26 May 2025
Yesterday morning was sunny and surprisingly warm when eight of us went birding in Schenley Park. We had at least three reasons to look for birds.
- This weekend 24-26 May is Female Bird Day (weekend), a time to focus on identifying and observing female birds.
- 2025 is year 2 of Pennsylvania’s 3rd Breeding Bird Atlas, a three year project that tallies breeding species in PA by watching their behavior.
- Birds are fun!
Our Best Bird was a very cooperative pileated woodpecker who happened to be female. We were amazed that she probed an old telephone pole.
Red-winged blackbirds were busy nesting and socializing in the cattails at Panther Hollow Lake. The females often walked along poking at the water’s edge, then zipped back into the cattails. Food for their young? We couldn’t see the nests but we know they’re in the cattails.
Eastern phoebes were present and photogenic yesterday. I hoped to find a phoebe nest, but we did not.
And, yes, we had fun.
View our checklist below and here at https://ebird.org/checklist/S242682388
Schenley Park, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, US
May 25, 2025 8:30 AM – 11:00 AM
40 species
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 9 One bathed in the lake in flight
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 2
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) 2
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 1 Adult perched on nest rail at CL
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 3
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 5
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 5
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 1 Heard
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 2
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 6
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 1 Heard
Northern House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 3
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 5
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 6
Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) 1
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) 2 Heard and seen
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 20
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 5
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 5
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 4
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 3
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 8
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 10
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 1
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) 3
Bay-breasted Warbler (Setophaga castanea) 3
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 1 Heard
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) 1
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens) 1
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 10
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) 3