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!
Tomorrow, 5/14/2022 is World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) and Global Big Day (GBD). The purpose of World Migratory Bird Day is to raise awareness about the ecological role migratory birds play, the threats they face, and the importance of conserving birds and their habitats. International cooperation in conserving habitats birds depend on is another goal of WMBD. This year’s WMBD is light pollution. Check out the World Migratory Bird Day website for more info.
May 14 is also Global Big Day. Created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Global Big Day is an event that encourages everyone to go out and count birds. The goal is to count as many birds as possible in one day. Participating is easy! Count as many birds as you can for as long as you want from anywhere and add your observations on eBird. Scientists use the data you submit to track where birds are during their spring migration. You can learn more information at the eBird website.
Last year, 4 new birding records were set on Global Big Day:
Most birders participating in one day (51, 816 people)
Most countries participating in one day (192 countries)
highest number of species and eBird checklists in a single day (7,234 species and 133,887 checklists submitted)
1 billion bird observations reported on eBird
I can’t wait to see what 2022 brings! We will be doing some birding in the morning, so I will let you know how it goes. If you are on social media make sure to use the hashtags #GlobalBigDay, #WMBD2022, and #WorldMigratoryBirdDay to check out updates around the world in real time. Happy birding!
Are you participating in GBD/WMBD tomorrow? Tell me about your experience in the comments!
At the beginning of April, Dave and I traveled to New Hampshire and Massachusetts. We are moving to New Hampshire in June due to Dave’s new job, so our primary purpose of the trip was to find an apartment. But you know us! Can’t travel anywhere without birding :-).
Mine Falls Park, Nashua, NH
Mine Falls Park is a 325-acre urban park located along the Nashua River. Mine Falls Park offers over 9 miles of trails and is part of the New Hampshire Heritage Trail System. Habitats include forest, fields, and wetlands. We explored the only side of the park by walking down the Nashua Power Canal towards Oxbow Lake. We observed 24 birds species and a muskrat. I definitely plan on making Mine Falls Park one of my regular birding spots once we move.
Highlights:
Pileated Woopeckers: We observed 2 Pileated Woodpeckers within the first 10 minutes of being in New Hampshire. (Pileateds are one of my favorite birds, so I knew 2 right away were a good sign lol)
Other woodpeckers: Hairy, Downy, Red-bellied
Large flock of Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds
Pileated Woodpecker female (Image by BirdNation)
Hairy Woodpecker (Image by BirdNation)
Greeley Park, Nashua, NH
Greeley Park is more of a recreational park than it is a birding park. There are trails as well as large stands of pine trees. We observed 11 species during our walk.
Highlights
Quiet! It’s not often I stand in a park that’s next to a neighborhood in the middle of a city and hear…silence. Come to think of it, I don’t think I can go anywhere in New Jersey and just hear silence (as in just nature sounds without man-made ones). NH is definitely not NJ. I can get used to less noise!
White-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees
Hampton Beach State Park, Hampton, NH
Hampton Beach SP is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Hampton Harbor Inlet. We spent some time sea watching by the inlet.
Highlights:
Horned Larks. There was a flock of about 10. We’ve only seen one Horned Lark so far; a juvenile at Laurel Run Park in Delran, NJ. It was a great surprise to see adults.
Common Loons and Common Eiders
Eastern Mud Snails
Red Wing Farm Reservation, Chelmsford, MA
Red Wing Farm is a small park comprised of meadow and forest habitat. This park connects with the 25-mile Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
Highlights:
Bald Eagle and Red-tailed Hawk
Spring Peepers along the rail trail
Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Sudbury Unit and Concord Unit, MA
Great Meadows is 3,800 acres and runs along the Concord and Sudbury Rivers. We briefly visited both the Sudbury and Concord units and observed a variety of spring migrants.
Highlights
Lots of spring sounds: Spring Peepers and other frogs, Eastern Phoebes, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black-capped Chickadees, and others
A muskrat and turtles
Painted Turtle (Image by BirdNation)
Singing Red-winged Blackbird male (Image by BirdNation)
Spring is almost here, and we are certainly getting signs of the coming season in New Jersey. The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, and I’ve been hearing American Robins start their bouncy spring songs each morning. The spring migrants are returning, and that includes a very fascinating and unique species…the Timberdoole!
Well, the Timberdoodle is its nickname (and an awfully cute one at that). I’m referring to the American Woodcock, a small bulbous shorebird that migrates through New Jersey in March.
I heard about these birds pretty early into my life as a birder, but never have had the chance to see them because…I would forget. I would be so busy in the spring that I would remember about the timberdoodle after it already passed through the area. I knew this year would be different.
