The Female of the Species - Part 1

 

Female Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Sometimes when you look at bird you can tell if it is a male or a female.  In some species the difference might be in the plumage, in other species it could be size.  Male birds are usually more colorful than females.  They use their bright colors to attract mates and defend nesting territories.  In many hawks females are larger than males.  This condition of females looking different from males is called sexual dimorphism.  One reason for females being less conspicuous is to better hide from predators while tending the nest.

Male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. 

Female Northern Cardinal.
Starr County, Texas. 

Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are an example of the male being more colorful than the female.  They are one of the most common yardbirds in the Eastern United States.  Northern Cardinals are so abundant we can forget how stunningly beautiful they are.  Males are brilliant red with a perky crest on the head, black on the face and a massive, orange seed crunching beak.  Females have the same color pattern, but where the males are red, they are brownish orange.  I think if they were not so common people would be amazed whenever they appeared, even the females.  

Female Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens).
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

Male Downy Woodpecker.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Downy Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens) are our smallest woodpecker and are common at bird feeders. They are black and white and the males have a small red spot on the back of the head that females lack. 

Male Bluebird (Sialia sialis) at nest.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Female Bluebird at nest. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is one of the best-loved birds in North America.  Males are bright blue on the head, back, wings and tail, reddish orange on the breast and white on the belly.  Females have the blue wings and tail, but their heads and backs are gray-brown.

Female Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius).
St. Paul Island, Alaska. 

Red Phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius) nest in the far north, on the tundra of Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. They winter at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific.  Red Phalaropes are unusual because the female is more colorful than the male.  During the breeding season females are dark red on the neck, breast and belly.  They have a white patch around the eye and black running from the back of the head to the throat and a yellow beak tipped in black. Males have a similar pattern of coloration, but are much more subdued. Continuing the reversal of gender roles, males incubate the eggs and raise the young.   Red Phalaropes feed in shallow pools by spinning like a top and stirring the sediment to scare up the small animals that are their prey.  

Male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea).
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  

Female Indigo Bunting.
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea) are small birds that live in scrubby fields across Eastern North America.  Males are brilliant blue and sit on exposed perches while singing their song of paired notes. Female Indigo Buntings are less conspicuous with rich brown coloration.    

Female Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors).
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

Male Blue-winged Teal.
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

Many species of ducks are strongly sexually dimorphic.   Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors) females have brown scalloped feathers, a black beak and a large blue wing patch.  Males have similar coloration, but their heads are dark gray with a white crescent in front of the eye.  

Male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa). 
Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Female Wood Duck.
Bernalillo County, New Mexico.

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) males are the most beautiful of all North American ducks.  With a boldly patterned head, red eye, iridescent green crown and crest, it stuns the viewer with its splendor.  Females are more subdued with a smaller crest, generally brown colors and white spectacles.  These small ducks are often seen flying in pairs with the female in the lead.  

Male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

Female Red-winged Blackbird with nest material.
Palm Beach County, Florida. 

Male and female Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are so different in appearance they appear to be different species.  Males are deep black with red and yellow epaulets.  Females are brown, streaky and have more than a passing resemblance to sparrows.  These blackbirds are widespread across North and Central America and often congregate in giant flocks during winter.  

Male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris).
Palm Beach County, Florida.

Female Painted Bunting.
Palm Beach County, Florida.

If the male Wood Duck is the most beautiful duck in North America, then the male Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris) is the most beautiful songbird.  They nest in the south and winter in Florida and the tropics.  The male is dazzling with blue and red and green while the female is plain yellowish green.    

Being able to tell males from females adds a whole dimension to watching birds.  It can reveal whether two birds might be a mated pair and at certain seasons the viewer can distinguish if large flocks are comprised of a single sex.  We will continue to examine The Female of the Species with Part 2 in the next blog.   

Out of the Blue

 

Cobalt Crust (Terana caerulea) on a dead
Red Maple (Acer rubra) branch.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

We have a big, old Red Maple (Acer rubra) in our front yard.  Sometimes a branch will break off and gets stuck in the canopy.  My brother calls these widow makers.  Diane decided to take down some of our widow makers, so she got out a pole saw, snagged a few, and pulled them down.  One of these branches was covered by a striking blue fungus.

