[Birdtalk] Arkansas Birding

[joshkreitzer at byu.teancum.net]

Dear Friends in Utah,

I am greatly enjoying the beauty and diversity of northwest Arkansas's birds, 
and I thought I'd share with you in case any of you will be in the area at some 
point in your existence.

First off, the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers put the rest of the Tyrannid family to 
shame. Their white plumage, pinkish underwing, and really long, forked tail 
combine to make avian perfection. They are also easy to see as they perch in the 
open along fields.

Warblers, though perhaps more eastern warblers pass through Arkansas than Utah, 
that doesn't mean I see more! There are so many trees here that the birds are 
not restricted much in their choice of foraging habitat. I have seen some 
warblers, a few of which have been close enough to the ground and slow-moving 
enough that I could identify them. Cary, my wife, pointed me to one of them, 
which was a lifebird for me: a first fall female Chestnut-sided Warbler; 
beautiful bird! It sounds like they're coming through Utah at this time, too! 
I've also seen a female American Redstart, a Pine Warbler, and a few Black-and-
White Warblers. I missed the Ceruleans, though they breed in the state they 
leave the US early in the fall. I hope (if I'm still here next year) I'll find 
more of the beautiful warbler family. At least 20! species of warbler breed in 
the state!

One bird that was especially exciting for my wife to see (and me too, of course) 
was a Pileated Woodpecker, way up in a dead tree. They're incredible birds! I 
still haven't made it out to look for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Brinkley is 
unfortunately still several hours from here.

Other neat finds include several Greater Roadrunners (yes they live this far 
East), a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a Red-shouldered Hawk, many Northern Cardinals, a 
few Eastern Towhees, Field Sparrows, Eastern Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Black 
Vulture, Carolina Wrens, Brown Thrasher, Carolina Chickadees galore, Tufted 
Titmice, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Eastern Phoebes, 
Empidonax sp. (one was likely a Yellow-bellied), Dickcissel, Summer Tanager, 
Red-eyed Vireo, and many Blue Jays, though they're difficult to see in the open 
their call is distinctive.

Keep up the good birding in Utah!

Many thanks for your friendship!

Joshua Kreitzer

ps: One of our daughter Eva's first words was Bird. Pronounced "Buhr!" The "d" 
will come later, I'm sure.


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