Phylum:  Arthropoda     Class:  Insecta     Order:  Lepidoptera     Family:  Nymphalidae

Species Status, the following listed Monarch as “Special Concern”:  federal Species at Risk Act in 2003; Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007; New Brunswick’s Species at Risk Act, 2012; COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada), 2010

Family, Nymphalidae:
Nymphalidae, commonly known as the Brush-footed Butterfly family, is highly visible and lends well to study, both in the field and in the lab.  For this reason, members are often used as model systems in understanding complexities of Earth life.  

Among the 6000 described species are the Monarch, the Painted Lady, the buckeye, the fritillaries, checkerspots and the electric blue morphos.  Not all taxonomists agree on Nymphalidae family classification.  Due to diversity in form and lifestyle some argue for the family being split up into as many as 9 different families.  What does hold Nymphalidae together as a family is the single characteristic of all species having tricarinate (having 3 ridged keels) ridges on the antennae of adult butterflies.

Generally, Nymphalidae are medium to large-sized butterflies, with most species having a reduced  pair of forelegs, and on some this pair has a brush-like set of hairs.  Their vernacular names, “Brush-footed” and “Four-footed” respectively come from the brush-like feature adapted for cleaning their antennae, and their reputation for standing on only four legs, with the two forelegs curled up.  Many species hold their wings flat when resting.  The dorsal (upper) surface of most species are quite colourful, while the ventral (under) surface is quite dull, having a camouflaging effect. 

Other idiosyncrasies of this family include flight behaviour that is more like flapping and gliding than fluttering, and feeding on juices of rotten plants, fruit and animals.

Danaus plexippus is a member of the subfamily Danainae (milkweed butterflies).  Species in this subfamily lay their eggs on the various milkweed plants that their larvae then feed on. For this reason, besides “Monarch”, another common name is Milkweed butterfly.

Genus, Danaus:
The twelve Danaus species are found worldwide, including Australia, Indonesia, Asia, Africa, South America, and North America.  North American species include the two from subfamily Danainae, D. plexippus (Monarch) and D. gilippus (Queen), as well as D. eresimus (Soldier). This genus appears to be named for its display of regal colours.  According to Greek mythology, Danaus, who ruled in Libya, was the son of Belus, king of Egypt.  Myth has it that his twin brother, Aegyptus, drove him out of Egypt, into Argos of Greece.   

Following the regal theme, due to the bright orange colour of D. plexippus, it is believed that the common name, “Monarch,” is in honour of King William III of England, whose secondary title was, “Prince of Orange.”

Description/Features:
As adults, D. plexippus are recognized by wings with an upper tawny orange surface, with veins traced in black and black borders dotted white.  These markings serve as a warning to predators of poison.  The underside is similar, but the tips of all wings are yellow brown and the white spots are larger.  Their wingspan ranges from 8.9 to 10.2 cm (3.5 - 4.0 in).  Males are distinguished from females by being slightly larger, with narrower vein tracing and a small, oblong “sex” spot on each hind wing.  Pheromones are dispersed from a similar spot on some other species, but this is not known to be the case with Monarchs.  

Like all creatures of the class, Insecta, Monarchs have 3 pairs of 3 legs; however, they only use their middle and hind leg pairs.  The forelegs are vestigial and held against the body.  From head to abdomen tip they are black with white spots.

A species often confused with the Monarch is Limenitis archippus (Viceroy butterfly).  Together, these two species are considered Müllerian mimics, that is, well-defended, foul-tasting species that have evolved to mimic one another against their shared predators. 

Range:
Native to North and South America, this migratory species has spread to other warm places where their host plants, various milkweed species, grow.  While they are now populating Hawaii, Portugal, Spain and Oceania islands, unfortunately they are no longer to be found in South America.  

There are two major populations of Monarchs, subspecies D. plexippus plexippus, in North America.  From southern Canada and the United States, the western population migrates south to California, while the eastern population, of up to 500,000 individuals, travels as much as 3000 km to mountainous forests in central Mexico.

Curiously, migration affects the appearance of the Monarch.  Wings size and shape differ between those who don’t migrate and those who do, and of the ones who do, early migrants appear redder and more elongated than those who migrate later.  In terms of North American migrants, Monarchs in the east have larger and more angular forewings than those in the west.

Host Plant(s):
The Monarchs’ host plants, of the genus Asclepias or milkweeds, instigate their migration.  The leaves of milkweed plants offer the required surface for egg laying as well as necessary food nutrients for larvae.  Milkweeds contain toxins that Monarch larvae are adapted to handle.  These toxins, incorporated into their bodies, provide protection, as make the larvae and metamorphized butterflies distasteful to many predators.

Habitat:
The reproductive habitat of this migratory butterfly is that of the milkweed.  Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), the most common species in eastern NA, grows in old fields and roadsides.  Swamp milkweed (A. incarnata) grows in wet areas, including marshes, streambanks and moist meadows.  Within the southern part of Monarch’s range, Green or Spider milkweed (A. viridis) grows in rocky wooded openings, prairies, glades, and roadsides, while Whorled milkweed (A. verticillata) grows in fields, pastures, dry prairies, dry open woods, glades and roadsides.

Behaviour:
Native to North America, D. plexippus plexippus (Monarch) was introduced to Australia in the 1870s, and there this species gained the name, “Wanderer Butterfly”, for its migratory habit. 

D. plexippus plexippus is the Monarch subspecies that migrates from the northern part of their range each autumn (eastern/northeastern NA or western/northwestern NA) and from the southern part of their range each spring (the mountainous forest of central Mexico or the west coast of California, respective).  Other subspecies make minor migrations or not at all.

Most North American individuals do not migrate, but rather live for 4-5 weeks, during which time they mate and lay eggs.  For the generation that emerges from late August and into September, this reproductive urge is replaced by the impetus to migrate.  Before the great flight, their energy goes into storing the fat that will serve to fuel their late-August to mid-October journey and throughout their subsequent southern stay.  Slow and sailing, Monarch flight speed has been estimated at around 9 km/h (5.5 mph).  

Monarchs tend to move on cold fronts, and when rain, wind or unfavourable temperatures prevent them from crossing Lake Erie, they will use the southernmost tip of Canada, the site of Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, as their resting point.  Thousands of these beautiful butterflies can be seen during their brief (a few days) Autumn stay.  For best viewing, use binoculars in the early morning or before sunset.  Look into sheltered areas near the treetops.  You may see them resting with open wings or, with wings together, camouflaged as dead leaves.