Dave and I went to Rancocas Nature Center (where I’m a teacher naturalist on some weekends) to watch the display. The meadow at RNC is a great place to check out the Timberdoodle. The Timberdoodle is not just a bird you simply go to just get a sight of, the allure of this little bird is the famous “Sky Dance”.
American Woodcock (Image via Pinterest)
Timberdoodles like to spend their time in brushy fields near deciduous forests. In the cover of darkness, the male Timberdoole will give a distinct buzzy “peent!” to get the female’s attention. After a few calls, the male rockets up into the air with a flutter, soaring up and circling about 200-300 feet in the air. As the male ascends into his dazzling display you can hear his wings twitter. After reaching his peak, the male circles back down to the ground and land in the same spot next to the female. These aerial display can last into the night and take place around dawn as well. Once a pair does mate, the male provides no parental care. Males usually mate with multiple females. The female will feed the chicks for a week, and about a month later the chicks will become independent.
It was really amazing to see the American Woodcock’s sky dance. We observed at least 4 birds participating in the display. We even had a pair fly right over us! I’m so glad we had a chance to observe these magnificent birds in action.
I was able to get a short recording of the “peents” at the beginning of the display (I was too mesmerized watching to record anything after it start lol). You can hear a few peents through the wall of sound that is a bunch Spring Peeper frogs calling.
American Woodcock “peents!” with Spring Peeper background
Have you seen a Timberdoodle? Tell me about your experience in the comments!
I can’t believe summer is already here. This will be an interesting summer for me. I’m usually off for 10 weeks, but this year I have a summer job. Here’s a picture of my workplace:
I’m a nature summer camp intern at Rancocas Nature Center. I’m excited that I get to spend the next few weeks working outside and learning more about nature 😁.
Now that it’s a new season, I’ve been reflecting on my year list. Since winter (where we observed 81 species) I’ve added 71 species to the list, bringing my total to 152 species in 2018. We had a great spring migration this year. Here are some of the highlights.
Team BirdNation participated in the 2018 Great American Arctic Birding Challenge from March 1-June 1. Overall we observed 62 species on the checklist.
60 species, including our first Caspian Tern, at Forsythe NWR during Global Big Day
Willet on Global Big Day (Image by BirdNation)
Added 2 warblers to our life list: Northern Parula at Amico Island and Canada Warbler at Patuxent Research Refuge
Took a “mini vacation” to Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland. Saw Pileated Woodpeckers for the first time in 3 years
Patuxent Research Refuge on a rainy day (Image by BirdNation)
Red Knots for the first time ever at Fortescue Beach as well as thousands of other shorebirds and Laughing Gulls
Semipalmated Sandpipers (Image by BirdNation)
Our first Wilson’s Snipe at Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve
Met Pete and Phoebe, the resident pair of Piping Plovers at Barnegat Light SP
Pete McClain (Image by BirdNation)
Phoebe Cates (Image by BirdNation)
Had an awesome trip to Forsythe with my friends Deborah and Bella, where we saw 51 bird species, some snakes, and tons of turtles
Black Skimmers and Laughing Gulls (Image by BirdNation)
Spring migration was awesome this year. We got 5 life list species (Wilson’s Snipe, Red Knot, Canada Warbler, Northern Parula , and Caspian Tern), and went on lots of great birding trips.
Summer always ends up being a little slow due to the heat, but you never know what will show up. We are also heading to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in August, so that’s something to look forward to. Can’t wait to see what the summer will bring!
How was your spring migration this year? What birds did you see? Tell us about them in the comments!
Also, don’t forget to join the flock on Instagram, @birdnation123
To me, birding is not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. I pretty much try to go birding as much as possible. How often we go birding depends on the week and season. During spring migration, it’s not unusual for Dave and I to go birding 4-5 times per week (after work and at least once/sometimes twice on the weekend). Today I wanted to share some spring birding pics from some of our smaller excursions.
Red-winged Blackbird, Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve (Image by BirdNation)
Yellow Warbler, Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve (Image by BirdNation)
Mourning Dove, Barnegat Lighthouse State Park (Image by BirdNation)
Cedar Waxwing, Palmyra Cove Nature Park (Image by BirdNation)
Magnolia Warbler, Amico Island Park (Image by BirdNation)
Magnolia Warbler, Amico Island Park (Image by BirdNation)
Over the past 2 weeks, Dave and I have gone birding 7 times. We’ve had an interesting variety of early spring weather conditions, including chilly 40s and rain in the 70s. Here are some of my favorite moments from the last two weeks. (I don’t have pictures from all 7 trips)
Palmyra Cove Nature Park (3/23/18): first of season Killdeer and Osprey. Also saw a Muskrat
Killdeer (Image by BirdNation)
Muskrat (Image by BirdNation)
Osprey with Goldfish (Image by BirdNation)
Barnegat Lighthouse State Park (3/25/18)
Common Loon (Image by BirdNation)
Purple Sandpiper (Image by BirdNation)
Palmyra Cove Nature Park (4/4/18):It started raining when we arrived, so we ended up walking in the middle of a short rainstorm. It was a really cool experience. There were still a lot of birds out, and by the time we finished walking the rain had stopped (29 species in total, including a first of season Palm Warbler and many Eastern Phoebes). We also had a chance to watch the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge open, found a goose egg, saw interesting fungi, and discovered a bunch of forest snails.
