Top Photo: Yellow-rumped warbler in black willow. With many species, you don’t have to see much of a bird to identify it. The yellow-rumped warbler in the photo above is but one of several species of warbler with a patch of yellow feathers in the same location as this bird; magnolia, palm, and Cape May warblers are three others. The yellow-rumped is the only one you’re likely to see here in central North Carolina at this time of year. CapeRead more
Posts tagged: #winter finch
Siskin Trouble
It’s been cold, snowy, and icy the past few weeks (oddly, it’s in the 70s as I write this), and the birds have been going through bird seed like a kid through an ice cream cone on a hot day. I’ve had to refill both sunflower and thistle feeders every other day (4 different seed feeders and 3 suet feeders). We’ve had much larger numbers of birds at our feeders before, but whenever it’s cold or there is substantialRead more
Siskins and Catkins
Pine siskins are finches. They are close in size and shape to American goldfinches, a common year-round bird here in the Piedmont. Siskins nest far to the north and west of our area in coniferous or mixed forests. Here, they are considered winter finches because they only show up in winter, although one or two may linger well into spring. Siskins are, however, sporadic in their visitations, some years they’re here, some years they’re not. The winter of 2012-2013Read more
What will the weather bring us?
Weather systems often bring in unusual birds. Strong cold fronts sometimes carry with them birds from the far north. Unusually cold weather creates strong needs within birds to feed, simple survival is the name of the game. During extreme cold periods you often see birds at your feeders that are absent during mild weather especially when the leaf litter is covered with snow. On Thursday, a day when upon awaking from a three dog night, the air temperature was aRead more
Siskins, others, and a sign of the season to come (maybe)
The cold weather following the cold front last Wednesday night brought with it increased activity at the bird feeders in Catch the Wind. There had been one Pine Siskin hanging around for a couple of weeks and Ranger Kristin reported 6 siskins at the feeders on Sunday (1/27) but it took the cold to bring in a group of 18 of the little finches. The birds had nearly cleaned out the thistle feeder, it was getting very low on seed,Read more
Keep an eye out for…
Evening Grosbeaks, Common Redpolls, Purple Finches, and Pine Siskins. Those birds are all considered winter finches. Purple Finches and Pine Siskins usually show up in our area each winter. Evening Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls DO NOT. There have been reports of all of those birds on Carolinabirds ListServ during the past week. I haven’t seen an Evening Grosbeak in North Carolina in almost twenty years and that was a flyby of 7 or 8 birds over the field area of Few’sRead more
New Bird Arrives
Red-breasted Nuthatches showed up at the feeders in the Bird Viewing Exhibit today. It’s been so long since I’d seen a R-b Nuthatch that I’d forgoten whether or not I’d ever seen one here at the Museum. After checking my records, yes, I had seen them here before. Must have been the excitement of the sighting that caused my temporary memory loss. Anyway, here’s just a few photos: These birds may or may not stay with us, they may moveRead more
The Butter-Butt
This year’s “Butter-Butt” goes to Ranger Kristin who saw the first Yellow-rumped Warbler (a.k.a. Butter-butt) of the season – beat me by about two minutes (10/5/11). However, she’s the one that pointed out the Butter Butt that I saw, so I probably wouldn’t have seen it if she hadn’t pointed it out. Congratulations Ranger Kristin! There are still more seasonal firsts to be had so don’t despair. The first Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and White-throated Sparrow, among others, have yetRead more
Excavations Underway, Visitors from the North
For the past month or more, a male Red-bellied Woodpecker has been excavating a hole near the end of a broken branch of a Loblolly Pine. The pine is just outside the entrance to the Lemur House. The bird will, presumably, use the hole to roost in during the cold winter nights, and perhaps to nest in later in the year. This industrious woodpecker is not always at the site, but is usually on the job from a little afterRead more