Birds of Brigham Sanctuary

Remarkably similar to the Eastern Meadowlark and Chihuahuan Meadowlark in colors and pattern, this bird is recognized by its very different song and call notes. The meadowlarks evidently can easily recognize their own kind in the same way; even where Western Meadowlarks overlap with the other two species in the Midwest and Southwest, they almost never interbreed. However, they do seem to see each other as potential rivals, and they actively defend territories against each other.

The Sharp-tailed Grouse is typical of regions that have open grassland mixed with groves of trees or shrubs. Closely related to the prairie-chickens, it is found mostly farther north. On winter nights it may roost by burrowing into snowdrifts, where the snow helps insulate it from the cold.

A flat-headed, short-tailed little sparrow of the fields, the Grasshopper Sparrow may go unnoticed even when it is singing, because its song is much like the buzz of a grasshopper. The birder who learns this sound may spot the bird perched on a weed stalk or the lowest wire of a fence. When not singing, the bird stays out of sight; if disturbed it flies away low for a few yards before diving headfirst back into the grass.

Male Chestnut-collared Longspurs can be found in summer singing their flight-songs over the northern prairies. In winter, flocks invade the grasslands of the Southwest. They can be hard to see well on the ground, flushing when a birder approaches, to swirl away over the fields with soft musical callnotes; they are more easily observed when they come to drink at ponds.

The ghostly, breathy whistle of the Upland Sandpiper is one of the characteristic sounds of spring on the northern Great Plains. The bird sings sometimes from the tops of fenceposts or poles, but often on the wing, flying high with shallow, fluttering wingbeats. When it lands, it may be hard to see in the tall grass of its typical habitat. Because of its short bill and round-headed shape, was once called 'Upland Plover,' but it is a true sandpiper, and apparently a close relative of the curlews.

Small and plain in appearance, this sandpiper is important in terms of sheer numbers. It often gathers by the thousands at stopover points during migration. Semipalmated Sandpipers winter mostly in South America, and studies have shown that they may make a non-stop flight of nearly 2000 miles from New England or eastern Canada to the South American coast. The name 'Semipalmated' refers to slight webbing between the toes, visible only at extremely close range.

One of the largest birds in North America, with a 9-foot wingspan. The American White Pelican is similar to Brown Pelican in shape but much larger, and very different in habits: Occurs far inland, feeds cooperatively in shallow lakes, does not dive from the air for fish. Despite its great size, a spectacular flier, with flocks often soaring very high in the air, ponderously wheeling and circling in unison.

This dark, long-bodied diving bird floats low in the water with its thin neck and bill raised; perches upright near water with wings half-spread to dry. The Double-Crested Cormorant (which rarely looks noticeably crested in the field) is the most generally distributed cormorant in North America, and the only one likely to be seen inland in most areas.

The typical nesting gull of the northern Great Plains, sometimes called 'Prairie Dove.' Rare on either coast but familiar in the interior, with flocks often seen following plows in farm fields. Locations of nesting colonies shift from year to year with changes in marsh conditions. Nesting colonies may be very large, some running to thousands of pairs. Highly migratory, most Franklin's Gulls spend the winter south of the Equator along the west coast of South America.

Widespread across North America, Europe, and Asia, the Northern Pintail is probably one of the most numerous duck species in the world (although outnumbered by the omnipresent Mallard). Slim and long-necked, it has an elegant appearance both on the water and in flight. Pintails are wary at all seasons, and become very secretive during the flightless stage of their molt in late summer.