Coming soon. The Great Backyard Bird Count!

Once again the Great Backyard Bird Count is just a few weeks away, February 17 thru 20. 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 17-20, 2023.

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: E-bird mobile, E-bird on a computer, or Merlin bird id app.

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

Mark your calendars!

In celebration of National Bird Feeding Month and the GBBC all bird feeding products, from seed and suet, to feeders and feeder accessories, shepherd’s poles, hooks and hangers, and squirrel baffles will be on sale Feb. 11 thru Feb 18!

Wood Thrush Notes

By all accounts, the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have been plentiful and hungry this year.  As of this morning, I was still seeing over a dozen at a time at my feeders.  We will only see them for another week or so as the majority of them will move northward by mid-May. 

If you’ve been having difficulty seeing a bird but hear it singing you should try using the Merlin app by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It’s a very useful and easy to use app for bird identification including the songs and calls ID feature. I really put it to the test at Montgomery Bell State Park recently and it was fast and accurate. Just hit the “sound ID” button then touch the microphone icon. Your device will listen and, if it is hearing the bird song, will identify it in seconds. What a nice use for technology.

Nashville-Tennessee Warblers

It seems appropriate to share information with you about two warblers that I’ve seen recently and are seen regularly in TN during spring migration, the Nashville Warbler, and the Tennessee Warbler. 

The Nashville Warbler is described as a “boisterous yellow songster”.  Smaller than a Goldfinch, males have mostly yellow underparts including the throat, with an olive green back, and a gray hood.  The white eye rings are prominent. If it stops moving long enough you may detect the chestnut patch on the crown of the head.  The bird got its name from Alexander Wilson in 1811 as he saw this bird while in Nashville and promptly named it after the city.  This bird only passes through Nashville, however, and will end up in its breeding grounds well north of us and into Canada. 

Nashville Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

The Tennessee Warbler can be described as plain. They are still quite handsome but lacking the flash of other warblers. In the males look for the white eyebrow stripe against the grayish head which contrasts with the green back. Male underparts are a dull white. Females are similar but the head is less gray and its underparts are more yellow. This warbler will also just pass through Nashville on its way to the uppermost parts of the U.S. and into primarily Canada to its breeding grounds. The TN warbler is also known to appreciate nectar in its wintering grounds in tropical forests. Rather than get nectar from flowers from the front, like hummingbirds, they will pierce the flower at the base and lap up the nectar as it comes out. This bird was also named by Mr. Wilson.