Feathery Foster Care
Some bird behavior is driven by instinct, some is learned through experience, and some just seems plain quirky.
A loud call and a flash of blue
It’s sometimes easier to hear kingfishers than see them, but it’s well worth a search to discover these handsome fishing birds.
Spring’s Cold Brought Bright Birds to Feeders
A colorful array of migrants—brilliant orange orioles, vivid blue buntings, black-white-and-pink grosbeaks—livened up our springtime backyards.
June/July 2011
Summer Butterfly Census | SPAS “Go Paperless” Campaign | Annual Fund Donors | Conversation News
Avian Architects
Raise the family in a birdhouse or on a branch? Birds have their own ideas about what’s best for their broods.
Call of the Wild
Bird songs are designed to attract a mate or repel a rival, but birds have other things they need to communicate. Pairs need to stay in contact, flocks confer back and forth and a bird that notices a potential attacker will issue a warning. For these and other purposes birds rely on calls—a repertoire of short, unmusical sounds that convey specific information. Unlike a bird’s song, much of which is learned, bird calls are instinctual, an innate means of communicating.
Spring is Robin Season
Spring moves toward us at its own plodding pace, “migrating” northward about 15 miles a day, a measure of the rate at which frost leaves the soil.
April/May 2011
“Minnesota State Parks” with Chris Niskanen (April 2011) | “Birds in Flight” by Carrol Henderson (May 2011) | Audubon Volunteers | 2011-2012 Nominating Committee Slate | 2011-2012 Proposed Budget | Spring Outings | Urban Bird Festival | Book Review: The Crossley ID Guide
Horned Larks Coming Through
My wife and I saw our first horned larks in Wabasha County, in southeastern Minnesota, in March 1988. As best we can recall, we were spending the weekend at a bed and breakfast and took an afternoon to drive around the county looking for birds. Neither of us remembers where we stayed, but we both remember the horned larks. What gorgeous birds!
Highway Hawks
Freeways are corridor cafes for red-tailed hawks as they perch patiently and wait for a roadside meal.
