Rock Pigeons occupy expensive Gulf retreats

I didn't travel to Texas recently to take pictures of Rock Pigeons. Yet I did, and there's an interesting story behind these birds. We spent a lot of time along the Gulf Coast between Freeport and Galveston. The shore is littered with million to multimillion dollar seasonal retreats on stilts (Note: if you have to put your house on one-story tall stilts, it's probably not a smart place to build, and even stilts won't protect against severe hurricanes).

Anyway, as these monstrosities are largely uninhabited in winter, the pigeons move in. The plastic owls people attach to their balcony rails do not deter these clever birds. So, these pigeons are living large in the eaves and rafters of the seasonal pads of the wealthy - go pigeons!

I will note that Rock Pigeons are a personal favorite bird. I'm aware that they aren't native - pigeons were introduced to North America in the 1600's. But insofar as I know, they do little or no harm ecologically - even the smattering of pigeons that return to their wild roots and nest on cliffs in wild places. About all of the "problems" they cause are human-centric. Further, pigeons are gorgeous birds. The flock in the photo contains some of the classic "blue-bar" birds with grayish body and two thick black wing stripes - that's the wild phenotype. Some stunning coal-black individuals are also in the photo, and color variation in Rock Pigeons is wildly variable.

This species has been heavily studied in regard to color genetics, avian orientation (homing pigeons), and flight mechanics. The protein hormone prolactin - which enables mammals (and some other animals, including pigeons) to produce milk, was first discovered in pigeons. The lowly pigeon has made tremendous contributions to science but receives little credit for it.

Clapper Rail

 

A Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans) peeks from a dense saltmarsh along the Gulf of Mexico. This morning - January 12, 2026 - dawned clear and beautiful, and shortly after leaving the hotel, we passed by an opening in a large coastal saltmarsh that was full of birds. We pulled over, carefully approached the spot, and were able to get fairly close, and just as good, could get on the ground to better depict our subjects on their level.

After shooting more obvious subjects - various herons and egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, ibises, etc. - I noticed a Clapper Rail peeking from the marsh. Soon it became apparent that there were three rails, and two of them, apparently unaware of or indifferent to our presence, came into the open and put on a show.

As always, click the image to enlarge

One of the Clapper Rails poses beautifully, in between bouts of preening. While the big chicken-like birds are probably more extroverted than most of their rail brethren, they'll still dart rapidly back into the vegetation if startled. But we stayed nice and quiet and had about fifteen quality minutes to shoot these birds in primo light.

A Clapper Rail scuttles onto a mudflat, showing its oversized foot. One reason that this big rail is so successful is probably due to its varied diet. They'll eat all manner of readily available fare: worms, crabs, shrimp, all manner of invertebrate animal life, seeds and other plant parts, and even fish. A Ring-billed Gull was nearby when I made these shots, working on a dead fish. One of the Clapper Rails went over and attempted to wrestle with the gull over the fish and did nip away parts of the piscine treat.

The stubby tail of a Clapper Rail, which it frequently holds cocked aloft, in the manner of a wren.

Most rails swim well, and the Clapper Rail is no exception. This one went motorboating about, snapping at morsels on the water's surface and submerging its head to forage on who knows what, in the manner of a dabbling duck.

The Clapper Rail is extremely similar to the King Rail, but they differ consistently in habitat. The former is confined to salt marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, while the King Rail favors freshwater marshes and sometimes brackish (slightly salty) wetlands.

Clapper and King rails represent a bit of a taxonomic snarl, and the two "species" are known to hybridize (apparently not frequently, but who knows). While there is still plenty to be learned about these two entities, I am sure, they have recently been carved up. The King Rail was split into two species: the nominate King Rail of much of the eastern U.S., and the fairly recently minted Aztec Rail of central Mexico. The Clapper Rail was cleft into three species: the Clapper Rail of this post, which ranges along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S., Ridgway's Rail of the Pacific coast/southwestern U.S., and the Mangrove Rail of Central and South America.

