Also a corvid, the Black-billed Magpie uses black and white plus iridescence to a new level. They are very adaptable birds, found in many peoples’ yards, farms and ranches. They will rob nests of eggs and young, feed on road kill and are otherwise omnivores. Of course you remember the magpies cartooning in Heckle and Jeckle. This species is also found in the Old World* (Eurasia) but its close relative the Yellow-billed Magpie only lives in the Central Valley of California. *There was a movement to split the species, which may have been successful.

Brewer’s Blackbirds are found all over the American West, essentially replacing the Common Grackle ecologically. They have shorter tails than grackles (more like a red-wing) but without any real color (just iridescence). They also have the light eye of most grackles and chack notes. I don’t like them and I’m tired of talking about them. And they don’t deserve a good picture.

Bullock’s Orioles replace the Baltimore in most of the West and are easy to pick out with their black throat stripe and large white wing-patch. They also chatter like Baltimores, but are usually seen in open parts of the national forest. As with all orioles of North America, males are gaudy and females drabber, but that breaks down in the Tropics. I wonder why???

Cedar Waxwings breed all over the National Forest and this bird seems to be surrounded by food! However, many birds opt for an insectivorous diet when feeding chicks, which need the protein of bugs (sorry Hap). Waxwings are easily recognized by the crest and yellow tail tip. Like the gloves on the hands of the San Francisco Giants, the yellow “wax” on the wing is there for no apparent reason.

If you think robins are common back East, you should go West, young man. We almost constantly hear their Hairy Woodpecker-like chip in all directions, and many an exciting sighting in the woods is terminated with, “Oh, just a robin.” This individual is about as exciting as I can make robin, as it’s a juvenile. Note the breast spots and even more spotting on the mantle.

One of the most widespread birds in the northern tier of the Continent is the Dark-eyed Junco, a small, terrestrial finch with white outer tail feathers. In the West, there are races in various places, while the “slate-colored” race is over much of the East. These are seed-eaters which alter their diet to insects in the breeding season, like most granivores. Juncos are tame, abiding creatures with pleasing trills in treetops in spring and summer.

In open areas of the forest the Eastern Kingbird chases insects and nests in sage brush. This species joins several other essentially eastern birds that range across Montana and Idaho to the west, even to Washington. I presume it’s about habitat, but they include such species as Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Brown Thrasher, Common Grackle, several thrushes and empids and a few others. This species is hard to miss with its whitetail tip and bright contrast.

When Liz and I first walked into Targhe a few miles south of Dubois, around 7 am, we were shocked to see this Great Gray Owl sailing overhead without a sound (we made a couple, though). These are the hornless hunters of the northern forests, sighted never more than occasionally. Owls have squared-off wing-tips, like the grouse family, as they prefer quick flight to long-distance flying.

Hairy Woodpeckers are medium-sized birds found regularly in the mature forests across the Continent. The white outer tail feathers and the longish bill separate them from the smaller Downy, and their loud pick call dwarfs that of its smaller cousin as well. The robin and Rusty Blackbird curiously make chips not unlike Hairy Woodpeckers. This bird is a male with just a tiny bit of red showing.

In open areas of forest the ubiquitous Lazuli Bunting passes through in migration and nests in a few scrubby plots near water. This is a changing male, not yet the gaudy dad that sings his whistled melody to the brown female. Buntings are really glorified sparrows, rather colorful and perhaps more arboreal.

Along the grassy areas of the national forest is the Western Cottontail, relying on camouflage far more than speed (at least at first). The big ears are for heat regulation and the white tail makes predators go for the expendable tail, rather than the not-so ¬expendable head. Rabbits’ eyes are placed wide on the head so they can see predators from behind.

Quite common in the grasslands of the Plains is the Hooded Skunk, a species that rarely gives a decent picture. They all seem to stink. Skunks are largely burrowers and are the favorite food of the Great Horned Owl, which has no sense of smell. I am not kidding when I say that many of us have found (!) horned owls by smelling skunk up in a tree.

All over the grasslands of the National Forest are ground-squirrels, with several escape hatches in the ground where they feed. Most mammals like this have chips reminiscent of bird calls but louder. I believe this to be the Thirteen-lined Ground-squirrel, but I’m no mammalogist. But I do try to keep abreast.