Category Archives: Birds

Beto/Pixabay. • A black-necked stilt wades through a wetland area.

I received an email from Brayden Paulk updating me on his new birding adventures since moving to Gulf Shores in Alabama. I wrote a few weeks ago about Brayden and his plans for a Global Big Day of birding.

“I wanted to give you an update on the Big Day,” he wrote, informing me that he has been undergoing a lot of training for a new job and has had lots of 10-plus hour days. But birding has been productive.

“I got down here and I’ve had lots of success,” he wrote. “Where I live there are black-bellied whistling ducks hanging out by the pond, and prothonotary warblers in the swamp behind the apartment,” he said.

Unfortunately, his new job needed him to work on the date of his Big Day.

“So I was not able to do my plans,” he wrote. “However, I did get to go out for a few hours that afternoon to a nearby sod farm. I picked up several good birds, including spotted sandpiper, solitary sandpiper and, most importantly, black-necked stilt.”

Brayden reported that he observed two stilts working the edge of a flooded corner of the field along with dozens of other shorebirds that were too small to identify in low light.

“I was glad that I could do my part to submit one checklist on the Big Day, even if I couldn’t do a 24-hour birding marathon like I had planned,” he added.

He added that his best birding day recently took place two days prior to his planned Global Big Day.

“I got to meet some folks from Alabama Audubon when they came to the Eco Center,” he said. “After the tour, I was invited to go do some sea watching with them at Gulf State Park.”

He noted that the three guys on the impromptu session included Scott Duncan, the director of Alabama Audubon, and two top birders in Baldwin County.

“They were very helpful and wonderful people,” Brayden shared. “While we were out birding, I picked up two lifers: Gull-billed tern and semipalmated sandpiper.”

Bryan Stevens • Black-necked skimmers take flights along the South Carolina coast.

He also reported that they saw lots of other cool coastal birds, such as black skimmer, least tern and osprey.

“The coolest species, though, were two red knots,” he said. “I had only seen them once before, but this was my first time seeing them in breeding plumage. I was very excited to see it, and get two lifers in one day!”

He is also anticipating some future birding.

“My friend Don has a rare shiny cowbird at his house a few miles away from me, as well as Inca doves.”

I enjoyed hearing about Brayden’s sightings of shorebirds, a family of birds also known with a little more creative flair as “wind birds.” They are so named because so many species are capable of incredible long-distance migrations. His success with the black-necked stilts reminded me of how this can be an elusive species for birders.

My last sighting of black-necked stilts took place more than a decade ago in May of 2014 during a South Carolina vacation. I observed three black-necked stilts at Huntington Beach State Park while walking on a marsh boardwalk near the park’s Nature Center. They flew toward the causeway, so I got into my car and drove there to try to re-locate them. I did find two of the stilts feeding along the causeway, but I never managed to re-locate the third bird.

Photo by Bryan Stevens
Two Black-necked Stilts forage along the causeway wetland at Huntington Beach State Park in 2014.

I watched the two stilts foraging for food in shallow water shared by egrets and alligators. The two birds, despite a somewhat gangly appearance, moved with elegantly efficient strides on their long pink legs.

I have seen this unusual shorebird in Tennessee only once on Oct. 13, 2004, at Austin Springs on Boone Lake in Washington County. The bird, first found by Rick Knight, drew many excited birders to the location for looks at this shorebird before it departed to continue its migration flight south.

As you might imagine, land-locked Tennessee is not an ideal location for finding shorebirds, but spring and fall migration brings a surprising variety of these birds through Northeast Tennessee. Black-necked stilts, however, are a rarity. I have also seen this species of shorebird on Fripp Island, South Carolina, as well as just outside of Wendover, Nevada, on a visit to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The world of shorebirds has produced many look-alike species, including many of the small sandpipers often collectively labeled as “peeps” by birders. The black-necked stilt, however, is not at all likely to be confused with any other shorebird. It is a slender bird atop a pair of extremely long pink legs. It has a two-tone appearance with black upper parts and white underparts. The black and white dichotomy continues along the bird’s long neck and head. This bird also has a thin, needle-shaped bill that it uses to delicately pluck aquatic insects and other prey from water or mud. The black-necked stilt’s long pink legs are exceptional. In fact, this species has he second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos, according to the website All About Birds.