But if you see a rail that looks like this in an American coastal salt marsh, it's about sure to be a Clapper Rail.

Yellow-rumped Warbler is Ohio's only regular wintering warbler

 

A female yellow-rumped warbler feasts on poison ivy berries/Jim McCormac

NATURE

Jim McCormac

Columbus Dispatch

January 19, 2026

Come mid-winter, birders start to experience warbler-deficit disorder. The small, colorful songbirds are favorites among the binocular-toting crowd, and Ohio is a major warbler hotspot.

Forty-one warbler species have occurred in the Buckeye State, and 36 of them occur annually. Many species occur in large numbers, especially during spring and fall migration.

But May – peak of vernal migration – is still months away. That’s a long time for those of thirsting for colorful Blackburnian, Cape May and Magnolia warblers and their dashing brethren. Collectively, our warblers display a palette of hues that would dazzle the most ambitious artist.

However, most of our warblers are currently residing in haunts that should make most of us northerners envious: southern Florida, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico. Most species of warblers winter in tropical climes with some species as far south as Argentina and Bolivia.

Take hope, though – we still have the hardy yellow-rumped warbler! This feathered tough bucks the dominant paradigm of its southbound snowbird associates and routinely winters in northerly latitudes such as Ohio.

The yellow-rumped warbler is the most abundant North American warbler with a population estimated at 150 million birds. “Butterbutts,” as they are slangily known, are among our showiest warblers, but people get jaded to them due to their commonness. “Just another butterbutt” is an oft-heard refrain amongst birders poring through the waves of spring and fall migrants.

No yellow-rumped warblers occupy Ohio during the summer months. Their breeding season lies well to our north, where they nest across the length and breadth of the conifer-dominated boreal forest.

Breeding butterbutts can be found from Alaska to Newfoundland, and south to northernmost Michigan. Others breed further south at high elevations in the Appalachian Mountains and the western Rocky Mountains.

While both sexes sport the telltale yellow rump, the male is admittedly flashier. It is clad in showy black and grayish-blue plumage highlighted by a golden throat and flanks. At one time, scientists cleaved this widespread warbler into two species: the eastern “myrtle” warbler and the western “Audubon’s” warbler.

Males of the latter, named for the legendary frontiersman and ornithologist John James Audubon, wear a lemony-colored crown patch and flashy yellow throat. The myrtle warbler – which birds appearing in Ohio are – lack the golden crown and have white throats.

Due to a zone of hybridization, where myrtle and Audubon’s warbler ranges meet, scientists lumped them into one species – the yellow-rumped warbler – in 1973. To this day, many birders still refer to these subspecies as myrtle and Audubon’s warblers.

Breeding yellow-rumped warblers are tightly tied to coniferous trees, including fir, pine and spruce. Away from that habitat, however, they are perhaps the most versatile of all our warblers in habitat use.

I would not be surprised to see a butterbutt in nearly any habitat imaginable and probably have over the years. The warblers are also adept at finding and eating a wide range of food, which, in addition to their vast breeding range, probably plays a big role in their success.

This hardy, versatile warbler also winters further north than any other warbler. While some birds range as far south as the Caribbean and Central America, most winter in the U.S.

I’m in southeastern Texas as I write this column, and yellow-rumped warblers are everywhere. But just a week ago, Shauna and I participated in the Hocking Hills Christmas Bird Count in Ohio and found seven butterbutts in our turf. Yellow-rumped warblers winter commonly north to Ohio and other Midwestern states.

A prime reason that butterbutts can survive northern winters is their ability to include lots of fruit into their diet. And a major source of that fruit is one of the most despised native plants in North America: poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).

I suspect that poison ivy is THE primary reason that butterbutts can successfully overwinter in northern climes, while their mostly insect-eating warbler relatives must retreat to more southerly buggy latitudes.

The yellow-rumped warbler in the accompanying photo is scarfing down poison ivy berries, and I made that image on the aforementioned Hocking Hills bird count in subfreezing temperatures.

