Category Archives: Birds

Winter’s ducks begin arriving in region

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Photo by USFWS • A pair of green-winged teal swim together through a wetland.

Some interesting waterfowl have spent at least part of the winter at the pond at Erwin Fishery Park and a nearby fenced lagoon at the back of the park.

Some of the visitors since the start of the new year have included green-winged teal, American black duck, lesser scaup and Northern pintail. The scaup is a species of diving duck while the others are what are referred to as “dabbling” ducks. Diver and dabbler refers basically to the manner in which these ducks forage for their food.

The familiar mallard is probably the best known dabbling duck, but other dabblers include American wigeon, gadwall and Northern shoveler. Dabbling ducks generally feed in shallow water.

The green-winged teal is the smallest of North America’s dabbling ducks. There are two other close relatives of the green-winged teal in North America – the blue-winged teal and cinnamon teal. I’ve seen the green-winged and blue-winged at many locations in the region. I saw my only cinnamon teal during a trip to Utah and Idaho in 2003.

The Northern pintail that spent some time at Erwin Fishery Park was a hen with a more subtle appearance than adult male pintails.

This can be a species difficult to find in Northeast Tennessee. The website All About Birds notes that Northern Pintails are common, but their populations declined by about 2.6% per year resulting in a cumulative decline of about 75% between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The Partners in Flight organization estimates the global breeding population at 5.1 million.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The Northern pintail is a dabbling duck, so classified due to its way of foraging for food in shallow water.

 

Elegant is a useful word for describing pintails. Both sexes have blue-grey bills and grey legs and feet. The drake is more striking, having a thin white stripe running from the back of its chocolate-brown head down its neck to its mostly white undercarriage. The drake also has attractive gray, brown and black patterning on its back and sides. The hen’s plumage is more subtle and subdued, with drab brown feathers similar to those of other female dabbling ducks. She has the same slender shaper as the male. Her tail feathers are long but don’t match the male’s namesake tapered tail feathers.

The Northern pintail is a cosmopolitan duck that also ranges into Europe, the Middle East, India and Asia. Other pintails include white-cheeked pintail, yellow-billed pintail and Eaton’s pintail. The latter species is restricted to the island groups of Kerguelen and Crozet in the southern Indian Ocean. The species was named after the English explorer, naturalist and entomologist Alfred Edwin Eaton. He served as the vicar of Shepton Montague in Somerset in England. Born in 1944, he died in 1929 at age 84.

Our region offers some dependable locations for looking for winter ducks, as well as other wintering waterfowl such as geese, grebes and loons. Accessible locations for looking for ducks during the winter season include Wilbur Lake near Elizabethton and Osceola Island Recreation Area below the tailwaters of Holston Dam in Bristol. Of course, any farm pond not frozen over is a potential location attractive to wandering waterfowl.

 

A duck known as the common merganser has expanded its summer nesting range to include the Nolichucky River and Watauga River. Twenty years ago this species, despite its name, was far from common in the region. It’s too early to tell whether changes wrought by last fall’s flooding from Hurricane Helene will affect this duck’s nesting attempts along these two rivers.

One difficulty in finding ducks in recent weeks has been the deep freeze gripping the region and turning almost all open water into ice. The widespread cold could help convince waterfowl from farther north to head south in the hope of less frigid conditions. My hope is that at least a few of those ducks will stop off at places like the pond at Erwin Fishery Park.

Ducks that aren’t too difficult to locate during winter in the region include bufflehead, ring-necked duck and hooded merganser. Other possible visitors include redhead and canvasback. If the Northern pintail is the most elegant of the dabbling ducks, the canvasback ranks as the most majestic of the diving ducks.

Ducks are interesting to observe. Binoculars and spotting scopes can make the process easier. Most ducks are social birds. Flocks, or rafts, of ducks display interesting interactions. In addition to the familiar “quack” of the mallard, different ducks produce a variety of hoots, whistles, hisses and other vocalizations.

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I’ve written about birds and birding since 1995. To ask a question, make a comment or share a sighting, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The male mallard is probably the most recognized duck in the United States.

Look for wintering kestrels in open habitats

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David Antonio Carrillo/Pixabay • American kestrel numbers increase in winter in the region as cold weather farther north usually drives more of these small falcons into the area.

The region’s already had several cold snaps since the new year’s dawning and we’re not even at the end of January. The colder temperatures and snow have helped bring an increase in the number of wintering American kestrels.

These small falcons can be found in the region throughout the year, but their numbers usually rise in early winter as kestrels from other areas take up residence for the colder months.

Any open habitat is enough to attract these falcons. I often find them in Limestone Cove in Unicoi County. The fields near Bell Cemetery are a reliable place to look for them in winter. They are also fairly common in in agricultural fields in western Washington County.

The American kestrel is a small member of the falcon family, which includes such relatives as merlin, peregrine falcon and gyrfalcon. All falcons, regardless of size, share a similar aerodynamic design that includes sleek, streamlined bodies and long, slim wings which taper to pointed tips. They fly with rapid wingbeats and are capable of swift flight.

The male American kestrel is a colorful bird. He shows a rusty back with some black barring, a rusty tail and steel blue-gray wings. The female kestrel is brownish with black barring on her back and tail. She also shows a buff-colored wash streaked with brown on her under- parts. Both sexes show a strong facial pattern marked by two black “sideburns” on the side of the face.

reitz27 from Pixabay • Any open, spacious habitat is enough to attract American kestrels.

