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Birds

  • North Dakota is smack dab in the middle of the Central Flyway. It covers more than half the landmass of the continental United States and extends into Central and South America. It’s like an interstate highway for migrating birds. Many different species rely on the diverse marshes and wetlands on their spring and fall journeys.
  • Spring might seem a long time away, so it may come as a surprise that Great Horned Owls are likely already nesting near you!
  • One of the more popular citizen science efforts is the Great Backyard Bird Count, and it is coming up on February 17-20. It is an effort between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada to help scientists better understand the bird population dynamics and movements. Last year, participants turned in over 350,000 checklists from 192 countries around the world. These observations are helping scientists identify population trends, range expansions or contractions, how birds are doing in urban or rural areas, and more.
  • The birds have been busy at our bird feeders this winter! The bulk of birds do not consume the seeds at the feeder -- Chickadees and nuthatches come in, get one sunflower seed, and quickly fly away. Blue jays fill up with several seeds before flying away. These birds are flying off to a safer place to open and/or consume the food, or perhaps cache it.
  • With the leaves off the trees, winter can be a good time of the year to do some woodpecker watching.
  • If you feed the birds during the winter, you may notice some differences in the species visiting the feeders from year to year. Some species, such as chickadees, are consistent visitors. But other species, such as siskins, seem to vary considerably — and during some years they seem to show up en masse, indicating some sort of invasion or "irruption" — meaning a sudden change in the population density.
  • Audubon Dakota currently serves North and South Dakota — but soon, it will merge with the Nebraska office to become Audubon Great Plains. Main Street's Ashley Thornberg speaks with Executive Director for Audubon Great Plains Kristal Stoner.
  • No doubt many of you are familiar with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. Published in 1962 the book warned that continued widespread and indiscriminate use of pesticides could result in extensive ecological damage, including the death of songbirds, resulting in a “silent spring” when no songbirds would be heard. It is hard to imagine such a thing. But it looks as if we may be experiencing quieter springs.
  • It is that time of year. Labor Day is in the rearview mirror and thoughts are turning to fall. And fall in North Dakota often leads to thoughts of flocks of birds on their fall migration.
  • On this date, in 1965, a newspaper article reported the main characteristics of burrowing owls, noting that they are among the “few bird species to nest in burrows in the ground.”