May 04 2023
From the red flash of a Northern Cardinal against winter snow to the haunting call of a Barred Owl in an Appalachian forest, Kentucky offers extraordinary opportunities to experience birdlife throughout the year. The Bluegrass State’s landscapes are far more varied than its nickname suggests. Western Kentucky contains wetlands, broad rivers, and bottomland forests. Central …
May 04 2023
A soft, wistful coo drifts across the backyard just after sunrise. A moment later, a slender gray-brown bird settles onto a fence, its long tail tapering behind it. When it suddenly takes flight, its wings produce a surprising whistle that seems almost too loud for such a gentle-looking bird. This familiar visitor is the Mourning …
May 04 2023
What Bird Eggs Are Blue? A small blue egg in a backyard nest can immediately raise an intriguing question: What kind of bird laid it? American Robins are famous for their unmistakable blue eggs, but they are far from the only birds that produce them. Bluebirds, Gray Catbirds, House Finches, Blue Jays, Northern Mockingbirds, and …
Feb 28 2022
The Northern Cardinal is a backyard favorite of many bird watchers. This popular bird lives in the Eastern parts of the United States. Because of the male’s bright red color, they are perhaps the most colorful visitors we have who eat at our bird feeders and swim in our birdbaths in local yards. Some believe …
Feb 28 2022
This beautiful bird is a year-round resident in the East and Midwest and a frequent visitor for sunflower seeds at winter feeders. It is unmistakable with its bright red plumage and crest. The female is duller but with reddish tinge. The area behind the beak is black, while the beak itself is red. It derives …
Feb 06 2022
The Eastern Bluebird, like its fellow member of the thrush family, the American Robin, is often viewed as a harbinger of spring. The Iroquois believed that the Bluebird would scare off Sawiskera or Flint, the spirit of winter (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluebird). However, either bird may be seen in winter in more southern parts of its nesting range. …
Feb 04 2022
Birds need water year round and many birds stay in cold climates in the winter months. So what do birds do once the ground is frozen and people stop filling their bird baths in their backyards? Some birds are lucky enough to have backyard heated birdbaths. But most birds who spend their winters in the …
Jan 30 2022
One question many people might have about the American Robin is this: is there another kind of robin that is not American? I will come back to the answer in just a bit. The American Robin is one of the most familiar birds, indeed, to Americans. They nest in yards from coast to coast. Connecticut, …
Jan 28 2022
The Purple Martin is the largest North American swallow (Family Hirundinidae), with a wingspan of 18 inches, length of 8 inches, and weight of 2 ounces. It is about the size and appearance of a starling in flight and can be confused with it. (In both species, the purple is due to iridescence of feather …
Jan 26 2022
There was an old belief that when crows saw a human’s face, the face would imprint on the brain of the crow, and then the crow would remember that face for the rest of their life. If the memory was pleasant, the crow would have pleasant feelings for the person and if the memory was …
