We've seen huge flocks of birds here on the cape in recent weeks, walking our dog in early evening. I think all the ones that migrate are gathering here or at least stopping by on their way south - last night it was swallows, and that was an incredible sight. There must have been at least a thousand of them, swooping in and out over the woods along a salt pond as the sun started to set.

Then again, I think it's also true that the birds who are staying for the winter don't sing now, since they're just hunkering down for winter, not looking for mates or defending territory. That may be one of those bits of misinformation that gets passed down through the generations, or something I saw on the Nature channel - I'm not a bird expert by any means.

It does seem like bird song is a spring and summer phenomenon, though - I miss it, too.

Now that we are talking birds I have a basic question, Joe and I have continued to hear through the summer and now into the fall I suppose because our windows are open bird sounds (very unusual) during the dead of night. Are nocturnal birds limited to owls? kt

It's relatively quiet here in Plymouth, too. A few weeks ago the Blue Jays started gathering in the trees overlooking the bay and called back and forth. Then most of them were gone. There are maybe two left that don't seem to be about to migrate. The shorebirds came through a while ago, and other flocks zip by.

Hummingbirds are still at the feeder, but they will probably leave soon.

Cardinals, sparrows and doves are still here, and a new batch of Blue Jays may show up for the winter. Even the crows are hushed.

The Cape and Islands NPR bird guru, Vern Laux, said in mid-summer that the birds were exhausted by mating and nesting and would stop calling until next spring.

I'm not a bird expert either, but this is probably normal for this time of year.

Claire

i love it that i can learn so much from the GW community. what fun! experts or not, you have a lot to pass along! I never knew any of that, or even realized that it had become quiet here too. now i will be more aurally cognizant, and informed!
thanks much
mindy

KT: Whip-poor-wills are nocturnal, and I remember hearing them in the summer nights in my childhood. There are probably other nocturnal birds around, I just don't know them off-hand.

You might also be hearing migrating flocks of songbirds. Many of them migrate at night and supposedly call to each other.

Claire

Thanks Claire,
I just bought The Songs of Wild Birds by Lang Elliott at the Garden in the Woods gift shop for my father in-law. It has great full page color photos with well written descriptions and is easily indexed with a birdsong CD. Hmmm my father in-laws hearing isn't really all that good...I may have to test out the CD before I wrap it to check the quality!! kt

Sounds like a good gift. There are also websites with bird recordings, such as

Cornell's All about Birds

Birds of New England

and

North American Bird Sounds.

The trouble with these is that you need to know what the bird is, and then go look for the call. My problem is that I keep hearing interesting sounds but don't want to go searching through all the possible birds to identify it. One of these days I'll buy a CD and just lie down and listen, with a pencil and pad.

Claire

Great sites Claire thanks for sharing. I learned this cool fact about the Whip-poor-wil;
The Whip-poor-will lays its eggs in phase with the lunar cycle, so that the eggs hatch on average 10 days before a full moon. When the moon is near full the adults can forage the entire night, and so best provide the nestlings with insects.

Posted by runktrun z7a MA (My Page) on Mon, Sep 22, 08 at 17:35

Now that we are talking birds I have a basic question, Joe and I have continued to hear through the summer and now into the fall I suppose because our windows are open bird sounds (very unusual) during the dead of night. Are nocturnal birds limited to owls? kt

Don't know if your question was answered, but it is a common thing for mockingbirds to sing at night. They are gray birds with a white flash on their wings.

Folks
Thanks so much for giving me the info! Makes a lot of sense
that our feathered friends are exhausted after a summer of nesting, 'Hail and Farewell'-ing, mating, giving out predator-warnings, etc. They just want some peace and quiet. Was just on the Olympic Peninsula near Seattle-
same thing--huge fir & sequoia forest-TOTAL SILENCE!!!!!
(They said that this was cougar country-luckily for us we
did not see nor hear any.)

I hope my little swallows were among the flock that you saw migrating, Digging. I missed seeing them this year grouping together on the utility wires in preparation for their journey. Last year I counted 30-something, and then they were gone for the winter.

Barn swallows successfully raised 5 little ones in their nest on our front porch, 3 hatched and fledged from the barn nest, and I suspect more from the nest high under our eaves this year. All summer they've been swooping low over the meadow catching insects. May fortune smile on their little wings until their return in the spring.

It's no wonder they are too worn out from raising their small ones to sing right now. Both parents have to catch some phenomenal amount of bugs (it's in the thousands, maybe 10s of thousands) each day to feed their young. It takes remarkable dedication and tenacity...

Here are our little swallows from a couple years ago. Aren't they cute? They make an awful mess of the porch, but a bucket of warm water and chlorine bleach puts it back to rights after they've flown. They come back to the nest at night for about a week after they've learned to fly, as do the parent birds to keep an eye on them.

