Another Flycatcher: Eastern Kingbird

Since I began this blog, I’ve posted on two different flycatchers, the Eastern Phoebe and Great-crest Flycatcher. So why have I neglected comment on the Eastern Kingbird? I’ve seen the Kingbird twice this breeding season, once in a pasture atop a tree (reminder to self: identify trees when identifying birds that sit atop them) and again, just a week ago, on a telephone line along a rural road fronting a pastureland. (Photo courtesy of Charles H. Warren.)

The Eastern Kingbird is a large, handsome bird—dark gray with white throat, belly, and stomach. Some birds you learn by sound, but typically I see, not hear, the kingbird. When catching sight of a regal gray bird with a white underbelly, I always look for a white trim to the tail to confirm the kingbird. Like other flycatchers, the kingbird eats flying insects, but while wintering in South America, this flycatcher becomes a fruit-eating bird.

Just now I listened to the kingbird’s song (on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s site All About Birds) to see if I recognized it . . . but didn’t. Therefore, I need to learn the kingbird’s song and calls. You can’t truly know a songbird if you don’t know his song. And I certainly what to know this bird—wouldn’t you?

Till next time . . . happy birding!

Chipping Sparrow

As you already know, some birds are year-round residents, like the Northern Cardinal, while others are seasonal visitors. In the seasonal category we mostly think of our yearly spring and summer visitors, like the colorful Indigo Bunting or Scarlet Tanager who winter, respectively, in Central and South America. But we can’t forget those birds that visit Pennsylvania only during the winter months, for example, the American Tree Sparrow (see my blog for December 5, 2008).

But why talk about a wintering bird now, at the start of summer?

The reason is because the Chipping Sparrow, a summer guest over a vast range of the North American continent, looks quite similar to another sparrow, one who only winters with us here in Pennsylvania and across a large swath of the country: the American Tree Sparrow. Both have rusty caps and a dark eye stripe, though the Chipping Sparrow’s stripe is black and the Tree Sparrow’s is rufous.

Such distinctions, however, aren’t always noticeable on a quick glance. One conspicuous physical difference between these two seasonal sparrows is the American Tree Sparrow’s dark central spot on a gray chest. You won’t find this spot on the Chipping Sparrow’s gray chest. And while you’ll find both sparrows at your feeder (filled with black oil sunflower seeds), you’ll never find them visiting together because one visits in spring/summer and the other in winter.

Until next time . . . happy birding!

Georgia Anne

Scolding House Wrens

I’ve a pair of nesting House Wrens in a birdhouse hanging under the eaves of an outside picnic pavilion. Situated within a small grove of Hemlock trees, the birdhouse is nicely located. (Photo courtesy of Charles H. Warren.) It provides protection against the elements and easy access to tree branches for fledglings on their first flight. However, the parenting wrens do have a bothersome neighbor: my cat.

(You can see and hear one of these House Wrens scolding me in a brief video on my Web site: www.ofthewing.com. Look under the What's New button.)

Do not get overly distraught with images of my calico feasting on mom or pop wren or—heaven forbid—the babies. Despite her every calculation, my cat has not devised a way to access the birdhouse, though she doesn’t seem to lose interest in trying. However, the parent wrens quickly alert me to my cat’s intentions with their loud scolding. Hear a variety of their sounds (songs, calls, and scolds) at

All About Birds
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Wren/sounds

Whenever I hear their racket, I run outside, collect my cat, and take her inside. Too, I keep her inside whenever I leave the house, which assures that Gwendolyn can’t cause trouble. Of course, it’s no picnic for the nesting wrens to be bothered by a cat, a frustrated cat at that, but every neighborhood has its nuisance neighbors and in this case, for the wrens, the nuisance is my cat.

Until next time . . . happy birding!

Georgia Anne

Indigo Bunting

A bird that brings both brilliant color and vibrant song to my small patch of the world is the Indigo Bunting. The male bunting is as blue as the male cardinal is red. And seeing both colorful birds together at my feeder is a wonderful treat. But so is hearing the bunting’s rich, musical warble. (Photo courtesy of Charles H. Warren.)

I often see a male bunting, perched like a bright blue ornament atop a spruce, pine, or other evergreen, singing for all to hear, especially as the day wanes toward dusk. How considerate of the bunting to pose and sing from such prominent locations.

However, I must admit that while I frequently see and hear the male throughout the spring and summer, I seldom catch sight of the female, a light brownish-bird, with perhaps only the faintest blush of her mate’s brilliance on her wings, tail, or rump. Neither do I see females at my feeder, which I don’t quite understand, unless I’m simply overlooking them.

Perhaps I should start looking more vigilantly for the female. I think I will. And if you’ve never noticed a bluer-than-blue bird at a feeder or atop a tree singing, maybe you should search out the male Indigo Bunting.

Until next time . . . happy birding!

Georgia Anne

Battle for the Box: Tree Swallows Vs. Eastern Bluebirds

Every spring a battle is waged between Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds to see who will win occupancy to the nest boxes on my property. Technically, these boxes are designed for Bluebirds, but that doesn’t keep the Tree Swallows from moving in. (Photo of female Tree Swallow courtesy of Ken Thomas.)

I have four boxes staked along a strip of pasture above my home. A couple hundred feet separate these boxes that face a grove of wild cherry trees about fifty feet away. Somewhere I once read that it’s important to position nest boxes close enough to trees so that fledglings might reach the safety of their branches on first flight. Too, nest boxes should never face west since most storm systems roll in from the west. Thus my boxes face east.

But back to the bird battle . . .

Every spring, I watch to see which bird will prevail, the Eastern Bluebird or the Tree Swallow. Visiting the pasture, one day I’ll see a Tree Swallow perched atop a given box but on my next visit will find sitting there a Bluebird. And so these two species chase each other from a nesting box until one finally prevails.

I can’t say why one species will prevail over the other when claiming a particular box, but I do know something else to be true. If you provide several boxes, Tree Swallows and Bluebirds will share the neighborhood, alternating their residency. For instance, if you stake four boxes across a span of pasture, boxes one and three will house Bluebirds while two and four will be home to the Tree Swallows.

Why this is so, I can’t say. But it seems like a reasonable arrangement to me.

So until next time, happy birding!

Georgia Anne