Poison ivy fruit fuels many species of wintering birds, not just butterbutts. In many ways, the rash-inducing vine is one of our most important wildlife plants. That’s a hard case to make to most people, but the yellow-rumped warblers sure appreciate poison ivy.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Armadillo, and Texas

 

A Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) crosses a rural East Texas lane. These curious armored tank-like mammals are primarily nocturnal, but we found this one rooting about in a grassy verge during the day. It took about 20 minutes before the animal finally showed itself, allowing us some nice unobstructed images.

Shauna and I have been in the Houston area since last Friday and have had a great time photographing birds and other wildlife. Lots of action and I have scores of interesting images, and some of that should make its way onto this blog eventually.

I was invited to speak at the River Oaks Garden Club's annual Sadie Gwin Blackburn Environmental Seminar (this was the 35th one), held at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. That took place this morning and we had a nice turnout. River Oaks Garden Club is a high productivity group, and this was one of the best organized events that I've been to. My topic was Growing Caterpillars: A Tangled Tale of Birds, Plants, and Conservation.

We return home tomorrow but came down last Friday to have about five days to explore and photograph. Most of our time was spent along the Gulf Coast, but we ranged as far west as Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and as far east as Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Two photographic highlights were Long-billed Curlew and Snowy Plover, but there was so much more, including some very cool plants. More to follow!

Ribbit! magazine offers informative, engaging material about nature

Columbus Dispatch
January 4, 2026

NATURE

Jim McCormac

A great horned owl, one of Ohio's top-end predators, is featured on the cover of the latest Ribbit! magazine

I’m on a board of The Columbus Foundation called the Green Fund, and each year, we pick grant recipients from a worthy pool of requestors. Our focus is on the environment, including educational initiatives.

Last June, prior to our deliberations, Bettina Cooper came to the Green Fund to make a pitch about a new publication she had started, Ribbit!, a magazine geared toward younger generations.

I was thoroughly impressed by Cooper's presentation and the magazine, and the reasons for producing it. The rest of our board agreed, and we helped with funding.

Cooper kindly sent along a hard copy of the most recent Ribbit! (Issue 6, Winter 2025/26), which features an eye-catching color image of a great horned owl on the cover. That ties to an article inside titled “Amazing Owl Adaptions.”

Being an owl aficionado, I eagerly pored through the article, which was penned by naturalist Kate Brierley, who works at Blacklick Woods Metro Park.

Like all the magazine’s other material, Brierley's owl piece is well-written, engaging and informative. As younger people are the target of Ribbit!, the owl article is easy to understand, explains the basics of owl physiology and behavior clearly and simply, and uses wonderful photography and graphics to punctuate important points.

Other articles in the issue include pieces on the ice age, cold-hardy animals, how to better find wildlife, speaking up for nature, and more. A staple in each issue is “Columbus Nature News,” which informs readers about upcoming events such as Christmas Bird Counts, World Wetlands Day and the Winter Hike Series with Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks.

A personal favorite in the “Nature News” section was a short note recognizing Squirrel Appreciation Day, which falls on Jan. 21. Squirrels are incredibly important components of ecosystems, but do not get their fair share of love. Going to bat for the underdogs is an admirable trait, and the producers of Ribbit! certainly do that.

Magazine staff strive to get notable authors, and the current issue’s ice age article was written by Daniel Kelley of the Ohio State University and Jamey Stutz of ODNR’s Division of Geological Survey. The geologists do an admirable job of explaining the complexities of the ice age and its impact on Ohio, all in easily understood language.

The six issues to date contain an impressive array of subject matter, and all of them are excellent intellectual fodder for growing minds. And no ads!

Each issue is about 30 pages, features color throughout, and layout and design are superb. Ribbit! is free, with funding coming from a variety of sources. Donations are appreciated and provide a valuable part of the magazine’s funding.

After reading several issues, I feel Ribbit! hits its mark of educating younger people and should be of interest to kids from K-12, and adults, too.

