South Cottage Grove has many different residents and flyers by. Having brought you several mystery birds in a page six piece on May 12, we continue the identification of said birds, whether passing through or settling down to make a long-term nest. As before, a volunteer from the St. Croix Carpenter Nature Center assisted with ID.

First up, the Yellow-Rumpled Warbler! Common to the Arrowhead region and northward for breeding, the Yellow Rumpled Warbler (Setophaga coronate) pictured was likely passing through on the Mississippi Flyway, as these birds winter in Texas, Mexico, and the gulf Coast area.

Logging untold flyer miles while it migrates from Hudson Bay to the Gulf and back again, the Yellow-Rumpled Warbler is so named for its yellow aft region, with black mask and white (or yellow) throat for the front. Feeding on insects and berries along with insects, the Yellow Rumpled Warbler is a ground forager, also flying out to catch insects.Laying from four to 5 eggs, the Warbler prefers life off the ground for nesting, with the nest placed from four to 50 feet above ground, and the hatchlings out after just 10 to 12 days—learning to fly, that is. Fed by both parents, Yellow-Rumpled Warblers have two broods each year. Also seen in south Cottage Grove is the Belted Kingfisher.

Perched on a branch or hovering in the air to dive for fish, the Belted Kingfisher (plunges headfirst into water, catching fish near the surface with its beak. Those parts of the fish that can’t be digested are coughed up, similar to a hairball only Common to all or part of the lower 48 states, the belted kingfisher (Megaceryle Alcyon) mostly heads north to Alaska and Canada for breeding season, with North Dakota and parts of Montana, South Dakota, and northwest Minnesota also in its breeding grounds.

Being a fisher by name its important that the male can prove himself a good provider—or so it seems—as during the courtship process he brings his favorite girl a fish to feed her. Nesting on steep or vertical dirt banks in an underground chamber, the belted kingfisher lays from six to seven eggs, or sometimes five to eight.

Following an incubation period of up to 24 days, the young take a month to leave the nest, as they must either learn to fish for their supper, or else to starve.

Prior to the young leaving, both parents feed their young. Taking a heavy investment of time from mom and dad, the kingfisher has one brood per year, or two in warmer settings.

Next up in bird Identification are two photos of the Palm Warbler, taken from different angles and locations. Keeping to the states went of the Rockies and breeding in Canada, the Palm Warbler is a true snowbird, preferring to spend its winters in Florida and along the Gulf or Atlantic coasts.

Belonging to the same genus but a different species, the Palm Warbler (setophaga palmarum) hangs out in thickets and open areas, keeping low and to the ground. Hopping and walking along the ground, some male Palm Warblers can have more than one mate, with the nest placed on the ground and made by the female from dry grass and bark, then lined with feathers. As to the “more than one” for mates, this ties into species strategy for survival, while both parents feed the young in a given nest. Defending against parasitism from Cowbirds by covering the eggs over and building a new layer, the Palm Warbler has two broods a year, with young leaving the nest to start flying lessons after just 12 days. Last in this week’s review of south Cottage Grove residents is the Eastern Towhee, with a red eye that makes it resemble an angry bird—though open to interpretation, of course.

Known to science as pipilo erythrophthalmus, the Eastern Towhee is a ground forager, going along the low places and including insects, seeds, and berries in its diet. Among the birds that breed in the Cottage Grove area, the Eastern Towhee is common to the eastern half of the lower 48 states, with three to four eggs, and occasionally white eyes in Florida and the Southeast. With at least eight different songs of slight variation, the Eastern Towhee is a true virtuoso when it comes to the label “songbird,” with the male defending its territory through song. Belonging to the family of New World Sparrows, the Eastern Towhee faces an uncertain future, as just three degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) could result in the Towhee losing 83 percent of its range—including south Cottage Grove. With current predictions by the Environmental Protection Agency for at 2.7 degrees Celsius “temporarily,” is that goodbye Eastern Towhee?

That may depend on its ability to adapt.

Eastern Towhee. Photo by Joseph Back

Palm Warbler. Photo by Joseph Back

Belted Kingfisher. Photo by Joseph Back