the way south, these terns may stay around until late fall into early December. As long as the river is open and providing an ample food supply, there is really no reason to head south. Even when they do, the Forster’s will rarely venture further south than the coasts of the southern states.

Another bird commonly found during the summer months here at Piermont is the Double-crested cormorant. These birds should be getting ready to begin their journey as the typical departure date for the females of their species in the Hudson River area is around the 12th of September. The males, however, are in no rush to leave and will depart sometime later. We will find cormorants on the river in the middle of the winter, but those are Great cormorants. As the “DCs” move out, the Greats will come in to take their place.

Double-crested cormorant

With the tide begin at extremely high levels today (recent full moon), none of the hoped for shorebird migrants were present. And so, the parting shot today will be of a quite common Mallard. Northern breeding mallards like those from Canada will indeed migrate south to the southern states and Mexico. Birds in southern New York, however, may elect to remain here through the winter. As long as the resources they require are abundant during the cold months of winter, they will probably not move south. After all….they are already equipped with down vests!

Mallard drake

I mean really….does this bird look like he has any intention of going anywhere?????