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Nongame Bird Blog

Scissor-tails in Pawnee County

On Tuesday, I had to make a quick trip down to southeastern Nebraska which gave me an opportunity to visit a pair of nesting Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in Pawnee County.  Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are striking birds with extremely long tails that are rare but regular (annual in occurrence) in our state.  Southeastern Nebraska is right at the edge of their breeding range.  Scissor-tails are a species of tyrant flycatcher in the same genus (Tyrannus) as Eastern and Western Kingbirds.  Both kingbirds are common summer residents …

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Eyas return to Omaha

As has been reported elsewhere, a Peregrine Falcon eyas at the WoodmenLife Tower made a premature leap from it’s nest box in downtown Omaha late last week.  The youngster was quickly recovered by Denise Lewis with Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery (FFRR).  After a check-up, the eyas was returned to its nest box in Omaha by NGPC Conservation Officer and Raptor Recovery volunteer Dina Barta.  Below are a few photos Dina took during the return trip to Omaha. This is just another example, …

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Name-the-chick contest underway – submit your entry here

With this year’s banding successfully completed, it is time to commence the “name-the-chick” contest.  Once again, we look forward to a spirited contest with numerous imaginative entries.  Last year’s winning entry was Orozco, which honored fallen Omaha Police officer Kerrie Orozco.  Other previous winning names can be viewed here.  Rules and important information are as follows: There is one MALE Peregrine Falcon chick. The period to submit names is from 7 June to 11:59 p.m. on 16 June. From all the entries, finalists will …

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Capitol banding a success

The Peregrine Falcon eyas at the Capitol was successfully banded this morning.  We also determined the youngster is a male.  Below are a few photos from this morning’s fun. The last photo shows Betsy Finch of Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery providing an update on the status of 19/K, the adult male falcon who was found injured and who was recovered on Monday.  19/K made his was to and is being treated by Fontenelle Forests’ Raptor Recovery.  Betsy stated 19/k suffered …

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Banding to be broadcast live on Facebook

Despite the terrible news about 19/K, we will be going forward with our plans to band the three week old eyas tomorrow.   Since the banding is NOT open to the public and Capitol security actually closes off the area where the banding takes place, we have made arrangements to broadcast the event LIVE! via the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Facebook page.  So tune in HERE, tomorrow at 10 a.m. We will strive to start the broadcast immediately at the …

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UPDATED: 19/K injured

We received the unfortunate news the male Peregrine Falcon, 19/K, was recovered by Nick Finelli with Lincoln Animal Control this morning near the grain elevator at 26th and Fair Street.  19/K was injured and obviously unable to fly.  Below are photos taken by Nick when he found and recovered 19/K. Unfortunately, you can clearly see the bird’s left wing is injured in the bottom two photos.  Amanda Kaufman, an Animal Control Officer and raptor expert, was also on the scene and took the …

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Kimball Mountain Plover Festival

I want to help get the word out about a family friendly event set to take place on Saturday, June 4th, in Kimball in western Nebraska   It is difficult to go wrong when the festival is centered around a shorebird.  Details can be found in the flyer inserted below. Get out there and get yourself some good birding!

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Successful banding in Omaha

This morning, Betsy Finch and Janet Stander from Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery, as well as Lauren Dinan and I, banded the four Peregrine Falcon eyases at the WoodmenLife Tower in downtown Omaha.   As an added bonus, Betsy Finch was able to capture the adult female, named Charity, at the nest box so that we could also band this previously unbanded adult bird.  The effort was successful and below are a few photos from this morning’s fun. To keep up …

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News from North Omaha

Yesterday, Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) announced they have at least two eyases in their nest box at their north Omaha power station.  Last year it was big news when it was discovered there was a pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting at this location.  The news only got bigger when it was discovered the male of the pair was “Lewis”, who was hatched at the Capitol in 2012.  While we do not know if Lewis is still at this nest …

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What are these birds & what are they doing?

With the commotion of spring winding down, I am now able to take a breath and catch up on a few things, including adding a few posts to this blog.   Back on 5 May, I had a nice opportunity to capture a few photos of one of my favorite birds near Grafton, Fillmore County.  Buff-breasted Sandpipers, or Buffies as they are sometimes called, look rather plain from afar and nowadays they usually occur in agricultural fields during their brief …

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