The American kestrel has long been one of my favorite raptors. They’re seldom as skittish as many other raptors and will permit close observation. Formerly known by the name “Sparrow Hawk,” the American kestrel does not feed entirely on other birds. In fact, a large part of this small falcon’s diet includes rodents and insects.

In its nesting preference, the American kestrel is unusual among other native falcons and hawks. Kestrels nest in cavities, including abandoned woodpecker holes and nest boxes provided by humans.

Like many raptors, the American kestrel likes to hunt from a perch, swooping down on unsuspecting prey. The kestrel, however, is also capable of hovering, a type of flight that only a relatively few birds, including the belted kingfisher and the ruby-throated hummingbird, are capable of performing.

The falcons comprise a family of birds with a long history with humans. The sport of falconry, although not as widely practiced today, long ago became associated with royalty and nobility. In fact, falconry has been called “the sport of kings.” The sport basically involved hunting prey, usually other birds, with birds of prey such as falcons. As a pastime, falconry never became as popular in the United States as in other parts of the world.

There are more than 60 species of falcons found worldwide. While the peregrine falcon’s endangered status became well-known in the United States, other falcons have been threatened with extinction. The Mauritius Kestrel once dwindled to a population of only six individuals. Today, the population, due to intensive human effort, has greatly recovered.

Other members of the falcon family can be found in the region, including the peregrine falcon and the merlin. Other falcons in North America include the prairie falcon and the Aplomado falcon. Worldwide, some of the more descriptively named falcons include spotted kestrel, rock kestrel, greater kestrel, lesser kestrel, red-footed falcon, red-necked falcon, sooty falcon and brown falcon.

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

 

 

Club posts 82nd annual Elizabethton Christmas Bird Count results

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Photo by Scott/Pixabay • A blue jay perches at a suet feeder.

The 82nd Elizabethton Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, Dec. 14, with 24 observers in six parties.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the count for the first time in almost a decade due to having contracted my first cold since 2019. I keep track of these things, especially when they interrupt the holiday season.

According to compiler Rick Knight, this year’s CBC tallied 71 species, with an additional three species seen during “count week,” which is defined as three days before or after count day. The three species found during count week were American wigeon, killdeer and pine warbler.
The total was just below the recent 40-year average of 72 species. The all-time high was 85 species recorded in 2017.

Here’s the list:
Canada goose, 302; wood duck, 2; American wigeon, 1; mallard, 65; green-winged teal, 2; ring-necked duck, 5; bufflehead, 143; hooded merganser, 3; red-breasted merganser, 1; and common merganser, 4.
Wild turkey, 26; pied-billed grebe, 10; rock pigeon 106; Eurasian collared-dove, 2; mourning dove, 108; killdeer, 1; Wilson’s snipe, 1; ring-billed gull, 9; double-crested cormorant, 1; great blue heron, 9; black vulture, 18; and turkey vulture, 21.Cooper’s hawk, 5; bald eagle, 6; red-shouldered hawk, 2; red-tailed hawk, 15; Easter screech-owl, 6; great horned owl, 1; and barred owl, 2.
Belted kingfisher, 12; red-bellied woodpecker, 30; yellow-bellied sapsucker, 8; downy woodpecker, 26; hairy woodpecker, 2; Northern flicker, 32; and pileated woodpecker, 19.
American kestrel, 16; Eastern phoebe, 13; blue jay, 107; American crow, 339; fish crow, 1; and common raven, 10.
Carolina chickadee, 102; tufted titmouse, 77; ruby-crowned kinglet, 11; golden-crowned kinglet, 17; cedar waxwing, 103; red-breasted nuthatch, 8; white-breasted nuthatch, 27; and brown creeper, 10.

Hans Toom/Pixabay • A gray catbird found on this year’s Elizabethton Christmas Bird Count represents a somewhat unusual winter sighting for the species.

Carolina wren, 104; winter wren, 9; gray catbird, 1; Northern mockingbird, 55; European starling, 369; Eastern bluebird, 108; hermit thrush, 11; and American robin, 181.
House sparrow, 34; house finch, 73; purple finch, 2; American goldfinch, 34; chipping sparrow, 18; field sparrow, 9; dark-eyed junco, 151; white-throated sparrow, 56; song sparrow, 125; swamp sparrow, 7; Eastern towhee, 10.
Eastern meadowlark, 11; orange-crowned warbler, 1; pine warbler, yellow-rumped warbler, 98; and Northern cardinal, 118.

Knight noted that highlights from the count included fish crow, gray catbird and orange-crowned warbler.

Other notable species include red-breasted and common mergansers and Eurasian collared-dove.

There are always some notable misses. This year the count failed to find horned grebe, sharp-shinned hawk, fox sparrow and white-crowned sparrow.

The first Christmas Bird Counts were conducted on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) in 1900. The annual census arose from a proposal made by famed ornithologist Frank M. Chapman. According to Audubon.org, these yearly counts, conducted throughout the country, have provided a wealth of data over the past century.

Observations made due to CBCs have helped Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, the data provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years.

The concept of the Christmas Bird Count, according to the website for the National Audubon Society, arose from a less than bird-friendly custom prevalent at the turn of the 20th century. So-called sportsmen would conduct a “Side Hunt,” a rather blood-thirsty Christmas custom that saw hunters competing to see who could score the largest amount of feathered and furred corpses.

