According to Birds and Bloom magazine site, there are Birds of the Month.
“You’ve probably heard of birth month gemstones and birth month flowers, but have you heard of birth month birds? It might come as a surprise to learn every month of the year has not only a representative jewel and flower, but also a bird. From owls to ravens, here are the birds that represent everyone’s birthdays.”
More from Birds and Bloom:
August: Kingfisher
If you’re drawn to water, the kingfisher represents you well. The August birth month birds don’t stray far from water of some kind: rivers, lakes, streams or even swamps. You can find them throughout most of the United States, either year-round or during breeding or migration seasons.
“This is one of my favorite birds, the Belted Kingfisher. I was thrilled to catch this one perched on this branch. They are hard to catch up with as they are always on the move, but this one sat there for a while and posed for us. They have such a distinctive call, and watching one dive into the water to catch a fish is quite a sight!” says Pauline Medori.
Don’t forget to add a card to your bird month gift. We found the best bird cards.
“Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
(Mark 1:17 NKJV)
We’ve enjoyed writing about and watching these unique Kingfishers. They have a squatty look to me because of their short neck with that long beak. Luckily, we are able to see them nearby quite often. So, there are quite a few articles here on the blog. Here are some of them.
According to Birds and Bloom magazine site, there are Birds of the Month.
“You’ve probably heard of birth month gemstones and birth month flowers, but have you heard of birth month birds? It might come as a surprise to learn every month of the year has not only a representative jewel and flower, but also a bird. From owls to ravens, here are the birds that represent everyone’s birthdays.”
Perhaps it’s fitting that the bird for the month of Peeps candy is the canary. Some canaries live in the wild, but others, such as the domestic canary, are kept as pets. They’re not all yellow, either; some are red, while others are yellow and black. As part of the finch family, they are cheerful birds with a delightful song. To find them in the wild, you’d need to go to the Canary, Madeira or Azores Islands.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (Psalms 8:3-9 KJV)
“And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.” (Leviticus 11:19)
This is just a quick note, from my part of Texas, to report seeing some white egrets lately.
GREAT WHITE EGRET, wading in pond-water (Cornell Lab of Ornithology photo credit)
So much of (our part of) Texas is urbanizing–and suburbanizing. So, frequenting a rural area, where birdwatching is convenient, is like hunting for an endangered species.
Last Sunday, in a journey that included driving through parts of Denton County and Tarrant County (Texas), my wife drove our car, as I looked out my car window–for birds in pastures and ponds. Ponds attract heron-like birds, such as foraging Great White Egrets (a/k/a “Great White Heron”). Likewise, pastures (with bovine cattle grazing), attract foraging Cattle Egrets.
GREAT WHITE EGRET in flight (Wikipedia photo credit)
Thankfully, I saw several kinds of birds, from place to place, in field and trees, and besides ponds and drainage ditches. Among those birds, observed that day, were two kinds of heron-like wading birds–Great White Egret and Cattle Egret. Which led to composing this limerick:
GREAT WHITE & CATTLE EGRETS, OBSERVED WHILE TRAVELLING
Cute critters—some are wild, some are pets;
Yesterday, I observed white egrets!
Standing, beside a pond;
Others, in grass beyond …
Go birding—you’ll have no regrets!
It’s good to know that, so far, there are still some pastures and ponds, where we can still view egrets.
Yes, we can all thank the Lord for making and sustaining these oft-ignored (yet magnificent) wild white wonders (Job 9:10).
According to Birds and Bloom magazine site, there are Birds of the Month.
“You’ve probably heard of birth month gemstones and birth month flowers, but have you heard of birth month birds? It might come as a surprise to learn every month of the year has not only a representative jewel and flower, but also a bird. From owls to ravens, here are the birds that represent everyone’s birthdays.”
Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea) by Ian
More from Birds and Bloom:
March: Robin
Fans of warm weather, brightly colored flowers and returning migrating birds adore the American robin. After all, many view it as the first sign of spring. To identify the March birth month bird, look for a medium-sized songbird with a red breast, gray upperparts and a yellow beak. Their sweet cheerily, cheer-up, cheerio song rings out on spring mornings.
“My husband and I were walking through the Tanger Family Bicentennial Garden in Greensboro, North Carolina, in June. I saw this little birdbath with what I thought was a fake bird… but then I heard it singing! I love the colors of this American robin, and I absolutely love photographing these beautiful birds!” says Teri Quintal.