The black-necked stilt is closely related to the American avocet, another long-legged shorebird. The two species are classified together in the family, recurvirostridae. There’s also a Hawaiian sub-species of the black-necked stilt known as the “aeʻo.”

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To share a sighting, make a comment or ask a question, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Yellow-breasted chat is a songbird that stands apart

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A yellow-breasted chat sings from the top of a tree.

I’ve always been a warbler fan, celebrating every opportunity that comes my way for seeing these colorful, energetic feathered sprites.

On May 9, the first indigo bunting (a male) showed up on at my home. A day later, I hosted a Baltimore oriole (a rare visitor at my home) and an even rarer visitor with a singing (more like caterwauling) male yellow-breasted chat.

I’ve had only one of these birds in the yard since I began birding in the mid-1990s. That one was a passing fall migrant that showed up in 2000 and then disappeared as soon as it came.

I had hopes that the persistently singing yellow-breasted chat that showed up May 10 might stay longer, and it did. For five days, he sang from dawn to dusk. Then the daily serendades ended. I assume he moved on, but it was fun hosting this bird, even for such a brief span.

Hans Toom/Pixabay • Yellow-breasted chats spend a great deal of their time skulking in thick tangles of vegetation.

According to the website All About Birds, male chats give display flights in the presence of females, other males or human intruders. According to the website, this behaviour entails descending from a high perch while singing, often with exaggerated wingbeats and a drooping tail. At the end of the flight they make a thumping sound, presumably with their wings.

While the yellow-breasted chat is no longer considered a member of the warbler family, my sentimental attachment to this oddball bird will always recall when this species was considered the largest member of the warbler family.

The chat’s declassification as a warbler took place back in 2017. I’ve always been a warbler fan, celebrating every opportunity that comes my way for seeking out these colorful, energetic feathered sprites.

The yellow-breasted chat, although no longer considered closely related to the New World wood-warblers, is still a bit of an oddity. Many experts always harbored doubts about whether chat is truly a warbler. Personally, I felt some disappointment at the reclassification. After all, what family doesn’t need its big, goofy oddball? If nothing else, the yellow-breasted chat is truly an the odd bird out among the little birds known as warblers that spend most of their time constantly on the move, flitting from branch to branch in hyperactive bursts of activity.

Yellow-breasted chats aren’t more sedate than other warblers, but they don’t dart about in the treetops in the same way as might a Northern parula or blackpoll warbler. During the spring ritual of attracting a mate, the males are obsessed with constant singing and performing. The performance portion of the program consists of awkward, drooping flights into the open before plunging back into thick cover. Males will also select an elevated perch in the open to proclaim their availability through song for any listening females.

There are many other ways they stand out on from other birds. For instance, yellow-breasted chats are bigger than all other warblers, as well as many of our songbirds. The chat reaches a length of 7.5 inches with a wingspan of almost 10 inches. The two sexes look alike, which is something else that separates them from many, but not all, warblers, which are generally known for the differences in appearance between males and females. The yellow-breasted chat has olive-green upperparts with white bellies and bright yellow throats and breasts. These chats also have long tails and heavy bills. A prominent characteristic is a spectacle-shaped white eye-ring.

Although only two have visited my home over the years, I have observed yellow-breasted chats in many locations in the region, but during my early years birding this was a very elusive bird for me. It took me a couple of years to get my first satisfactory look at this interesting bird in a tangle of vegetation along a walking trail at Persimmon Ridge Park in Jonesborough. I have also found chats in Unicoi County in the Sciota community. Some fields that comprise a part of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park in Elizabethton have also been a reliable location for observing this species.

Chats prefer habitats such as dense thickets and other underbrush, which offers remarkable concealment from prying eyes. Chats are loud birds at most times, producing a variety of odd vocalizations, which means they are often heard before they are seen. The online Audubon Guide to North American Birds describes these sounds as “a bizarre series of hoots, whistles and clucks, coming from the briar tangles” and labels them a reliable means for determining the presence of a yellow-breasted chat. By learning these vocalizations, you’ll increase the chances of finding one of these birds during time spent outdoors.

The chat’s habitat preferences and its repertoire of vocalizations makes it easy to associate these birds with others that share the same dense, brushy habitats and a penchant for making unusual vocalizations. Birds often found in proximity to chats include brown thrashers, gray catbirds, white-eyed vireos and Eastern towhees.