The migrating butterflies live for more than 6 months.  They enter into a state of ‘active’ diapause that suppresses reproduction and initiates the storing of fats (lipids, proteins and carbohydrates).  This store carries them through migration and their roost for the duration of the North American winter (total, approx 5 months).  The cool, mountainous forest slows their metabolism so that they do not need to eat very much while roosting; however, they do require replenishment of water, so on warm days they will fly out in the millions to drink.  When the weather becomes amiable for milkweed growth (mid-March), these same butterflies come out of diapause and lay eggs.  The migratory trip northward begins with these children.  Along the journey, females continue to lay eggs for subsequent generations to take over the flight, so that an annual cycle involves four generations in all!

Life Cycle:
Mating behaviour may be observed as adult butterflies move about their milkweed flower nectary.  Look for  males perching on exposed sunny spots.  When a butterfly passes by he will fly out in hopes of a female Monarch.  If he’s in luck, he will fly behind her and bump into the tip of her abdomen.  Together, they will engage in a speedy, erratic chase.  The male will then grab her from above and hold his wings straight out, while the female flutters and glides to the ground.  Hidden among weeds, the male attaches his abdomen to hers and then carries her off to dense vegetation.  There they remain attached from 2-14 hours, the time it takes for a packet of sperm to be transferred.  

D. plexippus undergoes complete metamorphosis - egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. The fertile adult female butterfly will lay hundreds of eggs in one day, but only one at a time.  An egg is about the size of a pinhead, off-white to yellow, with longitudinal ridges running from tip to base.  They can often be found on the bottom of a milkweed leaf near the top of the plant.  About 4 days later the eggs hatch into larvae.  Over the following 10 days the larvae, black-white-yellow caterpillars, feed on milkweed leaves as they proceed through 4 molts (5 instars).  Pupae attached under a milkweed leaf or other solid object and remain in this state for about 12 days.  The emergent butterflies will continue to mate and lay eggs, with as many as 3-4 broods.  Born in (the North American) late-summer, the last brood enters an ‘active diapause’ that ceases reproduction in favour of the accumulation of fat storage, and migrates south to overwinter there.

Conservation:
For Monarchs, it's all about milkweed, milkweed, milkweed ... warm temperatures, cool forests, and quality water.  For the NA eastern population, protection of milkweed habitats throughout their migratory range and summer breeding grounds, along with the preservation of their overwintering site, mountainous oyamel forests of Mexico and its watershed, are paramount to the survival of our beloved relation, Danaus plexippus plexippus, Monarch butterfly.  

What is true of the Nymphalidae family as a whole is certainly true of Monarch.  This highly visible species lends well to study and is an excellent model system not only for understanding complexities of Earth life, but also for conserving life well beyond that of one species.  Conservation of Monarch habitats in North America and Mexico is conservation of all species who live within these habitats.  Much love and gratitude extending to this beautifully fascinating creature!

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Bibliography:

Balmer, Elizabeth.  A Pocket Guide to Butterflies & Moths.  Bath, UK:  Parragon Books Ltd, 2007.

Environment and Climate Change Canada. 2016. Management Plan for the Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
     in Canada. Species at Risk Act Management Plan Series. Environment and Climate Change Canada,
     Ottawa. iv + 45 pp.

Foster, Steven & James A. Duke. Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and
     Central North America.  New York, New York:  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2014. 

Kricher, John & Gordon Morrison.  Peterson Field Guides  Eastern Forests.  New York New York: 
     Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988.

Macnaughton, Alan.  ”Monarch Rescue”:  A Good Idea?  Toronto, Ontario:  Toronto Entomologists’
     Association, 2019.

Stokes, Donald.  A Guide to Observing Insect Lives.  Toronto, Ontario:  Little, Brown and Company, 1983.

Wilcox, Alana & Flockhart, Tyler & Newman, Amy & Norris, Ryan. (2019). Evaluating the strength of
     evidence for declines in eastern migratory North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).
     Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7. 10.3389/fevo.2019.00099. 

On-line Resources:

  “Butterfly Anatomy.”  Eeles, Peter.  Dispar  The Online Journal of Lepidoptera, 2015.  Web.  Accessed 30 Mar 2020.  https://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=6.

  “Danaus.”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Updated 24 July 2020.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaus#:~:text=In%20Greek%20mythology%2C%20Danaus%20(%2F,Mycenaean%20cities%20of%20the%20Peloponnesus.

  “Danaus (Butterfly).”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Updated 21 July 2020.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danaus_(butterfly).

  “Friday Fun Fact - Monarch butterflies in Australia.”  Australian Butterfly Sanctuary.  01 Feb 2016.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://australianbutterflies.com/monarch-butterflies-in-australia/#:~:text=They%20originated%20in%20North%20America,hibernate%20through%20the%20winter%20months..

  “Genus Danaus.”  Cotinis, 2004.  Updated 22 June 2013.  BugGuide, Iowa State University, Department of Entomology, 2020.  Web.  Accessed 30 July 2020.  https://bugguide.net/node/view/352#:~:text=gilippus%3B%20Soldier%2C%20D.,12%20species%20worldwide..

  “Monarch Butterflies.”  Journey North.  Arboretum University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1997-2019.  Web.  Accessed on 01 Aug 2020.  https://journeynorth.org/tm/monarch/sl/3/index.html.

  “Egg.”  Monarch Joint Venture, 2020.  Web.  Accessed 01 Aug 2020.  https://monarchjointventure.org/monarch-biology/life-cycle/egg#:~:text=For%20monarchs%2C%20that's%20milkweed!,the%20tip%20to%20the%20base..

  “Monarch butterflies - Point Pelee National Park.”  Parks Canada.  Government of Canada.  Updated 03 Mar 2020.  Web.  Accessed 30 July 2020.    https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/on/pelee/nature/faune-wildlife/monarque-monarch.

  “Monarch butterfly.”  National Geographic Society.  Web.  Accessed 30 July 2020.  https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/m/monarch-butterfly/.

  “Monarch butterfly.”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Updated 29 July 2020.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly.

  “Monarch butterfly migration.”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Updated 20 July 2020.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly_migration​.

  “Natural History  Monarch Butterfly } Danaus plexippus plexippus.”  Center for Biological Diversity.  Web.  Accessed 30 July 2020.  https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/invertebrates/monarch_butterfly/natural_history.html.

  “Nymphalidae.”  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  Updated 13 July 2020.  Web.  Accessed on 30 July 2020.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphalidae.

  Wahlberg, Niklas and Andrew V. Z. Brower. 2009. Nymphalidae Rafinesque 1815. Brush-footed Butterflies. Version 15 September 2009 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Nymphalidae/12172/2009.09.15 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/.