They all open their mouths when they hear one of the parent birds approaching with food.

spedigrees: Those are outrageously cute little birds! Thanks for cheering me up.

Claire

Adorable baby swallows! I didn't even think I had swallows around here, until this summer when I noticed some flying and swooping around a nearby playing field, catching bugs. They are very cool to watch.

Many many birds are migratory in North America, for example I've read that the Blue Jays who spend the summer here fly to warmer climes, and that the Blue Jays who reside here over the winter are birds that have come down from Canada. I guess they are "hardier stock"! :)

Although it is a bit quieter here in my yard than during breeding season, there are still TONS of birds. They are especially active in early morning and again in late afternoon. I think it is the habitat that attracts them - a mix of canopy trees, evergreens, shrubbery, thickets, and a little meadow. I have been clearing out the invasive plants and creating many gardens in back that are a mix of native shrubs, perennials, and grasses. This seems to be attracting more birds than ever!

The hummingbirds seem to have left for the season now - I haven't seen any since just before the big rains (northeaster and Hurricane Kyle). I'll keep the feeder up for a few weeks in case a migrant hummer comes through hungry.

With all the fall vegetation it's hard to see all the birds. Except of course for the turkeys which stand out in any vista.

Usually the turkeys stroll into the yard, but few days ago they were all riled up, probably by neighborhood dogs, and I heard a lot of yoyking in the woods. I went out to fill the feeders and spread seed on the ground, but I couldn't see any turkeys. Until I happened to look up, and there was a big turkey perched in a pitch pine above me. It flew off into the woods and soon after the whole flock walked in for dinner. I guess they wanted to make sure food was ready before they took a chance on the ground.

And on the other end of the size scale, the House Sparrows are bopping around and having pool parties.

Aside from these, I have cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatches, a few Blue Jays and doves and I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker last week. I think a hawk flew by this morning.

Claire

Spedigrees and Claire-those are FABULOUS!!! bird pictures!
I can almost hear them chirping! (I need to get one of
those bird CD's which were described by runktrun-or check
out a 'sounds of birds' website which Claire suggested.)

Thanks so much! for all the pics and info.

The winter bird population is assembling - there are new Blue Jays appearing, the Chickadees and Tufted Titmice are coming in from the woods (I don't see them much in the summer) and I saw my first White-throated Sparrow this morning.

It's almost time for Project FeederWatch, the program run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology where you watch, count and report the numbers and types of birds visiting your feeders in the winter. I got this year's package last week. A good way to keep in touch with your garden through the non-growing season.

I saw a new bird yesterday, which might be a Cerulean Warbler. The bird was apparently eating seeds of a miscanthus. Whatever it is, it's new to me. I've emailed photos to eBird at Cornell for identification.

Three years ago my bird ID repertoire was pretty much limited to pigeons, sea gulls, blue jays, cardinals and crows. Project FeederWatch, and the need to report the winged things, has added enormously to my knowledge and my enjoyment.

Claire

Well, it's not a Cerulean Warbler, but an Indigo Bunting. eBird just emailed me today and said:

"Your bird is a male Indigo Bunting, molting into its winter plumage. Cerulean Warbler would look rather different, with bold white wing bars, white underparts, a thin pointed bill, and no brown tones to the plumage."

This bird should be heading south soon - Go south, young bird! It'll be cold soon!

Right now I'm pestering eBird for identification. Later on I'll pester the Project FeederWatch people.

Claire

Claire,
Love that Indigo Bunting pic--I've seen pics of Indigo Bunting
and they are usually more colorful than this one--female, perhaps? late in the season perhaps?
I'm retiring in 2 months--have got to get more stuff going.
Maybe project feeder watch is a good idea. I do get Tufted
Titmice in the winter, along with our resident cardinals,
and I have seen a groups of woodpeckers-the different varieties which run up and down tree trunks.

desperationfalls: according to eBird, the Bunting is a molting male. I once saw a male in summer and it was very blue.

If you have woodpecker-like birds running down tree trunks, they may be nuthatches. I have them now (White-breasted) and I had a Red-breasted Nuthatch at my feeder most of last winter.

Lots of birds run up tree trunks, but nuthatches run down too.

Claire

Claire, I've never seen an Indigo Bunting - very cool! I did, however, see a Pileated Woodpecker in the yard a few weeks ago - I was psyched! He or she didn't go to the feeders, but it did check out a few of the dead tree snags I've left up for the woodpeckers (and they DO attract them).

Desperationfalls, I did several bird counts last winter for the first time - boy was that fun! It sure makes the winter a lot more interesting. We had some great bird and winter photo threads on this forum last winter too.

I love the Nuthatches - I think they're the only bird that can hop down trees like that. I always wonder how they can eat upside down and not feel like barfing. :)