The annual holiday bird survey may even have arisen from an earlier custom with roots in Europe that came to the United States of America with early colonists. The “Side Hunt” has some similarity to a peculiar celebration in Ireland and other European countries known as “Wren Day” or “Hunt the Wren Day.” The event was conducted the day after Christmas, the date of Dec. 26 being consigned as Saint Stephen’s Day. By the 20th century, the hunt consisted of tracking down a fake wren carried atop a decorated pole. Crowds would parade through towns in masks and colorful attire. These groups were referred to as “wren boys.”

Whether or not the “Side Hunt and “Wren Hunt” shared any connections, it was a huge step forward for conservation when Chapman, the preeminent ornithologist of his day, proposed a new holiday tradition. His radical idea was to count birds during the Christmas season rather than hunting and killing them.

I think other bird lovers will join me in celebrating Chapman’s wonderful idea, which has continued strong for the past 125 years.

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I’ve written about birds and birding since 1995. To share a sighting, ask a question or make a comment, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Three species of owls — great horned (pictured), Eastern screech and barred — were tallied on this year’s CBC.

 

 

 

Birds have developed ways of dealing with cold

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David Ellis/USFWS • A common redpoll feasts on stiff goldenrod seed. These small finches can endure temperatures 100 degrees below freezing.

With the arrival of January, we can probably be assured of some cold weather. I’m not fond of the cold, but I can put on gloves and a thicker coat and I am good to go.

What about our feathered friends? How do birds cope when temperature plummet below freezing?

Birds actually employ a range of strategies and behaviors that keep them cozy even during the worst that winter can hurl at them.

Some birds avoid the necessity of coping with cold by migrating. All those tropical species that brighten the warmer seasons in the mountains of Southern Appalachia withdraw to warmer areas in Central and South America during the winter.

Those birds that elect not to put distance between themselves and cold temperatures must do something to stay warm. Feathers are one of a bird’s defining traits, and they can do a neat trick with their feathers to stay warm. You’ve probably seen them do this. They will fluff their feathers, trapping air between them to provide insulation. If you’ve ever noticed that some birds look “fatter” in extreme cold it’s likely because they have fluffed up to combat the cold.

Of course, feathers require good maintenance to help with the task of staying warm, and birds are diligent about such tasks. Preening feathers on a routine basis keeps them watertight and able to hold in heat. Some birds even grow extra feathers in autumn to prepare for cold temperatures. That’s similar to dogs or cats growing a denser coat of fur in anticipation of wintry temperatures.

Birds have different comfort levels when its comes to personal space, but many of the more sociable species will huddle together. You’ve probably seen nature documentaries of penguins in the Antarctic as they huddle together for weeks on end to endure the harsh conditions of the globe’s southernmost continent.

Larger species of birds, such as geese and grouse, eat more and gain weight, which is often achieved by the storage of body fat.

Other birds have also adopted the huddling strategy in a cozy cavity or nest box. My most vivid recollection of an observation of this strategy involved Eastern bluebirds. During a severe cold snap accompanied by snow and blustery winds, I watched multiple bluebirds enter one of my nesting boxes. I’m not sure how many entered the box, but it was likely about eight to 10 birds.

Necessity makes birds adaptable. The next day the aforementioned high winds took down the post that held the nest box. At dusk the bluebirds showed up again. They looked baffled to find the box had disappeared. Then I saw them fluttering into an old tire that I had used at the base of the pole to help anchor the box. Faced with oncoming darkness, they chose to huddle together inside the old tire.

Natural cavities in trees also provide cozy roosting spaces for birds. Chickadees and titmice, nuthatches and woodpeckers seek out such cavities ahead of time so they will always be ensured of a warm space during bouts of inclement weather.

The biological mechanism of torpor is one that’s probably familiar to fans of hummingbirds, but other small birds can also take steps to lower their body temperature. Chickadees and kinglets put this ability to good use. In these small birds, the adaptation being employed is known as controlled hypothermia. Chickadees can drop their body temperature by as much as 22 degrees below normal daytime body temperature.

Snakes and reptiles can enter a physical state called brumation, where they sleep more but still wake to eat, drink and enjoy the sun on warmer days, according to information on the Facebook page of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since snakes are cold-blooded, they’re lethargic at these colder temperatures even when they’re on the move.

Hibernation, although a strategy widely used by mammals, is rare in birds. The common poorwill (a relative of whip-poor-will and chuck-will’s-widow – is the only bird known to go into torpor for extended periods that can range from weeks to months. On the southern edge of their range in the United States, poorwills spend much of the winter hibernating, usually concealed in rock piles.

There’s warmth in numbers. Crows, starlings, robins and other species will gather in communal roosts to use body warmth to stay warm overnight. Sometimes these roosts are quite large and can lead to conflict with nearby humans who may not want the noise and mess that comes with hosting a large flock of birds.

While warm socks and gloves protect human toes and fingers, birds don’t have to worry about frostbite. Quick circulation means that blood does not linger in their feet long enough to freeze. In addition, the legs and feet of birds are covered in scales. Like feathers, the scales provide excellent insulation.

Some birds will gather together in large stands of evergreens. I’ve observed house sparrows gathering in the holly trees outside the courthouse in downtown Erwin at dusk on cold evenings.

There are things we can do to help. Plant evergreen trees or construct a brush pile that will provide shelter from the elements, as well as a measure of safety from predators, for the birds that share our lawns and gardens.

