Pictured above is a bird at work in 2009, a peregrine falcon named Charlie whose job was to clear birds from the airfield at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. His full crop indicates that he’d already done his job that day but he was looking around anyway, just in case some birds came back.
It was a wonder in 2014 when, after centuries of ornithologists saying that only male birds sing, Karan Odom at University of Maryland documented singing females. Most of the species live in the tropics but even back then 150 female-singing species were documented in North America.
Mockingbirds are also unusual because they sing in autumn when other birds are silent. They do it because they change location. Those that nest in the northern end of their range migrate south while others move locally (see animated eBird map). When mockingbirds “reappear” in September they are singing again to claim new territory.
Males and females look alike and they aren’t paired up in winter so we cannot tell which sex is singing. Nevertheless we can hear them. Here are some examples.
28 Sep 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio:
7 Nov 2019 in Harlingen, TX:
I see mockingbirds in Pittsburgh in the winter. Are they local transplants or from further north? Are they male or female? I dunno.
A synanthrope (syn-anthrope) [from Greek: syn-anthrope: syn=”together with” + anthropos=”man”] is a wild animal or plant that lives near, and benefits from, an association with humans and the somewhat artificial habitats that people create around themselves.
Horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) and pilewort (Erechtites hieraciifolius) are native North American plants that like disturbed soil. We notice them in August when they start to look ugly.
p.s. (*) Merriam-Webster explains that the word was introduced by botanist Theodor von Heldreich at a botanical conference in Paris, 16-24 August 1878, making its first-ever use almost exactly 144 years ago.
What do you do when your nest and babies sail away without you? A house finch couple on Pittsburgh’s North Shore have learned to wait for the boat to come home.
Male and female house finches, Nov 2010 (photo by Steve Gosser)
This spring a pair of house finches (Haemorhous mexicanus) were very quick to build a nest atop a loud speaker on the aft deck of the Rivers of Steel Explorer, docked behind the Carnegie Science Center. By the time the crew caught up with them the female had finished the nest and laid eggs, so the nest had to remain undisturbed until it was empty.
House finch nest on top of loud speaker on Rivers of Steel Explorer vessel, 29 July 2022 (photo by Ryan O’Rourke)
When would it be empty? Not yet. In August? In September?
House finches are masters at back-to-back nesting, raising three to six broods per year. As the young approach fledging the male takes charge of them while the female starts the next round of egg laying. On the Explorer the female doesn’t pause between one brood and the next.
When I met the Explorer finch family on 26 July they had already raised several broods and were caring for young approximately two days old. While our tour waited on deck for the boat to depart the father fed three tiny nestlings. They are growing fast! Here they are three days later on 29 July.
Close up of house finch nest, 29 July 2022 (photo by Ryan O’Rourke)
Our tour pulled away from the dock and I forgot about the house finches for 90 minutes while we traveled Pittsburgh’s three rivers. Mother and father house finch were absent but they had not forgotten. Waiting on shore they were so attuned to the habits of the Explorer that when the vessel maneuvered to dock they raced across the channel to the aft deck. “The kids are home!”
The Traveling Nest is one of many birding highlights on Rivers of Steel Explorer tours. Captain Ryan O’Rourke explained, “In addition to hosting a bird-watching cruise with the National Aviary, part of our educational program for students includes a lesson in birding and how birds can be indicators of the health of our rivers.”
Is there a bright yellow bird with black wings in your vegetable garden poking among the salad greens? Or perhaps a drab female or juvenile bird (shown below)?
Whoosh! Fast moving birds circle, swoop, rise and fall as they eat flying insects. Swallows and swifts move so fast that it’s hard to identify them in flight. With one swift and six swallow species in our area(*) the first step is to decide: “Is that a Swallow or a Swift?“
This stop-action photo by Patrick bx (@bronxfxdc) makes it easy to see the differences described by audubon.org below.
Color: If the bird has any color, it’s a swallow. Chimney swifts are dark brown all over (see top image). Many swallows are colorful or iridescent. Most have white bellies.
Flight style: Chimney swifts flap their stiff wings so fast that they look like they flip on their body axis. Swallows bend their wings as they flap in “swallow-like” flight.
Perched? If the bird is perched or standing on the ground it’s a swallow. Chimney swifts cannot stand on the ground and cannot perch at all except to cling upright inside a chimney.
(photos from Patrick bx (@bronxfxdc) embedded tweet & the Crossley ID Guide to Eastern Birds via Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)
For ten days, July 8 to 18, the airspace around the Cathedral of Learning was quiet. Literally quiet. No screeching. This year’s young peregrines had finally left home to become independent. What a relief after Silver Girl screeched all day for a handout on 6 July! Ecco and Morela relaxed.
It was too much to hope. When it rained all day on Sunday 17 July with more rain due on Monday the 18th, Silver Girl came home to beg from Ecco rather than hunt on her own in the rain.
Oh no! She’s back! Ecco retreated to the nestbox but departed as Silver Girl arrived. Screeching! Screeching! She hopped up to the snapshot camera and continued screech.
Here’s what she sounded like in case you’ve forgotten the noise.
Silver Girl screeches for a handout, 18 July 2022
My husband heard her screeching again at St. Paul’s Cathedral steeple at 7pm.
The weather will be sunny for the next five days without any all-day rain for the foreseeable future. Silver Girl will leave again but will she become truly independent? It remains to be seen.
A young Piping Plover chick takes her first steps. Beautifully photographed by our volunteer @4binator, with zoom & and at a safe distance. These babies are the most vulnerable beings on the beach. Will you help us protect them? pic.twitter.com/fzjImvupwC
A flightless guillemot chick (Cepphus grylle), accompanied by his father, jumps into the sea at an island off the UK coast:
42 secs of one of the most iconic UK wildlife moments. A still flightless, ~20 day-old Guillemot chick, accompanied by its dad, leaving the patch of rock where it was born, making its way to the edge of the cliff, and jumping into the sea without hesitation. pic.twitter.com/q9qrC91CSe
