Karen Burke/Pixabay • A Baltimore oriole feeds from a dish of grape jelly. Male orioles show off vibrant feathers during the spring season.
Last week’s column focused on rose-breasted grosbeaks. Males of this species are a stunning sight every spring. People seeing them for the first time are always blown away.
After a link to last week’s column was posted to Facebook, Daisy Scism in Damascus, Virginia, commented that she had a visit from a rose-breasted grosbeak at her feeder recently.
The arrival of rose-breasted grosbeaks got me to thinking of other colorful birds that spend the summer months in Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina and Southwest Virginia.
Here’s my list of must-see birds sure to knock your socks off with their dramatic appearance.
Scarlet Tanager
In late April and early May, once the oaks, the maples, the poplars and other tall deciduous trees begin spreading out new green leaves to create a concealing woodland canopy, a familiar song can be heard coming from the treetops. Upon first hearing it, listeners might mistake the hidden singer for an American robin. Listen a little closer, however, and the song sounds as if it is being delivered by a hoarse robin with a sore throat.
Photo Courtesy of Jean Potter
A male scarlet tanager brightens shadowy woodlands with a flash of tropical colors yet remains mostly inconspicuous in the forest canopy.
The producer of the hoarse but melodic song is a scarlet tanager, one of the most showy birds of Eastern woodlands from April to early October. The scarlet tanager also has an easily recognized call note, best described as a distinctive “chip-burr” or “chip-churr.”
Photo by Bryan Stevens • Despite the brilliant scarlet and black feathers, tanagers are more often heard than seen,
The male scarlet tanager boasts a brilliant plumage of crimson red paired with black wings and tail. Of course, this describes only the male. The female tanager makes no real claim to the common name with her comparatively drab greenish plumage. However, the scientific name, Piranga olivacea, gives a nod to the olive-green plumage of females, young males and even adult males when molting their feathers.
Baltimore Oriole
The Baltimore oriole would stand out among North American birds even without its colorful plumage and its long association with the city of Baltimore and its affiliated Major League Baseball team.
For instance, few other birds can match the Baltimore oriole for the sheer elaborate nature of the woven nest these birds construct for the purpose of sheltering eggs and young. The nests resemble hanging baskets that the female oriole weaves from a variety of collected strips of grass. The lining inside is even more elaborate and features soft materials such as plant down, feathers or even wool that can insulate and cushion the eggs. The nest itself is anchored securely in the fork of a tree branch.
Again, credit for being on a list of stunning regional birds goes to the males. The adult male Baltimore oriole is orange on the underparts, shoulder patch and rump, with some individual birds appearing a very deep flaming orange and others appearing yellowish orange. All of the rest of the male’s plumage is black. Adult female are yellow brown on the upper parts with darker wings and dull orange yellow on the breast and belly. The juvenile oriole is similar looking to the female, with males taking until the fall of their second year to reach adult plumage.
Photo by Bryan Stevens • The male indigo bunting is a resplendent bird.
Indigo Bunting
The indigo bunting is one of the reasons I love to pay attention to the clientele visiting my feeders. This small songbird likes to reside in the boundary region where forests and woodlands meet fields and pastures. Personally, the indigo bunting has always been a bird that is suggestive of the long, hot days of summer.
One of my earliest and still quite vivid birding memories is a recollection of a shockingly blue bird atop a blue spruce tree in my yard. Several decades later, the tree is no longer standing, but these beautiful birds — I now know those long-ago summer visitors were indigo buntings — still return each year to my yard and gardens.
The male indigo bunting is the only solid blue bird in the eastern United States, but it’s all an illusion — literally a trick of the light. The indigo bunting’s feathers are not really blue; the male’s brilliant azure plumage is caused by the process of ;right diffraction around the structure of the bird’s feathers. This process scatters all but the blue light, and the resulting color shifts from black to blue to turquoise as the angle of reflected light changes. In bright light, it can even look unnaturally vivid blue. In poor light, however, an indigo bunting male can appear black.
Indigo buntings usually arrive in the region in late April, and I’ve seen them linger until late October, although most indigo buntings have left the region by late September.
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Do you have your own candidates for most beautiful birds. Feel free to email me your choice at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com. Share sightings, ask questions or make comments as well.
Our Fine Feathered Friends 