Tag Archives: Birding

Regional spring bird count sets several new records

Photo by Bryan Stevens Newly-arrived migrant birds such as Indigo Bunting were well represented on the 73rd annual Elizabethton Spring Bird Count.

The 73rd consecutive Elizabethton Spring Bird Count, which was held Saturday, April 30, set numerous records for this long-running survey of the region’s birds. The 59 observers in 13 parties (both representing record highs for participation) enjoyed favorable weather over the coverage area, which included Carter County and parts of adjacent Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington Counties.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A total of 166 species of birds, including Rose-breasted Grosbeak, pictured, helped participants in the Elizabethton Spring Bird Count, establish a new record high for this annual survey. The old record of 161 species was set back in 2005.

Long-time count compiler Rick Knight announced that the annual count tallied 166 species, eclipsing the previous record of 161 set in 2005. By comparison, the average number over the last 30 years has been 147 species.

Highlights for this year’s Spring Bird Count included American Golden-Plover and Fish Crow, which were new to this annual survey of birds in the region.

Photo by Bryan Stevens The presence of several nesting colonies of Great Blue Herons could help explain a new record-high for this species on this year’s count.

Other notable find included Hooded Merganser (a hen with two young), a lingering pair of Common Mergansers, Virginia Rail, Black-billed Cuckoo, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Sedge Wren and Cerulean Warbler.

Amazingly, given the long history of this count, 21 species occurred in record high numbers this year. Knight said the increased number of observers and parties certainly contributed to this.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter Although the Sora is rarely found during this annual count, the four individuals found this year represented an all-time high for the species on this yearly survey.

The record highs were for the following species: Canada Goose (653), Mallard (332), Wild Turkey (57), Great Blue Heron (107), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (14), Black Vulture (152), Spotted Sandpiper (83), Barred Owl (12), Belted Kingfisher (30), Red-bellied Woodpecker (97), Warbling Vireo (20), Red-eyed Vireo (257), Ovenbird (244), Worm-eating Warbler (39), Yellow-throated Warbler (44), Eastern Towhee (222), Scarlet Tanager (82), and Baltimore Oriole (38). Three species — Orchard Oriole (42), Northern Saw-whet Owl (3) and Sora (4) — tied previous high counts.

Several of these good finds were made by observers counting in Unicoi County at such locations as Rock Creek Recreation Area and Unaka Mountain. The final total follows:

Photo by Bryan Stevens Common backyard birds, such as Northern Cardinal, were among the record-high 166 species found.

Canada Goose, 653; Wood Duck, 85; American Wigeon, 2; Mallard, 332; Blue-winged Teal, 6; Bufflehead, 5; Hooded Merganser, 3; and Common Merganser, 2.
Northern Bobwhite, 1; Ruffed Grouse, 1; Wild Turkey, 57; Common Loon, 1; Pied-billed Grebe, 5; Horned Grebe, 1; and Double-crested Cormorant, 65.
Great Blue Heron, 107; Green Heron, 16; Black-crowned Night-heron, 1; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, 14; Black Vulture, 152; and Turkey Vulture, 212.
Osprey, 15; Bald Eagle, 10; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 2; Cooper’s Hawk, 7; Broad-winged Hawk, 16; and Red-tailed Hawk, 38.
Virginia Rail, 1; Sora , 4; American Coot, 3; American Golden-Plover, 1; Killdeer, 46; Spotted Sandpiper, 83; Solitary Sandpiper, 34; Greater Yellowlegs, 2; Lesser Yellowlegs , 2; Least Sandpiper, 5; and Pectoral Sandpiper, 2.
Bonaparte’s Gull, 1; Ring-billed Gull, 7; Forster’s Tern, 7; Rock Pigeon, 166; Eurasian Collared-Dove, 3; Mourning Dove, 254; Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 9; and Black-billed Cuckoo, 1.
Eastern Screech-Owl, 10; Great Horned Owl, 6; Barred Owl, 12; Northern Saw-whet Owl, 3; Common Nighthawk, 1; Chuck-will’s-widow, 10; Eastern Whip-poor-will, 32; Chimney Swift , 209; Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 31; and Belted Kingfisher, 30.
Red-headed Woodpecker, 2; Red-bellied Woodpecker, 97; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 4; Downy Woodpecker, 37; Hairy Woodpecker, 10; Northern Flicker, 33; Pileated Woodpecker, 43; American Kestrel, 19; and Peregrine Falcon, 1.
Eastern Wood-Pewee, 7; Acadian Flycatcher, 12; Least Flycatcher, 6; Eastern Phoebe, 77; Great Crested Flycatcher, 15; and Eastern Kingbird, 57.
Loggerhead Shrike, 1; White-eyed Vireo, 12; Yellow-throated Vireo, 9; Blue-headed Vireo, 78; Warbling Vireo, 20; Red-eyed Vireo, 257; Blue Jay, 320; American Crow, 338; Fish Crow, 1; Common Raven, and 14; Horned Lark, 2.
Purple Martin, 81; Tree Swallow, 426; Northern Rough-winged Swallow, 133; Barn Swallow, 217; and Cliff Swallow, 807.
Carolina Chickadee, 173; Tufted Titmouse, 166; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 16; White-breasted Nuthatch, 26; and Brown Creeper, 4.
House Wren, 45; Winter Wren, 4; Sedge Wren, 1; Carolina Wren, 129; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 97; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 5; and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 4.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter Vireos, such as this Red-eyed Vireo on a nest, were quite abundant. The numbers of Red-eyed Vireos and Warbling Vireos set all-time highs for the count.

Eastern Bluebird, 157; Veery, 13; Swainson’s Thrush, 2; Wood Thrush, 138; American Robin, 888; Gray Catbird, 55; Brown Thrasher, 45; Northern Mockingbird, 122; European Starling, 986; and Cedar Waxwing, 44.
Ovenbird, 244; Worm-eating Warbler, 39; Louisiana Waterthrush, 32; Golden-winged Warbler, 2; Black-and-white Warbler, 90; Swainson’s Warbler, 6; Nashville Warbler, 1; Kentucky Warbler, 5; Common Yellowthroat, 27; Hooded Warbler, 208; American Redstart, 21; Cape May Warbler, 4; Cerulean Warbler, 2; Northern Parula, 56; Magnolia Warbler, 3; Bay-breasted Warbler, 2; Blackburnian Warbler, 7; Yellow Warbler, 15; Chestnut-sided Warbler, 36; Blackpoll Warbler, 1; Black-throated Blue Warbler, 85; Palm Warbler, 8; Pine Warbler, 10; Yellow-rumped Warbler, 62; Yellow-throated Warbler, 44; Prairie Warbler, 5; Black-throated Green Warbler, 81; Canada Warbler, 44; and Yellow-breasted Chat, 8.
Eastern Towhee, 222; Chipping Sparrow, 126; Field Sparrow, 72; Savannah Sparrow, 1; Grasshopper Sparrow, 4; Song Sparrow, 276; Swamp Sparrow, 5; White-throated Sparrow, 13; White-crowned Sparrow, 11; and Dark-eyed Junco, 63.

