Date: Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Location: Strawberry Hill, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

Site description: This week, I went around the same area I went to last week, near Stow Lake and Strawberry Hill. I mainly walked on a dirt path going up Strawberry Hill, and the area was filled towering conifers and shrubs that encompassed the ground below. The key species identified were Mallards, Red-tailed Hawk, and Common Raven.

Species account:  A species I came across this week was the Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis). This species belongs to the order Passeriformes and family Tyrannidae. It was difficult to identify this species because it was the first time I had seen it. Luckily, it remained perched on a low branch where I was able to observe some of its distinguishable features. At first, just looking at the head, it reminded me of a Black Phoebe until I was able to see its pale yellow belly and dark grey backside, It’s tail was dark-colored with some white streaks. Western Kingbirds are fairly large flycatchers with large heads, straight dark bills, and long wings with square-tipped tails. They’re easily found perched, waiting to capture insects from the air or fly out to pick prey from the ground. Their diet consists mainly of insects and use acrobatic displays to catch insects in the air. They are very territorial and defend their territories with wing-fluttering and high vocal attacks. This species is. mainly found in open areas, near the edges of woodlands in western North America.

Narrative: In total, I saw 8 species. I was glad I was able to see at least one new species during my last time birding. The weather outside was pretty cloudy and slightly windy compared to last week. One thing that I found interesting was that a Red-tailed Hawk landed in a branch very close to where I walking. It landed on a significantly low branch, and I was able to see its wingspan and the muted red coloring on its tail. Although this was my last week of birding, it was nice seeing species I had seen before and being able to easily recognize them without having to pull out my Sibley field guide.

eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S68456622

Citations: 

“Western Kingbird Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Kingbird/lifehistory.