Habitat loss has resulted in a steady decline of yellow-breasted chats in some parts of their range. It is a widely distributed bird, spending the nesting season from southern Canada to Mexico. Most chats retreat to Mexico and Central America for the winter months. This chat mostly feeds on insects, supplementing its diet with berries that ripen during the summer months.

Female chats usually lay three to four eggs, but both parents care for the young. Young chats are usually ready to leave the nest only eight days after hatching, but they will remain dependent on their parents for food for a couple of weeks. Chats usually nest twice each during the nesting season.

The yellow-breasted chat is usually a bird that I have to make a special effort to find. It’s worth the effort to gain a good look at this big, brash songbird.

Three other chats, all birds of tropical regions, were moved out of the warbler clan in 2009 by the American Ornithologists’ Union. Experts now believe that the rose-breasted chat of South America, the gray-throated chat of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize and the red-breasted chat of the Pacific slope of Mexico are more closely related to cardinals and tanagers than warblers. The yellow-breasted chat has been stuck in its own family, Icteriidae, not to be confused with New World blackbirds in the family Icteridae.

Even if we can no longer consider the yellow-breasted chat a warbler, the bird still remains unique enough to warrant its own family.

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To share a sighting, make a comment or ask a question, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Cardinals have long been considered feathered messengers

Black-and-white warbler won’t be confused with other birds

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Photo by Hans Toom/Pxabay A black-and-white warbler would be almost impossible to confuse with any other bird.

I’m thinking that most people have probably heard of a “gaggle” of geese or a “murder” of crows as a way to describe a flock of these particular birds. Warblers also have their collective names. A flock of warblers is often referred to as a bouquet, a confusion, a fall, a cord or a wrench of warblers, according to the Birdorable Blog.

I personally like “wrench” of warblers. It has alliteration and describes how these amazing little songbirds can definitely “wrench” one’s attention from other matters. That’s been happening a lot at home. Since arriving in early April, the resident warblers have added their songs to the soundscape that makes the woodlands surrounding my home come alive every morning.

I wrote last week about the sad incident of a male Northern parula killed after an impact with a window. I wondered if I’d have to go the spring and summer season without hearing the excitable little trill of syllables that comprises this warbler’s song. I’m happy to report that less than a week passed before another male Northern parula showed up and began adding his song to the daily chorus. The circle of life continues.

On Saturday, May 3, I got to branch out from the handful of warbler species in residence around my home to warblers in other locations. I birded with Chris Soto, a Johnson City resident and fellow member of the Elizabethton Bird Club, on Holston Mountain and Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park as part of the annual Spring Bird Count conducted by the EBC. Despite some rain while conducting our survey of Holston Mountain, we encountered a variety of warbler species.

We didn’t observe any large warbler flocks, or wrenches, but we did find numerous species, including ovenbird, worm-eating warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, black-and-white warbler, Swainson’s warbler, hooded warbler, American redstart, Cape May warbler, Northern parula, yellow warbler, chestnut-sided warbler, black-throated blue warbler, yellow-throated warbler, black-throated green warbler and Canada warbler.

We added most of these species to the list by hearing them singing their springtime songs, including the “squeaky wheel” of the black-and-white warbler and the loud, ringing notes of the Louisiana waterthrush. If the latter wants to be heard, it is essential that it produce a loud song. The waterthrush resides near rushing mountain streams, which could easily overpower songs projected at a lower volume.

The black-and-white warbler is arguably the most aptly named of all the warblers. Both males and females have glossy black and white plumage. That’s it – there are no other colors present in the bird’s feathers.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A black-and-white warbler creeps over the bark of a pine in search of insect prey.

The black-and-white warbler breeds in northern and eastern North America. It ranges from the Northwest Territories to the northwest and Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, to North Carolina to the southeast and Texas to the southwest. This species is migratory, wintering in Florida, Central America, the West Indies and northern South America down to Peru.

Once arriving for the spring, these warbler go about the business of nesting. The female black-and-white warbler selects a well-hidden nesting location at the base of a tree, rock, stump or fallen log, or under a bush or shrub, according to the website All About Birds. I discovered a black-and-white warbler nest, quite by accident, several years ago. The nest was wedged in a crevice beneath a large fallen pine resting on a steep ridge. Besides being rather inaccessible, I had no wish to disturb the nest so I enjoyed watching the birds through binoculars from a distance.

Photo by Hans Toom/Pxabay • A male black-and-white warbler sings its squeaky wheel song.