  “Wanderer butterfly - ​Danaus plexippus plexippus.”  Brisbane Insects and Spiders.  Updated 01 Jan 2011.  Web.  Accessed 30 July 2020.  https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_nymphs/wanderer.htm.

Phylum:  Chordata     Class:  Mammalia     Order:  Rodentia     Family:  Sciuridae

Species Status in Ontario:  Least Concern

Family, Sciuridae:
The term, rodent, comes from the Latin rodere, which means “to gnaw”.  All animals in the order Rodentia are mammals that gnaw.  They are diagnosed by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in both the upper and the lower jaw.  Due to an extra pair of incisors, rabbits are not considered rodents.  

Most rodents are herbivores.  While the herbivore crania (housing smaller temporalis muscles than that of carnivores and omnivores) comes in two basic cranial shapes, smooth-rounded and smooth-flat, rodents are exceptions.  Their skulls can be round and smooth or slightly peaked.

Family Sciuridae includes small to medium-sized rodents.  The list includes prairie dogs, groundhogs and other marmots, chipmunks, flying squirrels, ground squirrels and tree squirrels.  Eastern Grey (Gray) Squirrels are considered tree squirrels, not because of their physiology, but rather due to their arboreal habitat.  They nest in trees and most of their life-sustaining activities rely on trees. Though flying squirrels make their home in trees, their physiology sets them apart.

Genus, Sciurus:
Squirrel fossil records date back 56 - 33.9 million years, to the Eocene epoch, the “dawn” of modern fauna.  They are closely related to mountain beaver and dormice and are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa.  

“Squirrel” is an etymological descendant of the Latin word “sciurus”.  This was a word borrowed from Ancient Greek, “skiouros”, meaning shadow-tailed, and refers to the bushy tail of many Sciurus members.

When referring to a group of squirrels, you might say “a dray of squirrels” or “a scurry of squirrels”.

Description/Morphology:
This omnivorous mammal is a medium-sized rodent, 8-10 inches long, and a bushy tail of similar length.  Fur on the back is grey and on the belly, white.  In more northern areas, including Southern Ontario, there are black grey squirrels.  These are melanistic, that is, individuals with a greater concentration of the dark-coloured pigment, melanin, in their fur.  
Front foot:  4 sharp-nailed toes for climbing, 3 palm pads, 2 heel pads, and a vestigial thumb located on the inside near the heel pad.  In soft substrate, the vestigial thumb will show up in the track.
Hind foot:  5 toes with nails, 4 palm pads, 2 heel pads with a surrounding area lacking hair.  Sometimes, as is commonly the case with Eastern Cottontail Rabbits, S. carolinensis’ hind feet will make elongated tracks.  Usually, the hind tracks end with the 4 palm pads.  The track pattern is typically trapezoidal, with two hind tracks ahead and wider apart than the two closely spaced front tracks.

Range:
Generally, S. carolinensis can be found from the southern portion of Manitoba down into Texas and east to the Atlantic coast.  I've heard that Southern Ontario has the greatest population of melanistic grey squirrels. 

​Habitat:
S. carolinensis has adapted quite well to urban environments, though this species prefers living in deciduous, hardwood forests where acorns, hickory nuts and beechnuts are plentiful.  In Southern Ontario, the frequent discovery of gnawing signs on discarded Black Walnut shells, particular to Eastern Grey Squirrel, reveals that they are keen for these large nuts as well.  In warm seasons, when nuts are unavailable, they will also take advantage of the following habitat food offerings:  expanding buds of many trees, ripened seeds of elm, maple and basswood, caterpillars and cocoons, beetles and ants, and on occasion, bird’s eggs and nestlings.  They enjoy the sweet sap that flows in the spring from a maple or birch injury. ​​​

In winter, in the northern parts of their range, they shelter in tree holes and tree crevices, insulated with leaves and other soft materials.  Otherwise, they will nest in “outdoor” spherical leaf nests, 12” to 19” in diameter.  These loose, leafy nests are built high up in mature deciduous trees, with the main entrance near the tree’s trunk.  To discover where a squirrel may be nesting, follow one who is carrying leaves, twigs and/or shredded bark.

Behaviour:
I don’t think of squirrels as migratory, so this story really piqued my curiosity:  Legend has it that in the early 1800’s there was an intense grey squirrel migration, with up to a billion animals moving into new territory, swaths a mile wide.  When encountering a river, to make their passage across, the squirrels would float on pieces of bark and hoist their tails up for sails!  Today, surplus and scarcity of acorns in any given year may instigate mass migrations of Eastern Grey Squirrel. 

S. carolinensis is diurnal, with their day starting at sunrise and ending just a little after sunset.  The home range of each individual is fixed.  Within this range he or she acquires food, gains protection and locates a place to den.  Ideally, this range would be several wooded acres, more for males, less for females.  Not territorial creatures, these home ranges overlap significantly.  Defense is reserved for females during breeding season.  

The social group, consisting of all squirrels with overlapping ranges, has a hierarchy of dominance based on age and sex, with older males at the top.  With this hierarchy very little aggression occurs.  If you witness aggression, it could be a young squirrel attempting to establish a home range near its birthplace and within that of an older squirrel.  In this case, the local hierarchy is being redefined.

Aggression for dominant squirrels takes the form of tooth chattering, sometimes audible, and forward and back tail waving.  General alarm is also displayed as tail waving.  On the ground, dominant squirrels will also jump towards, run at or chase others, often resulting in the two, classically, spiraling up a tree.

Squirrels have highways in the trees, efficient routes that they use regularly.  When they pause, sniff and rub the sides of their face on a limb, they may be leaving scent marks to keep track of one another.

Life Cycle:
Mating/breeding occurs from December to February and again from June to July.  The mating ritual begins with a pre-chase, the male following the female (who is giving off a scent) at a comfortable pace.  The male will stop and sniff as he follows.  Sometimes he gets close enough to sniff her directly.  When the female is in full estrus the early morning mating chase begins.  As many as ten males will chase a single female, all repeatedly calling “chuck”, among the trees.  Females only mate on their home range, but males will travel out of their range at the sound of her chucks!  There are occasional outbursts of aggression from both the female and among the males.  One can determine who is who by the social hierarchy.  In this case, the estrous female is in lead, followed by the older, most dominant males, with the younger males bringing up the rear.

