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“A wonderful bird is the pelican; his bill can hold more than his belly can,” goes the limerick by Dixon Lanier Merritt. And it’s true: A pelican’s pouch can hold up to three times more than its stomach.

The Green Heron is the second smallest of the dozen heron species — including egrets and bitterns — nesting in the United States. (The Least Bittern is the smallest.) It is also one of the most widespread.

The regal-looking Canvasback is the largest North American diving duck. Its name was inspired by the male’s white back and sides, which reminded English settlers of canvas fabric.

The eye-catching Acorn Woodpecker’s head is boldly patterned in black, white, and red, punctuated with wild-looking white eyes that give it a clownish look. It’s a medium-sized bird, bigger than a Downy Woodpecker and a bit smaller than its close, but more easterly, relative the Red-headed Woodpecker.

The regal Ferruginous Hawk ranks as the biggest North American member of the genus Buteo. This species is named for the ferruginous, or rusty, color on the wings, back, and legs of light-morph individuals.

The plump, long-legged American Dipper is colored like a Gray Catbird, about the size of a Cactus Wren, and cocks its short tail like a Common Yellowthroat. But the American Dipper is unique — it’s the only North American songbird that routinely swims!

The eye-catching Long-billed Curlew is North America’s largest shorebird, but like the Mountain Plover and Buff-breasted Sandpiper, it’s very often found away from the shore.

The Barn Owl’s species name, Tyto alba, literally means “white owl.” But behind this unremarkable name is an extraordinary predator with long legs and a distinctive heart-shaped face.

The liquid, burbling “conk-a-ree!” of a male Red-winged Blackbird on territory is a sure sign of spring, or at least its pending arrival.

The confiding, acrobatic White-breasted Nuthatch delights many a backyard birder with its head-down antics and nasal calls.

The aristocratic Royal Tern is one of the largest terns in the Americas, a noticeable step up in size from the Roseate Tern or Least Tern, for example.

The handsome Red-breasted Merganser is a welcome sight along coastlines during the winter. This sea-going duck is notable for its long, red, serrated bill, which gives it the species name serrator.

Early naturalists called the Great Horned Owl the “winged tiger” or “tiger of the air” because of its ferocity and hunting skills. This big owl (the second heaviest in North America after the Snowy Owl) is also called the “hoot owl” after its deep, booming call, which sounds like: “Who’s a-wake? Me too!”

A chattering, rattling call along the river or lakeside announces the presence of a Belted Kingfisher. Often heard before seen, this dagger-billed, shaggy-crested bird is usually spotted next to a river or lake, or hovering over the water before plunging headfirst to snag a fish.

The Ruddy Turnstone is a stocky shorebird named for its habit of flipping over stones, shells, and seaweed with a slightly upturned, wedge-shaped bill.

The colorful drake Wood Duck is one of North America’s most beautiful waterfowl – an aquatic counterpart of the male Painted Bunting.

With flashing black-and-white wings and a bright red crest, when a crow-sized Pileated Woodpecker swoops by, even the most experienced birders stop in their tracks. This is the largest of North American woodpeckers. In the United States, only the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, likely extinct, was bigger.

“Everybody who notices birds at all knows, admires, and loves the graceful, friendly barn swallow,” wrote ornithologist Arthur C. Bent in the early 20th century, in his Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds.

The Peregrine Falcon has long, pointed wings, which give it a distinctive flight silhouette, even in poor lighting conditions.

Like other sparrows such as the Saltmarsh and Sagebrush, the Spotted Towhee, found from southwestern Canada through the western United States and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala, is the result of a taxonomic ‘split.’

About the size of a Blue Jay, the American Kestrel is the smallest falcon in North America.

The Song Sparrow lives up to its name, singing persistently throughout the year.

“The goldfinch is an active little bird, always in the best of spirits,” observed noted naturalist Arthur Cleveland Bent early in the 20th century.

Endangered California condor chick has successfully fledged from a cliff-side nest near the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in Ventura County, California.