Many people already feed birds. Try supplementing seeds with some food rich in fat. Birds, unlike us, will not be adversely affected by a high-fat diet. Their metabolism allows them to burn off the extra calories in an enviable amount of time. Some high-fat foods that birds will love include peanut butter and beef suet, as well as peanuts and other assorted nuts. While it’s relatively simple to render suet into a usable for for birds, most people cannot be blamed for turning to commercially made suet cakes. Many of these are also made even more appealing with a mix of peanuts or fruit into the suet cake. The extra calories derived from these foods will let birds better regulate their body temperature and tolerate the more frigid nights.

It’s also important to provide liquid water for birds. Outdoor heaters designed to fit into a birth bath can help prevent the water from freezing during cold snaps.

Birds will also appreciate a sunny spot. By basking in sunshine, they can also boost their internal temperature.

Some birds are just built for cold. For example, snowy owls have been observed in temperatures 80 degrees below zero. Species of redpolls, a type of finch, can endure temperatures 100 degrees below freezing.

Emperor penguins live and nest in some of the most inhospitable terrain on the planet. Those who have viewed the documentary film “March of the Penguins” will be familiar with the species. Their colonies on the ice in the Antarctic must endure temperatures than can plunge to -40 degrees Farenheit. They must also survive frigid winds that can reach 90 miles per hour.

Emperor penguins have several adaptation to help them survive such cold conditions, according to the World Wildlife Fund. These penguins have two layers of feathers, a reserve of fat and beaks and flippers that are proportionally smaller than those for other penguin species.

Lee Karney/USFWS • The common raven can live in a range of habitats, but these large and intelligent birds are especially adapted to cold.

The common raven is another bird that shrugs off cold and snow. They can survive and thrive in habitats as varied as Arctic tundra and scorching deserts. If temperatures drop below -4 degrees Farenheit, ravens can generate extra body heat.

All things considered, birds are simply better at coping with cold than we are.

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Bryan Stevens has written about birds since 1995. To ask a question, make a comment or share a bird sighting, email him at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Birds made headlines in 2024 for various reasons

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Photo from Pixabay • The bald eagle became official with President Joe Biden’s signature on Dec. 24, 2024.

As we move into a new year, I thought it might be a good time to look back at some bird-related headlines from 2024.

Status delayed

Who knew? For nearly two and a half centuries, Americans have believed that the bald eagle was the official bird of the United States.

Such status, at least officially, was never actually bestowed on the bald eagle.

On Monday, Dec. 16, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill amending the U.S. Code to officially designate the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) as the country’s national bird. It only took 242 years to get around to making the eagle’s status official. The bald eagle has been considered the national bird of the United States since 1782, when it was placed with outspread wings on the Great Seal of the nation. The bird had always seemed official, appearing in many government institutions and on official documents, making it the most pictured bird in all of America. But until the recent House vote, nothing had ever been done legislatively to sanction the eagle’s status.

President Joe Biden signed into law the legislation sent to him by Congress that amended the U.S. Code to correct what had long gone unnoticed. At the stroke of a pen, Biden’s signature now officially designates the bald eagle as the official national bird. He took the action on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24.

A man named Preston Cook discovered the oversight regarding the eagle’s lack of government sanction and spearheaded the push to belatedly provide the bald eagle with official status as the national bird. For the full story on how this came about, visit https://www.audubon.org/magazine/bald-eagle-about-officially-become-our-national-bird-thanks-man.

Common murres and The Blob

A seabird common in coastal Alaska suffered the biggest die-off in recorded history, according to a report issued late this year. An estimated 4 million common murres died in Alaska due to a climate phenomenon dubbed “The Blob.” The number represents about half the population of the species in Alaska. The Blob was a large mass of relatively warm water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America that was first detected in late 2013 and continued to spread throughout 2014 and 2015. Now, ten years later, studies on the extent of the devastation to common murres and other marine life is becoming more apparent.

Bird Flu

Bird flu spreads. Some of its latest victims, other than domestic chickens and cattle, include wild cougars in Oregon. This could very well become a major bird-related story in 2025 as well.

Another curlew lost

North America’s Eskimo curlew has not been seen since 1987 when one was sighted in Nebraska. The species was declared endangered in 1966. Most expert believe the species is gone.

Now, a close relative in Europe has also joined the Eskimo curlew in that bleak oblivion. The slender-billed curlew was declared extinct in 2024, although the last confirmed sighting of the species probably took place as far back as 1995.

It’s the first mainland European species to go extinct in more than 500 years. Hunting and habitat loss were cited in some reports as the main cause for the decline of a species that was also apparently never abundant to begin with.

New species

While birds seem to be declining, it’s still possible to discover new species. Three new species of bird were recognized by science in 2024, These species are Timor nightjar, white-tailed tityra and Ascension night heron. The tityra was first discovered in Brazilian rainforest bordering Peru in 1829, and then promptly vanished. In 2006 and 2022, however, new sightings were documented of the species.

Wisdom and perseverance

Wisdom, a Laysan albatross documented as the oldest known banded bird in the wild, returned to familiar territory on March 18, 2024, being spotted on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. She had also returned without her longtime mate to the Refuge in November of 2021. Since that time, she appears to have been seeking a replacement mate.

She is at least 74 years old. She was first identified in 1956 by wildlife biologist Chandler Robbins, who banded her with the number Z333. In November 2024, Wisdom was spotted with a new mate and incubating another egg.

