By March, Rufous Hummingbirds are returning to our region, after wintering in Mexico. But with many hawks and falcons, the pattern is reversed.
Members of the woodpecker percussion band announce their territory and attract mates, as they pound away on metal roofs or gutters.
Among the most dramatic wildlife sights of a Northwest winter is that of a huge, silent, all-white owl perched out in the middle of the day: a Snowy Owl, visitor from the Arctic.
Members of the woodpecker percussion band announce their territory and attract mates, as they pound away on metal roofs or gutters. The call of the male Ring-necked Pheasant carries over the open wheat field. Bald Eagles build large stick nests in tall trees and reuse them year after year. There is an element of luck in birdwatching, and sometimes that luck is mostly bad. Storks and babies have been linked together for centuries. Long-necked and long-legged, these grayish cranes stand three feet tall. By contrast, a human creates sound using only two percent of the air exhaled through the larynx. In a mature Pacific Northwest forest, western hemlocks, Douglas firs, and western red cedars tower over you. You can find European Starlings in huge flocks from coast to coast, and from Northern Canada deep into Mexico.
One person's dedication can make a difference, as it did with Kevin Li and Puget Sound's Purple Martins. Raven wanted the rivers to turn and wind, so that as he flew up and down them, he would have different views at every bend. This chatty fellow is the Marsh Wren. To entice a goldfinch to your yard, put out a thistle-seed birdfeeder. Imagine going into battle with a Bald Eagle as a mascot, screaming high overhead.
Members of the woodpecker percussion band announce their territory and attract mates, as they pound away on metal roofs or gutters. The grebe is the master of its own buoyancy.
During spring, the male pheasant establishes his territory and attracts one or more females into his harem. These are Sanderlings, small sandpipers that stay through the winter.
Perhaps the most familiar duck in the Northwest, the Mallard is a large and heavy bird. But sandpiper bills are far more than drills.
These are Sanderlings, small sandpipers that stay through the winter. Because many birds are largely silent in winter, it may seem that they have left us. Zipping about at high speed, they burn a great deal of energy, so they must seek food constantly.
Pacific chorus frogs, less than two inches long, swell their throat sacs to three times the size of their heads to send their calls into the night.
The raucous birds of the neighborhood.
Researchers suggest that the legend goes back into pagan times, when civilizations were keen to have high birthrates.
Can you imagine a spring without the voices of birds?
To entice a goldfinch to your yard, put out a thistle-seed birdfeeder.
Pacific chorus frogs, less than two inches long, swell their throat sacs to three times the size of their heads to send their calls into the night.
The Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Hedwig is a two-foot tall Snowy Owl.
During spring, the male pheasant establishes his territory and attracts one or more females into his harem.