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SENTINEL always for the community VOL 26 NO6
Regional Trai
August 2021
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SPOTLIGHT
Look inside for the latest Regional in Nature Activity Guide!
2 Die-off, page Sudden Tree • Addressing es, page 6 vest Activiti • Summer Har g, page 7 ssin Cro il Qua • Big Break 9 e Craft, page • Spiral Snak
Recreation ls Vital for tation. and Transpor page 4. See
s, page 11 s in Dark Skie • Summer Star ons, page 12 lution in Pige • Urban Evo , page 13 r Hiking Tips • Hot-Weathe 14 terflies, page • Summer But
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Park Named After Thurgood Marshall Summer Harvest Activities Spiral Snake Craft Summer Stars in Dark Skies Hot-Weather Hiking Tips Plus many more fun activities for kids and families!
Trevor Fuhriman Cycles from Canada to Mexico for Breast Cancer Awareness One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Statistics also show that
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On August 19, Save Mt. Diablo presents “Sacred Mountains, Climate Change and Environment”. This will be a special Nature Heals and Inspires event with Edwin Bernbaum, acclaimed author and lecturer. His presentation is not to miss! See page 5 for details. Photo by Stephen Joseph. See his website for his Alamo gallery hours and location at www.stephenjosephphoto.gallery.
Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) By James M. Hale
T h e ra s py, n a s a l , b u r r y “kabrick” call of the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), is a familiar sound during late spring and early summer, particularly in riparian habitats, open woodlands, and oak savannahs throughout Contra Costa County. This species has become a familiar backyard bird in many areas, with suburbanization of many of our open spaces. Ashthroated Flycatchers are mediums i z e d m e m b e rs o f t h e Ty ra n t Flycatcher family, Tyrannidae. They are up to eight and a half inches long, and up to one and a half ounces in weight. Overall, they have grayishbrown plumage, with a pale yellow belly, and cinnamon edges on the primary feathers in the wing. Two whitish wing-bars accent the wing. The throat is whitish, and the face is ashy gray. The underside of the tail is russet or cinnamon with brownish gray borders. The sagittal
crest, or peaked crown on the top of the head, is diagnostic in Flycatchers. The Ash-throated Flycatcher was first described in 1851 by George Newbold Lawrence from a specimen collected in Texas. In 1859 Philip Lutley Sclater realized that the Mexican population and western North American birds were the same and corrected the taxonomy. The genus name of Myiarchus is from the Greek words muia, meaning “fly”, and arkos meaning “chief” or “ruler”. The specific epithet cinerascens is Latin for “ashen”. Two subspecies are recognized, with one non-migratory subspecies restricted to Mexico’s Baja California. This cavity-nesting species arrives later in spring from its wintering habitat in southwestern Arizona, southern California, and Mexico, as far
south as Honduras. Occasionally, some individuals have been known to wander as far as the east coast of North America. Like most perch hunters, Ashthroated Flycatchers spend a great deal of their time on low perches, sallying for insects, which they usually take from foliage, branches, and the ground. Spiders, bees, wasps, bugs, tree hoppers, stink bugs, moths, caterpillars, and flies, including larvae, are favorite prey. On occasion, they will take aerial insects in midair. Less frequently, they will consume fruit, berries, and even small reptiles and mammals which they kill by banging the prey on hard objects. Ash-throated Flycatchers are adapted to xeric habitats and do not need to drink water. They obtain their hydration from metabolic water in the food they eat.
This Month’s Special Section:
As secondary cavity nesters, Ash-throated Flycatchers rely on nest holes that are originally excavated or used by other species, such as woodpeckers, or naturally occurring cavities in tree snags or dead trees. Artificial cavities of all sorts are also used for nesting. Ashthroated Flycatchers may select nest cavities varying from less than ten feet up to over seventy
Kids & Teens / Back to School page 6
See FLYCATCHER page 3