I had never seen this fungus before, but its identity was revealed with just a few minutes of research.  It was Velvet Blue Spread or Cobalt Crust (Terana caerulea).  As its name suggests it is classified in the Crust Fungi that grows tightly appressed to the surfaces of dead wood. 

Cobalt Crust.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The body of the fungus is electric blue with white edges.  The color of Cobalt Crust is due to blue pigments called corticins.  These complex molecules require blue light for their synthesis. 

 Cobalt Crust is found in Eastern North America, Western Europe and in other scattered locations around the world. Like most Crust Fungi, Cobalt Crust is a decomposer of dead wood.  It is often found on the underside of dead limbs that have fallen to the ground.  The limb Diane pulled from the maple had been hanging vertically in the tree for some time, so the Cobalt Crust was growing on all sides of the limb. 

Cobalt Crust.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

It is always a treat to see something new.  This fungus dropped on us, out of the blue, and was an exciting find. 

High Altitude Respite

 

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) on Giant Purple
Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia).
Blue Ride Parkway, North Carolina.

This summer cooked the Southeastern Piedmont.  Long stretches of hot, dry weather shriveled the plants and reduced flower production.  All the animals that depend on plants have suffered too.  But a few hours west there was a high-altitude oasis where it felt like spring and meadows were thronged with insects.  We had a respite from the heat in the Appalachian Mountains with a group of friends. 

 

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

The highest point on the Blueridge Parkway, North Carolina. 
Photo courtesy of Diane Coggin. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway is a two-lane motor road that runs 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Cherokee, North Carolina near the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  The Parkway is part of the National Park System and runs near the summit the Blue Ridge.  In North Carolina some sections of the road are over 5000 feet.  The weather there is much cooler and is more akin to Northern Maine. Even in late summer wildflowers were blooming.  

Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Bumblebee (Bombus sp.) on Cutleaf Coneflower. 
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Cutleaf Coneflower.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

The Parkway has many small fields with blooming wildflowers.  Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia lacinata) with its yellow ray and disk flowers were abundant.  Bubblebees (Bombus sp.) and Great Spangled Fritillaries (Speyeria cybele) popped from one plant to plant sipping nectar and moving pollen. 

Pipevine Swallowtail on Giant Purple Hyssop.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Vast flocks of Pipevine Swallowtails (Battus philenor) were feeding on flowers including Giant Purple Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia) with its spikes of purple blooms.  This stunning butterfly has black wings with iridescent blue patches.  These butterflies started life as a larva on Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) a forest vine.  The leaves of Dutchman’s Pipe contain a highly toxic compound, aristolochic acid, and the larvae of the Pipevine Swallowtail store it in their bodies.  When they transform into butterflies they retain the poison and are protected from predators.  The blue on their wings advertises their toxicity to birds in the neighborhood. 

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
on Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum muticum).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Mountain Mint (Pycanthemun muticum) flowers were visited by stunning Silver-spotted Skippers (Epargyreus clarus) that probed flowers with their long proboscises.  A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) rested on a boulder opening and closing its wings in the sunlight.  

Orange Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Yellow Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Two species of Jewelweed, both the orange and yellow (Impatiens capensis and Impatiens pallida) were flowering along the Parkway.  These flowers, with their long spurs extending from the back, are favorites of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) fueling up for migration. 

Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) leaves.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Rattlesnake Plantain plant with flowers.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

A small native orchid, Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) was flowering in the woods.  This beautiful little plant has green leaves with white veins and delicate white flowers.  

False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum) fruits.
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Nodding Mandrain (Prosartes maculata) fruits. 
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana).
Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. 

Both False Solomon’s Seal (Maianthemmu m racemosum) and Nodding Mandarin (Prosartes maculata) were in fruit.  These plants sport bright red fruits bringing color to the forest understory.  Virginia Spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) with its bright blue flowers was blooming at the edge of the woods.  

Even in the river valleys below the crest of the Blue Ridge temperatures were more moderate than in the flatlands  Plants were blooming and insects buzzing.  

Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) flowers.
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina. 

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) female.
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina. 

European Hornet (Vespa crabro).
Dupont State Recreational Forest, North Carolina.  

Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) were in flower.  A damselfly, the Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), was hunting from a perch above a river.  This striking black insect with an iridescent blue body glittered in the sun.  It was a female with the characteristic white spots on the wing tips.  A swarm of invasive European Hornets (Vespa crabo) were chewting bark from the trunk of a streamside tree.  The hornets will expand their paper nest with the macerated bark.  European Hornets were introduced to the New World in the mid-19^th century and are now found across much of Eastern North America.  Females of this hornet can inflict a painful sting.

Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia).
Looking Glass Falls, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina. 

Looking Glass Falls.
Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.  

A female Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope auranita) built her sun-spangled web in the spray of a waterfall.  After a break in the mountains with the spring-like flowers, insects and waterfalls, it was back to the baking Piedmont Plain with thoughts of autumn coming on.  Thanks to our friends Steve and Malia Kline and Janet Palmer for sharing our adventures. 

Moth Nights, Pollinator Counts and Citizen Science

 

Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis)
on Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Citizen science has a long tradition.  Before science became institutionalized it was practiced in large part by amateurs. The longest-running citizen science project is the National Audubon Christmas Bird Count.  It started on Christmas Day in 1900 when people took to the field counting all the birds they saw, rather than shooting them as was the custom.  This 125 year data set is invaluable in assessing many biological and climate questions.  The information age has spawned platforms that make citizen science easier to do.  These include eBird and iNaturalist where millions of people submit information about the natural world that is raw data for scientific analysis. 

We have been involved in a couple of citizen science projects this summer, National Moth Week and the Great Southeastern Pollinator Census. 

In July people all over the world went out and stayed up late to observe moths.  This year  over 51,000 observers on six continents identified more than 11,000 species of moths, other insects and spiders. 

 

National Moth Month event.
Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

We participated in several moth nights where we found a startling variety of species.  The rig for these moth nights was an open nylon tent with a string of ultraviolet LED lamps.  The moths were drawn to the UV lights and landed on the tent.  There observers could study and photograph the moths and the information was posted on iNaturalist.

Here are some of the moths that came to our National Moth Month events. 

Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Eastern Grass Tubeworm Moth (Acrolophus plumifrontera).
Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Eastern Grass Veneer (Crambus laqueatellus).
Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Common Tan Wave (Pleuroprucha insulsaria).
Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Cherry Dagger (Acronicta hasta) and mosquito.
 Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Green Cutworm Moth (Anicla infecta).
 Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

American Lotus Borer Moth (Ostrinia penitalis).
Catawba College. Salisbury, North Carolina. 

The Great Southeastern Pollinator Census is a program where citizen scientists in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina record pollinators visiting flowers.  The Agricultural Extension services in these states coordinate the events.  Observers pick a beach ball sized area of flowers and counts each visit to any flower in the area.  During the 2025 count more than half a million pollinator visits were recorded by over 27,000 people. 

Diane doing a pollinator census.
Rowan County, North Carolina.  

We visited a friend’s garden and saw butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, hummingbirds and other pollinators.  These are some of the pollinators we saw.  

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilo glaucus) on
Purpletop Vervain (Verbena bonariensis).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus) on 
Purpletop Vervain. 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) on
Purpletop Vervain.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Hummingbird Moth (Hemaris thysbe) on
Purpletop Vervain.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on
Black and Blue Sage (Salvia guaranitica).
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Small Carpenter Bee (Ceratina sp.) on Cup Plant.
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) on
Clustered Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum).
Rowan County, North Carolina.  

   

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) on
Silver Sage (Salvia guarantica var Argentine Skys). 
Rowan County, North Carolina. 

The American evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson argued that people have a innate need to connect with the natural world. He called this biophilia.  Citizen science is a way to channel biophilia into usable data that could help address a myriad environmental problems we now face. 

Thanks to Dr. Carrie DeJaco for guiding us through Moth Month events.  Further thanks to Michael and Jennifer Board for inviting us to census the pollinators in their garden.