In its tendency to hug the trunk of trees as it seeks out insect prey, the black-and-white warbler is similar to unreleased species such as brown creeper and white-breasted nuthatch. In fact, an old common name for this bird was black-and-white creeper. It does venture farther out into a tree than the trunk, however, and will flit among branches as good as any other warbler.

For beginners just getting into the hang of birding, the black-and-white warbler is a dream when it comes to identification. It’s unlikely to be mistaken for any other bird. One good look through binoculars is usually all it takes to recognise the species. There’s no poring over the pages of a field guide for subtle field marks to help when trying to identify the black-and-white warbler. The same is true for the bird’s song, which is very similar in pattern to a squeaky wheel spinning round and round.

Enjoy the springtime and get outdoors and see what feathered friends are winging their way into your neighborhood.

Photo by Bryan Stevens
A Black-and-white Warbler forages along a branch.

Tiny songbird’s collision with window leaves gap in spring soundscape

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Hans Toom/Pixabay • Male Northern paroles are a member of the warbler family. They are amazing vocalists producing an easily recognised trill of a song.

The male Northern parula is a persistent songster once arriving on its nesting territory each spring.

Since arriving in early April, a male Northern parula had been a tireless singer. I often heard the bird as I departed for work each weekday morning and was welcomed home in early evening by the bird’s song.

On April 29, I returned home. I followed my usual routine and dropped off my mother’s newspaper and mail at her home. Unfortunately, on her porch was the lifeless form of the Northern parula. I know it was “my” parula because the bird had been so faithful in its singing. I have not heard the song of a Northern parula in the days following the sad discovery.

Northern parulas sing two different types of songs, according to the website All About Birds. The most common is a rising buzzy trill with a final sharp note. This song rises up and pinches off sharply at the end. The second song has distinct pauses in between bouts of the rising buzzy trill. My parula had mostly sang the song best described as a rising buzzy trill, but it had also practiced at the second version, as well.

The tragic end for this little songster has really put a damper on my enjoyment of the spring season. Unlike many of our birds, this species of warbler has been thriving. Northern parulas are common, and their populations have actually increased by over 1% per year from 1966 to 2019 for a cumulative increase of about 47% according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

Bryan Stevens • This Northern parula died after a collision with a glass window.

But the incident is a reminder of the perils that our feathered friends face daily. An article titled “Getting Clear on Birds and Glass,” first published January 14, 2023, by Christine Sheppard and Bryan Lenz brings the detrimental impact glass has had on birds into focus.

The article noted that Smithsonian researches in 2014 attempted to determined how many birds are killed annually due to hitting windows. The study estimated, conservatively, that collisions with glass likely kill between 365 million and 1 billion birds annually in the United States. The authors of the article emphasized that they believe the number is closer to a billion birds, if not more, that die each year from hitting windows and other glass surfaces.

That’s a scary number, but also a testament to the resilience of birds. Of course, all living things have their limits, and we should try to do something to bring down this gruesome toll.

The little parula had struck a large picture window. We have placed decals in the window in an effort to break up the reflection, but the sun has bleached these over the years, and now it is evident they should be replaced. Clouds, sky or vegetation reflected in a window are perceived by birds as the real deal. A screen over a window or hanging strips or other items to break up the reflection will help birds avoid collision.

To examine a database with various possible solutions, please visit https://abcbirds.org/glass-collisions/products-database/

I am hopeful that another Northern parula will visit and find my yard to its liking. I’ve had Northern parulas residing consistently around my home from April to September for many years. The absence of this bird’s song from the daily soundscape has been distressing.

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Readers have continued to share their spring hummingbird sightings.

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Joe McGuiness in Erwin saw his first hummingbird back on April 9 at 5:45 p.m. Joe texted me that the bird came back to feed again around 7 p.m.

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Charlotte Carter, who resides in the Bloomingdale community in Kingsport, emailed me on Friday, April 25. “First hummingbird sighted at my home today at 12:45,” she wrote.

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Mack Hayes sent me a message on Facebook to report his first hummingbird arrived on Friday, April 25. “Saw first hummingbird this morning,” he wrote. He noted that he lives on the corner of Oakland Road and Bowmantown Road in Washington County.

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Hummingbirds are now back throughout the region. In the past couple of weeks the numbers have increased at my home. I have now seen as many as four hummingbirds at one time, and they duel all day long with each other, chasing each other from one corner of the yard to another. It’s good to have them back.

