Herons, Woodpeckers, and Pigeons

Grey Heron

Here's a Grey Heron I met in the spring of 2022. Some people claim that this is a species that's a rare visitor from Europe, but they're all over central New Jersey. I think I saw 4-5 of them just this week!*

April 20, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 191969839, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Ivory-billed Woodpecker

There are people who claim the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is extinct because they haven't been able to find 1. Though the Ivory-billed Woodpecker isn't as easy to find in central NJ as Grey Herons are, if you listen for maniacal laughter and/or unusually loud drumming, a lot of times it'll turn out to be an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.*
January 20, 2018 at the Scherman Hoffman Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo 13123129, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Passenger Pigeon

This is another bird some people consider to be extinct, a Passenger Pigeon. This is almost impossible to defend since these birds are all over central NJ, far more commonly seen than Grey Herons and probably 1 of the top 10 most commonly seen backyard birds.*
November 16, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 251084755, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

* April Fools!!!

Special thanks to the Great Blue Heron, Pileated Woodpecker, and Mourning Dove that impersonated their relatives in this post:
  • FWIW sightings of Grey Herons and Ivory-billed Woodpeckers here in the US usually turn out to be Great Blue Herons and Pileated Woodpeckers respectively.
  • Though I don't think there are many Passenger Pigeon "sightings", they were supposed to resemble Mourning Doves.

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