Young are born in a tree den that is aggressively defended by the mother from all other squirrels, including the father.  Gestation is 45 days, with an average of 3 young per litter.  The infants are born hairless, with eyes and ears closed.  As mammals, they gain their nourishment from mother’s milk.  Four to five weeks after birth they make short trips out of the den, fully furred, with eyes and ears open.  Weaning occurs at 8-9 weeks old and they are on their own when they disperse from their mother’s home range around 4 months of age.

Ecology:
One particularly heavy, cold winter I discovered many black-stained holes in stark-white snow under a large walnut tree.  The holes did not extend into underground tunnels, but were only up to a foot deep and the size of a grey squirrel’s circumference.  This is consistent with what I now read, that these squirrels do not store their food in large underground caches.  Instead, they dig a shallow hole in the forest floor where they place and cover only one food item.  They will also use tree cavities to store somewhat larger caches.

Apparently, Grey Squirrels are very adept at relocating their buried nuts.  This may be due to scent marking the nut at the time of burial - pushing the nut down into the dug hole with their nose before covering it over with earth.  The low percentage of “lost” nuts will germinate to become -- seedlings … then saplings … join the understory … and finally reach the canopy as mature trees -- a significant contribution to forest regeneration.

To protect their own hardwood community from an over-abundance of hungry squirrels, nut trees have evolved a sporadic crop pattern.  Most years are lean, then once every 2-7 years all the trees throughout their range suddenly produce an abundance, referred to as a bumper or “mast year” crop.  The lean years establish a low population of squirrels that then cannot make use of the abundance offered during the following mast year.  I’ve been wondering what signals mast crops?  Could it be the specific chemical levels injected into the soil by means of squirrel urine?

Threats:
Squirrels are often roadkill victims, especially the young ones in search of a home range.
​  
When settlers first arrived on Turtle Island Grey Squirrel was so numerous as to be considered a significant threat to their agricultural crops.  Some states declared a bounty on them, and this, along with the continuous and universal deforestation, caused such a drop in this species’ population there arose concern that Sciurus carolinensis would become extinct!  With grey squirrel adaptation to urban environments, and with a decrease in farming, resulting in old field succession towards forest recovery, Eastern Grey squirrel has made a successful comeback.

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Phylum:  Chordata     Class:  Aves     Order:  Passeriformes     Family:  Passerellidae

Species Status in Canada: “Ipswich” Savannah Sparrow subspecies  Passerculus sandwichensis princeps, on SARO “Special Concern” list since 2003 
and COSEWIC “Special Concern” list since 2009

Family, Passerellidae:
The Passerellidae family, American or New World sparrows, are a large family of brown or gray, seed-eating passerine birds.  The head patterns of many species are distinctive.  Their conical, finch-like bills visibly set them apart from the Passeridae, Old World sparrows.  New World sparrows are similar in appearance and habit to finches, family Fringillidae, classified by some authorities as Emberizidae, Old World buntings.  In the past, this led to Passerellidae sometimes being classified as such.  In 2017, the American Ornithological Society split Passerellidae from Emberizidae.

Genus, Passerculus:
Savannah Sparrow was once considered to be the only member of genus, Passerculus; however, recent studies by Birdlife International have established that 5 more species of New World sparrows belong to this category:  Baird’s, Belding’s, Henslow’s, Large-billed, and San Benito.

Description/Features:
Savannah is a medium-sized sparrow, between 11-17 cm long, with a wingspan from 18-25 cm.  Females may be slightly smaller than males and this is the only distinction between the sexes.  The body appears plump for the head, often appearing as having a small peak due to flared crown feathers.  This slight crest has a whitish stripe running through it.  Identification of this species from other similar sparrows is the yellowish front eyebrow.  The lores, the region between eye & bill may also be tinged yellow.  Apart from the “Large-billed” variety, this species is considered to have a small bill for a sparrow.

Moving along from the head, streaks on the body are neat and crisp, and wings come to a point.  Savannah’s belly is white, with undertail coverts clearly defined.  Beyond this is a short, notched tail.  Compared with Song Sparrow, Savannah has a shorter, less round tail and pinker legs.

There are a number of subtle variations, geographically based, once thought of as separate species.  Mainly, the grayish typical variety migrates to and from Southern Ontario. 

Range:
As a species, P. sandwichensis is common and widespread throughout the Americas.  Breeding occurs in the northern half of the United States and all of Canada except the most northerly islands.  
Note:  “Special concern” variety, Ipswich Sparrow, nests almost exclusively on Sable Island, situated near the edge of the Continental Shelf in the Atlantic Ocean, 290 km off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

Habitat:
This sparrow loves grassy habitats.  In Southern Ontario, they may be found in old fields, open meadows, pastures, marsh edges, and in particular, alfalfa fields.  In summer, further north they favour tundras.  Other habitats include salt marshes, prairies, dunes, shores and weedy vacant lots.   

Foraging:
Their favoured food, especially in winter are seeds, mainly of grasses and weeds.  In summer they add insects to their diet.  Except during nesting season, Savannah’s forage in small, loose flocks.  They have a number of foraging habits.  In summer, you may see them making short flights to catch insects on the wing.  Seed foraging involves walking or running on the ground, with occasional scratches in soil & leaf-litter.  They also forage in shrubs and low trees.

Behaviour:
Not a highly secretive bird, Savannah will perch on weeds or fence wires.  It is not uncommon to find them roosting in small compact groups, either in short grass or on the ground.  If disturbed, they will fly up into bushes to perch.

Migration/Mating:
These songbirds prefer migrating in small flocks at night.  They have a very strong tendency to return each year to the area where they hatched.  This is referred to as “natal philopatry”.  This tendency makes them a highly suitable candidate for research projects that involve tracking study systems.

While the species is mainly monogamous, polygamy has been observed.  Like so many birds, the males sing to defend nesting territory and attract a mate.  More distinctive when interacting with a rival or a mate is the male’s slow flutter over grass, with tail raised and feet dangling.  During nesting season, females have a number of distraction displays:  a low flight with shallow wingbeats, feigned injury with wings and tail spread, and a mouse-like run along the ground.

Life Cycle:
Savannah sparrows have 1-2 broods per year.  The nest is hidden in grass at the end of a grassy tunnel.  Typically, they lay 4 eggs - whitish, pale tan or greenish, with heavy brown markings concentrated at the large end.  In the northern part of their range they tend to have broods of up to 6.  After an 8-12 day incubation by the female, altricial and downy hatchlings populate the nest.  Both parents feed the nestlings, who leave 8-11 days after hatching.  Flight occurs 8-14 days after fledging.