And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen.
EXODUS 28:5
Cardinal males are red birds, easy to see. Yet cardinal females have a softer-hued beauty of their own.
male Cardinal (Wikipedia / Rhododendrites photo credit)
Just as the Old Testament Tabernacle blended theological meaning with aesthetically attractive colors—as exemplified by Exodus 28:5 (quoted above), some birds are gold (e.g., Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Evening Grosbeak), or blue (e.g., Mountain Bluebird, Indigo Bunting), or purple (e.g., Purple Starling, Purple Honeycreeper), or scarlet (e.g., Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal), or white as fine linen (e.g., Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Trumpeter Swan).
male Cardinal feeding female Cardinal (Wikipedia / Ken Thomas photo credit)
In fact, the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is often nicknamed the Redbird, because the male cardinal is almost all-covered in bright red plumage. Male cardinals, being bright red, are conspicuous—so conspicuous that they get noticed! Cardinals are so popular, in fact, that 7 states have officially adopted the Northern Cardinal as their official state bird: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. (That’s more states than any other bird represents!)
Recently (i.e., during December of A.D.2024), it has been my prized privilege to hear Northern Cardinals chirping happily in and around trees, where I live and also in places that I visit. Perhaps the cardinals are extra talkative at this time of year. Or maybe I am paying better attention to the cardinals’ movements and vocalizations. Sometimes I see a cardinal flitting about, or hopping among leaf litter at the bottom of bushes, shrubs, or tree-trunks. Sometimes I see cardinals perching on tree branches. Then, suddenly, a cardinal might fly off to a nearly spot on the ground–or to a branch of another tree. Also, cardinal chirping–which can be a somewhat squeaky whistle–is often easy to recognize.
CARDINAL IN WINTER SNOW (All About Birds / Brad Imhoff photo credit)
What wonderful birds! What beauty the Lord built into these winged wonders!
The Cardinal is a favorite bird of many people and it’s easy to see why. The brilliant scarlet plumage of the male and the subtle shades of the female, combined with their clear melodic song, make them enjoyable to watch in any season. Male and female Cardinals sing equally well, a fact not generally known by those used to the widespread [yet erroneous] assumption that only male birds sing. Song is an important coordinating behavior in the life of a Cardinal. . . . In countersinging, one bird will sing one phrase several times and then the other [cardinal] will match it. Then the leader will sing a new phrase and the other will again match it. This type of countersinging that involves copying [musical] phrases functions to synchronize and unify members fo a pair; and when given between males, helps settle territorial disputes. [Quoting Donald Stokes & Lillian Stokes, “Northern Cardinal”, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, volume II (Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Company), page 247]
CARDINAL with grasshopper (Wikipedia / Arthur Windsor image credit)
The Cardinal males are so brightly colored, with crimson-red wings and scarlet-red bellies, contrasting with black face-masks that showcase their red beaks. Female cardinals also have bright scarlet-red beaks, yet they are more camouflaged in their plumage hues—soft beige-cream bellies with russet-brown wings and head feathers, accented by reddish crests.
Cardinals are year-round residents—they don’t migrate to avoid cold winters. Rather, cardinals tough out winter weather—hence many scenic photographs display bright-red cardinals perched in tree branches against backdrops of snow-drifts. What beautiful pairs they are, to see in December, braving cold winds and chilly rains or snowfall.
NORTHERN CARDINAL RANGE MAP (Wikipedia image credit)
So, as you journey through winter months, remember that there are times when you should stop being so busy, just long enough to gaze upon busy cardinals that flit about, outside, sharing with us overlapping bits of space and winter weather.
For the invisible things of Him [i.e., the God of the Bible] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and deity; so that they are without excuse[αναπολογητους]; because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:20-21)
TURKEY VULTURE perching Wikipedia / Charles J. Sharp photo credit
The two inexcusable sins, routinely committed by evolutionist fools [and notice that the term “fools” is factually appropriate, because Romans 1:21 says that “their foolish heart was darkened”], are the inexcusable failure to glorify God as the Creator He ubiquitously proves Himself to be — plus the inexcusable failure to give thanks unto Him for the uncountable blessings that He caringly and providentially provides to us all (Romans 1:18-25; Acts 14:17; Daniel 5:23; Psalm 14:1).