Tacony-Palmyra Bridge opening (Image by BirdNation)
Cove in low tide (Image by BirdNation)
Goose Egg (Image by BirdNation)
Canada Goose (Image by BirdNation)
Interesting Fungi (Image by BirdNation)
Snail (Image by BirdNation)
Island Beach State Park (4/6/18): Saw about 200 Northern Gannets and many Osprey. First of season Snowy Egrets and Laughing Gull
Today’s featured warbler is the Common Yellowthroat, which can be found throughout most of the United States during the breeding season.
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Description:
Common Yellowthroats are small warblers with a round head and medium-length rounded tail. Males have olive upperparts and yellow throats/chests. Their most unique and distinctive feature is a broad black face mask. They have a thin white line across their forehead that contrasts the black mask. Females are a dull olive-gray color with a faint yellow throat.
Male Common Yellowthroat (Image by the USFWS via wikimedia commons)
Range:
Summer (breeding): Canada and most of the United States, with the Southwest being less common. Migrates through parts of California and Texas. Winters in Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Found Year-Round in the Southeastern United States to the Gulf Coast, and parts of California, Meixco, and Baja, California
Habitat:
Common Yellowthroats are the only wood warbler that nests in open marshes. Found in reed beds, swamps, briars, streams, overgrown fields, pine forests, and brushy thick areas. They tend to avoid dry habitats.
Diet:
Mainly insects and sometimes seeds. They tend to forage low in the trees, bushes, and other low vegetation growth. They glean insects off the foliage or forage on the ground, and sometimes will catch an insect in mid-air.
Breeding/Nesting:
Males may court females by doing a flight display where he flies up then lands on a perch to sing. They will also follow the female or flick their tails. Males arrive to defend their breeding grounds earlier than the females and fight more intensely after the females arrive. A female will signal that she’s ready to mate with her partner by fluttering her wings and chipping rapidly. This behavior attracts more males than her mate however, so it’s possibly that the female with also mate with a male who’s not her partner.
Common Yellowthroat Felmale (Image by Tom Grey via birdnote.org)
The female will spend between 4-5 days constructing a nest close to or on the ground. She starts by building a platform of leaves and grasses then weaves together the cup with sedge and grasses. She lays between 3-5 eggs that are white with black or brown spots. The female incubates the eggs for about 12 days while being fed by the male. Common Yellowthroat nests are frequently parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds (I experienced a Yellowthroat adult feeding a cowbird chick once, you can read about it here). Both parents will feed the young, who fledge between 8-12 days after hatching. Common Yellowthroat chicks stay dependent on their parents after fledging for longer than most other warbler chicks do.
Sounds:
witchity-witchity-witchity! or which-is-it, which-is-it
Conservation:
Although still pretty widespread, populations have declined due to the draining of salt marshes.
Fun Facts:
There are 13 races of Common Yellowthroats, which differ slightly based off their face mask patterns and the brightness of their yellow. The brightest Yellowthroats live in the Southwestern United States.
Today I wanted to feature my favorite North American Warbler: the Yellow Warbler. Here are some fascinating facts about these adorable and bright birds.
Yellow Warblers are one of the most widely distributed wood-warblers. They breed throughout a majority of the United States and Canada up to the Arctic Circle, and winter as far south as Mexico and parts of Northwest South America.
Yellow Warbler (Image by Gerrit Vyn via allaboutbird.org)
Yellow Warblers, as their name suggest, have bright yellow plumage throughout their whole body. Females and immature birds are a paler yellow than the males. Males have faint chestnut-colored streaking down their breasts. All Yellows have elongated bodies, edging on their wings, plain faces, large black eyes with faint eyerings, and straight black bills.
There are numerous races/subspecies of Yellow Warblers. They are usually split into three main groups (that can be further split into even smaller races): Yellow Warblers (United States/Canada), Mangrove Warblers (Central and South America), and Golden Warblers (West Indies). The groups are determined mainly by the head color of the male. Mangrove Warblers are chestnut-hooded and Gold Warblers have chestnut caps.
“Golden” Yellow Warbler (Image by Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble via wikimedia commons)
“Mangrove” Yellow Warbler (Image by Charles J. Sharp, sharpphotography.co.uk)
You can find Yellow Warblers in wooded areas along streams, lakes, and marshes. They tend to prefer willow, cottonwood, and alder trees. They also can be found in orchards and waterside thickets. In their winter they live in sub-tropical habitats in towns, woodland edges, and open-country.
