Imagine arriving to work and finding nearly 400 dead birds on the ground. That’s precisely what happened at the American National Insurance building in Galveston, Texas, on May 4, 2017. In a single night, hundreds of migrating birds slammed into the side of the skyscraper. All but three found on the ground died. The birds […]
A lot of people seem to think it’s still summer—yesterday’s sweltering 88 degrees contributes to that misapprehension. Birds know better. Days are noticeably getting shorter, most baby birds of the year are on their own now, and adults are recovering from the rigors of raising those young birds—many have finished molting into new feathers and […]
My father and I just returned from a 3 day excursion through South Florida in search of birds we’ve never seen before. We had a very successful trip. We found 104 species over the three days, including 6 species I’ve never seen in Florida: Neotropic Cormorant, Western Spindalis (lifer), Egyptian Goose, Bronzed Cowbird, Red-wiskered Bulbul […]
The animated and flashy warbler American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is the final warbler featured in my Bestiary. Migrating songbirds are returning to our Western Massachusetts hillside now as I finish the warbler section of A Bestiary — Tales From a Wildlife Garden. I have enjoyed recalling and writing about the numerous encounters I have had […]
‘A Bestiary . . . Tales from a Wildlife Garden’ continues with the gregarious Black-throated Green Warbler Setophaga virens. Each spring this small songbird returns to our wildlife habitat within the foothills of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. There are more photos and stories of my encounters with this warbler over at Native Plants and […]
A new addition to my ‘A Bestiary: Tales from a Wildlife Garden’ is up over at Native Plants and Wildlife Gardensfeaturing the nimble Nashville Warbler Oreothlypis ruficapilla. You can learn more about this warbler by clicking on the link above.
If you want to attract birds to your yard you need three main attributes, food, shelter and water. For most song birds, a water source is essential for both drinking and bathing, and if you have a choice, running water is your best bet. Birds can’t resist moving water, as demonstrated by the Anna’s Hummingbirds […]
For the past few weeks I have been noticing new birds in my yard but I haven’t had time to really assess the situation. This holiday weekend, with fall migration underway, I was able to relax around the house and catch up with what is going on in the real world. The world of birds […]