Meanwhile, speaking of giving thanks, Thanksgiving is fast approaching; many folks are thinking about the American Turkey. See “Strangers and Pilgrims (and the American Turkey)”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2014/11/25/strangers-and-pilgrims/ .
But what about another large bird that we often see, the Turkey Vulture? This scavenger, known scientifically as Cathartes aura, is actually a very valuable neighbor in whatever habitat they inhabit.
Turkey vultures are most interesting creatures. One can tell, just by looking at them, that they are well-suited to their task as disposers of dead things. Their beaks and feet lack the power and the design for killing living things, though their hooked beaks allow them to free the last shred of meat clinging to a carcass. Their heads are completely featherless, which makes it easier to clean them of bacteria and parasites encountered while rooting around in dead carcasses. Turkey vultures nest on crags, caves and clefts in rock piles. They don’t bother to build a nest. The female lays her two brown, mottled eggs on the bare ground and incubates them for forty-one days. When the babies hatch, they are fed exclusively on a diet of regurgitated carrion. (Yumm!??) These birds sound totally disgusting, right? Actually, they are quite impressive. They are a very large bird—males and females are quite similar in appearance, with shiny black feathers. They have a wingspan of up to six feet, and the underside tips of their flying feathers are greyish white. When they are observed soaring aloft on the thermals, they are quite beautiful indeed, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. [Quoting Sandy Stoecker, Highlands Center for Natural History naturalist]
But, how did the Turkey Vulture get its valuable role in the so-called “circle of life” neighborhood (i.e., within the dynamic life-and-death ecosystem of this fallen (i.e., good-yet-“groaning”-with-sin and-death) world? The fallenness of our world is thanks to Adam (Romans 5:12-21); however, the gift of life–from the beginning–plus the providential and redemptive sustaining of life in this fallen world–is thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is both the life-giving Creator (John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1) and the life-restoring Redeemer (Romans chapter 8, especially Romans 8:21-23).
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:21-23)
TURKEY VULTUREin Canada Wikipedia / Peter Burian photo credit
It’s not by good luck that turkey vultures can find rotten carrion, gobble it down, and not die of food poisoning. Vultures have powerful senses of sight and smell; they detect dead animals from afar. Equipped by God for scavenging in this fallen world, they serve as garbage collectors/processors, picking apart and eating roadkill and other carcasses.
Why don’t they get sick or die of botulism? The acidity of vultures’ digestive tracts is astounding. The digestive juices in their stomachs can reach a pH between 1.5 and 1.0, more corrosive than car battery acid and caustic enough to instantly denature to death almost any bacterial or viral pathogen! [Chen, Y. et al. 2023. Vultures as a Model for Testing Molecular Adaptations of Dietary Specialization in Birds. Avian Research. 14: 100128; Buechley, E. R. and C. H. Sekercioglu. 2016. Vultures. Current Biology. 26 (13): R560–R561. Genesis 15:11 reports on carrion-seeking birds whose behavior resembles that of vultures.]
TURKEY VULTURE soaring Wikipedia / Charles J. Sharp photo credit
In other words, if the vultures’ Creator had not constructed their stomachs with such germ-destroying acidity, the vultures themselves would quickly become dead meat. These built-in (and interactively dynamic) habitat-fitting traits utilize what Dr. Randy Guliuzza calls “continuous environmental tracking”, linked to providentially installed equipment that adjust to the outside world that the vultures live in. God’s providence is thus obvious to — and logically recognized by — honest observers, because God’s glorious craftsmanship is what the apostle Paul calls “clearly seen” (Romans 1:20).
TURKEY VULTURE scavenging dead armadillo Sound View Camp photo credit
Meanwhile, it’s sad that arrogant evolutionists, like Joel Duff, are self-blinded to these clearly seen Christ-honoring wildlife ecology facts, but they show themselves as self-blinded, habitually, “without excuse” [αναπολογητους] — see Romans 1:18-25 (especially Romans 1:20.)
But, for those with eyes to see it, we can enjoy God’s brilliant bioengineering displayed in Turkey Vultures — and also in the American Turkey — as we approach Thanksgiving with an attitude of gratitude.