Threats:
In Ontario, the main threat to P. sandwichensis is habitat loss and modern agricultural practices.  Suitable habitat is being reduced by small farms giving way to large monocultures, along with loss of farmland, and other open areas, to development.  Savannah sparrows are less likely to use the resulting fragmentation - landscape patches - for nesting, as these small areas make them vulnerable to predators. The early and frequent mowing of developed open areas can destroy nests, eggs, and young.

Management:
Open areas not yet given over to development can be managed so as to maintain the Savannah sparrow’s grassland habitat.  Such management includes the suppression of succession - the evolution of the structure of a biological community - by means of annual mowing, controlled burns, or light grazing.  Such techniques, used periodically and only outside of the nesting season, remove woody growth so that the herbaceous community of plants can thrive.  Restoration can be enhanced by mixed planting of tall and short grasses and forbs.  Beyond Ontario, wintering sparrows will benefit by the protection of vegetated coastal dunes.

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Class:  Magnoliopsida   Subclass:  Rosidae    Order:  Rhamnales    Family:  Rhamnaceae
​
Host Plant for Endangered Species, Erynnis martialis  Mottled Duskywing butterfly

Buckthorn Family, Rhamnaceae:
Worldwide, there are 58 genera and 900 species in the Buckthorn family.  Members are dicotyledon shrubs or small trees, sometimes with thorns, with simple leaves that are usually serrated.  Their arrangement may be alternate or opposite.  Flower clusters give the impression of foamy, white, greenish or bluish sprays.  With respect to sepals, petals, and stamen, the flowers present in 4-5 parts.  They are usually bisexual.  Stamens are opposite to the petals and alternate with the sepals.  The usual 3 styles indicate 3 partition ovary walls, forming 3 chambers.  The yield is in the form of capsules or berries visibly divided into three parts.

Genus, Ceanothus:
Members of genus, Ceanothus, include buckbrush, ceanothus and red root.  In Thomas J. Elpel’s Botany in a Day, C. americanus (New Jersey Tea) is indicated as having many utilitarian and medicinal uses.  He describes it as beneficial to “healthy people under stress”, but not a heroic herb for treating the sick.

Alternate Names: 
Jersey tea ceanothus, red root (red-root, redroot), mountain sweet (mountain-sweet; mountainsweet), and wild snowball.

Description/Features:
This shrubby perennial stands 30.5 - 92 cm (1-3 ft) high.  The stems are herbaceous, extending up from a woody, gnarled rootstock.  These die back to near soil level each year.  The woody portion reaches deep into the ground via a thick root system that gets quite large in the wild.  Extending from this are fibrous hairs that grow close to the earth’s surface.  All of these features add up to a highly drought-resistant and fire-tolerant species.  Also worthy of note, as a plant that fixes nitrogen due to symbiosis with bacteria, it adds health to the soil. 

The stems are covered in both short curly and long straight hairs.  Petioles (leaf stalks) and the underside of leaves are pubescent (covered in soft hairs).

This plant has an alternate leaf arrangement.  The leaves are petiolate (having a leaf stalk) and ovate to lanceolate (egg-shaped to lance-shaped), with serrate (saw-toothed) margins.  The margin “teeth” are each tipped with a gland (an organ producing a secretion) that appears as a black or red dot.  Highly useful for identification are the two prominent veins extending from the base of the leaf, arch along the midrib and end mid-leaf at its margin.

Range:
New Jersey tea is native to Eastern North America and, in Canada, is found in Ontario and Quebec.

Habitat:
This plant, host to Erynnis martialis (Mottled Duskywing) butterfly prefers a dry habitat with sparse vegetation.  In Ontario, this may be open barrens, sandy patches in woodlands, the rare ecosystems of Ontario - oak woodlands, pin woodlands, tallgrass prairies, and alvars.  Alvars are limestone areas with shallow dry soil (clay or sandy), having sparse vegetation of early successional grass, shrub and wildflower species.  More common places it may grow are roadsides, hydro corridors, river banks, and shady hillsides.  It is not tolerant of closed canopies.  C. americanus is an Ontario tallgrass prairie indicator species.
Note:  Karner blue, frosted elfin and eastern Persium duskywings depend upon similar habitats as Mottled Duskywing, but are mostly gone from Ontario and Canada at large.

Similar Plant:
Also of the Buckthorn Family and native to Eastern North America is Ceanothus herbaceus  Prairie Redroot.  It is quite similar in appearance to C. americanus, but presents smaller, more narrowly elliptic leaves.  Prairie Redroot is quite rare in southern Ontario.

Reproduction:
Flowers grow in cylindrical clusters known as “thyrse”, a mixed inflorescence in which the main axis is indeterminate (outer or lower flowers open first while the stem continues to grow) and the secondary and ultimate axes are determinate (terminal flowers open first to prevent further growth of the stem or branch).  They are both axillary (spring from the axil, the angle formed by the upper side of a leaf and the stem) and terminal (spring from the apex or tip of the plant). 

Each individual flower is a white, fragrant, cup-like floral tube with 5 hooded petals, each clasping an anther when in bud.

Each fruit of C. americanus is a 3-lobed capsule-like “dehiscent drupe”.  This is a fleshy fruit containing seeds enclosed in a stony covering that, when mature, opens naturally in such a way so as to explosively eject the seeds.

Ecology/Associations:
In Ontario, Mottled Duskywing (Erynnis martialis) butterfly relies exclusively on C. americanus (New Jersey Tea) for all of its life cycle needs, including oviposition (egg laying), larval sheltering and feeding, and adult nectaring and basking.  White-tailed Deer and rabbits eat the in-season twigs.  Wild Turkey and Bobwhite Quail, both ground-foraging birds, consume the seeds.
​
Uses:
C. americanus is commonly called Red Root or Red Shank by those who use it as a medicinal plant.  The red roots and root bark was/is used by Indigenous peoples to treat, among other things, upper respiratory tract infection.  Modern herbalists use the root bark to treat problems of the lymph system.  Making dye is one utilitarian use for root and flower extracts.  The more recent common name, New Jersey Tea, comes from human use during the Revolutionary War.  Though it does not contain caffeine, it was used as a substitute for imported tea after the Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773. 

Threats:
The main and most direct threat to C. americanus is destruction of its habitat, including habitat fragmentation, due to various forms of human development.  These include changes by design, such as the planting of jack pine; pesticide use, including spraying for gypsy moth control; flooding; and, introduction of invasive species, such as Dog Strangling Vine.  

Less significant, yet still threatening, are natural habitat changes resulting from natural succession, canopy closure and deer browsing. 

