Somehow, it is already that time of year again. August brings with it roosting colonies of Purple martins to downtown Nashville numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Each year, these remarkable birds amass in and around downtown for several weeks before pushing south through Central and into South America where they will spend their winter. According to Warner Park B.I.R.D. program, this year’s roost has reached its peak size of an estimated 200,000 birds! So far this year, the best places to see the spectacle are the trees around Nissan Stadium, as well as at 3rd Ave. and Church St. Numbers may continue to increase through early August with birds remaining through September. For additional information, check out this article by the Nature Conservancy!
Wood Thrush Notes
Happy first day of October. While there isn’t as much going on with birds in our yards now compared to the spring and summer months there is a massive movement of birds occurring known as migration. It is a fascinating subject that we allude to often; however, it is so complex that we just scratch the surface in blogs. For those of you that want to know more here is a link to a great article from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that explains so much in layman’s terms. It is definitely worth reading if you ever wondered why birds migrate or how birds as small as Ruby-throated hummingbirds can travel as much as 1300 miles twice a year.
