Great Backyard Bird Count & Recent Bird Sightings

Coming Soon. The Great Backyard Bird Count.

Once again the Great Backyard Bird Count is just a few weeks away, February 18th thru 21st. The GBBC is a worldwide online citizen-science project, the first of its kind, to collect data on wild birds and display results in near real time. It was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Our observations and data help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.

Visit www.birdcount.org/about/ for more info on the count!

It’s fun and easy to participate and all you need is a birdfeeder or two. Information and instructions are available through the link provided. The 3 steps to participating are as follows:

Step 1 – Decide where you will watch birds. Easy enough. Your backyard works just fine.

Step 2 – Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 18-21, 2022.

Step 3 – Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:

If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID app.

If you have participated in the count before, try eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website www.ebird.org (desktop/laptop).

If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.

We hope you will participate and present your data for a very worthy study.

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Recent Bird Sightings of Interest

Locally, a number of customers have seen Pine Warbler at suet feeders during the recent snow falls. They are one of the few warblers to be seen here in winter. Others sometimes seen at feeders include Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped warblers.

Pine Warbler

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Elsewhere in the state, bird sightings of particular interest include a Painted Bunting being seen consistently in Knoxville. Painted bunting, like Indigo bunting, usually migrate back to Central and South America in the fall and return in the spring.

Great Horned owls on Nest

You may not know that Great horned owls begin nesting as early as mid-January and February in southern parts of the U.S. Clutch size of GH owls is between 1 and 4 eggs and it takes 30-37 days to incubate. The fledgling period takes roughly 42 days. Pine trees are often a favorite choice of nesting location as are cavities in live trees, dead snags, deserted buildings, cliff ledges, and man-made platforms. I once witnessed a GH owl nest on a cliff-ledge along the Harpeth River.

The video below is taken from a live stream of a GH owl in Savannah Georgia. Click here to link to the live stream.

Fall Migration Notes

Fall Migration is underway and while your birdfeeders will slow down as we approach October birdwatching will only get more interesting.  Have your binoculars with you and ready because warblers are pouring through middle Tennessee stopping to feed in the early mornings on insects and berries.  Mornings are the best time to see lots of different species of warblers.  And mornings after a storm tend to be even better.  Make time to visit one of the many great local birdwatching areas this fall to see some of them.  For information about great places to birdwatch click on the links below…

• Tennessee Birding Trails is a great website for locating trails for specific types of birding.

• Tennessee Birding Facebook group has an active community of birders who post often.

• Tennessee Ornithological Society (TOS) Nashville Chapter is having their Radnor Lake Wed morning bird walks September 19th and continue each Wednesday through October 10th. Please meet in the west Parking lot outside the Visitor’s Center at 7:30am. Come rain or shine. With the exception of ongoing downpours or thunderstorms.

• TN-BIRD email list is a free list that allows you to get updates of bird sighting from other birders in the area. to receive emails simply click on “find and join” at the top right of the tn-bird page, search for list name tn-bird, and follow the instructions on signing up your email.

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One of the more interesting, easy, and fun things to see in the fall is the migration of Chimney Swifts and Common Nighthawks. In the evenings, particularly in areas where there is outdoor lighting, like high school football games and shopping malls, Common Nighthawks gather and feed on insects. Downtown areas tend to be very productive areas to see both.

The Common Nighthawk, a member of the Goatsuckers family, measures around 9 1/2 “in length. They are gray-brown with slim, long wings that have a distinctive white bar near the tips. They are most active at night but can be seen midday as well. They fly with long easy strokes but can quickly change direction and appear erratic as they catch flying insects. Male Nighthawks have a white throat and white band across a notched tail. Listen for the unusual “peent” call of the Nighthawk.

The Chimney Swift is a short swallowlike bird with long, slightly curved wings. Peterson’s field guide to Eastern Birds describes it as a “cigar with wings”. Always in motion, Swifts appear to continually fly never landing to rest and constantly “twitter”. They measure about 5 ½” in length and are uniformly grayish to brown. During migration Swifts have been known to roost together by the thousands in a single chimney. On more than a few occasions I have witnessed a “funnel” of swifts descending into the chimney of a downtown building while on my way to a Predators game. It is a fascinating sight.

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And About Hummingbirds

We may see Ruby-throated hummingbirds well into October so keep your feeders out with fresh nectar as there may be several waves of hummingbirds still coming through TN on their return to Central and South America. The belief that feeders should be taken down to cause the birds to migrate is incorrect.  They will leave when they are ready whether there is a feeder present or not.