Valley birds of the hooded variety

As we draw closer to the winter months, we naturally see a shift in bird populations across our area. Some species have long left, others as still passing through and still others are taking up residence for the cooler weeks ahead. One such species that will spend some time in the Rio Grande Valley during this latter timeframe is the Bonaparte's gull, Larus philadelphia. This "hooded" species was named in honor of Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte (1803-1857), cousin of Napoleon, prince of Canino and Musignano, a renowned naturalist and the father of systematic ornithology,. The scientific name "Larus" is Latin for "gull" and "philadelphia" is the site where the type specimen was collected. By the way, Bonaparte resided for a period in Philadelphia while living in the United States between 1822-1828. As a point of... [read full story]