Biologists estimated that Wisdom has laid some 30 to 40 eggs in her lifetime. Most hatched successfully and and she has been a mother to at least 30 to 36 chicks.

Wisdom defied the odds when she and her chick survived the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that killed an estimated 2,000 adult Laysan and black-footed albatrosses and an estimated 110,000 chicks at the Refuge. Here’s hoping that Wisdom continues to prevail despite what life has seen fit to throw her way.

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Best wishes in 2025. To ask me a question, share a sighting or make a comment, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Cardinal a natural symbol for Christmas

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A male Northern cardinal visits a feeder on a snowy afternoon.

Merry Christmas. This week’s newspaper is coming out on Christmas Day and, as is my usual custom on this holiday, I want to share my enthusiasm for the Northern cardinal, one of my favorite birds.

I’ve also come to believe that the cardinal is also an excellent feathered symbol for the Christmas holiday. Anyone who provides sunflower seeds at a bird feeder has most likely received visits from this bird.

Individual cardinals around my home have become very accustomed to my presence. Some of them have even learned my routine and know when to anticipate my daily stocking of the feeders with sunflower seeds.

I have always enjoyed watching cardinals. The beauty of both male and female cardinals is undeniable. They’re usually nervous, twitchy birds, so it has been fun watching some of the resident cardinals grow accepting of my presence.

The Northern cardinal, especially the brilliant red male, stands out against a winter backdrop of snow white, deep green or drab gray. Over the years, the cardinal has also become associated with the Christmas season.

How many Christmas cards have you received this holiday season with a cardinal featured in the artwork? I’d wager that at least a few cards in any assortment of holiday greetings will feature the likeness of a Northern cardinal.

There is a possible reason that male cardinals try to outshine each other when it comes to their bright red plumage. According to the website Tennessee Watchable Wildlife, brighter red male cardinals are able to hold territories that have denser vegetation, feed young at higher rates and have greater reproductive success than males with feathers of a duller hue.

The Northern cardinal belongs to a genus of birds known as Cardinalis in the family Cardinalidae. There are only two other species in this genus, and they range across North America and into northern South America. The two relatives are the pyrrhuloxia, or Cardinalis sinuatus, of the southwestern United States, and the Vermilion cardinal, or phoeniceus, a bird found in Colombia and Venezuela.

The Northern cardinal is a native and abundant bird. Cardinals are a widespread species, ranging westward to the Dakotas and south to the Gulf Coast and Texas. The southeastern United States was once the stronghold of the cardinal population. In the 20th century, however, cardinals have expanded their range into New England and Canada.

The cardinal accepts a wide variety of food at feeders. Sunflower seed is probably their favorite, but they will also sample safflower seed, cracked corn, peanuts, millet, bakery scraps and even suet. While we may get the idea that cardinals feed largely on seed, that is a misconception based on our observation of the birds at our feeders. Cardinals away from our feeders eat insects and fruit, including the berries of mulberry, holly, pokeberry, elderberry, Russian olive, dogwood and sumac.

The cardinal uses its large beak to efficiently hull sunflower seeds or deal with other foods foraged in field and forest away from our feeders. The large, heavy beak hints at the cardinal’s kinship with birds such as tanagers and grosbeaks.

In fact, some of America’s early naturalists referred to the bird as “cardinal grosbeak.” Other common names include the apt “redbird” moniker and “Virginia nightingale.”

Even once the holidays are past, there’s nothing like a glimpse of a Northern cardinal to add some cheer to a bleak winter day. It’s not surprising that such a popular bird has also become associated with many trappings of the Christmas season.

“You see cardinals on greeting cards, stationery, paper plates, paper napkins and tablecloths, doormats, light switch plates, candles, candle holders, coffee mugs, plates, glasses, Christmas tree ornaments and lights, bookmarks, mailboxes, Christmas jewelry,” writes June Osborne in “The Cardinal,” a book about this popular bird.

“And the list goes on,” Osborne writes. “Cardinals have become an integral part of the way that many people celebrate the holiday season.”

I can be included among such people. My Christmas decorations include an assortment of cardinal figurines and ornaments. There are other birds — doves and penguins for example — associated with the holiday season, but for me the holidays magnify the importance of one of my favorite birds. The cardinal, in its festive red plumage, appears made to order for a symbol of the holiday season.

I’m hoping you enjoy your Christmas and that at least a few cardinals and other birds fly your way.

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Bryan Stevens has written about birds and birding since 1995. Email him at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com to share a sighting, ask a question or make a comment.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A female Northern cardinal forages for seeds in the snow.

 

Winter season offers a chance to get to know special little wren

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Willfried Wende/Pixabay • Outside of the Americas, there is only one species of wren. In the Americas, this wren is known as the winter wren.

Note: I’m on vacation. Please enjoy this column originally published in December of 2017.

Of late, every time I step outside my front door I’ve incurred the ire of a winter wren that’s taken up residency in my yard. This wren is a tiny bird among a family of birds known for small size, but it makes its presence known in unmistakable terms.

For starters, the winter wren is a noisy bird. The one living at my home arrived in late November and immediately claimed a niche to call its own. Any intrusion is met with a scolding chatter as the wren scurries low to the ground to drop out of view. In fact, the winter wren’s a very terrestrial bird. Observers are just as likely to see one of these wrens run across the ground as they are to see it take flight. I’m hopeful he will remain as winter’s grip tightens for the next couple of months.

