We’ve had a lot of wonderful avian visitors to our yard this spring. Dave set up a new feeding station since we suspect that our old one was knocked down by a bear and it’s been quite a hit. There are also now two bluebird boxes in the field so this year we have an Eastern Bluebird pair! Many of our yearly visitors have returned, including the Chipping Sparrows, Gray Catbird pair, American Robin pair, Rose-breasted Grosbeak pair, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Broad-winged Hawk, and the Red-eyed Vireo. Our Northern Cardinal and Pileated Woodpecker pairs have also been making frequent appearances.
Gray Catbird (Image by Michelle Horowitz)Gray Catbird (Image by Michelle Horowitz)Pileated Woodpecker male (Image by David Horowitz)Pileated Woodpecker male (Image by David Horowitz)Yellow-bellied Sapsucker breeding male (Image by David Horowitz)Chipping Sparrow (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
What kind of birds have been visiting your yard/area this spring? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms! You are amazing!
This is my 2nd Mother’s Day as a mom. When Dave asked me what I wanted for the holiday of course my answer was to go birding (and get ice cream lol). Baby Birder was only a few months old at this time last year, so we took a short walk at Mine Falls Park for my first Mother’s Day. Since Baby Birder is a little older this year and travels well, we did 2 birding trips this weekend: one to Maine and the other to a smaller local park. I’m also really excited about my gift from them: a gift certificate to the Bird Watcher’s General Store in Cape Cod. 🙂
Kennebunk Plains Wildlife Management Area, Kennebunk, ME
Yesterday we explored Kennebunk Plains WMA, which consists of over 1,700 acres of grasslands and pine barrens. The National Audubon Society considers Kennebunk Plains an Important Bird Area (IBA). The Plains are significant because they are breeding grounds to many grassland species such as Vesper Sparrows, Upland Sandpipers, Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Savannah Sparrows, and Grasshopper Sparrows. Many of these birds are considered threatened throughout their ranges and are vulnerable to climate change, so managing a native grassland like Kennebunk Plains is necessary to their survival. The forest edges support many species of warblers, Black-billed Cuckoos, Whip-poor-wills, Lark Buntings, and others.
Kennebunk Plains (Photo by BirdNation)
Notable Species Observed: American Kestrel, Vesper Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Towhee
We added a new species to our life list: the Vesper Sparrow! There were many of these cute little sparrows flying around the grasslands as well as Field and Savannah Sparrows. We observed a pair of American Kestrels flying around together and preening. They are super fast and we had the opportunity to watch one hovering and diving for prey. Field Sparrows and Prairie Warblers were a special treat because we haven’t seen any since we moved from NH to NJ.
Vesper Sparrow (Photo by BirdNation)
Vesper Sparrows mainly breed in the West/Midwest United States but can be found in smaller populations in the East and winter in the southern part of North America. Interestingly, this species has gone through numerous names over the years: from “the Gray Grass-bird” to “grass finch” to Alexander Wilson’s name of “Bay-winged Bunting”. Naturalist John Burroughs was fond of its pretty musical song and thought it sang most impressively during the evenings, so he named it “Vesper Sparrow” based off the sixth canonical hour of evening prayer worship. Distinctive field marks include its white-edged tail that can be seen in flight, chestnut lesser wing coverts on its shoulder, its stocky bill, and thin white eye-ring.
Field Sparrow (Photo by Dave Horowitz)Savannah Sparrow (Photo by Dave Horowitz)
Have you ever seen a White-throated Sparrow? White-throated Sparrows spend the winter in forested areas throughout many parts of the the United States in the winter. They are large gray-brown sparrows with long tails, yellow near their eyes, and head stripes. They seem like fairly simple birds, but did you know that their head stripes hold the key to their personalities?
I recently read an interesting article by author/naturalist Kenn Kaufman on Audubon’s website about the White-throats complex sex life. There are 2 morphs of White-throats: ones with white/black head stripes and ones with tan/dark brown stripes. (From this point forward I will refer to them as “white-striped” and “tan-striped”.) For many years scientists thought that the tan-striped birds were juveniles, but later learned that they are one of two permanent morphs.
White-morph White-throated Sparrow at Boundary Creek (Image by BirdNation)
A lot of birds species have different morphs. Who cares, right? Well after much research (that is still ongoing), scientists have learned that these morphs determine a White-throat’s personality and their mating choices.
It may sound like a generalization, but tan-striped sparrows tend to more nurturing and white-striped tend to be more aggressive. Kaufman points out that these broad-sounding conclusions were made after numerous years of involved research. He sites multiple examples, such as white-striped of both sexes tend to sing more with a higher pitch, while tan-striped sing less often. Tan-striped live in denser forests and are not as aggressive with their territories, while white-striped live in more open woodlands and actively chase intruders.
Tan-striped White-throated Sparrow morph (Image by Greg Lavaty via houstonaudubon.org)
Each morph is split pretty close to 50% male/female. Like they say with human relationships, opposites seem to attract in the White-throated Sparrow world. Studies found that pairs tend to consist of one of each morph. White-striped males with usually pair with tan-striped females, and tan-striped males with white-striped females.
Even though these pairings are common, White-throated Sparrows still have their own personal preferences. Females of both morphs prefer tan-striped males, and the more aggressive white-striped female tends to snag the tan males quicker. Males of both morphs prefer white-striped females. Tan-striped birds seem to stay monogamous longer, but white-striped may possibly be promiscuous.
Do the same morphs ever mate together? Studies find that around 95% of mating pairs will be these opposite morph pairs. More studies are needed to find out the results of same morph pairs, but there are some hypotheses of what might happen. It’s likely that a tan-striped nests could fail because of issues with defending their territories. White-striped nests could fail due to too much fighting with each other.
Studies on White-throated Sparrows are still ongoing, but the information we currently know about their complex social lives is fascinating. A bird species, such as White-throated Sparrows, may seem common, but many aspects of their lives are still packed with secrets that scientists are only starting to reveal.
BirdNation 