Photo by Bryan Stevens While some species set record highs, only 10 Hairy Woodpeckers, like this male, were found by participants in the annual Elizabethton Spring Bird Count.

Summer Tanager, 1; Scarlet Tanager, 82; Northern Cardinal, 299; Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 30; Blue Grosbeak, 6; and Indigo Bunting, 126.
Bobolink, 1; Red-winged Blackbird, 480; Eastern Meadowlark, 142; Rusty Blackbird, 2; Common Grackle, 477; Brown-headed Cowbird, 91; Orchard Oriole, 42; and Baltimore Oriole, 38.
House Finch, 56; Pine Siskin, 59; American Goldfinch, 354; and House Sparrow, 80.
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To learn more about birds and other topics from the natural world, friend Stevens on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ahoodedwarbler. He is always posting about local birds, wildlife, flowers, insects and much more. If you have a question, wish to make a comment or share a sighting, email ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Eastern phoebe easily wins friends with its trusting nature

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Considering the bright finery worn by some of the more colorful spring arrivals, I could hardly blame you if the return of the Eastern phoebes escaped your notice. In comparison with vibrant birds like rose-breasted grosbeak, ruby-throated hummingbird, scarlet tanager and yellow warbler, the Eastern phoebe is downright drab.

Photo by Bryan Stevens This fledgling Eastern phoebe waits patiently on a branch for a parent to bring it a morsel of food. Phoebe-Baby

Photo by Bryan Stevens The Eastern phoebe is a common bird in much of the Eastern United States.

Nevertheless, this member of the flycatcher clan has earned itself a favorite spot in the hearts of many a birdwatcher. It’s one of those birds that even beginning birders find surprisingly easy to recognize and identify. While it may not have a dramatic plumage pattern to hint at its identity, the Eastern phoebe is quite at home around human dwellings and comes into close contact with people going about their daily routines. Rather tame — or at least not too bothered by close proximity with humans — the Eastern phoebe has one behaviorism that sets it apart from all the other similar flycatchers. When this bird lands on a perch, it cannot resist a vigorous bobbing of its tail. Every time that a phoebe lands on a perch, it will produce this easily recognized tail wag. It’s a behavior that makes this bird almost instantly recognizable among birders with the knowledge of this behavioral trait.

The Eastern phoebe is also an enthusiastic springtime singer, and the song it chooses to sing is an oft-repeated two-syllable call “FEE-bee” that provides the inspiration for this bird’s common name.

A painting by John James Audubon of Eastern phoebes, or, as he knew them, pewee flycatchers.

Thomas Say

The Eastern phoebe, known by the scientific name of Sayornis phoebe, has two relatives in the genus Sayornis. The genus is named after Thomas Say, an American naturalist. The Eastern phoebe’s close relatives include the black phoebe and Say’s phoebe. The black phoebe ranges throughout Oregon, Washington and California and as far south as Central and South America. As its name suggests, this bird has mostly black feathers instead of the gray plumage of its relatives. The Say’s phoebe, also named for the man who gave the genus its name, is the western counterpart to the Eastern phoebe.

Since they belong to the vast family of New World flycatchers, it’s probably no surprise that these phoebes feed largely on insects. The birds will often perch patiently until an insect’s flight brings it within easy range. A quick flight from its perch usually allows the skillful bird to return with a morsel snatched on the wing. In the winter months, the Eastern phoebe also eats berries and other small fruit.

Photo by Bryan Stevens An Eastern phoebe forages for insects in the branches of a willow tree.

Phoebes are fond of nesting on human structures, including culverts, bridges and houses. With the latter, they were once known for their habit of placing their nests under sheltering eaves. At my home, a pair of Eastern phoebes often chooses to nest on the wooden rafters in my family’s garage. Phoebes also like to reside near a water source, such as a creek, stream or pond.

Although the species is migratory, a few hardy individuals will usually try to tough out winters in the region. The others that depart in the autumn will migrate to the southern United States and as far south as Central America. On some rare occasions, Eastern phoebes have flown far off their usual course and ended up in western Europe. I can usually count on Eastern phoebes returning to my home in early March, making them one of the first migrants to return each year. Their arrival rarely goes unnoticed since the males tend to start singing persistently as soon as they arrive.

Photo by Bryan Stevens An Eastern Phoebe perches on a sign at Roan Mountain State Park in Roan Mountain, Tennessee.

A few weeks ago I wrote about opportunities to take part in citizen science projects for the benefit of birds. The concept of ordinary citizens making a difference in scientific discovery isn’t a new one. More than two centuries ago, one of the most influential birders in history and the namesake of the National Audubon Society used Eastern phoebes to help add to the knowledge of bird migration.

Photo by Bryan Stevens An Eastern phoebe during the fall of the year.

John James Audubon, an early naturalist and famed painter of North America’s birds, conducted an experiment with some young phoebes that represents the first-ever bird banding in the United States of America. His novel experiment, which he carried out in 1803, involved tying some silver thread to the legs of the phoebes he captured near his home in Pennsylvania. He wanted to answer a question he had about whether birds are faithful to home locations from year to year. The following year Audubon again captured two phoebes and found the silver thread had remained attached to their legs. Today ornithologists still conduct bird banding to gather information on birds and the mystery of their migrations.

So, that pair of phoebes that returned to your backyard this spring — they just might be the same ones that have spent past summer seasons providing you with an enlightening glimpse into their lives.

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To learn more about birds and other topics from the natural world, friend Bryan Stevens on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ahoodedwarbler. He is always posting about local birds, wildlife, flowers, insects and much more. If you have a question, wish to make a comment or share a sighting, email ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A family of young Eastern Phoebes shares a perch.

