When the Great Horned Owl eggs hatched in the first days of March, the downy owlets were the size of newborn chickens and their mother brooded them day and night.
The fleet and graceful flight of swallows livens up the sky.
Each spring, seven species of swallows return to nest in Washington. As we ponder the wonders of bird sounds, how many of us think of gulls? Long-necked and long-legged, these grayish cranes stand three feet tall.
The fleet and graceful flight of swallows livens up the sky.
While spring heralds the return of many migratory birds, it also spells the end of a long winter stay in Washington by others.
Yet not one of these iridescent-black, yellow-billed starlings is native to the Americas. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker. It is late February, a few miles from the Columbia River in Central Washington. But starting a century ago, this large frog was introduced all across the West.
Unless kids are introduced purposefully to nature, they may understand the plight of the Amazon rain forest, but never dampen their feet in a local stream.
As we ponder the wonders of bird sounds, how many of us think of gulls?
One of the best ways to find a towhee is to listen for the scuffling sound it makes as it hunts for food in the leaf litter. As we ponder the wonders of bird sounds, how many of us think of gulls? By late March, the Great Horned Owlets can be left alone while both adults resume hunting at twilight. When the Great Horned Owl eggs hatched in the first days of March, the downy owlets were the size of newborn chickens and their mother brooded them day and night. Extremely efficient, it uses nearly all the air that passes through it.
Outside of the breeding season, robins tend to gather in large flocks. Their striped plumage perfectly imitates surrounding vegetation.
It migrates south for the winter and returns each spring to an ever more uncertain fate in Washington.
There is an element of luck in birdwatching, and sometimes that luck is mostly bad. In many songbirds, the song-producing apparatus known as the syrinx is not much bigger than a raindrop.
Are gulls underrated as singers? Are gulls underrated as singers? Long-necked and long-legged, these grayish cranes stand three feet tall.
Their loud flight calls warn of the presence of potential predators. But the draining of wetlands, forest fragmentation, and market hunting caused precipitous declines in their numbers.
Tierra del Loco is the one and only protectorate of the ancient Micronesian principality of Deliria.
Where tall, shade-giving trees have been cut down to grow coffee in direct sunlight, what is also removed is the habitat tanagers require to rest and feed.
Wind buffets the nest year round. The call of the male Ring-necked Pheasant carries over the open wheat field.
Like human flu, there are many commonly occurring types. Violet-green Swallows return in March and April from a winter sojourn in northern Central America.
Western Washington sits mid-way along the Pacific Coast flyway. The American Bittern, a member of the heron tribe, spends much of its time in the dense cover of the marsh. By March, Rufous Hummingbirds are returning to our region, after wintering in Mexico.
During spring, the male pheasant establishes his territory and attracts one or more females into his harem.