One of the best ways to nurture a budding interest in birdwatching is to keep a bird checklist. A checklist is simply a list of birds recorded in your area and “keeping a checklist” is using that checklist to keep track of all the birds you have seen....
Birds are an incredibly diverse animal group. This is reflected in many aspects of their reproductive ecology, as you can see in this short list of facts about the nests of birds. Largest tree nest: a Bald Eagle nest in Florida which was 20 feet (6.1m) deep, 9.5 feet...
Birds certainly have a strong emotional impact on humans, as you can see with this short list of facts about how we value birds and bird-related products. Highest price paid for a bird book — $3.96 million US, in 1989, for a set of John James Audubon’s The...
One of the great attractions of birdwatching is its simplicity. There are no set rules for birdwatching, no minimum requirements to meet and no real expectations other than spending some enjoyable time with the birds and your friends. This simplicity is further...
The number of things to consider when preparing for a few hours of pleasant birding can be daunting for someone new to the hobby of birdwatching. And this is even before having to deal with trying to identify what seems like a million birds flying by. But like any...
Have you ever noticed that the level of singing activity by birds changes during the day? Bird singing varies throughout the day and generally follows a circadian (daily) rhythm, usually along what’s known as a bimodal pattern, i.e. two main periods of singing...
It was one of those perfect late spring evenings. On a whim one June day, I talked my mother into joining me on a post-dinner jaunt to Thomas Francis Regional Park in Victoria, B.C., in search of a reported Western Tanager nest. We arrived in the park at 7:00 pm and...
The call came as my son Travis and I were halfway around our trap line. We often care for injured owls from the Strathcona Raptor Shelter, and to feed the owls as natural a food as possible, we have set up a mouse trap line to collect mice for the owls. Milo S. was on...
One year the students in our school had developed a great interest in birds. All through the winter we worked at a mural depicting a winter scene in which were shown all the birds any of us had actually seen. And if you think the winter bird population is made up of...
In September of one year, while looking out the window of our house, which is located on an acreage near Armstrong, British Columbia, I noted a Pileated Woodpecker eating chokecherries. We see Pileated Woodpeckers frequently, and are close enough to observe them from...
You’ve heard of racing pigeons; how about racing hawks? While the Goderich-Exeter Railway Company’s freight train was passing through a valley near Mitchell, a hawk decided to follow along. The train was traveling at 25 mph and for some time, the hawk was...
Birds are an incredibly diverse animal group. This is certainly reflected in their flying abilities, as you can see in this short list of facts about bird flight. Fastest bird: Peregrine Falcon diving at 117 mph (188 km/h). It is believed this bird may even reach...
Birds are very well adapted to aquatic environments, as you can see in this short list of facts about the swimming ability of birds. Most aquatic bird: the Penguins, who spend 75% of their life-span out in the open sea. Fastest underwater swimming bird: the Gentoo...
Birds are an incredibly diverse animal group. This is reflected in their physiology, as you can see in this short list of facts about the stamina and endurance ability of birds. Coldest average temperature regularly endured by a bird: -50º F (-45.6º C) by Emperor...
Bird banding recoveries permit biologists to determine how long each bird has survived in the wild. While biologists and scientists are more interested in the average life span of a species, it is also interesting to see how long it is possible for birds to live. And...
Here are a number of items you might want to bring with you on a birdwatching trip. They have nothing to do with finding or identifying birds but everything to do with making your day safer or just more pleasant. Water bottle An essential piece of equipment no matter...
You don’t require a huge pile of equipment for a birdwatching trip; the only things you really need are a field guide, a pair of binoculars and some enthusiasm. However, there are a number of other things you may want to bring along, especially once you have...
Often times, experienced birders use a specialized code when taking notes about the various bird species they have seen. This code may seem confusing to novice birders but there really is a logical system at work. The codes are alphabetic (hence the name alpha codes)...
If you’ve spent much time in deep woods or around wetlands, you will know that it’s common to hear many more birds than you can see. And sometimes, when those hidden birds finally do come into the open, it’s only for a brief glimpse before they drop...
Owls are solitary birds and for the most part, do not like being disturbed by humans. So they can be a bit tricky to find. Here are a few tips to help you locate owls. NOTE – Owls are very sensitive to disruptions in their daily routine or the presence of large...