Now that hummingbirds are back, here’s how to entice them to stay

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Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter Although hummingbirds migrate back to the region in the spring, their hosts will need to provide a welcoming environment to keep these tiny birds buzzing around the yard all summer.

Now that the hummingbirds have returned to the region, it’s important to know how to attract them and meet their needs. Like most living creatures, hummingbirds require three crucial things — shelter, water and food. A yard with evergreen trees or a thick hedge can provide perfect nighttime roosts for a hummingbird. Other types of trees and shrubs also offer potential nesting locations for female hummingbirds.

Hummingbirds, like all birds, need water. Hummingbirds can get a lot of their water in their diet, but they still need water for bathing. Birds bathe to keep their feathers in good condition. For hummingbirds, which are wizard aerialists among birds, it is even more crucial that their feathers are in good shape. A fountain, trickling waterfall or even a well-timed lawn sprinkler are almost magnetic in their attraction for hummingbirds, which are usually too small to bathe in a regular bird bath.

Keeping visiting ruby-throated hummingbirds can be as simple as planting an abundance of the flowers they love, but offering multiple sugar water feeders also helps. Keep the sugar water mix at a four parts water to one part sugar ratio. Don’t offer honey in your feeders. When mixed with water, it can spoil and spread fungal diseases. There’s also no need to use a solution with any sort of red dye. Studies have indicated that such dyes could have adverse effects on hummer health. Remember that hummingbirds don’t subsist on sugar water alone. They also eat numerous tiny insects and spiders to obtain the protein they need for their dietary needs, so don’t use insecticides near feeders or flowers that hummers are likely to visit.

Photo by Bryan Stevens By now, female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are getting ready to build nests and raise young.

Follow these basic instructions and the hummingbirds will reward you with hours of enchanting entertainment this summer.

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I received even more notifications on the return of these tiny winged gems. Here are a few other shared observations:

» Harold Randolph spotted his first hummingbird in 2016 on Monday, April 11, near Marion, North Carolina, at Lake James. He sent me an email to report the happy fact.

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» Philip Laws in Unicoi County reported on Facebook that he saw his first spring hummingbird on April 11.

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» Betty Poole asked her daughter to email me to report that she saw her first hummingbird of spring on Wednesday, April 13.

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» Steve Meigs, who lives at an elevation of 2,800 feet in Limestone Cove’s Foxhound Hills community near Unicoi, reported that his first hummingbird arrived April 14 at 11:30 a.m. “That’s a few days earlier than the last few years,” he noted on his Facebook comment.

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» John and Patsy Brenner welcomed back their first hummingbird on Monday, April 18. “I believe it was the ruby-throated, but all I really saw was the flash of green,” John wrote in an email. The Brenners live in Meade Meadows in Abingdon, Virginia. “We are on the seventh fairway of the golf course just across from the Creeper Trail,” he wrote. “We are new subdivision so around the houses there are only small trees. I have nesting bluebirds and tree swallows in a free-standing bird house.”

He also reported other daily sightings, including brown-headed cowbirds, doves, finches, cardinals, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, robins, starlings and downy woodpeckers.

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» Judy Brown, who lives in Damascus, Virginia, notified me that she saw her first hummingbird of the season on Monday, April 18.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Flowers and sugar water feeders are just two ways to attract hummingbirds to your yard.

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» Mary Beierle of the Stoney Creek community in Elizabethton, Tennessee, welcomed her first spring hummingbird at 6:13 p.m. on Monday, April 18.

“I am so happy!” Mary wrote in an email. “They are very late this year compared to other recent years. This morning there were two hummers and I’m pretty sure they are a male and a female. I have a friend in Jonesborough, Tennessee, who

had his first hummingbird the day before, around 9 in the morning.”

Mary was thrilled by their return. “Spring is finally officially here, in my opinion,” she noted.

» Eddie and Delores Phipps of Bluff City, Tennessee, shared that their first sighting also took place on Monday, April 18. They had been out of town for the weekend, so they speculated that the hummingbirds might have showed up a day or two earlier.

Constance Tate’s first sighting of a spring hummingbird involved not one, but two, birds. “There were two of them at the feeder at 3 p.m. on April 19,” she wrote in an email. Constance lives in Bristol, Tennessee, near Steele Creek.

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» Emory & Henry professor Steven Hopp sent me an email about his first hummer sighting on April 20. “I saw my first hummingbird this morning, when it went directly to the empty hummingbird feeder from last year,” he wrote. “I suppose that tells me she was a returning bird.”

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» Helen Whited informed me that hummers arrived at her home in Richlands, Virginia, on Tuesday, April 19.

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» Phyllis Moore of Bristol, Virginia, notified me by Facebook that she saw her first hummingbird of spring around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20.

“My first hummingbird just buzzed past my window where I hang my feeder,” reported Patricia Werth in an email. “I guess I better get busy.” Patricia’s sighting occurred at 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20.

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» Nancy Vernon of Bristol was very excited when she spotted two hummingbirds at her feeder today at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, in Bristol. “They are very small,” she said, adding that the sighing involved a male and female pair.

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» Thia Montgomery, who lives in Blountville, Tennessee, reported that her first hummingbird arrived at about 2 p.m. on April 20. “I have three large terra-cotta pots with flowers, and each has a small shepherd’s hook sunk into it with a hummingbird feeder hung on each hook,” she wrote. “As I was watering the flowers in the pots, the hummingbird buzzed me, so I left off watering so he could have a drink.”

The insistent hummingbird — a male —was the first she had seen this year, although she has had her feeders out since the last week of March.

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» Cecilia Murrell of Abingdon,Virginia, has four feeders available for the hummingbirds, but the first one to show up on Thursday, April 21, fed at the nearly empty feeder. “Maybe he has visited me before,” she wrote in an email.

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Photo by Donna Rea This was the first hummingbird to visit the Rea residence in 2016.

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» Donna Rea shared on Facebook that hummingbirds had returned to her home in the Rock Creek community of Erwin.

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» James Noel Smith reported on Facebook on April 26 that hummingbirds are back at his home in Unicoi.

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Hummingbirds receive warm welcome upon their return

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Photo by Bryan Stevens The last Ruby-throated Hummingbird to visit my feeders in 2015.

My last ruby-throated hummingbird in 2015 visited my sugar water feeder close to dusk on Oct. 10. I never saw any hummingbirds after that date.