Swans Return, in November, for Chesapeake Bay Over-wintering
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven . . . . He hath made every thing beautiful in his time; also He has set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 3:11)
TUNDRA SWANS as “Winter Marylanders” (Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program photo credit)
Seasons come and seasons go, demonstrating the faithfulness of God’s post-Flood promise to Noah and Noah’s Ark passengers:
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
Only a half-year ago the May migrants were blanketing shorelands of the Delmarva [Delaware-Maryland-Virginia] Peninsula, and other parts of the the Chesapeake Bay’s watershed shorelands, here and there:
In May we were tramping the saltmarshes and beaches of the lower Delmarva Peninsula with biologists from the Nature Conservancy, collecting vital data on a variety of shorebirds, from willets to whimbrels, plovers to dunlins, red knots to ruddy turnstones. Some, like the curved-beaked whimbrels, may be airborne without stopping for up to five days, arriving at the lush marshes and mudflats of our region famished from their winter haunts in South America. For several weeks they will refuel here, nonstop, chowing down on fiddler crabs. Then, one spring evening, something in them stirs, and they are aloft by the thousands, not to alight before reaching breeding grounds that stretch from Hudson Bay to far northwest Canada’s Mackenzie River Delta. [Quoting Tom Horton, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 34(5):30 (July -August 2024).]
But now, in November, the phenological reverse occurs — because, during May (and earlier), migrant birds fly northward, to seek out their summer breeding grounds; whereas, during November (and earlier), migrant birds are flying southbound, leaving their breeding grounds behind, as they emigrate by air to their over-wintering grounds.
Come this autumn we’ll be on Deer Creek on the Susquehanna River . . . [including] days in the wet and snow over the winter, filming tundra swans, one of the largest long-distance migrators of the bird world. They [i.e., tundra swans] spend a good portion of their lives on the wing, moving from breeding grounds across Alaska’s North Slope and the Yukon each fall into the Chesapeake and North Carolina — a 9,000-mile round trip. . . . . In November, not long after the last monarch [butterfly, emigrating southward to Mexico] has passed through, and as the silver eels [migrating snake-shaped ray-finned fish] stream from the Chesapeake’s mouth toward Sargasso depths, there will come the lovely, wild hallooing of “swanfall” — the descent of the tundra swans from on high to grace our winter. [Quoting Tom Horton, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 34(5):30 (July -August 2024).]
TUNDRA SWAN (Wikipedia / Maga-chan photo credit)
Tundra swans — they are huge [some would say “yooge”] geese-like birds.
So, what kinds of waterfowl are phenologically (and providentially) programmed, by the Lord Jesus Christ, to winter in ice-free estuaries like the Chesapeake Bay?
“Duck, duck, goose!”—and swans (such as Tundra Swans), just to name the most obvious. For example, Tundra Swans—being “yooge” birds—are easy to observe, especially if they are afloat in waters of an estuarial (or lacustrine) habitat that you may be visiting.
TUNDRA SWANS in North Carolina (USF&WS photo / public domain)
Swans are the largest waterfowl, and the tundra swans travel the farthest, more than 4,000 miles in some cases. They winter primarily on the Delmarva [Delaware-Maryland-Virginia] Peninsula and the estuarine edges of North Carolina. These large white birds are easily recognized by their black bills and straight or nearly straight necks. Tundra swans often form flocks on shallow ponds. [Quoting Kathy Reshetiloff, “Chesapeake’s Abundance Lures Wintering Waterfowl”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 33(9):40 (December 2023), posted at http://www.bayjournal.com/columns/bay_naturalist/chesapeake-s-abundance-lures-wintering-waterfowl/article_4463317a-887f-11ee-a208-8768dc34c5a7.html .]
Wow! — what a wonder these wintering waterfowl are!
Or, more appropriately said, Hallelujah! — what a treasure of phenological providence these wonderful waterbirds are, showing God’s handiwork and caring kindness for His own creatures. May God bless them all, as they faithfully do their respective parts to “be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth” (Genesis 8:17).
Consider the ravens [κορακας], for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? (Luke 12:24)
AMERICAN CROW (Wikipedia photo credit)
Ever seen a crow [Corvus brachyrhynchos] on a road, struggling to consume roadkill? Yesterday I approached a crow in the road, as I was commuting—the crow was struggling to pull edible portions of meat from roadkill—it looked like a squirrel.
