I am thrilled and humbled whenever I am able to provide some insight to concerned neighbors who want to do right by wildlife. It doesn’t hurt to consult with those who are much more knowledgeable than I about these matters—and I nearly always do when called upon for advice. “There’s a young bird that landed… Read more »
Like many of you, I’ve been marveling at the number of “pretty birds” coming through our backyards—grosbeaks, orioles, tanagers, and the like. My social media feeds are just full of amazingly colorful pictures! Many times in the past several weeks I have celebrated the timing of this seemingly banner year of bright and beautiful visitors… Read more »
Discovering a nest is, for me at least, a mixed bag. My instantaneous reaction is excitement—Wow! This is so cool! I can’t wait to watch this unfold!—followed almost immediately by what I know to be the overwhelming odds facing the nesting pair, to say nothing of the incoming brood. In spring of 2019, this played… Read more »
I have several birding apps on my phone, but there is only one that I really use, and I use it almost daily during the spring: the Merlin Bird ID app, produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I sing its praises whenever I get the opportunity, especially to new birders, especially to young birders…. Read more »
Lately my Facebook feed has been chock full of orioles—everyone seems to have them! And not just one, but several orioles… one person reported having a dozen at their feeders this week! Orioles eating oranges, orioles eating grape jelly, even one adorable oriole peering in someone’s window seemingly looking for someone to supply more oranges… Read more »
One of my favorite perks of my job is that I get a fairly steady stream of texts, emails, and DMs asking for help identifying a bird. Most of the time I even know the answer! What tickles me most about this is who is doing the asking—friends from all areas of my life, often… Read more »
Why don’t bird houses have back doors? Or side doors? Every bird house I have seen has only one front door, a single entrance. Why? Is it just tradition, or do birds prefer it that way? When a bird builds a nest in a tree there is easy access to the nest from every direction,… Read more »
Like many of you, the staff at Bird Watcher’s Digest has been spending a lot of time lately in our backyards and local patches keeping an eye on the birds. To keep things interesting, especially as avian activity continues to ramp up with spring migration, we offer a fun twist on your socially distant birding—Bird… Read more »
Happy Earth Day! It somehow seems appropriate that this holiday would fall during a time when many of us are in a heightened state of awareness of the natural world around us, spending time outdoors and observing nature in ways and at times we normally wouldn’t be. And while we won’t be attending any large… Read more »
by Karen Schmidt If it were not for the COVID-19 virus, I would have missed seeing the most amazing wild bird interaction this morning. Normally I would not be having a cup of coffee on my front porch at 10 a.m. on a Monday. I would be doing something more “useful”… like going to work…. Read more »
