Posts Tagged ‘birds’

Friday, January 27, 2023

DIY Forest Management Projects to Try In Winter

Black-throated Green Warbler. Photo: Joshua Galicki/Audubon Photography Awards

You may not see as many birds in your woods in winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan ahead. If you’d like to hear the sound of an Ovenbird calling “pizza! pizza! pizza!” while you hike your trails, or catch a glimpse of a Scarlet Tanager high in a tree canopy, there are actions you can take – for free or cheap, and mostly on your own – to increase the diversity of bird species in your forest.

Winter is a particularly great time to try these management activities, since it’s outside the nesting season.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, June 2, 2022

Five forest birds that make their way back in spring

As we enter spring and welcome the warm weather, we are seeing more birds come back from their wintering grounds. Many forest birds migrate long distances to their breeding locations in the spring. It is crucial that these birds have quality habitat so they can nest, feed, and raise their young to ensure the next generation of the species.

Most neotropical migrants leave the northeast in September and return in April and May. Each bird species has different habitat requirements, so it is key to have a healthy and diverse forest to fulfill all their needs. A healthy forest is composed of multiple age classes and species of trees, provides ecosystem services, and supports forest birds and other wildlife.

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Thursday, May 26, 2022

Bird Migration FAQs

tree swallow

Below, we’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions having to do with bird migration, their journeys, and ways we can welcome them back.

(At left, a tree swallow, illustration by David Allen Sibley, courtesy of Audubon New York)

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Sunday, May 22, 2022

Found an injured bird? Here’s how to help

baby bird

Few things are more heartbreaking than encountering an injured, sick, or orphaned bird (adult or chick) or other wild animal. It is in our human nature to want to help, but how do we make sure we do more good than harm? Follow these important guidelines.

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Monday, March 28, 2022

Keeping track of birds

bird band station

 

Some people open Christmas gifts with relish. But it is with an equal amount of anticipation that we bird nerds open the annual PDF emailed by Gordon Howard highlighting the previous year’s count at the Crown Point Banding Station — a document that arrived in the mailbox this week. Volunteers at the station, located at the Crown Point Historic Site, net, count and band dozens of species each spring at one of the nation’s more significant avian highways. Prior to Covid, it had become a popular attraction for tourists, birders and school classes, but it’s been closed to the public for the past two years due to the pandemic. This year it will be open again, from May 6 to May 21 for the station’s 47th consecutive year of banding birds.

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Monday, January 10, 2022

Helping Birds Survive the Winter 

Carolina wrens on snowmanAs winter sets in across the North Country, devoted bird-enthusiasts resume feeding overwintering birds. They take both pleasure and pride in helping their feathered friends survive the harsh winter months, by dutifully providing them with food, water, and shelter.

Feeding birds during the winter can be a never-ending source of entertainment and enjoyment. And an easy, rewarding, and sometimes surprising way to connect with nature. No matter where you live, you can invite birds into your yard and help to ensure their survival by simply putting food out for them to find.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, September 27, 2021

Birdwatching in the Adirondacks

Birder at Washington County Grasslands provided by DEC

By Hicham Aboutaam

Anyone who is a bird lover and an avid birdwatcher undoubtedly already has the Adirondacks on their bucket list. There are over 100 species of birds in the Adirondacks and the chance to enjoy everything from boreal birds and birds of prey to perching birds and waterfowl. The area is a feast for the eyes and the other senses. For the uninitiated, or the person who has not yet had the chance to enjoy birdwatching in the area, here is a quick guide to experiences I have had and advice I’ve garnered over time.

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Monday, May 10, 2021

NNY Audubon funds bird projects across the region

bluebirdNorthern New York Audubon (NNYA) is pleased to announce that funds will be awarded to several regional organizations as part of the annual Joseph & Joan Cullman Conservation Grants.

The projects approved by NNYA were submitted by the following non-profits, local environmental organizations, and higher education institutions: Adirondack Interpretive Center at Newcomb, Ausable River Association, Wildlife Conservation Society, Adirondack Watershed Institute, St. Lawrence Land Trust, SUNY ESF Adirondack Ecological Center, Dr. Alyssa Gleichsner of SUNY Plattsburgh, and Jesse Rock of Paul Smith’s College master’s program.

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Saturday, March 20, 2021

It’s Just Coffee. Right?

It’s Just Coffee. Right? 

