The Chestnut-sided Warbler is a small songbird with a yellow forehead, white breast and chestnut streaks along its sides. They bread in eastern North America and winter in Central America. Each winter they return to the same area where they'll forage with the same flock of resident tropical warblers. What a great way to catch up with old friends! So many birds are decreasing in number these days due to habitat destruction, but this little fellow is actually doing very well. It increased tremendously in the late 19th century as second growth forests became more common.

This is our cute Birdorable version of the Chestnut-sided Warbler, bringing the total number of Birdorable warblers to four. We live in Northern Illinois and most warblers are expected to arrive here through May. Warblers are notoriously difficult to identify because there are so many that look so much alike, and they don't stay still for too long. What's your favorite warbler species?

The Burrowing Owl is the second owl that we've added to Birdorable this week. These little cuties are about the size of an American Robin. They like to hang out underground in burrows that were dug out by small mammals like prairie dogs and ground squirrels. Burrowing Owls appear to be diurnal as you can often see them foraging during the day, but they actually hunt all day and night long, although they tend to avoid the mid-day heat. In the United States Burrowing Owls are distributed from the Mississippi west to the Pacific and you can also find them in Florida and the Carribean Islands. They live in dry open areas with low vegetation.

Photo by BGale

Source: WikipediaThe Barn Owl is one of the most widely distributed birds in the world. You can find it on all continents; almost anywhere except for polar and desert regions. There are about 46 different subspecies of Barn Owl in the world. The North American one is the largest, weighing more than twice as much as the smallest race from the Galapagos Islands. Barn Owls are experts in hunting for small ground mammels, like mice, rats and gophers. And they need to catch a lot of foot! Barn Owls are able to consume twice as much food as other owls in comparison to their weight. A young Barn Owl can eat 25.000 mice a year!

Photo by nicebiscuit

Photo by Bryan Olesen

The Barn Owl is our 174th Birdorable bird and the answer to our last Spot the Birdorable. If you like our Birdorable Barn Owl you may also like our other birds of prey.

One of the latest additions to Birdorable is the Yellow-headed Blackbird. This striking 8.5-inch blackbird is unmistakable with its yellow head and breast. You can find it across North America and especially in freshwater cattail marshes west of the Great Lakes. Each spring, enormous flocks of yellowheads migrate from Mexico and the southern United States northward to their nesting territories in western North America. You'll often see them hanging out with Red-winged Blackbirds, but the yellowheads are larger and dominant over the redwings. Here's a nice picture of both species flocking together:

Photo by hcgregory

The Yellow-headed Blackbird is a handsome bird, but it isn't afraid of getting its beautiful plumage dirty. Check out these pictures by Rick Wright in Arizona of yellowheads hanging out with cows in the mud.

This and next photo by Rick Wright

This is our cute Birdorable version of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. For more than 170 other Birdorable birds see the Meet the Birds page.

The Common Kingfisher has been crowned Germany's Bird of the Year 2009 by NABU, the German BirdLife organization. NABU has been nominating the 'Bird of the Year' since 1971 to focus people's attention to a particular species and its habitat. The first bird was the Peregrine Falcon, which, thanks to several conservation projects, is no longer on the list of threatened birds in Germany. The Common Kingfisher itself isn't endangered in Germany — there are between 5,600 and 8,000 breeding pairs in Germany — but conservationists are hoping the added attention may results in increased protection for its dwindling habitat, which is rivers. Kingfishers need clear water and natural river banks to nest.

Photo by Sergey Yeliseev

Photo by xnir

Photo of beautiful tree by boliston

The Baltimore Oriole is a bright orange and black bird that breeds across North America and migrates south in flocks to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. It is the state bird of Maryland and the Baltimore Orioles Major League Baseball team was named after this bird. Backyard birders can attract these birds with special oriole feeders, which contain the same food as hummingbird feeders, but are designed specifically for orioles: they are orange instead of red and have larger perches. Baltimore Orioles are also fond of halved oranges and grape jelly.

Photo by JD

This bird received its name from the fact that the male's colors resemble those on the coat-of-arms of Lord Baltimore. When George Calvert, an English politician and coloniser of the New World, visited Chesapeake Bay in 1628, he saw the bird for the first time and was so pleased by its colors that he adopted them as his own. Later Linnaeus named the species the Baltimore Oriole because its colors were those of the Calverts.

I hope we'll be able to get these beautiful birds in our backyard this year. We'll certainly put out some oranges for them.

Photo by Larry & Teddy Page

(thanks to Lori Larson for these nice oriole photos that we found on Flickr)

A new bird that we've added to Birdorable is the Hooded Warbler, a beautiful bird in the New World warbler family. These yellow cuties breed across eastern North America and winter in Central America. Males are striking with their black hoods and bright yellow faces. Hooded Warblers prefer shaded habitats and this may be the reason why they have larger eyes than most other warblers in the United States. The cute large eyes stand out boldley on its yellow face. Part of its scientific name, citrina, refers to its dazzling yellow color. This is our totally cute Birdorable Hooded Warbler.

Below are two great photos of a Hooded Warbler by Birdfreak.com, which is one of our favorite bird blogs.

Photo by Birdfreak

Photo by Birdfreak

Have you ever seen a Hooded Warbler?

The Green Kingfisher is one of three kingfishers found in the United States, but at 7.5 inches long it is much smaller than the Belted and Ringed Kingfisher. It is also very rare in this country and can only be found in the south of Texas. It lives throughout Central and South America as far south as central Argentina. Unlike the other two kingfishers, Green Kingfishers also fly low over the water's surface and can be found perching on low branches. The Green Kingfisher was first described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (pictures right), who gave it the latin name Chloroceryle americana. Here's a picture of a female Green Kingfisher, which lacks the broad chestnut breast band that males have, like the one on the mangrove in the picture above.

Photo by Lip Kee

Unfortunately I have never seen a Green Kingfisher. Have you?

The Belted Kingfisher is one of three new kingfishers that we've added to Birdorable. This cutie can be found across North America, Central America and South America as far south as Argentina. I love Kingfishers, and we saw many Belted Kingfishers on our vacation in Florida. We were staying in Key Largo and every time we drove Route 1 back to the mainland we saw dozens of these guys sitting on the telephone wires looking down at the water. When they spot a fish that they like, they'll dive into the water head first to grab it. Did you know that many Kingfishers, including this one, nests underground? A pair will dig a tunnel as long as 8 feet in river banks. The tunnel slopes upward to keep water from entering the nest. Human activity has actually expanded their breeding range; road building and the digging of gravel pits has created new banks where kingfishers can nest.

Photo by Rick Leche

Photo by Rick Leche

Males and females both have shaggy crests and are colored blue and white. Females have rufous across the upper belly. This is our totally cute Birdorable version of the Belted Kingfisher!

Razorbills typically live for 13 years, but one particular Razorbill that was ringed in 1967 was still spotted in the United Kingdom last year, over 41 years later! The same bird has been returning to the same cliff since hippies were wearing flowers in their hair and the Beatles were singing "All You Need Is Love". The old Razorbill was reported by the British Trust for Ornithology last year, along with 11 other record-breaking long-living birds, including a 31-year-old Curlew and a Black-headed Gull that has been flying around parks in Central London for 27 years.

Razorbill on the Farne Islands, UK, by ankehuber

The Razorbill is a beautiful striking bird. It is the 159th Birdorable bird and the answer to this week's spot the Birdorable. Unfortunately we have never seen a Razorbill. Have you?