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Share sightings, ask questions or make comments by emailing me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Birder with ties to Northeast Tennessee plans Global Big Day

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • Brayden Paulk introduces Rufous, a surprisingly tame ruffed grouse that lived on his grandfather’s farm for several years.

Brayden Paulk recently sent me an email to share some recent bird sightings he has made in Georgia.

As background, I’ve known Brayden since the summer of 2016. At the time, he was 17 years old and visiting with his grandparents in Flag Pond for the summer. We got acquainted thanks to an amazing ruffed grouse hanging out at a barn.

Brayden named the grouse Rufous who, as it turned out, was a remarkable bird. Ruffed grouse are, as a rule, shy and retiring birds. Not Rufous. He was an in-your-face sort of grouse. Getting to meet and observe this amazing bird was a privilege.

After we met so that I could make acquaintance with Rufous, Brayden and I did some birding at Rock Creek Recreation Area and then some stops on U.S. Forest Service lands along Highway 107 between Limestone Cove and the North Carolina line. Brayden wanted very much to add a black-throated blue warbler to his life list, and I very much wanted to help him find it.

We did manage to locate a singing veery, a scarlet tanager and a dark-eyed junco. We also found several warblers, including black-and-white warbler, worm-eating warbler and black-throated green warbler, but I began to fear we wouldn’t manage to locate his target bird.

But I am happy to report that we managed to find a male black-throated blue warbler. So, that productive morning back in 2016 resulted in my meeting with a grouse with a lot of personality and Brayden getting a new species for his life list of birds.

When we first met, Brayden was living with his family in Oxford, Alabama. During our first in-person meeting he made a point to tell me that his grandparents, Leon and Janice Rhodes, mailed him every one of my bird columns.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The late Leon Rhodes teases Rufous the ruffed grouse.

These days he is living in Georgia, which is also providing the focus for most of his birding. He returns often to Tennessee. In fact, he has given a couple of talks to the Elizabethton Bird Club over the years, impressing his audience with his enthusiasm and engaging way of presenting information.

His talk were, surprisingly, not about birds. He spoke about his other passion, fishing, but still managed to make a few mentions of birds in the process.

Brayden has also worked for a couple of summers at Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park in Flag Pond as a seasonal interpretive ranger.

Anyway, enough with the background and back to his recent email.

“I hope everything is going well with you and the bird club,” he wrote. “I wanted to contact you about some interesting recent sightings I have had that I thought you would be interested in. I have been able to put a lot of effort into birding so far this spring and it has turned up some fantastic finds.”

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Rufous, a rather tame ruffed grouse, who made his home in Unicoi County for several years.

His finds have even established some records in Laurens County in Georgia where he now lives.

His local birding loop in his home county has been very productive.

On April 7, his observations of common loons resulted in a county high count for the species. He found 14 loons on one lake and six on another nearby lake. The next highest count before his sighting had stood at two birds.

“That loop has also been very productive for shorebirds, as there are some flooded areas in nearby fields where I have seen lots of greater and lesser yellowlegs and snipe,” he wrote.

“I also got excellent views of a Swainson’s warbler within feet of me at an area on the loop with some swamp and cane thicket habitat,” Brayden added.

On April 7 while running his llocal birding loop in Laurens County, Georgia, Brayden Paulk saw the county high count for common loons with 14 on one lake and 6 on another nearby.

That sighting alone is something that would make many birders envious. I have been birding since 1993 and I can count on one hand the number of looks I’ve had of Swainson’s warbler. The species is often localized, meaning it takes some effort to locate. It’s easy to hear them. The Swainson’s warbler has a loud, ringing song similar to a Louisiana waterthrush. I’ve heard Swainson’s warblers much more frequently than I have seen them.

Brayden also shared his excitement about seeing his first first Horned Lark in the county. He saw the lark, a bird of open fields, at a different location. “It seems to be one of those birds you have to try to find by going to a sod farm or open country,” he noted.

“The Laurens County Loop has also been great for me in the past, and one particular pond turned up the first eBird county records for American avocet, white-rumped sandpiper and long billed dowitcher,” he wrote. “I have also found breeding painted buntings on the loop as well and had an excellent view of them with my dad.”

Brayden also wanted to share some more exciting news.

