Sooty Shearwaters, moving south. Other birds help, too, including this Western Bluebird.
Do you remember the raucous sound of this bird?
Severe storm winds not only kill many birds but blow others, especially seabirds, far from their normal range. The remarkable drumming of a Ruffed Grouse, that percussion produced by a rapid beating of the wings, is a vivid example of a non-vocal or instrumental bird sound.
At the crack of the bat, a Blue Jay flies toward first and glides around the base. You may find it in willow thickets, brushy tangles, and other dense, understory habitats, usually at low to medium elevations around streams. How do they identify a particular species?
The cool, coastal fog of Washington lifts on a fall morning, revealing a monumental natural drama.
Do you remember the raucous sound of this bird? The male Ruffed Grouse stands upon a resonant fallen log in the shelter of a brushy thicket, thumping the air with his wings. This is no fly-by-night joint.
The males court females on a lek, snapping their wings with firecracker-like pops.
This astute aerial predator stands a little more than six and a half inches tall, from its sharp-clawed feet to its stubby, ear-like tufts. Imagine watering your garden on a hot August day, when a small yellow and gray warbler flutters into the spray and begins taking a shower.
The Brown Creeper lives in a mature forest where evergreen and deciduous trees reach for sun. Shy and sometimes hard to see, the Band-tailed Pigeon lives in low-altitude conifer forests and treed suburbs.
Back in the days when the buffalo roamed, Brown-headed Cowbirds followed the herds. And no bird has been so often evoked and emulated in song and symphony as the cuckoo. The beauty of bird song will abide as long as the natural world abides. With wingspans approaching six feet, Turkey Vultures ride currents of air to make their spring and fall journeys, and to cover the miles of their home range in summer.
These birds migrate north each spring from Western Mexico, to nest in dry, open forests and brushy areas, mostly east of the Cascades. A Rock Pigeon bobs its head as it walks. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of seabirds circle low over the ocean, the tips of their long narrow wings just grazing the waves. When Turkey Vultures circle low, you can see their naked red heads and deeply slotted black primary feathers, which the wind separates and turns up expressively.
Someone must show children the delights and knowledge of the natural world, opening the gate for a lifetime of learning.
Helen Trefry, a wildlife biologist in Edmonton, Alberta, wanted to know where the Burrowing Owls in her part of Canada migrated to.
Back in the days when the buffalo roamed, Brown-headed Cowbirds followed the herds. Even within the thrush family, which includes many highly renowned singers, the Hermit Thrush stands out.
John Tubbs of Snoqualmie, Washington tells of a raft trip down the Deschutes River in Oregon.
Birds are part of the complex web of Nature, and each fits into this web in its own way.
The Yellow-rumped Warbler, probably mid-way through its fall migration, is unafraid.
Bird song is heard frequently in classical music. A fine woodworker has a chest full of tools, each designed for a specific task.
The bills of young birds are not crossed at hatching, but cross as they grow.
Polynesian navigators often carried with them frigatebirds, which they released and followed to land. The Boreal forest is a vast band of spruce and poplar that extends from coast to coast across Alaska and Canada.
The Boreal forest is a vast band of spruce and poplar that extends from coast to coast across Alaska and Canada.