Like the Holy Land’s ravens [Corvus corax] who are mentioned by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (in Luke 12:24), crows are famously opportunistic eaters – and their potential food sources include the cadavers of dead rodents, such as squirrels who (sadly) become roadkill in tree-populated suburban streets.
AMERICAN CROW (J. J. Audubon painting / public domain)
The crow that I saw, yesterday morning, was struggling so, to get some edible parts of the roadkill, that he (or she) did not see my car approaching—which could result in the roadkill-eating crow himself (or herself) soon becoming another example of roadkill!
So, of course, I tooted my car’s horn, with the jolting noise scaring the crow – so the crow quickly (and safely) flew away, thus escaping a roadkill fate. After my car passed through that part of the boulevard, happily, the hungry (and still living) crow returned to its roadkill meal.
Sometimes a little “beep, beep” is all that is needed to “save the day” (for a crow)!
CHIMNEY SWIFT near Cleveland, Ohio, by Lake Erie (Adam Jackson / Wikipedia photo credit)
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. (Psalm 100:1)
SWIFT is a fitting name for the swallow-like birds that swiftly dart, here-and-there, zigzagging and zipping and catching flying fast-food on the wing. Also, they are known for nesting inside traditional chimneys.
CHIMNEY SWIFT nesting (Wikipedia photo)
One of the well-known varieties of swifts are the Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica), whose breeding ranges fill America’s eastern half plus some of the central prairie states. Swifts resemble swallows so closely, in morphology and in behavior, that swifts were originally categorized as swallows, e.g., by Carl Linnaeus, and later by ornithologists Mark Catesby and John James Audubon.
AMERICAN SWIFT by John James Audubon
Alonso Abugattas, on behalf of the CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, has recently reported on the Eastern seaboard’s Chimney Swifts, noting that these insectivorous birds are, as their name suggests, swift:
The twittering, darting flight of the chimney swift is a common sight in the skies of cities and towns in the Chesapeake Bay region during the warmer months. These birds are often best identified by their peculiar silhouettes even when they are high up in the air — looking like a “cigar with wings,” to borrow the description given to them by famed birding writer Roger Tory Peterson.
Male and female chimney swifts are identical in coloration, though the males may be slightly larger. These 5.5-inch birds are dark brownish gray with pale throats, short necks and round heads. Their tails are short, usually tucked to a point when in flight but sometimes spread out and square-ended. Their curved, scimitar-like wings extend far from the cigar-shaped body, giving them a wingspan more than twice their head-to-tail length. Surprisingly, swifts are not closely related to swallows, appearances notwithstanding.
Chimney swifts are true to their name, being very fast in the air, and their flight is fairly distinctive with rapid wing beats followed by a short glide. They are built to be aerial acrobats, rarely touching down except to nest and roost. They do every-thing else airborne. They feed, mate, drink, bathe and even snooze on the wing. Feeding is easy, because 95% of their diet is flying insects, using their short but wide bills to capture prey. They skim across water to drink and sometimes scoop up aquatic bugs the same way. . . . .
The chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) is part of the swift family Apodidae, meaning “without feet.” They do have feet, of course, but very short and inept ones, making them clumsy on land and unable to land adroitly on branches. They are built to hang vertically inside hollow trees, chimneys and confined walls (sometimes even upside down, giving them the nickname “chimney bat”).
[Quoting Alonso Abugattas, “Roosting of Flying, the Chimney Swift Lives Up to its Name”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 34(7):39 (October 2024).]
CHIMNEY SWIFTS flying over brick-and-mortar chimney (Ben Cvengros / Travis Audubon Society photo credit)
Thus, the Chimney Swift is at home in the air, winging it—rather than casually perching somewhere, waiting for the next crawling bug to creep by—and so they are easily seen when they perform their aerial acrobatics.
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. (Psalm 100:1)
What is making a “joyful noise”? It is commanded is Scripture, whatever it is – see Psalm 66:1; 81:1; 95:1-2; 98:4; 98:4; 100:1.
To many, the noise of circuitous swifts is just that, a screeching-like screaming noise — not the kind of “music” that King David would have included in his orchestra-supported choir (1st Chronicles 15:16). But to a bird-lover, the aerial call of this air-zooming insectivore is a “joyful noise”, installed and directed by the Composer and Giver of all birdsong (and other avian vocalizations). Yes, as others ignore them, I enjoy hearing the energetic calls of Common Swifts (Apus apus), as they zip around, in hunting packs, de-bugging the lower airspace during the bug-filled days of summer.