The website All About Birds, managed by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, offers advice on making a wren-friendly yard. “Landscaping with native plants is a good way to provide habitat for winter wrens,” according to the website. Other steps to take could extend to creating brush piles and ensuring some sections of the yard offers dense vegetation. The website also notes that this wren is often found making its home near streams.

In the summer, the winter wren often nests atop some of the high-elevation mountains in the region, especially ones with abundant fir and spruce trees. Otherwise, it’s mostly a winter visitor in the region. Other wrens common to the region include the Carolina wren and the house wren. In suitable habitats, especially during fall and spring migration, two other wrens — marsh wren and sedge wren — are observed occasionally in the region. Other wrens native to the United States include the rock wren, canyon wren, cactus wren, Pacific wren and Bewick’s wren.

The world’s 88 species of wrens are, for the most part, the quintessential “little brown birds,” but that hasn’t kept them from acquiring some interesting and descriptive common names. Some examples include the tooth-billed wren, flutist wren, riverside wren, whiskered wren, happy wren, musician wren, timberline wren, speckle-breasted wren, white-breasted wood wren and giant wren. The last species on the list resides in Mexico and is indeed a “giant” among a family of tiny birds, reaching a length of almost nine inches and weighing all of 1.8 ounces.

For the most part, wrens are birds of the New World. In fact, only the Eurasian wren represents the family in Europe, Asia and Africa. Experts recently split the winter wren into several different species, including the Pacific wren of the west coast of North America and the Eurasian wren of Europe, Asia and Africa.

Just as the winter wren thinks nothing of acting like a mouse when scurrying through leaf litter and over fallen logs in search of insect prey, this bird doesn’t hesitate to imitate mice by poking into shadowy holes in the ground or exploring the dark crevices of fallen logs. When winter temperatures drop sharply, many of these birds may cram themselves into a roosting hole to benefit from the communal heat from so many tiny feathered bodies in such close proximity. Winter wrens eat mostly insects and spiders, but in winter these birds will also eat some seeds and berries. Winter wrens rarely visit feeders, but a suet cake often attracts birds with similar dietary preferences, including kinglets and chickadees. A larger relative, the Carolina wren, is a common visitor to feeders.

In English and German lore, the winter wren was known as the “king of the birds.” Different tales provide varying explanations for how such a small bird earned such an inflated title. Ritual hunts were enacted in some European locations. These hunts, known as “wren hunts,” were conducted by “wren boys” who would parade through town on their quests. Wren Day fell on Dec. 26, which coincided with the holiday St. Stephen’s Day. Some myths blame the noisy bird for betraying the hiding place of Stephen, who was delivered up as a Christian martyr to his enemies due to the bird’s treachery. In some European cultures, various superstitions sprang up about wrens. For instance, in Scotland it is considered extremely unlucky to kill a wren.

Personally, I feel lucky to have the tiny winter wren spending time around my home and can guarantee no “wren hunts” will be staged here. At a time of year when feathered friends can be scarce, a winter wren is a welcome visitor.

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Bryan Stevens has written about birds and birding since 1995. Email him at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com to ask a question, share a bird sighting or make a comment.

Kinglets are tiny birds with huge appeal

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Photo by Beth McPherson • A golden-crowned kinglet recovers in the photographer’s hand after striking a window.

With the recent cold weather, I’ve been seeing a few golden-crowned kinglets, as well as the closely related ruby-crowned kinglet, at my home.

Golden-crowned kinglets are fairly common winter birds. Ruby-crowned kinglets, although not always as common as their relative, also are found in the region during the winter season.

Both the golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets are members of a family of tiny birds known collectively as kinglets and firecrests. They’re such tiny, energetic birds that they absolutely excel with the “cuteness” factor.

All kinglets are very tiny birds, as well as extremely active ones. They are also the only members of this family of birds found in North America. Four other species, however, are native to Europe, Asia and North Africa. The remaining species include goldcrest, common firecrest, Madeira firecrest and flamecrest, which is also known as the Taiwan firecrest.

Kinglets, as their name suggests, are tiny birds. In fact, about the only North American birds smaller than kinglets are some of the hummingbirds. The kinglets belong to the family, Regulidae, and the genus, Regulus. The family and genus names are derived from a Latin word, regulus, which means “rex,” or “king.” The name was apparently inspired by the colorful crown patches, often red, orange or gold, that resemble the royal “crowns” of kings.

Although similar in size and overall coloration, the ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets are easily distinguished from each other. Side by side, the two species of North American kinglets are easy to identify. The golden-crowned kinglet has a striped facial pattern formed by bold black and white stripes. The ruby-crowned kinglet, on the other hand, has a bold white eye ring but no striping.

The golden-crowned kinglet has an orange crown patch, while the ruby-crowned kinglet has a red crown patch that is, more often than not, kept concealed. Both sexes of the golden-crowned kinglet possess an orange crown patch, but only the male ruby-crowned kinglet boasts a scarlet patch of feather atop the head.

Kinglets are active birds, foraging vigorously for small insects and spiders. When foraging, both kinglet species have a habit of flicking their wings over the backs. Even if you can’t get a good look at the birds, this behavior alone helps contrast them from other small birds, including some warblers and wrens.

Golden-crowned kinglets are widespread in the region during the winter. During the summer months, head to the slopes of some of the region’s higher mountains to look for these tiny birds that nest at the higher elevations of the Southern Appalachians.