I’m always a little wistful when the last hummingbirds depart in the autumn, but I know they’ll return in the spring. This year, a male ruby-throated hummingbird returned on April 12, 180 days after the last hummingbird departed last fall.

What do the hummingbirds that make their homes in our yards from April to October do during the five months they are absent from the region?

Photo by Bryan Stevens The first male Ruby-throated Hummingbird to visit my feeders in 2016 was a bit camera shy.

Most ruby-throated hummingbirds retreat to southern Mexico and Central America, some winging their way as far south as extreme western Panama, as well as the West Indies and southern Florida. They utilize a variety of habitats, ranging from citrus groves and forest edges to tropical deciduous forests and the edges of rivers and wetlands.

Those ruby-throated hummingbirds that make it as far south as Panama may find that they must compete with 59 other species of hummingbirds that call the Central America country home. Panamanian species that a ruby-throated hummingbird might possibly come into contract with include violet sabrewing, purple-throated mountain gem and white-necked jacobin.

In this region, we can only expect with any confidence to enjoy a single species — the aforementioned ruby-throated hummingbird — for half the year. It’s always great to welcome them home. Here are some of the other hummingbird enthusiasts who shared their “first arrivals” with me.

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Doris Cochran in Marion, North Carolina, saw her first hummingbird on April 6.

“I was having my morning coffee … looking out at the frost we got in Marion last night,” she wrote. Then, from inside her home, she happened to notice something. Giving her sugar water feeder a closer look, she was surprised to see a hummingbird perched on it.

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Beverly Puerckhauer sent me an email on April 5. She informed me that she has house finches visiting at her home, but she hasn’t yet seen a hummingbird.

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Jimmie Daniels, Newland, North Carolina, reported her first hummingbird on April 8.

“I just saw a hummingbird at my house and my feeder was inside,” she informed me by email. “The feeder is out now, but he had already left. I sure hope he comes back.”

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Glen Eller, a resident of Kingsport, Tennessee, saw his first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season on Sunday, April 10, at 6:35 p.m. He shared his observation through a post to the list-serve bristol-birds.

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Pat Stakely Cook notified me of a first hummingbird sighting by Facebook post. “We had our first one here in Marion, North Carolina, on Sunday, April 10,” Pat reported, adding that there had been lots of activity around the feeders once that first hummer showed up.

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Philip Laws, a resident of the Limestone Cove community in Unicoi County, Tennessee, reported his first hummingbird on Monday, April 11.

“I just saw my first hummingbird in Limestone Cove, a male of course, about noon,” he reported in a Facebook message. He added that he hadn’t had time to check his feeder on the previous day, but that the sugar water level was down enough to suggest that the hummingbird had probably been feeding on Sunday, too.

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Susie Condrey of Marion, North Carolina, welcomed back a hummingbird on April 11 at 4:15 p.m.

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Janice Denton of Bristol, Tennessee, reported her first spring hummer arrived on April 11.

“I was sitting on my front porch about 7 on Monday evening when a hummingbird went flying by,” she wrote in an email. “I have my feeders in front of three different windows, so when I went inside, I saw the ruby-throated hummingbird feeding at each of my feeders.”

Janice added that she loves watching the hummingbirds feed. “They are such amazing creatures of God,” she wrote.

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Debbie Oliver, also of Bristol, Tennessee, also reported that her first hummer arrived on April 11.

“I just saw my first hummingbird this spring,” she wrote in her email. She noticed the bird flying around the hummingbird feeder at 7:35 p.m.

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Lorraine Hale posted on bristol-birds that she saw two hummingbirds on Monday, April 11, at her home in Bluff City, Tennessee.

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Karen Andis saw her first hummingbird at her shop on Smith Creek Road in Washington County, Virginia.

“I wanted to let you know we saw our first hummingbird on April 12 at 12:25 p.m.,” she wrote. She added that she has only one feeder out, which still managed to attract this hummingbird.

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Joan Moffitt posted on my Facebook page that she saw her first hummingbird of spring on Tuesday, April 12, around 2:45 p.m. She put out her feeder on Saturday, April 9.

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Harold and Elizabeth Willis saw their first hummingbird at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13. The couple resides in Marion, North Carolina, in the Hankins community near Lake James.

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Photo Courtesy of Linda Kessinger Rhodes Linda Kessinger Rhodes photographed her newly-arrived hummingbird and shared the photo on Facebook.

Linda Kessinger Rhodes sent me a Facebook message reporting her first hummingbird of spring on Thursday, April 14. “There he was — the first hummer I’ve seen at my waiting feeder off Volunteer Parkway in Bristol near the racetrack,” she wrote.

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Marty Huber and Jo Ann Detta of Abingdon, Virginia, spotted their first spring hummer on April 14.

“Our hummingbird arrived April 14 at 8:10 p.m. just before it got dark,” they shared in an email. “it was so exciting to see the hummer sitting and relaxing on our nectar feeder.”

This year’s hummingbird arrived two days later than last year.

“We hope this one stays around as last year it was ten days before we saw another hummer,” they added.

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Bill and Judy Beckman, who reside on Spivey Mountain in Unicoi County, Tennessee, saw their first hummingbird — a male — around 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 14.

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Steve Meigs saw his first hummingbird of the spring at 11:30 a.m. on April 14 at his home in Foxhound Hills in the Limestone Cove community of Unicoi. “That’s a few days earlier than the last few years,” Steve noted, adding that his home is located at an elevation of 2,800 feet.

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Phyllis Moore informed me via Facebook that her hummingbirds are back in Bristol, Virginia, as of 7:30 p.m. on April 20.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens Now that they’re back, hummingbirds will probably stick around until early October.

James Noel Smith of Unicoi informed my via Facebook that the hummingbirds are back at his Unicoi, Tennessee, home as of April 26.

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Migrating warblers offer surprises for alert birders

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Photo by Steve Maslowski/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Black-throated green warblers are nesting birds in the region. Other warblers wing their way much farther north to habitats where they prefer to nest and raise young.

April kicked off with some excitement when I heard my first warbler of the spring season singing on the first day of the month from the woodlands near my home. Although I never managed to catch sight of the singer, I identified the bird as a black-throated green warbler by the whistled syllables of its song.

