Blog for the Birds

Missouri Rest Stops get Bird Houses

S & K Manufacturing donated purple martin and bluebird houses to 19 rest areas along Missouri interstate highways.  This will ensure people who stop there will have plenty of birdwatching to do.  Especially during Purple Martin season.  You have a few more months to see the Martins by the way - they will head south again toward the end of September. Oh and a side benefit to the travelers: the birds eat insects. The Purple Martin especially loves mosquitoes. No wonder we love those martins!

Missouri rest areas provided with bird houses

Israel’s new National Bird

It’s the Hoopoe!  After an exhaustive process, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel determined the Hoopoe was the right bird for Israel. According to President Peres - 500 million birds pass through Israel’s skies annually. He wasn’t referring specifically to the Hoopoe, but that’s a lot of bird for a country with a small land mass.

Hoopoe Israel’s new national bird

How do they Do That?

Ever wonder how shorebirds like the Phalarope manage to get the water and food bits to travel uphill through their long beaks and into their mouths?  Well, so have scientists.  And this article seems to pose a reasonable explanation to that age old mystery.

How birds make water defy gravity

Houston 2nd Graders Get Purple Martins

2nd Graders at Meadow Wood Elementary in Houston are a lucky bunch. They’re getting early bird training. With a mini grant, they have a bunch of purple martin houses to put on outside their classroom so they can watch and observe. It’s Purple Martin time again and the 2nd graders there will learn to appreciate these fabulous birds and perhaps become Martin fans later in life.

Second-graders get a bird’s-eye view

New bird discovered in Nepal

A previously unknown sub-species of Warbler has been discovered in the southern grasslands of Nepal.  The bird fills in an important geographical gap in previously-known varieties in Pakistan and India.

‘New type of bird’ found in Nepal

Yellow Rail Goes off Track

Birders in the San Francisco bay area had an interesting sighting; a Yellow Rail. Only thing is, this bird is native to the Gulf Coast - oops wrong coast!  Arrowhead Marsh is a popular stopover on a west coast migration path called the ‘Pacific Flyway’ and it’s also popular spot for bird-watchers. The watchful birders saw this anomaly and the news quickly spread!

Rare bird draws admiring flocks

Say’s Phoebe Spotted in Florida

Say’s Phoebe has been spotted in Florida and is creating a bit of a stir. While these birds are common west of the Mississippi, sightings in Florida are rare. Prior to last month’s sighting, the bird had not been recording in Florida since 1975. We might just chalk this up to the bird getting lost along its way, but it sure is a rare listing for Florida birders!

Bird-counters report rare sighting of Say’s Phoebe

Lost Wisconsin Hummingbird Gets Winter Home

The Green-breasted mango hummingbird reported in this blog post, is getting a helping hand from the local birders. Thanks to some caring birders, the mango will not have to brave the cold Wisconsin winter and will be able to winter at a local zoo.

Not everyone is happy with this however. Sheri Williamson says this should have been an example of natural selection, but she did go on to say This is a humane decision and not a conservation decision.

Beloiter rescues bird from winter weather

Must Have Birding Book

I just finished, or I should say, I have just finished flipping through the book “Bird - The Definitive Visual Guide”. It’s not a book you read, it’s a reference. It has stunning visual photos and renderings in it and will be at home either on the coffee table or out in the field. It’s a little bulky for the birding pack at 500 pages, but it will fit. Maybe I’d better get 2! I can see the book getting beat up pretty quickly out in the field. Hmm, maybe I better get 3 or 4. Will make a great gift for the birders in your life as well. (Also comes with a Bird Song cd!).

Bird - The Definitive Visual Guide

German Researchers find Clue to Bird Migration

How exactly do birds know when and where to migrate?  We’ve always chalked it up to evolutionary adaptation, but scientists may have found a clue in their vision system.  The study says that birds ’see’ the Earth’s magnetic field as a visual pattern, which presumably aids them in migration.

Migrating birds may see Earth’s magnetic field