Coffee may very well be the world’s most widely traded tropical agricultural commodity. It’s certainly one of them. Twenty to twenty-five million families around the world make their living growing coffee. And, by most estimates, more than 2.25-billion cups of coffee are consumed worldwide every day.

If you’re like me, you start your day; every day; with a couple of cups of coffee. (I’m addicted.) I often enjoy my early morning joe seated at the table reading emails and online news, while observing the birds at my feeder station as they come and go. When the weather permits, I like to enjoy my coffee sitting outside, where I often just close my eyes and listen.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, November 21, 2020

Helping the snow birds that stick around

When we hear the term “Snow Birds,” we naturally think of a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern locales but birds here in the Adirondacks also claim this title and fittingly so.

As winter approaches the mountains, an entire orchestra of song birds migrates to a warmer, southern winter territory.  The morning music of feathered chirpers throughout the spring and summer months have flown away not to return until April-May next year.

These flying migrators range from 29 species of warblers to various populations for thrushes, sparrows, flickers, bluebirds, buntings, sapsuckers, wrens and hummingbirds.  This does not leave winter void of the sound of winged music, there are songbirds that remain and brave the cold.

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, May 24, 2020

Plover population reaches record high in 2019

piping ploverPiping plovers are creating nests on Atlantic Coast beaches on the heels of a successful 2019 season. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the population climbed from 1,879 pairs in 2018 to record high of 2,008 pairs breeding last summer from eastern Canada south to North Carolina.

This marks a conservation milestone 35 years in the making from the cooperation of several organizations and many public beachgoers. The record high numbers are due in part to a widespread implementation of “management practices” such as installing symbolic fencing around nests, leashing dogs, posting caution signs, reducing predation, and trusting beachgoers to be conscious of their behavior near the fenced areas around nests.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Snowy Owls Are Tundra Terminators

female Snowy Owl by Joe Kostoss of Eye in the ParkThirty thousand years before Harry Potter immortalized the Snowy Owl in popular culture, our European ancestors were drawing them on cave walls. Snowy owls breed on the treeless northern tundra of Alaska, Canada and Eurasia, using scrapes on snow free boulders, hummocks or rises as nests. Males select and defend their territory, while females choose the nesting site.

In a typical year, when adult snowies consume an average of 1,600 lemmings each, half of their clutch of four to eight eggs will survive to adulthood.  In a banner year, when the constantly fluctuating lemming populations explode, the female may lay a larger clutch, up to 12 eggs, and all the chicks may survive, and many head south in what are called “Irruptions,” in search of territory or prey, which is why we may see some in the Adirondacks in Winter.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Pileated Woodpeckers: Winter Excavators

Pileated Woodpecker by Adelaide TyrolWhenever I spy a pileated woodpecker traversing the sky, I pause to watch its weird undulating flight. The jerky rise-and-drop movement of this large woodpecker is endearingly gawky – like a mini pterodactyl visiting from the Cretaceous period. This time of year, the bird’s bold crimson crest flashes in stark contrast to the mostly-muted colors of winter.

Pileated woodpeckers – Dryocopus pileatus – take their common and scientific names from the Latin word for “capped.” Both male and female sport the namesake red crest, as well as black streaks across the eyes. Measuring about 18 inches long, they have wingspans that can stretch past two feet. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, January 25, 2020

An Unusual Encounter With A Ruffed Grouse

ruffed grouse by richard gastClose encounters with wildlife have always fascinated me. But the behavior of wild animals can be, at best, difficult to understand and, at times, totally unpredictable. I once grappled with a robin who returned year after year, only to spend the entire summer flying into my office window in a seemingly endless war with its reflection.

Just last month, I was outside beside the woodpile, getting ready to bring in some firewood, when a male ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) stepped out from under a small spruce tree, fearlessly strutted right up to me, and steadfastly stood there on the ground, literally underfoot. I was actually afraid that I’d accidentally step on him. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, January 18, 2020

Winter Fruit Provides Bounty for Wildlife

winter robin by adelaide tyrolLate one January afternoon, my husband and I stood on the shore of a frozen pond below the summit of Camel’s Hump, admiring the view. Suddenly we heard familiar calls, and a flock of robins flew over. Robins? In winter? In the mountains? I was perplexed.

Later, I talked with a birder friend, who informed me that robins from Labrador and other northern regions migrate south to the Green and White Mountains in winter, where they feed on mountain ash berries. Indeed, during our snowshoe trek to the pond, we had noticed clumps of bright red fruit in the small mountain ash trees, topped with powdery snow. » Continue Reading.



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