Nesting Flycatchers

In my last blog, I featured Great Crested Flycatchers. The next day, from my back deck, I observed two Great Crested Flycatchers gathering in their beaks large amounts of old leaves which had been mowed and laid under a Shagbark Hickory tree. I watched as they flew over my house and disappeared. They kept coming back and forth and I finally went to other side of the house and located their nesting tree. If you read the last blog you know that they are cavity nesters and, true to form, they were using a large hole in a walnut tree.

Great Crested Flycatcher

The Great Crested Flycatcher is a bird of the treetops. It spends very little time on the ground, and does not hop or walk. It prefers to fly from place to place on the ground rather than walk. A treetop hunter of deciduous forests and suburban areas, the Great Crested Flycatcher is easier to hear than to see. The only eastern flycatcher that nests in cavities, it often includes snakeskin in the nest lining.

Spring Migration

Spring migration of birds across North America is a sure sign of spring. Each year birds which have been wintering as far south as South America return to nest and raise their young. Not all the birds seen in the spring stay here in central Illinois, but they do stop,rest,feed and continue as far north as Canada. Several travel at night using the stars to guide them which means that one day they are here and the next they are not. The three birds shown are warblers. The Palm Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler will continue north while the Common Yellowthroat will stay here. This is a great time of year to get out and check the trees. There are amazingly beautiful birds to see. The top photo is the Common Yellowthroat(not at all common!), the middle photo is the Palm Warbler and the bottom photo is the Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Spring Bird Count

Today was the Illinois Spring bird count. The rules are pretty simple, record each bird you see or hear. We are part of a group which covers Coles County. As of noon today the group had seen 118 species. There were 21 species of warblers with notable sightings Cerulan Warbler, Mourning Warbler, and Hooded Warbler. My wife and I covered our property and saw 63 different species. One of the species pictured is the American Redstart male and female.

Eastern Meadowlark

The Eastern Meadowlark has a bright yellow breast adorned with a distinct broad black necklace (in the shape of a V), short tails and short rounded wings, white outer tail feathers, long starling-like bills, and brown-streaked backs. Migrating adults arrive in Illinois in March and stay until October or November, flying by day short distances at low altitudes. Eastern Meadowlarks live in grasslands, prairies, hay fields and fallow farm fields, and in row crops. In tall grass they build a cup-like nest of dry grass, horsehair, pine needles, and plant stems. The female lays 2-6 white eggs spotted with reddish-brown. The eggs hatch in about 12 days. The bird pictured is in a small tree but most of the time they will be seen on a fence post or fence.

Eastern Kingbird

The Eastern Kingbird likes to perch on exposed fences, tree tops or utility poles. It is a highly aggressive bird, even towards birds much larger than itself. They may attack hawks and crows or any bird of this size, perching on the intruder's back and knocking the intruder's head with its' bill. It will vigorously defend its' territory against other Kingbirds. When feeding, the Eastern Kingbird waits on an exposed perch, and flies out to catch insects on the wing. It may also pick food off of vegetation. It is even able to pluck berries from a tree or vine while flying. It returns to the same perch after hunting and sounds a sharp, triumphant call. The bird pictured has just left its' perch and is hovering above its' prey.

Summer Tanager

A summer resident of Illinois is the Summer Tanager. One might know the Summer Tanager by its alias, the "beebird." Due to its diet of bees, it is a well-known pest around apiaries and is persecuted by beekeepers. They are excellent flycatchers, able to seize adult bees and wasps in mid-flight and take them back to a perch where it beats them against the branch until they die. It then wipes them on the branch to remove the stingers before eating them. One of their favorite foods is wasp larvae and pupae. Summer Tanagers harass or kill the adult wasps guarding the vespiaries. This leaves the wasp nest abandoned and by tearing the paper covering open, the larvae are easily plucked from their homes. Just thought you might want to know.

Prothonotary Warbler

In East Central Illinois, spring bird migration is at its' peak. We have had at least 12 warbler species on our property in the last two days. The Prothonotary Warbler pictured is a beautiful bird and the only one of the eastern warblers which nest in a cavity. They will nest in Illinois and usually are in a swampy, low area using an old Downy Woodpecker hole.