Ruby-crowned kinglets can also be found in the region during the winter, but extreme cold weather will often force these less cold-hardy birds to eke out the winter months farther south.

Kinglets don’t typically visit feeders, but they do tend to join mixed flocks with membership consisting of such species as tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee and white-breasted nuthatch. When traveling with such flocks, kinglets may visit the space around feeders but rarely take seeds or other fare offered at feeders.

In recent decades, perhaps assisted by the surge in the popularity of feeding birds, kinglets have been observed sampling such fare as suet cakes, peanut chips and scraps of sunflower seeds that have been shelled and dropped by other birds.

Normally, kinglets have a rather fleeting lifespan. These tiny birds can be considered old if they live three or four years. There are always exceptions. The oldest golden-crowned kinglet on record was six years and four months old. That individual, a male, was documented by a bird bander in 1976, according to the website All About Birds.

Kinglets are surprisingly tame at time and often exhibit as much curiosity about us as we display toward them. They’re very active birds, however, constantly moving from perch to perch. These bursts of hyperactivity can make them difficult to observe with any satisfaction since they so rarely remain still for long.

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To learn more about birds and other topics from the natural world, friend me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ahoodedwarbler. I like to post about local birds, wildlife, flowers, insects and other aspects of the natural world.

Carolina chickadees are cheerful backyard birds

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Photo by Bryan Stevens • A Carolina chickadee visits a feeder for sunflower seeds.

I’ve learned not to leave my house without an offering for the local birds. Should I neglect to bring sunflower seed to fill the feeders in the yard as I leave for work in the morning, I must face a scolding from the resident Carolina chickadees.

I think I’ve become familiar enough with these tiny black, white and gray birds that I can tell the difference between a disappointed scolding, the result of leaving the house empty handed, and their jubilant and excited chattering as they invite other birds near and far to come and partake of the bounty when I remember to fill the feeders.

Chickadees have a namesake scolding vocalization — a strident chick-a-dee-dee-dee — that they use to communicate with each other as the move through dreary winter woodlands.

They and the tufted titmice, a closely related species, are among the birds most easily acclimated to human presence and activity.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A Carolina chickadee endures a cold winter’s day.

On the mornings when I remember their sunflower seeds, the waiting chickadees are doing tiny hoppity dances in the branches of nearby trees and shrubs, barely able to contain their excitement. They barely give me time to move away from the feeders before they dart in, grab a seed and carry it off to quickly shell on a safe perch.

In the spring, the Carolina chickadee has a familiar “fee-bee-fee-bo” song that rings out in the woodlands around my home. Cavity-nesters, chickadees readily take to nest boxes provided by human landlords. We are about five months away from spring of 2025, but that’s all right. Early winter is a great time to make the acquaintance of the Carolina chickadee.

This diminutive songbird is at home in mixed or deciduous woods in the United States from New Jersey west to southern Kansas and south to Florida and Texas. The Carolina chickadee also ranges along the Appalachian Mountains, but on some of the higher peaks they are replaced by their cousin, the black-capped chickadee. In Tennessee, birders need to visit some of the higher peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in order to find black-capped chickadees.

Sunflower seeds are a favorite offering. They are also attracted by peanuts, suet and other varieties of bird seed. They comprise the nucleus of mixed flocks of various species, so they will also bring other birds into your yard and within easy viewing range. Some other members of the flock might include wrens, nuthatches, titmice and perhaps a couple of kinglets or a downy woodpecker.

It’s easy to attract chickadees to your yard. Shrubs and small trees, feeders stocked with sunflower seeds and perhaps a mesh cage offering a suet cake are sure to make these small birds feel welcome. If you want to witness the family life of chickadees, build or buy a box suitable for wrens and other smaller birds. That task can wait until February of March of next year. Chickadees will happily take up residence in the offered nesting boxes.

Once a pair of chickadees settles down into domestic bliss in the spring, they almost at once start work on the construction of a nest. These little songbirds, looking quite smart in their handsome black, white and gray feathers, build an exquisite nest. The primary nesting material is green moss, which they stuff into a natural cavity or bird box in great quantities. The female chickadee fashions a depression in the collection of moss. She lines this shallow basin with plant fibers as well as strands of fur or hair to provide soft cushioning for her eggs.

A female chickadee can lay a large number of eggs, with the clutch size ranging between three and ten eggs. Once the young hatch, both parents are kept busy delivering food to a large brood of hungry, noisy chicks. The young grow quickly, but they take advantage of the safety of their cavity nest and don’t depart for the wider world until 20 days after their hatching.

North America’s other chickadees include the aforementioned black-capped chickadee, as well as boreal chickadee, chestnut-backed chickadee, grey-headed chickadee, Mexican chickadee, and mountain chickadee. On a trip to Utah in 2003 and 2006, I saw both black-capped chickadees and mountain chickadees.

In other parts of the world, chickadees are known as “tits,” which is from an Old English word denoting small size. Worldwide, there are about 60 species of chickadees and tits, which are classified collectively under the scientific family name, Paridae. Other members of this family range into Europe, Asia and Africa, including species with colorful names like fire-capped tit, yellow-bellied tit, azure tit, green-backed tit and cinnamon-breasted tit.

Alas, in Northeast Tennessee, western North Carolina and southwest Virginia, we have only the Carolina chickadee, but these entertaining birds are sure to become the star attractions in yard and garden once they discover your feeders and begin providing their cheerful antics.