The black-throated green warbler is a common nesting bird in the region’s mountains. Warblers are exclusively birds of the New World. The majority of the world’s 118 species of warblers live in Central and South America, as well as in the Caribbean, but about 50 species spend the nesting season in the United States and Canada before retreating to southern strongholds for the winter months.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A male Hooded Warbler lurks in a thicket of rhododendron.

The warblers have long been one of my favorite bird families, partly because of their ephemeral natures when it comes to visits in the region. Several of these small songbirds only pass through the region for a few weeks each spring and autumn as they migrate from their wintering grounds to breeding habitats spread across North America. The warblers are, for the most part, birds of the fast-moving, insect-eating persuasion.

Many of these energetic birds will bypass the region except for occasional migratory stops as they wing their way quickly to bug-ridden bogs or coniferous forests farther north. Species with names like mourning warbler, bay-breasted warbler and Wilson’s warbler shoot past northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia in their haste to reach suitable habitat for raising young in the provinces of Canada or the New England states.

The last verified sightings of Bachman’s Warbler took place in the 1970s and the species is probably extinct.

A couple of endangered warblers — Kirtland’s warbler of Michigan and the golden-cheeked warbler of Texas — require extensive management by the federal government to protect their nesting habitat and ensure successful nesting. These two warblers, along with a handful of others, are the only members of the warblers nesting in eastern North America that I haven’t added to my birding life list.

The Rev. John Bachman

Only one of the warblers known to nest in the United States has ever gone extinct. Bachman’s warbler hasn’t been seen since the late 1970s, although there have been sporadic and unconfirmed sightings since the 1980s. The bird was named in honor of the Rev. John Bachman, an early naturalist and friend of John James Audubon. The species was first collected by Bachman in his native South Carolina in the early 1830s. Historically, Bachman’s warbler bred as far north as Virginia, but the bird’s stronghold was in the states along the Atlantic southern coastal plain. Almost the entire population spends the winter months in Cuba. The disappearance of this small, yellowish bird has never been fully explained and will likely linger as a biological mystery. From its discovery to the plunge toward extinction, Bachman’s warbler was known for only slightly more than a century.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A female Black-and-White Warbler gathers nesting materials.

Most warblers have managed to adapt to changing landscapes brought out by human activity. Some, like the yellow warbler and the yellow-rumped warbler, are quite widespread. The yellow warbler nests across most the continental United States and also reaches Alaska. Closer to home, a few of these warblers nest in the woodlands around my house. The expected species each summer include hooded warbler, black-and-white warbler, ovenbird and Northern parula.

I usually have better luck observing migrating warblers in the fall. I think part of the reason rests with the fact that warblers migrating in the spring are in a hurry to reach their destinations. In contrast, the fall migration is a more leisurely activity that affords these tiny birds the luxury of spending a few days in different locations. If one of those locations happens to be my backyard, I take great pleasure in getting my binoculars on species ranging from Kentucky warbler to blue-winged warbler.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A Pine Warbler visits a suet feeder. Most warblers ignore feeders, but these energetic songbirds will visit fountains and water features.

Most warblers will ignore offerings at our feeders, although the occasional pine warbler learns the advantages of visiting suet feeders during the cold months. The most reliable means to attract these tiny, energetic birds is with a water feature, such as a bird bath, ornamental pool or even a bubbling fountain or artificial waterfall. On my property, I have a cattail marsh, a fish pond and a modest creek. As a result, I don’t spend much time working on providing supplemental water sources. For those not blessed with such resources, I highly recommend some sort of water source to increase your chances of visits from warblers.

Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter A Black-throated Blue Warbler is captured in preparation for banding.

These tiny birds are not the easiest ones to learn to identify. However, only about four dozen species migrate through the region or stop to spend the summer months. With a good field guide and some practice, it’s not that difficult to learn the different species. The reward is that undeniable spark of magic imparted by an observation of a bird as glorious as a fiery-throated Blackburnian warbler or a handsome black-throated blue warbler.

Returning birds add their songs to the spring’s chorus

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Photo by Bryan Stevens Eastern Towhee sings from a limb on a sapling.

As we welcome April, I’ve noticed the additions to the early morning chorus produced by the birds in residence around my home. From American robins and Eastern towhees to song sparrows and Carolina chickadees, all our feathered friends produce their own unique serenades to greet each new day.

Songbirds sing to attract mates, discourage rivals, establish territories and for a variety of other reasons.

Of course, the songs of birds play important roles in their daily lives. Half of the world’s bird species are known as passerines, or songbirds; in itself a good indication of the importance of song in the day-to-day routines of birds.

The scientific definition of a songbird is that it is a species with a specialized voice box known as a syrinx. This amazing organ allows for the production of some of the melodic and complex songs characteristic of birds such as wood thrush, Northern cardinal and Carolina wrens. Many of the warblers — a family of birds that should be beginning to returning to the region — produce a diverse range of songs.

Photo by Bryan Stevens A Boat-tailed Grackle sings from a South Carolina wetland.

Among other purposes, attracting mates, intimidating rivals and signaling territorial borders are some of the reasons birds sing. For human listeners, it’s easy to think that birds also sing for the sheer joy of producing these amazing choruses. That belief, however, is probably based more on the ear of the beholder.

We would probably be unaware of the presence of many birds if it wasn’t for their vocalizations. This fact is particularly true of nocturnal birds or denizens of inaccessible habitats such as swamps and marshes.

I was reminded of this fact when Facebook friend Kenneth Oakes sent me a message on March 23 about the arrival of the first whip-poor-will of the spring.

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A painting of a Whip-poor-will by the artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes.

“A whip-poor-will has just arrived,” he wrote in his message. “It is about 12 days early.” Kenneth noted that usually the arrival date for whip-poor-wills, as well as for hummingbirds, is about April 5.

“This is the earliest I’ve ever seen them arrive in this area,” Kenneth wrote. For the past two years, he noted that whip-poor-wills have been a week to 12 days late in arriving in the spring.

Kenneth is not the only person who has reported “early bird” whip-poor-wills. Brookie Potter, who lives with his wife, Jean, near Wilbur Lake in Carter County, Tennessee, heard two calling whip-poor-wills near his home on Easter Sunday, March 27. He reported his observation on bristol-birds, an online list-serve forum for sharing area bird sightings.

Ironically, the whip-poor-will is not one of the world’s many passerine, or songbird, species. Nevertheless, this bird’s nocturnal serenades are one of my fondest childhood memories. I remember sitting on my grandparents’ front porch to listen for hours to the whip-poor-wills as they sang the syllables of their own names from the nearby edges of the woodlands.

