In addition to its stentorian voice, the small, nondescript Pied-billed Grebe has an even more astonishing talent. Violet-green Swallows return in March and April from a winter sojourn in northern Central America. In spring, the Black-capped Chickadee adds a new vocalization to its repertoire. You can help by putting out nectar feeders beginning in early March. During spring, the male pheasant establishes his territory and attracts one or more females into his harem.
Storks and babies have been linked together for centuries. Imagine flying thousands of miles without map or compass. Extremely efficient, it uses nearly all the air that passes through it.
You just might hear nighttime migrating songbirds.
If this sounds a bit melodramatic, it just might be. Birders across the country count birds in parks or fields or their own back yards, and then report the numbers on-line.
Long-necked and long-legged, these grayish cranes stand three feet tall. Their striped plumage perfectly imitates surrounding vegetation. As we ponder the wonders of bird sounds, how many of us think of gulls?
Avid birdwatchers, particularly on the East Coast, use binoculars or telescopes to observe flocks flying across the face of the moon. Are gulls underrated as singers?
These are Sanderlings, small sandpipers that stay through the winter.
Both Douglas squirrels and the firs they call home bear the name of David Douglas.
They stop to forage, then move on.
The House Sparrow was first introduced into the U.
These daring blue dandies sound the alarm in evergreen and mixed conifer forests, parks and yards. Their striped plumage perfectly imitates surrounding vegetation.
Except in winter, when it gathers in loose flocks to move to lower elevations, this shy bird prefers solitude. By late March, the Great Horned Owlets can be left alone while both adults resume hunting at twilight. Pacific chorus frogs, less than two inches long, swell their throat sacs to three times the size of their heads to send their calls into the night. The silence would be deafening, the absence of their songs like the loss of one of our primary senses.
But the draining of wetlands, forest fragmentation, and market hunting caused precipitous declines in their numbers.
When you hear their chorus, be assured that our summer birds will soon arrive, some from as far south as Northern Mexico.
The House Sparrow was first introduced into the U.
The male snipe circles high above in a series of roller-coaster arcs, each descent marked by a loud and distinctive sound.
The song comes from above, as a male Horned Lark hovers on fluttering wings, describing a large circle a hundred feet above the ground. The fleet and graceful flight of swallows livens up the sky. Long-necked and long-legged, these grayish cranes stand three feet tall. The Pied-billed Grebe is a common resident bird of our freshwater lakes and ponds. Imagine going into battle with a Bald Eagle as a mascot, screaming high overhead.