Only a few are harmful.
A House Wren sings from inside a thicket.
If you were to pinpoint the height of bird activity on the eastern flanks of the Cascade Mountains, you might pick the area around Leavenworth, during the latter part of May. John James Audubon, the French naturalist who spent his adult life studying and painting the birds of North America, saw only this Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a bird of eastern North America. On a warm, sunny day, an American Robin sits on the ground, its wings outstretched and its tail splayed behind. Imagine flying thousands of miles without map or compass. Imagine covering those miles in the dark of night.
Imagine covering those miles in the dark of night.
Their loud flight calls warn of the presence of potential predators.
Shy and sometimes hard to see, the Band-tailed Pigeon lives in low-altitude conifer forests and treed suburbs. The male Ruffed Grouse stands upon a resonant fallen log in the shelter of a brushy thicket, thumping the air with his wings.
Loping overhead at dusk, with long slender wings, the Common Nighthawk chases down aerial insects with sudden, choppy shifts of direction. In June, when birdsong is on the wane, many baby birds leave the nest. Because frog-leg enthusiasts wanted these tasty morsels locally available. Are gulls underrated as singers? The male snipe circles high above in a series of roller-coaster arcs, each descent marked by a loud and distinctive sound.
Shy and sometimes hard to see, the Band-tailed Pigeon lives in low-altitude conifer forests and treed suburbs. The American Kestrel is the smallest, most numerous, and most widespread North American falcon.
Imagine covering those miles in the dark of night. And no bird has been so often evoked and emulated in song and symphony as the cuckoo. This is the time of year that young birds leave the nest, and they are especially vulnerable to cats.
Bitterns are masters of camouflage.
Be still and blend in. Western Washington sits mid-way along the Pacific Coast flyway.
Be still and blend in.
It migrates south for the winter and returns each spring to an ever more uncertain fate in Washington. In June, when birdsong is on the wane, many baby birds leave the nest. If you were to pinpoint the height of bird activity on the eastern flanks of the Cascade Mountains, you might pick the area around Leavenworth, during the latter part of May.
In spring, the Black-capped Chickadee adds a new vocalization to its repertoire.