Kenneth also reported that he thinks the juncos have departed. “Winter is not over until they leave,” he wrote. “Let’s hope for an early spring.”

All indications, such as the early arrivals of birds such as whip-poor-wills, are that an early spring could be in the works. This is also the time of year when I keep my eyes open for the arrival of the first ruby-throated hummingbirds of spring. In fact, I put out my sugar water feeders the last week of March.

According to websites that track the annual northward migration of these tiny birds, the first hummingbirds should start arriving in Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina any day now. As always, I invite readers to share with me the date and time of these first sightings.

Email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com or send me a message on Facebook to notify me when you observe your first hummingbird of spring 2016.

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Photo by Bryan Stevens A pair of Wood Ducks visited the fish pond several times in March and April.

While I haven’t yet seen hummingbirds, plenty of other birds have been making appearances. My fish pond has been visited twice by pairs of wood ducks. My other recent sightings have included tree swallows, brown thrashers and chipping sparrows. I love spring for the simple fact you never know when a new bird will surprise you with an unanticipated arrival.

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Bryan Stevens lives near Roan Mountain, Tennessee. To learn more about birds and other topics from the natural world, friend Stevens on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ahoodedwarbler. He is always posting about local birds, wildlife, flowers, insects and much more. If you have a question, wish to make a comment or share a sighting, email ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

Annual Spring Naturalists Rally returns to Roan Mountain April 22-24

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Photo by Bryan Stevens Spring blooms, like this Bloodroot, are still a major focus, but a variety of other topics of natural history have expanded the offerings at this annual event.

Organizers of the 58th annual Roan Mountain Spring Naturalists Rally are pleased to announce this yearly event will continue the tradition of offering nature enthusiasts the opportunity to enjoy field trips and engaging programs that cover many aspects of the natural history of Roan Mountain and the surrounding area.
The Roan Mountain State Park’s Conference Center will host programs, meals, information booths and registration, while field trips will leave from the field on the left before entrance to the cabins in the park. Registration will also be available at the field prior to the field trip departures.

Because of the continued support of the Friends of Roan Mountain, the seasonal Naturalists Rallies have the resources they need to prosper and grow. The Friends of Roan Mountain also provides support for research and restoration projects on the Roan.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Everything from salamanders and dragonflies to edible plants and geology provides a diversity of subjects for the many hikes and programs of the annual rally.

Consider joining the Friends of Roan Mountain, if you are not a member. There are plenty of perks for members, who receive free admission to all Naturalists Rally events and regular editions of the organization’s newsletter, “Friends of Roan Mountain.”

This year’s Spring Naturalists Rally will be held Friday-Sunday, April 22-24. Featured evening speakers for this year’s event are Liz Domingue and Mick Whitelaw. Their programs will feature the topics of butterflies and moths, as well as Roan Mountain’s historic association with the Tweetsie railroad.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Butterflies, such as this Carolina Satyr, and moths will provide the focus for Liz Domingue’s evening program at this year’s rally.

Domingue is a naturalist, educator, photographer, writer and guide. Her interest in and study of natural history has been her lifelong pursuit and passion. Through photography, observation, and research, she has studied wildlife, plants, and the natural world in the United States and abroad. She is a co-author of the field guide, Butterflies & Familiar Moths of the Smokies (soon to be in press) and a contributing writer for Smokies Life. In addition, she has served as a contributing writer, photographer and consultant for McGraw-Hill Science Textbooks. Her photos have been published in a variety of books and magazines. Domingue leads guided interpretive hikes and Naturalist Adventure Tours, and conducts environmental education programs for youth, adults, and fellow educators through her own business, “Just Get Outdoors.”

The history of Roan Mountain goes back almost two billion years and includes major mountain building events that created the biggest iron ore deposit known in the eastern United States. Much, much later, high grade magnetite ore was discovered on Roan Mountain after the War of 1812 and was later smelted by the Confederates in a local bloomery. In 1881 a train line designed to bring the ore from Roan Mountain to Johnson City for smelting was begun. The train served the iron mine until 1929 and local communities until 1950 and became known as the “Tweetsie”. This talk
will review the history of the Roan Mountain iron mines and the little train with a heart.

Mick Whitelaw

Dr. Mick Whitelaw received his bachelor’s of science degree in geology at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia in 1983 and a doctorate from the University of Florida in 1990. He held instructor positions at the University of Texas, El Paso and the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, before taking his current position in the Department of Geosciences at East Tennessee State University in 2003. He specializes in stratigraphy and the geology of the East Tennessee region and serves as site geologist for the Gray Fossil Site.
For more information or a brochure of the specific events, including a reservation form for all activities, including the Friday and Saturday evening meals, visit http://www.friendsofroanmtn.org/Spring%202016%20Rally%20Brochure.pdf

Red-winged blackbirds making their presence felt in region

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Photo by Bryan Stevens A male red-winged blackbird sings from an elevated perch in a wetland habitat.

I recently received an email from Tom and Helen Stetler in Elizabethton, Tennessee. The couple reported seeing several “early birds” in their yard recently, including American robins and a total of six red-winged blackbirds. “One even went up on the bird feeder,” they wrote.

The couple noted that red-winged blackbirds are usually harbingers of spring, but these birds arrived with some of the last of the wintry weather in February.

“Oh well, better days are coming, Lord willing,” the Stetlers wrote. They also added they have seen Song Sparrows and an Eastern Towhee at their feeder in recent days.

Photo Courtesy of Tom and Helen Stetler A male red-winged visits a feeder at the Stetler home in Elizabethton.

I’ve long come to associate red-winged blackbirds with early spring. I also had a single red-winged blackbird make a one-day visit in February during a snowstorm. Those February visitors are the vanguard of large numbers of red-winged blackbirds that return in impressive numbers every March. The blackbirds arriving now behave much differently than the quiet, furtive ones that often make brief visits to feeders during late winter snowstorms.

The showy and loud red-winged blackbirds that have returned to my fish pond and adjacent stands of cattails immediately made themselves at home.

“The kon-ke-ree song of the male red-winged blackbird is a sure indication that spring is on the way,” according to a profile located at the Tennessee Watchable Wildlife website.

At this time of year, the male red-winged blackbirds seek elevated perches to display and vocalize. Their loud antics are not designed solely to attract mates. Male red-winged blackbirds also sing to warn rival males from intruding into their territories.