“I will be moving to Gulf Shores in coastal Alabama in a few weeks, which is one of my favorite places to go birding,” he wrote. “I plan on going to Dauphin Island on the Global Big Day because it is an incredible place to see migrants, and my goal is to find 150 species on that day.”

This year’s Global Big Day is scheduled for Saturday, May 10. Global Big Day is an annual birdwatching event hosted by eBird and Cornell Lab of Ornithology to celebrate and document bird migration. The event was created as a fun and engaging way for bird enthusiasts of all levels to contribute to science and conservation by reporting their bird sightings.

Brayden also hopes to visit Unicoi County again soon to do some birding there and look for some of the species he missed last Summer.

“Thank you for writing your bird articles,” he wrote at the conclusion of his email. “They have inspired me since I was young!”

It’s not easy to put into words how much that unexpected praise made me feel. I am incredibly gratified that I could have provide some inspiration to get such a gifted young man into the field looking for birds.

Readers may recall that I’ve had some deterioration of vision in recent years. With a pair of binoculars, I can still bring birds close enough to enjoy and appreciate their beauty and vivacity. Spotting birds, which is a skill that takes some practice to achieve, is no longer easy for me. Ah, the things we take for granted…

My hearing remains unimpaired. I have enjoyed making note of returning warblers and other birds simply by hearing their familiar songs ringing through the woodlands at my home for yet another spring.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve also had the pleasure of watching daily as a feisty male ruby-throated hummingbird visits the feeders arranged around my front porch.

In closing, I invite everyone to wish Brayden luck with his upcoming Global Big Day. I hope to update everyone with how he does.

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To share a sighting, ask a question or make a comment, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Joyas voladoras: Hummingbirds welcomed back to region

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Michele Spark • Female ruby-throated hummingbirds lack the red throat patch, known as a gorget, that is present on adult males.

Readers continue to welcome back hummingbirds and share their first spring sightings of these tiny birds.

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“My husband Marvin and I saw our first hummingbird March 31 in Rogersville, Tennessee,” Mary Powers wrote in an email.

“We’ve been seeing them most days since then,” she added.

Mary said she put the feeder up a week before her sighting.

“Of course I change the syrup every week and clean it,” she noted.

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Kenneth Oakes commented on my Facebook page about his first sighting.

“I’ve just seen my first this year about 30 minutes ago on April 6 in an area near Sunshine, North Carolina,” Kenneth wrote.

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Dianne Rebmann emailed me to share her first spring hummingbird sighting.

“I saw my first hummingbird April 8,” she wrote. “There were actually two of them, and I caught them on Trailcam.”

Dianne lives in the Willowbrook community in Kingsport near the Meadowview Convention Center.

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Annie Morton and Pete Fredrick emailed me information about their first spring sighting.

“We wanted to share the news that we saw our first ruby-throated hummingbird (male) at home on April 9,” they wrote. “We live off Dry Creek Road in Unicoi County.”

They added that they hung a feeder last week after reading my article in The Erwin Record about the pending arrival time for hummingbirds.

“What a thrill to see the first one at the feeder while eating our breakfast yesterday morning,” they added to the end of their email.

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Diane Graham, a Jonesborough resident, spotted her first little one Wednesday morning (April 9) at her feeder.

“I think he was passing through,” she wrote in her email.

Diane also recorded two other visiting hummingbirds, one each on April 10 and April 11.

“None are yet making multiple visits during the day,” she added.

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April Kerns Fain commented on my Facebook page about her first sighting. “I saw the first one on April 9,” commented April, who lives in Unicoi.

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Sue Schreiner posted on my Facebook page about her first spring sighting.

“Just spotted my first hummingbird today (April 11) in Bluff City. Yay!” Sue wrote.

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Felicia Mitchell in Meadowview, Virginia, shared her first spring hummingbird sighing via a Facebook message. Felicia saw her first hummingbird on Sunday, April 13.

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In a Facebook comment on April 13, Flag Pond resident Regina Ray reported that she has seen her first spring hummingbird.

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Paula Elam Booher commented on my Facebook page that she saw her first hummingbird of spring in Bristol on April 13.

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Gina Kinney emailed to let me know that her mom Ginger Brackins saw her first hummingbird on April 14 at 6:25 p.m. in Erwin.

“She wanted me to email you right away,” Gina wrote.

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“I’ve had my hummingbird feeders up for a few weeks, but finally this afternoon (April 14) at 4 p.m. a female hummer had one all to herself,” Michelle Sparks, a resident of Bluff City, wrote to me by email.