Disturbance Management:
To the contrary, fire, both natural and controlled burns, serve to maintain suitable habitat conditions.  With such brilliant adaptations for surviving naturally-occurring fires - deep, burly root system and yearly die-off of above-ground stems - the burning off of woody plants clears the way and opens the canopy for fire-tolerant, drought-resistant New Jersey Tea.

Note, with reference to the threats and management above:  All of these threats are real and present dangers to Mottled Duskywing, the butterfly species that depends entirely on this plant for its survival.  While fire can cause direct mortality to individual butterflies, timely disturbances of this nature maintain suitable habitat conditions for future generations.  

A Final Note:  E. martialis (Mottled Duskywing) was once plentiful in the Pinery Provincial Park.  Through preservation of the Pinery’s existing oak savanna, The Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Recovery Team hopes to reintroduce and ultimately establish a self-sustaining population of this endangered butterfly.  

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Phylum:  Arthropoda     Class:  Insecta     Order:  Lepidoptera     Family:  Hesperiidae

Species Status in Ontario:  on SARO “Endangered” list since 2014 

Habitat:
MODU populations will only occur where their host plant grows.  Their host plant(s) prefers a dry habitat with sparse vegetation.  In Ontario, this may be open barrens, sandy patches in woodlands, the rare ecosystems of Ontario - oak woodlands, pin woodlands, tallgrass prairies - and alvars.  Alvars are limestone areas with shallow dry soil (clay or sandy), having sparse vegetation of early successional grass, shrub and wildflower species.  Neither C. americanus nor C. herbaceous are tolerant of closed canopies.

Behaviour:
While some skippers are migratory, E. martialis is a non-migratory species that uses their habitat, and specifically their host plant for all stages of life.  Their flight is low to the ground in a fast, erratic pattern.  By comparison with other duskywings, MODU are considered sedentary and less mobile.  They are said to have limited dispersal ability.  

Larvae build silk-lined leaf-nests on their food plants.  Leaves are cut or folded or several are pulled together.  With nocturnal feeding habits, they venture out at night to feed on leaves, or shorten their trip by cutting leaf sections to take back to their shelter for consumption later.

“Nectaring” is the act of feeding from floral nectar sources.  Nectar is an essential adult food, rich in sugar.  Adult MODUs tend to prefer sites with partial shade, abundant nectar sources and ample larval food plant, C. americanus, supply.

During mating season, the males will gather and patrol on local hilltops to attract and compete for females.  Males can be seen “puddling” - sipping water from moist soil - in the company of other duskywing species.  The salt and essential minerals gathered from soil water are incorporated into the male’s sperm and passed onto the female and her eggs when mating.  These nutrients improve the viability of her eggs.

Life Cycle:
After mating occurs and the female has been fertilized, she will deposit her eggs on the leaves of a host, C. americanus or C. herbaceus, plant.  Her eggs are hemispherical, with fine sculpturing or marked with vertical ridges.  They begin pale green in colour, but quickly turn to pink.  

Larvae (caterpillars) hatch only days after egg-laying.  They are stout, sluggish, pale green, smooth or covered with fine bumps, short hairs or tubercles.  Their large heads are dark with small patches of red, orange or yellow.  The prothorax is narrow, giving the appearance of having a neck.  They are cylindrical in shape, sometimes tapered at both ends.  The last segments often divide into two “tails”.   At maturity, they can be 25 mm long.  The larva creates a day shelter for itself by stitching leaves together with silk.  At night, the caterpillar leaves the shelter to feed.  

A mature larva spins a cocoon no more than 1-2 cm beneath the leaf litter at the base of its food plant.  In the extreme part of southwestern Ontario, it will pupate (form a chrysalis) and emerge a few weeks later, unless the weather is unfavourable.  In this case, or if its habitat is further north, it will go into diapause (a state of dormancy) and overwinter.  

Exposure to early spring solar warmth encourages pupation. Emergence occurs mid-May to early-June, depending on northerly/southerly location within the range.  The chrysalis, or pupa, vary from dark green to brown.  Round and smooth, it has a squared off head, a noticeable tongue and a tail that comes to a tufted point.

Adults are on the wing by mid May to late June.  In extreme southwestern Ontario, the female may lay a second brood, to hatch early July and take flight mid-July to late August.

Threats:
The main threat to Mottled Duskywing is destruction of habitat, including habitat fragmentation, due to various forms of human development.  These include changes by design, such as the planting of jack pine; pesticide use, including spraying for gypsy moth control; flooding; and, introduction of invasive species, such as Dog Strangling Vine.  All being direct threats to MODU’s host plant, C. americanus (New Jersey Tea), they present real and present dangers to this butterfly species.

Also threatening MODU’s host plant are natural habitat changes resulting from natural succession, canopy closure and deer browsing.  Disturbance such as fire, both natural and controlled burns, can cause direct mortality of individual butterflies; however, this kind of disturbance will also serve to maintain suitable habitat conditions.  The woody plants get burned off, clearing the way and open the canopy for fire tolerant New Jersey Tea to flourish.

Presently, there are only small, scattered populations of Erynnis martialis (Mottled Duskywing) in Ontario.  Similar duskywings, Karner Blue, Frosted Elfin and Eastern Persium are mostly gone from Ontario and Canada at large.  As we speak, The Ontario Butterfly Species at Risk Recovery Team is working to reintroduce and establish a self-sustaining population of Mottled Duskywing butterfly in the oak savanna habitat of Pinery Provincial Park (on the southern shore of Lake Huron). 

Phylum:  Arthropoda     Class:  Insecta     Order:  Hymenoptera     Family:  Formicidae

Species Status in Ontario:  genus Aphaenogaster worker ants are abundant 
in North American hardwood forests 

Family, Formicidae:
This is the highly social insect family we know as ants.  They evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors during the Cretaceous period and became more diverse after the proliferation of flowering plants.  They are distinguished by “elbow” antennae and the distinct node-like structure forming their slender waist. 

Ants live in colonies that range significantly in size depending on the species.  The larger colonies have a caste structure, consisting of sterile, wingless worker and soldier females, a much smaller number of fertile “drone” males, and one or more fertile female “queens”.  Superorganism is a term used to describe an ant colony, as the ants appear to operate as a unified whole.

Apart from Antarctica and a few remote islands, family Formicidae has colonized every landmass on Earth.  It is believed that this family makes up 15-25% of the Earth’s terrestrial animal biomass.  Besides social organisation, their ability to modify habitats, tap resources and defend themselves accounts for their vast presence.  As a result of their long co-evolution, ants have developed various types of relationships with other species, including relationships termed mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic. 