The male red-winged blackbirds is a very aptly named bird. Glossy black males sport red wing patches that are often trimmed with a narrow band of yellow feathers. By contrast, female red-winged blackbirds are mostly brown birds that could easily be mistaken for large sparrows. Both sexes have sharply pointed bills.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Male red-winged blackbirds sing to proclaim territories and attract mates.

Red-winged blackbirds are fond of wetlands. Any marsh or even a damp field or flooded pasture is likely to attract a few resident red-winged blackbirds. Females choose nesting locations in cattails or other marsh vegetation. She usually lays three or four eggs. Although she does receive some help from the male, most of the responsibility for raising the young is left to her.

There is a reason that male red-winged blackbirds are not always quite as engaged in feeding and tending their young. Male red-winged blackbirds are often polygynous, which means that males will often court multiple mates. His time is often occupied defending females and their respective nests from the advances of other male red-winged blackbirds.

Other relatives of the red-winged blackbird in the United States include the tri colored blackbird found along the Pacific Coast and the yellow-headed blackbird resident in wetlands west of the Great Lakes. Rusty blackbird, common grackle and brown-headed cowbird are other species of blackbirds found in Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina.

Some other signs of spring I’ve detected at home have included a bonanza of spring blooms, choruses of spring peeper frogs and even the fluttery flights of a few early butterflies.

Of course, even as I write this week’s column, an unwelcome cold front has plunged temperatures below freezing. It’s only a temporary setback, so I know that spring will continue to advance. My evidence? A range of other birds are poised to return in the coming weeks. Once again, birds like red-winged blackbirds and American robins are just part of the vanguard of returning spring migrants. Spring migration begins as a trickle in March only to explode into a torrent in April and early May.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Red-winged blackbirds generally return to Northeast Tennessee as the weather turns milder in the spring.

If you would like to share your own spring sightings, send me an email at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.

I am especially interested in hearing about the first arrival dates of ruby-throated hummingbirds. If you’ve seen your first ruby-throated hummingbird of the spring, contact me with the date and time you saw your first hummer of the season.

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At age 65, Wisdom is a mother yet again

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For about a decade, I have been following the story of one of nature’s oldest mother birds. I’ll share it with you for my Easter 2016 post.

Photo by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Wisdom is shown with a chick born in 2011. Mother and chick survived a powerful tsunami that claimed the lives of other albatrosses, both adults and chicks.

The oldest known breeding bird in the wild, a Laysan albatross named Wisdom – she’s at least 65 years old – became a mother again last month. Wisdom lives with her mate, Akeakamai, at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, part of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument.

The chick was observed still coming out of its shell on February 1, 2016, and days later was named Kukini, which is a Hawaiian word for messenger. Wisdom’s mate had been on the nest since Jan. 20 when he took over incubation duties while Wisdom headed out to sea. Wisdom returned just as the Super Bowl ended with her belly full. Shortly after Wisdom’s return, Wisdom’s mate was on the march towards the shoreline and immediately took flight in search of food.

“Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration and hope,” noted Refuge Manager Robert Peyton in a press release on the subject of the hatching of Wisdom’s latest chick.

Peyton explained that from a scientific perspective, albatrosses are a critical indicator species for the world’s oceans that sustain millions of human beings as well. In the case of Wisdom, she is breaking longevity records of previously banded birds by at least a decade.

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Photo by David Patte/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is home to the largest colony of albatrosses in the world.

“With over a million albatrosses on Midway Atoll alone, this shows just how much is left to learn about the natural world around us,” Peyton said.

The story of this amazing bird is even more astonishing given her maternal success. Wisdom has raised at least eight chicks since 2006, and as many as 40 in her lifetime. Just as astounding, she has likely flown over three million miles since she was first tagged on Midway Atoll in 1956.

To put things in perspective, consider this statement by Bruce Peterjohn, Chief of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center’s National Bird Banding Laboratory.

“That is up to six trips from the Earth to the Moon and back again,” he noted “What is also miraculous is that biologist Chandler Robbins, who banded her as a breeding adult in 1956 on Midway Atoll, sighted her 46 years later near the same nesting location.” Today, at the age of 97, Robbins still comes to work on occasion doing what he loves to do.

Wisdom’s chick is not the only bird in town. Albatrosses arrive on Midway Atoll in late November by the hundreds of thousands. In December U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service volunteers counted 470,000 active nests across the entire atoll – since each nest represents two adults, the total breeding population at Midway is 940,000. A low estimate of Midway’s overall population, this number doesn’t account for the non-breeders present in the colony, resting, searching for a mate, and practicing their mating dance skills.

Wisdom has nested since the late 1950s on Midway’s Eastern Island behind Bravo Barracks. She was banded as a nesting adult in the same location by Robbins in December 1956. Robbins estimated that she was a minimum of five years old at the time. Another albatross — a Northern Royal Albatross that lived on the South Island of New Zealand and was named “Grandma” — reached a banded age of 51.5 years and probable actual age of 61 years or more. Wisdom and her mate have successfully fledged a chick annually in recent years. She is the world’s oldest Laysan albatross. If human, she would be approaching senior citizen status today.

Photo by Pete Leary/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Both adults and chicks got stuck in debris and had to be rescued in the wake of the huge tsunami that washed over the island back in 2011.

Wisdom, as well as her chick, survived the same tsunami that laid waste to much of Japan on March 10, 2011. FWS released an official announcement five days after the natural catastrophe stating that surveys of the three islands revealed that more than 110,000 albatross chicks – about 22 percent of that year’s albatross production – were lost as a result of the tsunami and two severe winter storms that hit in January and February. At least 2,000 adults also died.

Even through such setbacks, Wisdom has thrived. She is one very special creature. FWS personnel who have worked on these islands to monitor albatross and other bird populations cherish her, and not only because she has provided valuable information about the longevity of these majestic birds. Wisdom weighs only eight pounds, but she has been producing chicks to increase the population of her kind for half a century.

Photo by Pete Leary/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service This fortunate Laysan albatross chick survived the tsunami that surged over the island back in 2011.

The Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis, is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. Compared to other relatives in the albatross family, the Laysan Albatross is a small bird. It is the second most common seabird in the Hawaiian Islands, with an estimated population of 2.5 million birds. Although numbers are thought to be increasing, the Laysan Albatross has not recovered from extensive hunting that drastically reduced the population in the early 1900s.