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“Yesterday (April 14) I saw a hummingbird check out our feeder,” Donald Beck emailed me.

“It did not drink and I have not seen it any time since,” Donald, a resident of Bray Road in Stanley Valley in Rogersville, reported.

“Was it just on its way north?” Donald also asked.

It’s true, I noted in my response to his question, that many of these first hummingbird sightings are not the birds that will spend the summer months with us. Many of these “early” hummingbirds will continue migrating farther north, but others will arrive, like what they see and decide to stick around.

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Diane Hensley Silvers posted on April 16 in a Facebook comment that hummingbird numbers have only increased since the first one arrived.

“I have several now,” Diane wrote. “They arrived at my house in Washington County about 10 days ago.”

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • Ruby-throated hummingbirds such as this male are returning to the region.

Tennessee’s Watchable Wildlife offers an online profile for the ruby-throated hummingbird, including interesting information about how such a tiny bird makes its phenomenal crossing of the Gulf of Mexico each spring to return to the eastern United States.

To accomplish this tremendous migratory crossing, a hummingbird will double its body mass by fattening on nectar and insects in the weeks prior to departure.

No hummingbird species other than ruby-throated hummingbird breeds in Tennessee, but several Western species have been found in the state during the non-breeding season. They arrive anytime after late August and usually depart in April. At least seven western species of hummingbird has been recorded in the Volunteer State, including rufous, black-chinned, Allen’s, Anna’s, calliope and broad-tailed hummingbirds.

There’s also a couple of reports of a green violet-ear, a species that is usually found in forested regions of Mexico and Nicaragua. The species has ventured into Tennessee twice, being documented in Memphis in September of 2007 and in Montgomery County in July of 2020.

I’ve seen several of these western “visitors” throughout the years, but my greatest affection is still attached to the ruby-throated hummingbird.

Most hummingbirds impress with their size, or rather the lack of it. It’s that tiny size that has prompted people to describe them as “miracles” from the time the first European explorers sailed to the New World in the late 1400s. When Spanish explorers first encountered them, they had no equivalent birds in Europe to use as a reference. They referred to hummingbirds as “joyas voladoras,” or flying jewels.

If your yard offers some trees and shrubs, necessary for perching, you can attract ruby-throated hummingbirds. It pays to have a feeder available with a fresh mixture of one part sugar to four parts water. This is the formula that closely matches the sweetness of nectar available from flowers. In warm conditions, you’ll need to change out the mixture every few days. Give the feeders a scrubbing and rinse while changing out the sugar water. Then sit back and enjoy the antics of these pint-sized delights.

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To share a sighting, ask a question or make a comment, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite a perceived disadvantage of size, ruby-throated hummingbirds are quite capable of thriving in a giant world.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds stage their spring return to region

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Bryan Stevens • A male ruby-throated hummingbird perches on a sugar water feeder.

In an article posted on March 27, Journey North, an organization and website that tracks migrating hummingbirds, announced that so far this spring, bird-watchers in 12 states had reported ruby-throated hummingbirds, but it’s still early in the season.

“So far, we have one sighting each in Kentucky and Tennessee and two in Arkansas, but we’re expecting more in the coming weeks,” noted the blog post by Journey North.

One week later, hummingbirds arrived in locations in Unicoi County, Carter County and Washington County in Northeast Tennessee.

Journey North is a citizen science project that engages citizen scientists in a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. It’s a fun way to track the migration of everything from hummingbirds to butterflies like monarchs.

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“Hummingbirds are here!” Beverly King, a resident on Marbleton Road in Unicoi, wrote in an email. “We saw our first hummingbird today, Saturday, April 5.”

Beverly noted that she was excited to see hummingbirds slightly early this year.

“We usually see them about the 15th of the month,” she added. “Well, my feeders are now up. We could not tell if it was a female or a male.”

Bryan Stevens • A female ruby-throated hummingbird perches on a feeder.

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Erwin resident Amy Tipton sent me a Facebook message announcing that her parents had enjoyed a visit from a returning hummingbird.

“My parents, Edison and Emma Jean Wallin, had their first hummingbird of the season visit today, Saturday, April 5 at 4:30,” Amy wrote. “They live about a mile up Limestone Cove in Unicoi.”

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Dianne Draper in Jonesborough shared on my Facebook page about her first hummingbirds of the season.

