Bird watch: What to look for this time of year
BY KELLY BOSTIAN Outdoors
Sunday, November 25, 2012
11/25/12 at 7:09 AM
A member of a group of ducks known as stiff-tails, the diminutive ruddy duck winters in Oklahoma and nests primarily in the prairie pothole region to our northwest.
As a diving duck it is highly adapted to life in the water. The far-rear placement of its legs aids in diving, but makes it extremely awkward on land.
Ruddy ducks require a long, paddling start across the water to become airborne and are not very agile in flight. They forage for aquatic invertebrates, typically spending about 20 seconds underwater for each dive.
This week in eastern Oklahoma
ARRIVALS
Long-tailed Duck, Evening Grosbeak
DEPARTURES
American Bittern, King Rail, American Golden Plover, American Avocet, Rufous Hummingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey, Sandhill Crane, Dunlin, Franklin's Gull
Original Print Headline: Bird Watch
Dan Reinking is a senior biologist at the Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville. Contact him at dreinking@ou.edu or see tulsaworld.com/suttoncenter.
The Bird Watch list is excerpted from the Date Guide to the Occurrences of Birds in Oklahoma, which lists normal dates of occurrences for bird species by seven geographic regions of the state. It is a publication of the Oklahoma Bird Records Committee of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society. For full information about the guide and how to report unusual bird sightings at unusual times of year go to tulsaworld.com/okbirds.
Associated Images:
A ruddy duck. STEVE METZ / Courtesy
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