If you would like to see a video of a Laysan albatross feeding a chick, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/52133016@N08/12310107385/

New bird arrivals signal spring’s imminent approach

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Photo by Bryan Stevens A Ring-necked Duck visits a pond at Erwin Fishery Park.

The recent extremely warm weather — well, warm for the month of March — may have finally broken the back of winter. Signs of spring are becoming easier to detect, especially among our feathered friends. The pond at Erwin Fishery Park had been a great location to view migrating waterfowl for the past few weeks, but most of the visiting ducks — redheads, ring-necked ducks and American wigeon — appear to have concluded their late-winter visit.

Photo by Bryan Stevens A raft of Redheads floats on the surface of the pond at Erwin Fishery Park in Unicoi County, Tennessee.

Signs of spring are becoming easier to detect, especially among our feathered friends. I’ve heard from numerous readers about flocks of American robins making welcome visits. While not the only harbinger of spring among our birds, robins are probably foremost among the birds we like to associate with the arrival of spring weather. The numerous large flocks of robins I observed during the last couple of weeks of February and early March, however, consisted mostly of birds coping with heavy snowfalls.

Photo by Bryan Stevens American robins are a familiar sight on lawns in spring. While the robin is widely believed to be a harbinger of spring, many other birds can also lay claim to this distinction.

The month of March is usually a time of transition, with many winter birds making ready to depart as some of our summer favorites return from their more southern wintering grounds. At home, I have noted the spring arrivals of Eastern phoebes and belted kingfishers. On March 6, a wary pair of wood ducks made a brief visit to the fish pond on my property. A couple of other bird species will probably make their appearance at some point in March. At my home, brown thrashers, tree swallows and red-winged blackbirds have returned and are already making themselves comfortable. These species and a handful of others are usually in the vanguard of spring arrivals. Let me know what you’re seeing as spring advances. I always enjoy hearing from readers.

Among the readers who have written to me recently was Shelly Jones, a resident of north Abingdon, Virginia.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Song Sparrows are already making efforts to attract mates for the first spring nesting attempts.

“I have many bird feeders, with all kinds of seeds and suet cakes to attract as many different bird species that I can,” Shelly wrote in an email. “Like you, I have had all the common woodpeckers come to my feeders.”

Shelly commiserated with my never having been fortunate enough to get a visit from a red-headed woodpeckers at my home. She added that not only has she never been visited by a red-headed woodpecker at home, she has never seen one of these woodpeckers at all.

“I have seen the great pileated woodpecker flying through the tree tops,” she noted.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Tree Swallows perch on a wire over a pond in Hampton, Tennessee.

Her luck changed shortly after I ran the last installment on a series focused on the members of the woodpecker family.

“Today, when looking out at my feeders, there it was!” Shelly reported. It turned out to be a red-headed woodpecker. “My husband saw it, too,” she wrote. “I tried to get a photo, but it flew away before I could capture it. I’ll keep trying.”

Shelly and her husband live on five acres, mostly pasture for their two horses, but they are surrounded by woods on three sides, with many oak trees thriving in the woods. The habitat she described sounded imminently suitable for attracting red-headed woodpeckers.

I wrote an email back to Shelly congratulating her on the home visit from this woodpecker and joked that I was a little envious of her good fortune.

•••••••

Photo Courtesy of Gayle Riddervold This photo of an adult Bald Eagle was taken this past winter along Simerly Creek Road.

Gayle Riddervold and Rebecca Kinder recently shared a photo of an adult Bald Eagle that they had taken along Simerly Creek Road in Hampton. They had been leaving for a trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, when they saw the eagle and stopped to get a photo. Bald Eagles are often seen along lakes and rivers in Carter County during the winter, but finding an eagle at higher elevations is somewhat unusual.

••••••

Other readers have been sharing bird sightings that, if we’re fortunate, offer a signal of the changing seasons as winter wanes and spring nears.

Adelaide Moss in Abingdon, Virginia, wrote with a question about vultures. Vultures, by the way, are considered a harbinger of spring in some sections of the country. The two species — turkey vulture and black vulture — are year-round residents in our region.

“I am very curious about the vultures that hang out in trees in winter,” Adelaide wrote. “What on earth do they all eat? There are so many of them I can’t imagine there is enough roadkill to feed them all.

She added that she never sees vultures eating except occasionally on roads where they are eating roadkill.

“I would love to know more about them,” she wrote.

Photo by Bryan Stevens Turkey Vultures, unlike most birds, have a well-developed sense of smell.

I’ll focus on the turkey vulture, which benefits from a sense of smell that is absent in most other birds, the related black vulture included. With its finely-tuned olfactory senses, the turkey vulture can detect roadkill and other carrion from a distance of a mile.

These birds can also use their large wings to soar for hours. Soaring is much more energy-efficient than the flapping of wings. Experts who have studied turkey vultures estimate the birds may travel 200 miles or more in a single day in foraging for a meal such as a deer’s carcass or even an opossum squashed on the side of the road. Like many a scavenger, the turkey vulture’s not finicky and will eat almost anything. Pairing excellent eyesight with a good sense of smell means very little edible roadkill goes unnoticed by these birds.

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I recently received an email from Tom and Helen Stetler in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

They reported seeing several “early birds” in their yard recently, including a total of six Red-winged Blackbirds. “One even went up on the bird feeder,” they wrote.

Photo courtesy of Tom and Helen Stetler Red-winged Blackbirds, such as this bird, began returning to the region in February.

The couple noted that Red-winged Blackbirds are usually harbingers of spring, but they arrived with some of the last of the winter weather in February.

“Oh well, better days are coming, Lord willing,” the Stetlers wrote. They also added they have seen Song Sparrows and an Eastern Towhee at their feeder in recent days.

••••••

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Our Fine Feathered Friends

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

Tag Archives: Birding

Regional spring bird count sets several new records

Eastern phoebe easily wins friends with its trusting nature

Now that hummingbirds are back, here’s how to entice them to stay

Hummingbirds receive warm welcome upon their return

Migrating warblers offer surprises for alert birders

Returning birds add their songs to the spring’s chorus

Annual Spring Naturalists Rally returns to Roan Mountain April 22-24

Red-winged blackbirds making their presence felt in region

At age 65, Wisdom is a mother yet again

New bird arrivals signal spring’s imminent approach

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