“Our first ones showed up on April 5,” she noted. “We had two.”

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I’ve already seen my first hummingbird, as well. I have a bed of tulips blooming at my home. I planted them last fall and have been thrilled with their performance. I was outdoors admiring the tulips when I heard a brief but tantalizing buzzing noise. Although I scanned all around me, I failed to confirm that I’d heard a hummingbird.

A half hour later, however, while reading on my front porch, I saw my first hummingbird of 2025 when a male zipped up to one of my sugar water feeders. He returned twice while I stayed outdoors reading on a misty afternoon. He arrived at 4:14 p.m. on Sunday, April 6.

In 2024, I saw my first hummingbird on April 17 at 7:15 p.m. This year’s bird is certainly arriving earlier than is typical, but I was thrilled to see him.

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Gayle Riddervold, who lives only a few miles from my home on Simerly Creek Road in Hampton, reported that she and Becky Kinder saw their first spring hummingbird on April 8.

“We just saw our first hummingbird today,” Gayle wrote in a Facebook message. “Yesterday we saw a belted kingfisher on our road.”

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Brookie and Jean Potter, residents at Wilbur Lake in Elizabethton, sent me a text about the arrival of their first spring hummingbird on Wednesday, April 9, at 5:45 p.m.

They added, “It came back to feed again around 7 p.m.”

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Technically, TD, a follower of my “Our Fine Feathered Friends” blog, provided the earliest report of a hummingbird this spring. Of course, TD has the benefit of living in Texas, close to the Gulf of Mexico that these tiny birds must cross to return to the United States each spring.

The bird TD spotted arrived on Wednesday March 26, at 2:34 p.m. central time.

“A ruby-throated hummingbird male stopped at my feeder on my front porch a mile from Corpus Christi Bay after an hour of a rain shower,” TD wrote in a comment.

TD also reported that Corpus Christi has been in a drought so severe that residents have not been allowed to water outside since last fall.

TD’s hummingbird arrived with the first rainfall in more than two months.

“So I was watching the lovely rain when this hummingbird perched onto my hummingbird feeder,” TD wrote. “I have a very large window and hang four hummingbird feeders along the front porch.”

TD noted that the male’s iridescent ruby red around his neck resembled a scarf. “I named him Texas Tuxedo,” TD shared.

TD also saw a female hummingbird on Wednesday, April 2, at 7:15 a.m.

TD said the female hummer acted shy and fluttered around the feeder before feeling safe to perch for feeding.

It’s usually the case that females lag behind males in their annual migration back to the United States.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male ruby-throated hummingbird perches at a feeder for a sip of sugar water.

The hummingbirds are an amazing family of birds. There are an estimated 330 species of hummingbirds, all of which are found in the New World. Consider that these dazzling little birds have been given vividly descriptive names, such as cinnamon-throated hermit, red-tailed comet, blue-chinned sapphire, lazuline sabrewing, sparkling violetear, fiery topaz, green-tailed goldenthroat, bronze-tailed plumeleteer, amethyst-throated mountain-gem, peacock coquette, red-billed emerald, empress brilliant, purple-backed sunbeam, green-backed hillstar, orange-throated sunangel, black metaltail, marvelous spatuletail and blue-tufted starthroat.

The only hummingbird species to inhabit the eastern United States from spring to fall each year is the ruby-throated hummingbird, which is currently arriving at various points from Florida to Maine and westward to states like Illinois, Minnesota and Oklahoma and north into Canada.

To return each year, ruby-throated hummingbirds make an awe-inspiring and non-stop crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. Even more incredible, they make the trip again in the fall when they return to warmer locations in Central America to spend the winter months.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds lead relatively brief lives. The oldest known ruby-throated hummingbird was a female, according to the website All About Birds. She was at least 9 years, 2 months old when she was recaptured and rereleased in 2014 during banding operations in West Virginia.

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These shared sightings represent some of the “early bird” sightings of hummingbirds. I welcome more reports as other people continue to observe returning hummingbirds. Email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com or find me on Facebook to share your sightings. Provide a date and time, if possible. Good luck with the hummingbird watching.

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Our Fine Feathered Friends

A weekly look by Bryan Stevens at birds and birding in Northeast Tennessee

Category Archives: Birds

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Joyas voladoras: Hummingbirds welcomed back to region

Ruby-throated hummingbirds stage their spring return to region

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