Ribbit! is produced under the auspices of a group called Naturewise Columbus and its eight-member board of directors.

To learn more about the people who produce the magazine, visit their website at naturewisecolumbus.org.

The magazine is available, free of charge, at libraries, community centers, parks and various public events. Interested parties can also view magazines on the Ribbit! website, ribbitmagazine.com.

The next issue comes out March 1.

Environmental education should be part of the basic curriculum for students, and Ribbit! magazine provides a big dollop of that in a very interesting package. I highly recommend it, and please help spread the word.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Yellow-rumped Warbler eating poison ivy berries

 

A female Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) noshes on the fruit of poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans). Shauna and I found this bird on today's Hocking Hills Christmas Bird Count in Hocking County, Ohio. It was one of 11 "butter-butts" that we located.

Poison Ivy is an important source of wintertime sustenance for this hardy warbler - the only warbler species that winters in numbers at northerly latitudes such as Ohio. The much reviled (by people, not other animals) native vine is relished by many other bird species. At one point today, we saw a Carolina Chickadee eating poison ivy fruit, and I have over the years photographed many other species partaking of this fruit.

Climbing Fern

 

Last Saturday, Shauna and I participated in the Beaver Christmas Bird Count. Our area of the count covers a very remote area of Jackson County, Ohio, and it was quite birdy, at least in regard to species diversity. Overall numbers were not great. Highlights included five Hermit Thrushes and two Eastern Phoebes. In all, we found 43 species. And reconfirmed the existence of this population of Climbing Fern (Lygodium palmatum).

ASIDE: Hermit Thrushes are undoubtedly far more common in wintertime southern Ohio than is generally imagined. One key to finding them is getting an eye for suitable habitat, which is hardly rocket science. They favor early successional habitats with plenty of fruiting sumac (genus Rhus) and most commonly from my experience, Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina). The copious and long-persistent sumac fruit is a staple of their wintertime diet. Once in a while, one will hear the easily recognized low chuck call note of a thrush and find it that way, but mostly, the birds remain silent in dense cover and are easily overlooked. But judicious playing of the thrush's call note - not the song - will usually elicit a response, quickly. Had I not done that, we probably wouldn't have found any on this excursion. Had we had more time to just work Hermit Thrushes, we may well have doubled that number.

Back to the fern. The above photo shows Climbing Fern's scrambling growth habit. It isn't hard to spot a colony, but colonies tend to be fairly rare and local and widely scattered. At one time, it was on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' official list of rare plants but was rightly removed long ago as it isn't rare enough to merit listing.

Map courtesy of the Flora North America

This is the only member of the largely tropical fern family Lygodiaceae that occurs entirely within the Unites States, and by far the most northerly species. Two others, Asian species and both in the genus Lygodium, have been introduced. One of them, Japanese Climbing Fern (L. japonicum) is widely established across the southeastern states but has not yet managed to make it as far north as Ohio. The other is Climbing Maidenhair (L. microphyllum) which thus far is confined to Florida but seems to be rapidly spreading.

Aptly named, Climbing Fern is adept at scrambling up supporting vegetation, and can climb to several feet in height via its spaghetti-like orangish stems. The green conspicuous fronds are the sterile leaves that are long-persistent. The fertile spore-bearing leaves are short-lived and quite different in appearance. Remnants of these can be seen at the bottom one-third of the plant in the image above. They are the lacy brown extensions from the stems.

The fern's specific epithet, "palmatum" essentially means "hand-like" and the fronds certainly suggest hands. In the fern world (Pteridophytes), which encompasses about 80 species in Ohio, Climbing Fern is among our most distinctive species.

I first saw this Climbing Fern colony over 20 years ago, and it's always rewarding to revisit it each year. The general area in which it occurs has a large silica mine that is still operational and has laid waste to lots of interesting and valuable habitats since it started. Hopefully this fern colony and its vicinity will be spared, especially as there are several other rare plant species nearby, including some that are truly endangered.