Northern Mockingbird
Hey, keep it down over there, will ya?! Northern Mockingbirds will not only sing all day long, they’ll sing all night! Any time you have been startled awake to the sound of a fake car alarm coming out of a bush at 3AM you do not forget it. In this case this bird was rattling off hits like, “Common Tern” to “White-eyed Vireo” while not caring much for what I was up to whatsoever. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreSongless Song Sparrow
This is the songless Song Sparrow, a member of the now much quieter species as we head out of the breeding season and into migration. It is almost frightening to have a sudden lack of song from these prolific singers. In only a couple months there will be hundreds upon hundreds filling up all sorts of earthy habitats around us, making me wonder – as always – what bird is of what subspecies and if we shouldn’t have more than one thing that we call a “Song Sparrow”…then again, Melospiza melodia works so well. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach...
Read MoreCicada Season
Cicada season has arrived! The first chorus of the season is sounding from treetops across the local landscape. These fascinating insects spend many years subsisting in the subterranean realm feeding on tree sap before finally emerging for their brief nuptial song and dance. Listen for their rattling cacophony and look for their crunchy molts on tree trunks over the next several weeks.
Read MoreNonstop Song
How do Song Sparrows even have time to breed and raise young? All they do is sing, sing, and sing…
Read MoreOvenbird
Those Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) will soon be crafting their ovens on the forest floor, filling them with eggs and keeping a very low profile when near this home. This leaf-covered little dome nest is certainly what gave them their name. I’m glad it was not TEACHER-TEACHER-TEACHER instead! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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