Two weeks ago I talked about bird song mnemonics, and how helpful they can be. Today being April 1, I thought we’d have some fun. Instead of my usual monthly bird quiz, I’ve assembled a list of 15 popular bird songs, translated into English. Can you identify the bird that says each phrase?
If that proves to be too much of a challenge, click on the “continued reading” button for a list of candidates. Answers are at the end, no fooling. Enjoy!
With many of us dying Easter eggs this week, I got curious about eggs that are naturally colored. We’ve raised chickens (Ameraucanas) that laid turquoise-to-olive eggs; our current flock of Black Sex-links lay in shades of tan. In fact, I usually have to buy white eggs at the store in order to achieve those pastel Easter hues.
But what about other kinds of birds? For instance, why do American Robins lay blue eggs, Burrowing Owls lay white eggs, while the American Golden Plover lays eggs that look like ovoid granite rocks, with big, black speckles on a white background? How and why do eggs come in so many colors?
I admit it—I’m terrible at identifying bird sounds. They can screech and chirp and warble and coo all they want, and I have no idea who’s making the racket. Well, that’s not quite true. I do recognize really easy birds such as a Spotted Towhee, Canyon Wren, Swainson’s Thrush, Townsend’s Solitaire, or Cactus Wren (right). I can identify a chickadee’s “chick-a-dee-dee-dee,” too, but I can’t tell a Black-capped from a Mountain without looking.
It’s all right to rely on my (rather poor) eyesight during the winter, when there are no leaves on the trees, but I miss too many birds the rest of the year—and if I do see them, I can’t identify them. It’s not from lack of trying. I can listen to a recording and try to fix it in my mind, but a minute later I have no recollection of what I just heard. I need help.
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from March’s Bird Quiz. It was taken in California during the month of March. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
(Make sure you also see the previous months’ Bird Quizzes!)
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken during March in California. My answer will appear next Monday.
Do you really need another field guide to North American birds? Yes, you do. In fact, you need two of them—the sooner, the better. How many of your current field guides have entries for the Yellow-bellied Prairie Chicken, the Blunt-billed Woodpecker, or the Split Rail? None of them, I bet.
Do your current field guides explain how to correctly assemble the parts of a bird? I’m sure they don’t. Do you own a book explaining what to say to other birders while on a field trip? No? Well then…
(Be sure to see Bosque Birding, Part 1.)
It was pitch black, and our motel room was uncomfortably cold, despite the noisy heater that had run all night. I groped my way out of bed, half asleep but excited about the coming day. We were in Socorro, New Mexico, just north of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. In less than an hour, I’d be taking pictures of some 30,000 Snow Geese flying into the dawn sky.
To refresh your memory, here is the photo from February’s Bird Quiz. It was taken in Texas during the month of January. Don’t read any further if you want one last chance to identify this bird.
(Make sure you also see the previous months’ Bird Quizzes!)
Can you identify this bird? The photo was taken during January in Texas. My answer will appear next Monday.
Question: I’m a birder and nature photographer living in Colorado, with a limited budget for travel. Where can I go for fun and photos at this time of year?
Answer: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge!
Just a day’s drive south of Colorado Springs, Bosque del Apache is the place to go for anyone interested in birds and/or photography. The week we visited, right after New Year’s, the refuge was home to 8,100 Sandhill Cranes, over 32,000 “light” geese, and a whopping 57,000 ducks! With such numbers, spectacular photos are pretty much guaranteed.
Mountain Plover 