| My webbed toes make me a great swimmer but I can also fly to find other places with water. My tail sticks up out of the water when I dip my head below the surface to get food. I have ridges along my bill that let me strain aquatic plants, grass and small insects from the water. I build my nest on the shore. When they hatch, my chicks follow me in a line. Coyotes may try to eat me and raccoons and bullsnakes often eat my eggs. |
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| My long neck is dark and I have a white cheek patch, while my body is mostly brownish. My markings help me blend in with the marsh in winter. I am known for my loud “ahonk-ahonk” while I fly in a V-formation with thousands of my kind. I winter in the wetlands where I eat aquatic plants, grasses and some insects and crustaceans. Some of us breed in New Mexico while others head north in the summer. I form a bond with my mate and we breed when we are two or three years old. When our young get a bit older you can see us paddling along with them behind us. |
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| As an adult, I have a dark brown body with a white head and tail. My massive beak is yellow and I have bare yellow legs. When I am young, my whole body is mostly dark brown with blotchy white underneath. As an adult female my wingspan can reach 8 feet (2.4 meters) while as an adult male it is 6 feet (1.8 meters). My wintering grounds include New Mexico, both along the Middle Rio Grande Valley and the upper reaches of the Rio Grande watershed. I go north to breed. I eat mainly fish that I capture with my huge talons, but I also eat carrion (dead animals). We nest in trees or on cliffs. |
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| I am a raptor, which means I have sharp talons (claws) for catching prey and a hooked beak to tear meat. I have a long tail with dark and light brown bands. I hunt during the day. When I am hungry, I wait on a branch for a small bird to fly by. Then I dash after it, using my binocular vision to skillfully fly around the trees. I also eat small rodents, lizards and rabbits. I build my nest of sticks in the fork of a big cottonwood. |
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| My large eyes help me see well as I hunt at night for mice. My soft feathers help me fly quietly to sneak up on my prey. Some feathers on my head look like horns. During the day I hide in large trees where my feathers match the bark. I often use the old nest of a hawk or crow, or make a nest in a cave or a hole in a tree. My young hatch out during the cold winter but they don’t leave the nest until spring. |
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| I use my long legs to wade in the water. Blue-gray feathers cover most of my body, with black on my head. I stand patiently waiting for food to come close. With lightning speed I catch fish, frogs, crayfish, and even mice or gophers, using my large spear-like bill. My long neck helps me grab my prey. I hunt during the day and I usually stay near shore or where there are plants, because that’s where my food tends to be. I like to hunt alone, but I build my large nest high in cottonwoods with several others of my kind. |
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| I have a long neck and long legs. My feathers are mostly gray, although sometimes there are rust colored feathers on my back and sides. Red feathers top my head. I live near wetlands along the Rio Grande in the winter. We hang out in large groups in open fields and meadows. We eat whatever we can find, especially insects, small animals and plant parts. In the summer we fly north to breed. When we are nesting, my partner and I sing and dance together. My family flies back to the wintering grounds in the fall. |
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| My name is my call. I have two black rings around my neck, brown feathers on my back and a white belly. I run quickly on slender legs along sand bars and river banks. I pick up insects, small water animals or plant parts from the surface of the sand or soil. I lay my camouflaged eggs in a depression on the ground among stones and gravel. If a predator comes near my nest, I pretend to have a broken wing to lure it away. |
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| My back is grayish-brown, my belly is white, my wings are rufous, and I have white spots underneath my long, dark tail. I have a yellow lower bill. My favorite food is hairy caterpillars, but I also eat other insects, lizards, berries and fruit. I look for food in dense, leafy trees and shrubs. I often breed where there are cicadas, tent caterpillars or other large insects. I typically need large patches of mature riparian woodland with lots of cover to breed. I build my nest of twigs in mature willows. I spend summers in New Mexico and other parts of the U.S., but I fly to South America for the winter. |
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| I have sturdy legs, a bushy crest and a long tail. My feathers are streaked, shaggy brown. I can fly but I like to run. My favorite foods are lizards and snakes but I also eat insects, rodents and birds. I hunt in open areas but I build my nest in a low tree or thicket. My husband generally sits on the nest. My mate and I stay together all year. I sing a slow song of low-pitched coos. |
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| I can be recognized by my rattling call as I fly along rivers and streams. I have a large head with a heavy bill. My back has bluish gray feathers and my belly is white. I have a bluish breastband if I am a male and two breastbands—one bluish and one rust—if I am a female. I live up to my name because I have excellent fishing skills. I dive head-first into the water to catch fish. I also eat frogs, lizards, insects, mice and even young birds. If you look along the riverbanks, you may find my burrow that I dig using my bill. I teach my young how to fish by dropping dead meals into the water for them to retrieve. |
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| I am all black with a big straight beak. My caw caw warns my companions of danger and tells them where to find food. I use different calls to tell my friends different things. We gather together to feed in the bosque during the winter. We eat anything, including animals and plants. At night, we roost together in big flocks in the trees. In the summer most of us head north to build our nests, although some of us stay in the valley to breed. |
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| I perch upright, scanning for insects flying over nearby water. Small feathers around my bill look like whiskers and help me catch flying insects. My back is a brownish color and each of my dark wings has two light stripes on it. I live in dense willow thickets where I build my cup-like nest in the fork of a small tree. I breed in New Mexico but I fly south for the winter. |
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| In the summer I dart about in mature cottonwood trees. I am covered with rosy-red feathers. I like New Mexico summers because there are plenty of insects to feed my young. I like to eat bees and wasps as well as fruit. We build our cup-like nests in trees that grow near water. By the time cold weather comes, my young are grown. We all fly south to Mexico or South America where it is warm in the winter. |
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| I show the bright red patches in my black wings as I sing loudly from the tops of cattails. My song keeps other males of my kind away from my territory. My wife is dark brown with lots of streaking. We build our nests above the water using stalks of marsh plants. I catch insects to feed my chicks. I travel around in large flocks to search for seeds in winter. Raccoons and some birds eat my eggs, and hawks may try to catch me when I’m older. |
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