Genus, Aphaenogaster:
Aphaenogaster is a large, diverse genus, found throughout the world, with exceptions being southern South America, southern Africa, Antarctica and a few remote, inhospitable islands.

I find the North American species elegant.  They have an elongate and slender habitus (general appearance), with a head that is usually longer than broad.  Their large, convex eyes are placed on the head at the middle.  The dorsal portion of the workers’ mesothorax (mesonotum) is elongate and depressed.  The first abdominal segment, fused with the thorax to form the mesosoma (propodeum), usually has a pair of spines or small teeth.  The antennal club, consisting of four segments, is poorly defined.

Description/Morphology:
Aphaenogaster picea is named for its dark red/brown coloration.  The ants you are most likely to see above ground, the workers, are 4-6 cm, while their queen is 7-8 cm.  This species is very similar to A. rudis, but can be easily distinguished by the antennae, ending in a 4-segmented club that is lighter in colour.  As well, A. picea workers have a lighter, some say “yellow” tipped, gaster (the bulbous posterior portion of the metasoma or abdomen).

Range: 
A. picea is an ant of northeastern North America, commonly found in eastern United States and eastern Canada.  It has also been found in some Se states and Mexico. 

Habitat:
This arboreal species is found in a wide range of forest habitats.  While she prefers nesting in downed wood and old stumps, as an opportunist the gyne (queen) will nest under bark, under objects on the ground, in soil, or in any cavity with a suitable range of temperature and adequate protection.  For this monogyne (having one queen) colony, leaf litter is an important element of its microhabitat. 

Behaviour/Life Cycle:  
A. picea are mostly diurnal, though they will also forage at night.  Omnivorous forages, their preferred diet is insects, including termites, fruit flies, crickets, meal worms, and wax worms.  Curiously, they refuse liquids, often covering up liquid sources.  

Hibernation is accomplished by means of anti-freeze in their blood.  The slow climate cool down activates this substance.  In the wild they can survive extreme cold.  

In terms of mating, their major flight is in August, after a light rain, though they have been known to fly before and after this summertime month. 

Fertilized females will overwinter.  In the spring, after egg-laying it takes 10-15 days for the larvae to form.  Another 15-20 days are needed for their pupal transformation.  They do not utilize a cocoon.  Pupae become workers in yet another 15-20 days.  The lengths of time are determined by temperature.

The forest benefits by the seed dispersal activity of this arboreal species.  Enticed by the nutrient-rich elaiosome encasement of the diaspore (seeds of some plants, contained within a food-body), the workers carry these seeds back to their nest.   This food source, rich in both lipids and oleic acid, is desirable for their developing larvae.  While eating away the elaiosomes, the larvae do not injure the seeds.  Once stripped, the seeds are discarded from the nest or cached in a midden underground.  Away from the parent plant, protected from predators, the seeds, cast-away into soil made rich by the lifestyle of the ants, grow into new plant colonies. 

Dispersive Mutualism:
In terms of ecology, mutualism, one of several different types of symbiotic relationships, refers to one in which both species benefit.  In traditional Indigenous sciences, such a relationship is seen as part of the gift-reciprocity networks and cycles.  “Dispersive” mutualism is a relationship in which one species receives food in return for the transport of the other species’ offspring.  In the case of bees and flowers, this would be “pollination”, nectar in exchange for pollen distribution.  In the case of A. picea ants and some plants, this would be “myrmecochory”, elaiosome (food bodies) as larval nutrition in exchange for seed dispersal.

Myrmecochorous plants produce diaspore, seeds encased in nutrient-rich elaiosome, in order to attract ants for the purpose of having their seeds dispersed.  From Ancient Greek, myrmecochory means, “circular dance”.  Trillium grandiflorum (Large-flowered Trillium) is one such plant who joins in this beautiful circular dance with genus, Aphaenogaster.

Other Associations:
This ant, A. picea, is a preferred prey of Plethodon cinereus (Eastern Red-backed Salamander), also common in Ontario’s mesic woodlands.

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​I have always been drawn to Jack-in-the-pulpit, and to the damp-wood aromas
and dappled light of its habitat.  I revere this plant’s stately, regal posture. 
I relate to its protective secrecy, growing beneath shady forest canopy,
beneath its own leafy umbrella, its flowers still further embraced
within and shielded beneath its own hooded cloak. 
On a forest walk in early spring, I found myself in awe. 
I was surrounded by the largest community of Jack-in-the-pulpit
I had ever seen.  Spearing skyward.  
​Beholding their striking size and beautifully mottled colours,
I fell in love and my creative course was set.

​For inquiries regarding this illustration, please email suzannemmatheson@gmail.com

​As a member of the Arum Family Araceae, all parts of this herbaceous perennial plant contain calcium oxalate crystals.  While these crystals, if eaten raw, can mechanically injure the mouth, throat & kidneys, once thoroughly dried the acrid corm (root) is safe to eat.  Historically, people ate the corm by slicing it fine or grinding it into flour.  Medicinally, it was used to treat sore eyes, rheumatic joints, bronchitis, snakebites, and to induce sterility.  Beyond this, the Meskwaki people added the raw, highly acrid corm to meat to cause their enemies pain & death.

Here in Southwestern Ontario, the bright red fruit of Jack-in-the-pulpit may account for 1/2 - 2% of the Wild Turkey & Wood Thrush diet.

​This is the fourth part in a four-part series.  I wish to read from​ Part I / Part II / Part III

 This story tracks the life of a young Pileated Woodpecker  Dryocopus pileatus family living in a Beech-Maple forest of Southern Ontario.
  Recalling the brood, first observed in late May 2016, there were always only two nestlings peering out of the tree.  Early on, I saw the mother fly away with something quite large and round in her bill.  Was it perhaps a nestling who did not make it?  In contrast to this, on June 12th, while the two were quite content to remain where they were, I heard a strong and clear, yet slightly weaker, version of the parents' call, coming from somewhere close to the nest. Following the sound, about 15 feet off the ground I discovered a little one clinging to an adjacent tree.  Had this one fallen out prematurely, or was she stronger, with an accelerated development?  The next day I observed her high up in a different tree not far from the first. Could she fly?

  This painting portrays the fledgling that I observed clinging to a tree trunk near the nest on June 12, 2016.  In between vigorous calls of "cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk", she would groom and stretch out her wings.  The parents would answer her calls, then, arrive with sustenance. 

​ My husband and I, with SLR paraphernalia in hand, made several visits to the nest throughout the development of the 2016 woodpecker family.  With their feathers breaking sheath around June 15th, it wasn't long before all of the nestlings had left the nesting cavity.  By the end of the month I didn't catch sight of them again, but right up until the later part of July, I would hear a commotion of Pileated sound in the vicinity.

