The Birders Report

I wanted to pass on a very interesting article from the Chicago Tribune about bird migration.  Apparently there are several studies now that show that birds have a sense of the earth’s magnetic fields, that they can see these subtle differences, and use the information to guide their migrations!

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One of the problems that has been known to scientists and birders for a long time is that birds have trouble distinguishing a tree or other natural object from its reflection in a window.  This causes the deaths of between 100 million and 1 billion birds each year in collisions with glass according to ornithologist Daniel Klem, [...]

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Wild Turkeys photo by Cathy Lozo
I just wanted to pass on a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone along with some information on the bird that was almost our national bird, the Wild Turkey.  This is the bird that Benjamin Franklin wanted as our national bird.  It is indeed a beautiful bird, especially if you see it in [...]

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Western Meadowlark photo by D.W.Williams
Even though it’s been a rather gray, overcast day, I have seen several interesting birds today. Let’s start with this morning. As I was walking my Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Mika, I saw some birds fluttering around the thick buck brush. When I focused in on them with my [...]

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Northern Flicker (male) photo by Mark Schmitt
These beautiful Red-shafted Northern Flickers have been abundant around my yard lately.  Flickers are members of the woodpecker family and, as you can see from these photos, they are grayish brown with black bars on the back with spotted underparts and a white rump, conspicuous in flight.  They also have a black, [...]

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