“Birds of a feather flock together” is an old saying based on an observable avian truth. When you see a flock of birds, they are almost always all the same species. Until I began to write this post, which is about birds not of a feather, I hadn’t thought much about why birds flock by… Read more »
This is the season for juvenile Cooper’s hawks to entertain everyone as they struggle up the learning curve. Cooper’s hawks are about the size of a crow. In their juvenile plumage, which is mostly what we have right now, they are a mass of brown streaks and yellow legs and look more or less like… Read more »
Cardinals have a special place in my heart. They are ubiquitous. Everywhere I have traveled in the U.S., I have been awoken by cardinal song. It is the same song I listened to in bed as a child and every time I hear it, I get a warm cozy feeling. Also, and I can’t really… Read more »
Flycatchers sew buttons. Their flight pattern is so distinctive that you often know it’s a flycatcher before you have seen a single field mark. Flycatchers sit on a perch, usually high up, with a commanding view. They take flight abruptly, flying up, up, up and then back down to the same perch or one very… Read more »
Our red-shouldered hawk pair has raised three chicks this year. The chicks have fledged, but so far, they have’t strayed very far from the nest. Look for everyone on dead trees north of the nest. Definitely use the viewing spot nearest Memorial (click the link). The dead trees they hang out in are best seen… Read more »
Plants can predict the arrival of birds. Blooming and fruiting Mulberries forecast the appearance of orioles, tanagers and grosbeaks. Their disappearance presages the departure of waxwings. My enormous acacia tree that was taken by Ike could forecast the appearance of magnolia warblers. It was always magnolia warblers. Other warblers hopped through the pecan trees, probing… Read more »
Last year, a pair of red-shouldered hawks raised their chicks in a sycamore tree north of the bayou just east of the Shepherd bridge. Red-shouldered hawks will re-use a nest multiple times, but they will also abandon a nest, so it is exciting to report that last year’s nest is being used again. However, this… Read more »
There’s a new kid on the block. Literally. A juvenile red-shouldered hawk has been a pretty constant presence on the north side of the bayou just west of the Jackson Hill bridge. Last week, he or she decided to sit in the open at eye level and not fly away even if I got within… Read more »
It’s not right for a naturalist to have grudge against a species. But I do. Yellow-rumped warblers are my nemesis. I am probably not alone. Yellow rumps are the empty fork from which delicious food has tumbled just as it approaches your mouth. In other words, they are a disappointment. And it’s not their fault. … Read more »
Carolina wrens are adorable, industrious and fierce. They have the lives your parents hoped for you. They mate for life, settle down on a half acre that’s theirs, and start producing kids. Lots of them. Up to three broods a year. Instead of putting a fence around their half acre, male Carolinas define the boundaries… Read more »