​  I stopped in to check on the nestlings a couple of mornings this week.  Without sight or sound, I have come to the conclusion that they have fledged.  Having anticipated their departure between June 26th and 28th, it seems they have left 2-6 days earlier than expected.​

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If there is an image you are interested in purchasing that is not showing in the store, ​
​please contact me, as I will do my best to accommodate.

If you would like to learn more about
Pileated Woodpecker nesting behaviour
​in Eastern North America,
check out nature photographer, 
​Pamela Dimeler's You Tube channel.

This is the third part in a four-part series.  I wish to read from​ Part I  /  Part II

​  This story tracks the life of a young Pileated Woodpecker  Dryocopus pileatus family living in a Beech-Maple forest of Southern Ontario.
  After first discovering this feathered family in late May 2016, I made several trips at various times of day to observe their development.  I noticed that over time their feeding pattern changed.  Initially, the parents entered the nest to feed their young, but once the nestlings were strong enough to peer out of the entrance the parents no longer entered.  They would still land in a nearby tree to first survey the area before arriving at the hole, but instead of entering, they would clinging to the outside of the tree using their tail as support.  When I observed them on June 12th, a much abbreviated feeding was followed by the mother moving around to the side so that her infants had to strain to find her.  By June 16th, the parents were no longer landing at the cavity entrance.  They would call, to get the attention of their young, then land on the opposite side of the tree trunk, offering food only after a juvenile craned to receive it.
  
  In this painting mother encourages her now very vocal youth out of the nest with tasty morsels.

​  I would put this nestling at to 26-28 days old, based on my dates of observation and the nesting period information given in "Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds", by Paul J. Baicich and Colin J. O. Harrison (2nd edition, 2005).

​  ​  It was June 9, 2017 when I last saw my pileated friends.  Deli and I stopped in to check on them mid-week.  When we arrived a blackbird, perhaps a Common Grackle, was hovering around at the entrance.  I heard the young ones chattering within, but saw no adults come to their aid.  The blackbird came and went a couple of times, then left the little ones alone.  
  Today, June 17th, I arrived to a commotion!  I saw flight away from the nest, accompanied by a call that continued for an exceptional length of time.  The call moved about.  Then, a very large, stalky bird flew toward the nest, with one of the pileated parents in hot pursuit.  Was it an owl?  A hawk?  A Northern Goshawk perhaps?  Once successfully chased away the other pileated parent remained watchful in the branches overhead until the coast was clear, then flew away.  
  Shortly after the predatory threat a parent came with food, to the benefit of only one offspring.  This very brief feeding was the only one during my hour of observation.  Following the parent's departure, as the nestlings took turns watching they would utter quiet, worried-sounding coos with the occasional, adult-like call.  
  There are definitely two birds up there, a female and a male.  They have grown so much in such a short time, now developed beyond their baby faces of the 2016 brood represented in the "Nestlings" painting.  They are constantly looking around and about.  Is this simple pining, or are they developing their powers of observation and navigation?   At times these restless nestlings lean out quite far and it strikes me that they may be ready to 'fly the coop' by the end of the day!  Once they leave their safe abode they will have to figure out how to navigate the new, wide wild world.  How do their parents demonstrate such complexity to their young?  Are there overt displays like there are during courtship?
  For the most part the two young ones took turns being lookouts, but an hour is a long time to wait for parental comfort, so by the time I was preparing to leave, the soon-to-fledge pair both took to their post, and behind them, ... did I just see the movement of a third?

I wish to read "Pileated Woodpecker - Part IV"

Prints and cards are available from Archival Prints & Art Cards
If there is an image you are interested in purchasing that is not showing in the store, ​
​please contact me, as I will do my best to accommodate.

This is the second part in a four-part series.  I wish to read from​ Part I

​This story tracks the life of a young Pileated Woodpecker  Dryocopus pileatus family living in a Beech-Maple forest of Southern Ontario.
  It was June 3, 2016 when I first witnessed the two nestlings, blind and featherless, with their heads poking out of the hole, begging for food.  While eagerly awaiting their parents' return, they had built up strength to scale the cavity wall and gather at the entrance.  Both mother and father now worked tirelessly – foraging, flying, and feeding – to keep their rapidly growing nestlings nourished.  By June 11th the little ones were covered in black down.  They had vibrant red crests and their eyes were open, bright & lively.  They even had mustaches with traces of colour to reveal their genders.

  This painting genuinely portrays the joyful expressions of the two nestlings I had the pleasure and privilege of observing.

​  I would put these nestlings at just under 2 weeks old, based on my dates of observation and the nesting period information given in "Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds", by Paul J. Baicich and Colin J. O. Harrison (2nd edition, 2005).

  Apr 22, 2017 the day began with wood chips in my hair -- a new nest for a new family.  Continuing the account of this year's family (see "Pileated Woodpecker - Part I") . . .
  What struck me about the sighting on May 31, 2017, was how swift and quiet the exchange had been.  If I hadn't been watching closely, I would have missed it altogether.  My recollection of the previous year was that while the arrivals and departures were always swift, they were heralded with vigorous announcements of "cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk". Then I wondered, perhaps when the nestlings are most vulnerable, the parents do everything they can to prevent predator awareness.  Certainly, they always check the trees and the sky before entering and leaving the cavity.
  I've been noticing that when both male and female parents are visiting the nest in turn, they arrive and depart in opposite directions.  Is this a strategy to avoid competition for resources?  Perhaps it is also a strategy to minimize predator awareness - not taking the same route to and from the nest?  These questions provoked others:  Does each bird maintain it's own territory year-round?  Do they part ways after child-rearing?  Are they monogomous?  Such questions find answers in "The Birder's Handbook  A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds", by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye (1988).  According to this book, Yes!  "Year-round territory and pair bond.”  So, this suggests that the parents I am observing now are the individuals we got to know a year ago.  "Hello!  It's so nice to see you again!"  : D  
  In the evening of June 8, 2017 Steve, Deli & myself went out to check on the family.  We weren't there very long when mama woodpecker landed on a nearby tree and watchfully made her way to the nest.  Before arriving at the entrance three little heads popped up, chattering fiercely.  The next morning I went back to get a better look.  The female parent made meal trips several times during the course of an hour, with each feeding lasting not more than a minute.  Nestling development seems to be one week behind what it was last year.  Perhaps this is weather-related, with last spring being so much warmer and dryer than this one has been?

I wish to read "Pileated Woodpecker - Part III"