They will forage from low in the tree up to the top, but males tend to forage higher up than females.
Yellow Warblers mainly eat insects and sometimes berries. Two-thirds of their diet can be made up of various species of caterpillars.
Yellow Warblers build small but sturdy nest cups that are found in a vertical fork of a small tree or bush. However, because they are usually in an open areas, they are frequently parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds. Many Yellow Warblers can figure out when there is a Cowbird egg in their nest, so they will build another layer over the intruding egg and bury it. Unforunately, when this happens their real eggs get buried too, so they are essentially starting their nest over. Some Yellow Warbler nests have been found with 5 to 6 layers because the Cowbird would continue to try to lay its eggs and the warbler would keep burying them!
Yellow Warbler nest with hatchlings at Boundary Creek (Image by David Horowitz)
A male Yellow Warbler will defend his territory by singing or using a circle flight display.
Breeding pairs are monogamous and may stay together for more than one nesting season.
Yellow Warblers arrive at their breeding range in late April/May and some leave right after their young fledge (early July). However, some stay later into August or linger into the fall.
The oldest-known recorded Yellow Warbler was an 11-year-old female. The maximum age of wild Yellow Warblers is usually 10-years-old.
Males sing a bright and melodic song. It’s so cheery that many people say it sounds like sweet-sweet-I’m-so-sweet! (I’ll agree with that! haha :-))
What is your favorite species of warbler? Tell me about it in the comments.
Hi everyone! Now that it’s spring it’s time to start a new weekly feature. We are a week into spring and I’ve already seen many spring migrants in my neck of the wood. Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Oystercatchers, Killdeer, Eastern Phoebes, and Osprey are just a few of the migrants arriving in New Jersey. Over the next 2 months, many more bird species will be arriving in North America after their winter breaks, including one of my favorite groups: the warblers.
Warblers tend to be some of the later spring migrants, with many arriving in late April/early May. I thought now would be the perfect time for us to starting learning about warblers so we’ll be ready to identify them when they arrive. Our first warbler will be one of the early migrants: the Palm Warbler.
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)
Description:
Palm Warblers have prominent rusty caps that they show off while constantly pumping their tails. Their upperparts are brown with tan wing bars and underparts are yellow with faint brownish stripes. They have a very noticable supercilium (“eyebrow”) above their eyes. Their tails are long and square, block black base and white tips. Males and females have similar plumage.
Range:
Winters in Florida, the Gulf Coast, the southern Atlantic Coast, the Caribbean, and some parts of Central America. Migrates through the Eastern part of the United States. Summer (breeding) in Canada.
Palm Warbler (Image by Corinne Errico via njaudubon.org)
Habitat:
During migration, Palm Warblers can be found in woodlands, near ponds and streams, and open pastures. At their breeding grounds, they live in open boreal coniferous forests and bogs that contain tamaracks, spruce, cedar, and pine trees. They tend to stay in the lower parts of the tree, in bushes/thickets, or on the ground.
Diet:
Insects, berries, and seeds. They may glean insects off of leaves or catch them in mid air. During the winter they will usually forage on the ground.
Breeding/Nesting:
Palm Warblers arrive on their breeding grounds in April and the female will start building her nest by early May. Males may have more than one mate. Females build a small open cup nest in low trees near the trunk or on the ground. She weaves a variety of grasses and other plant materials together on top of sphagnum moss. She will usually conceal the nest with a clump of grass and line the inside with feathers.
The female lays 4-5 creamy white eggs with brown spots. The eggs are incubated for around 12 days. Sometimes Palms deal with brood parasitism by Brown Cowbirds.However, they will usually discover the intruding egg and cover it to add an extra layer to the bottom of the nest. Both parents will feed the chicks and within 12 days the young are taking their first short flights. Palms can possibly have 2 broods per year.
Palm Warbler (Image via pintrest/fineartamerica.com)
Sounds:
A weak trill song, a chip or tsip call
Conservation:
There are currently no major threats against Palm Warblers in their winter or summer habitats, and their population is considered stable.
Fun Facts:
Being called “Palm” these birds sound more tropical, but they actually live farther north than many other warblers.
There are 2 subspecies of Palm Warblers. Western Palms have white bellies and paler breasts, while Eastern Palms are yellower and patchier.
In their winter grounds of Florida you may see a Palm Warbler near palm groves, but you won’t find them in the palm trees themselves.
I’ve only ever seen one Palm Warbler so far. It was at Palmyra Nature Cove and was my first warbler I learned to identify. Have you seen a Palm Warbler? Tell me in the comments below.
BirdNation 