Scissor-tails and Red-wings

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Unlike the egrets, herons and cormorants that are relatively large, some of the birds along the Mission Reach are much smaller, but no less important to the riparian ecology:

The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are Spring through Fall residents that migrate south during the winter. They consume countless insects that are abundant in a riparian habitat. The Red-winged Blackbirds are year round residents. These blackbirds are omnivorous in that they primarily eat insects most of the year, but begin eating large quantities of seeds in the fall while the seeds are abundant.

These photos were taken on a walk along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River upstream from the VFW Blvd trailhead to Roosevelt Ave on Tuesday, April 19, 2016.

Click on the first photo in a post to open the photos in slideshow view.