Hooded Merganser Waterfowl are in abundance across much of North America in winter. They are looking for mates so are in their prime plumage, making for great sightings. As long as the bodies of water in your area are not completely frozen over, you are likely to find ducks near you! But there are some […]
It’s that time of year again! Time to be part of the Christmas Bird Count which is a really fun thing to do with the entire family! In its 115th year this year, from December 14 through January 5, National Audubon Society organizes groups of people across the entire US who spend one specific day […]
Cold weather is a reminder to make your backyard inviting for birds overwintering in your area.With some simple preparations you can have birds visiting throughout the winter and create a safe spot for them to eat, get water, and even bathe when its needed. In the summer there is plenty of natural food available for […]
Hawk Viewing This Fall — Watching the Kettle Hawk watching stations are great places to visit during hawk migration. You can watch Accipiters dive at each other, or see eagles soaring. Many avid hawk watchers love to see Broad-winged Hawk migration because Broad-winged Hawks are the only hawks that are gregarious on migration. That is, […]
WHERE TO SEE BIRDS: California’s Central Valley The Central Valley of California is a great spot for overwintering waterfowl. It has also been making the Snow Geese – Gary Zahm, USFWS news a lot lately as the drought there has reached epic proportions, and it’s not just farmers who are affected. About 60 percent of […]
Watch Osprey Migration Live Online! Compared to other birds of prey, Ospreys start their migration south early. Ospreys cannot tolerate cold weather and they start their trek to warmer climes in August before temperatures start to drop. In recent years scientists have been attaching transmitters to Ospreys, enabling them to track their movements in real […]
Sharing the Beach With Nesting Shorebirds Who can resist the beach in the summer? It’s a fun place to enjoy the surf and sun and can also be a great Piping plover chick place to see birds. Many species of birds depend on beaches for survival, and lots of shorebirds have traveled many thousands of […]
Radar Birding: What’s It All About Stay on the cutting edge of birding with RADAR data! Meterologists have being using RADAR stations throughout the country to track and predict weather patterns for decades. But recently, birders have been using RADAR technology to track and understand bird movements! Here is a brief guide to getting started […]
The Timberdoodle Skydance Have you ever heard of a Timberdoodle? These days the official name for the Timberdoodle is American Woodcock (but if you still want to call them Timberdoodles that’s fine with us!). April is a great time to see Woodcocks displaying. They have a pretty amazing spring mating ritual — made all the […]
Where to Watch Spring Hawk Migration Spring migration is much different than fall. In the spring, birds have a mission — to get to their breeding grounds on time for the best nesting spot and be there when there is the most food. Breeding drives spring migration, which tends to be shorter than its fall […]
Big Big Bald Eagle Nests Bald Eagles are the largest raptor in North America and are seen throughout the continental US, Canada and Alaska. With a wingspan of over 7 feet, everything about this bird is oversized. From a lifespan over several decades to their overall size of up to 14 pounds for females in […]
Lucky Ducks In Winter Ducks sure have it tough. On top of the biting cold winds, ducks spend their winter days floating around in icy water. Keeping warm is no small feat for wintering ducks. While most of us enjoy the warmth of a fire, a duck has little to do but seek shelter and wait […]
IN THE NEWS: Snowy Owls and Airports Snowy owls are coming into the US in record numbers this year, and are being seen as far south as South Carolina! If you enjoyed reading about the current irruption of Snowy owls last month in our newsletter, you might be interested in this news story. Snowy owls like […]
The Big Cache Winter is upon us, and many birds have been preparing for a diminished food supply for some time now. Throughout the summer and fall, many birds, like jays and woodpeckers, have spent time foraging and gathering seed and nuts to store for the winter – this is called “caching”. If you saw […]
Owls in Mythology – Wise or Sinister? Owls capture our imagination. Their silent nighttime stealth and unusual lifestyle has made them the stuff of folklore since ancient times. Many cultures revere the owl as a symbol of wisdom, protection and prophecy, while others see them as harbingers of death and as bad omens. Owls first […]
Gale Force Migration Bird migration is heavily linked to weather patterns and systems as they move across the country. In the fall, fast Cormorants migrating moving northwest winds, especially ahead of a front, help speed migrating birds ahead of tempestuous weather. But fall migration coincides with another huge event in North America — hurricane season […]
Making Tracks With Ospreys Ospreys are the second most widespread raptor in the world — second only to Red-Tailed hawks. Colloquially known as the Fish Hawk, Osprey make their annual southbound journey each year starting as early as August. This fall, Ospreys have been counted again in the thousands migrating through some of the biggest migration […]
Safer Glass + Fewer Lights = Safer Migration Migration is pretty challenging to begin with. But there are some additional man-made risks that birds have to contend with and they are often deadly. courtesy Sara Sharf/FLAP Canada Colliding with glass poses a serious threat to birds. It is estimated that nearly 300 million to 1 […]
Where To See Migration Right Now! Fall is here and that means songbirds are on the move. Heading south for their annual fall migration, millions of songbirds follow ancient routes called migratory flyways. There are four flyways across the United States: the Atlantic, Central, Mississippi and Pacific. No matter where you are in the country, […]
Baby Birds of Summer Many species of birds have finished breeding and are starting south again. But some chicks are just hatching or are very young now. If you are talking a walk in the woods, now is a good time to be looking for baby turkeys, known as polts. Depending on where you are, wild […]