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If you have a question, wish to make a comment or share a sighting, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A young Carolina chickadee, not long out of the nest, explores the world.

Birds share fall skies with migrating butterflies, dragonflies

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During a stop at the Unicoi Walmart to visit the pharmacy on Wednesday, Sept. 3, I spied an energetic fluttering of wings in the garden center. Although I’ve spied various birds, including Carolina wrens and house sparrows, making themselves at home in this garden center, this winged creature was quite a bit smaller.

I watched the butterfly flit from marigold to zinnia to fall mums, feasting on the nectar the blooms provided. A closer look revealed the butterfly’s identity as a long-tailed skipper, a species more likely found in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida than Northeast Tennessee.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • A long-tailed skipper sips nectar from a marigold at the garden center at the Unicoi Walmart.

According to Wikipedia, the long-tailed skipper is a spread-winged skipper butterfly found throughout tropical and subtropical South America, south to Argentina and north into the eastern United States and southern Ontario. It cannot live in areas with prolonged frost. I have seen lots of them in South Carolina and Georgia; this is my second sighting of one in Northeast Tennessee. I found the first one in a garden in Elizabethton near the Covered Bridge.

The sighting reminded me that it’s not only birds using the skies for migration as we advance toward the autumn season. I also remembered a question I got from a reader back in 2014. Rhonda Eller of Chilhowie, Virginia, posted a question on my Facebook page about some dragonflies that appeared in her yard on Sept. 10.

“We have had a sudden breakout of dragonflies in our yard,” Rhonda explained. “We seldom see more than one or two at a time.”

Rhonda wondered if the dragonflies might have been drawn to her yard in pursuit of some sort of favorite insect prey. She also speculated that the recent dry conditions might have attracted the dragonflies.

Photo by Bryan Stevens • The wandering glider is a migratory species of dragonfly.

I responded at the time to her query by explaining that birds share the skies at this time of year with many other migrants. Some dragonflies, just like birds, migrate. A species known as green darner is one that migrates. These darners are rather large, for a dragonfly, and travel in swarms. A couple of years ago I observed thousands of these dragonflies swarming over a municipal swimming pool and a nearby fish pond at Erwin Fishery Park.

The WSLS Channel 10 television station out of Roanoke, Virginia, reported on swarms of dragonflies so large that they got picked up by local radar. Rhonda shared a link to the station’s story on my Facebook page.

Of course, swarms of migrating insects are bound to get the attention of predatory birds. The same day that Rhonda experienced the influx of migrating dragonflies, I witnessed dozens of common nighthawks and chimney swifts swooping through the skies over my home. With a little more attention to detail, I also noticed the dragonflies sharing the skies with these birds.

I suspect that the nighthawks were feeding on the large darners while the swifts, which are much smaller birds, focused their foraging efforts on smaller winged insects. Tom McNeil, a neighbor and fellow member of the Elizabethton Bird Club, reported seeing nighthawks and swifts, too. Tom lives on the other side of a mountain ridge that separates our homes.

Tim Morris, a Facebook friend from Australia, noted in a comment on my post about the nighthawks that his country is home to a bird known as the tawny frogmouth, a relative of the common nighthawk. Tim noted that frogmouths are big birds with camouflage markings that allow them to pretend to be dead tree boughs by day. “They feed not only on insects but mice and lizards, too,” he added.

Evidence of fall migration continued the next day when I detected a small wave of warblers foraging in trees at the edge of my yard. I saw five different species — American redstart, worm-eating warbler, Cape May warbler, Blackburnian warbler and Tennessee warbler — in the space of half an hour. Of the warblers in the flock, the Blackburnian and Cape May are some of the more vibrant ones.

So far in 2024, warblers have absented themselves from my yard this fall. It’s started to aggravate me, but I’ll try to be patient.

The Blackburnian warbler’s common name commemorates Anna Blackburne, an English naturalist who lived from 1726 to 1793. Her brother, Ashton, had immigrated to the United States, which made it possible for him to send his sister many specimens, especially birds. Their father, a salt merchant by trade, was also a well-respected amateur naturalist. In addition to the warbler that bears her name, Anna Blackburne also had a species of beetle named in her honor.

Both the Cape May and Tennessee warblers are named for the locations from which they were first collected. Neither of these small songbirds are closely affiliated with Cape May, New Jersey, or the Volunteer State. The Cape May warbler is also known as the “tiger warbler” for the dramatic black striping across its bright yellow breast. A green back and chestnut cheek patch make the Cape May warbler quite unlike any of its close kin. Even its former scientific name — Setophaga tigrina — paid homage to the striped big cat. The term “setophaga” translates to “moth eater” and is a reference to this warbler’s intense fondness for the caterpillars known as spruce budworms that occasionally produce outbreaks in the northern spruce forests that serve as the nesting range for the Cape May warbler.

According to the website, “All About Birds,” Cape May warblers have unusually shaped tongues that allow them to sip nectar from tropical flowers during the winter months spent in Central America and the Caribbean. Their unique tongues also make it possible for them to enjoy sips of sugar water from hummingbird feeders.

Whether its dragonflies, nighthawks, warblers, hummingbirds or a long-tailed skipper in a Walmart garden center, plenty of birds and other flying creatures will be moving through the region for the next few weeks. Now’s the time to get outdoors and look for some of these migrants.

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Bryan Stevens has been birding actively for about 30 years. He has written a weekly column on birds and birding since 1995. To ask a question, make a comment or share a sighting, email him at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.