CHIMNEY SWIFT (Greg Harber / Alabama Birding Trails photo credit)
The Chimney Swift’s migratory behavior, as well as their propensity for flying (rather than perching) is described by ornithologist Donald Stokes:
The arrival of swifts in late spring is an exciting moment. You will probably first hear their chittering calls, then look up and see their small bodies and curved, bladelike wings slicing through the air in graceful arcs. Their constant flight throughout the day makes them both physically and experientially remote from our earthbound living. But even so, bending back your neck to see only sky and these streamlined birds gliding about can draw you into their world of flight—so much so that when you again look down it may take you a moment to reorient yourself to the world of the flightless.
More than any of our other common birds, the Swift’s life is lived on the wing. As migration gets under way, large flocks can be seen in the early morning flying in formation over possible roosting sites and calling loudly all the time. Then, as it starts to get dark, they begin to dive into the roost, sometimes forming a steady stream out of the airborne flock.
[quoting Donald W. Stokes, STOKES NATURE GUIDES (A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR), volume I (Boston, MA: Little Brown & Company, 1979), page 85.]
So, like busy Chimney Swifts, we should be busy at our daily activities, making a joyful noise –whistling (or singing)—while we work.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. (Psalm 98:4)
As a range map (see below, from Wikipedia) shows, Chimney Swifts are migratory birds, using the eastern half of America’s Lower 48 as their summer breeding grounds – yet where do they go for over-wintering?
By the fall, the swifts are in migration. For years, it was a mystery where they went — until 1943, when 13 leg bands were turned in by [native] people in eastern Peru, with eight of them having been banded in Tennessee. Since then, they have been found to overwinter in parts of Ecuador, Chile, Brazil and recently in Colombia.
[Quoting Alonso Abugattas, “Roosting of Flying, the Chimney Swift Lives Up to its Name”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 34(7):39 (October 2024).]
RANGE MAP of CHIMNEY SWIFTS (Wikipedia map)
So, there! Chimney Swifts are long-distance migrants, geographically resourceful in accordance with the providential phenology that God designed and installed into their software/hardware systems, fitting them to fill and flourish the habitats of God’s design.
What a wonder! Think of that, and how swarms of swifts silently glorify God, the next time that you see a brick-and-mortar chimney. Who knows? Maybe you are looking at a chimney that houses the nest of a Chimney Swift family.
Merlin, the Squealing-Laughter Falcon of Saskatchewan
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
MERLIN perching (Animalia-life.club photo credit)
These things be of (the) fowls which ye shall not eat, and shall be eschewed of you (and shall be shunned by you); an eagle, and a gripe [i.e., gryphon], [and] an aliet [or “merlyon”, as in some early Wycliffite Bible copies of the late AD1380s]… (Leviticus 11:13)
Merlin chasing Blue Jay (Wikipedia/John Harrison photo credit)
Saskatchewan (an interior province of Canada) is mostly a grassland, prairies (dominated by agriculture) with occasional hills and trees, here and there punctuated by lakes, ponds, and rivers – a wonderful habitat for birds — such as falcons.
Earlier this month (August 2-7th AD2024), by God’s grace, my wife and I attended a Christian family camp in Saskatchewan (near Fort Qu’Appelle), and the most memorable bird that I observed (on the 6th of August, AD2024), there, was a Merlin (Falco columbarius), a resident falcon also known as the Pigeon Hawk, who was circuitously flying near the lakeshore; it eventually landed upon a shoreline tree’s branch, conveniently perching there for me to see it, almost as if it was politely and patiently posing for me (as I compared its shape and plumage to my Saskatchewan bird chart).
MERLINS portrayed in the wild (public domain image)
The merlin’s squeaking laughter-like call, which I heard on multiple days at that family camp property in Saskatchewan, reminded me of seagull laughter, although the Merlin’s calls seemed more repetitive – a staccato laughter — almost like rhythmic squealing.
The fancy scientific name for the Merlin is Falco columbarius, meaning “dove falcon” – perhaps because the Merlin is a falcon shaped (and colored) somewhat like an over-sized mourning dove or pigeon. The males have wingspans almost 2 feet wide; the females are slightly larger.
MERLIN juvenile (Wikipedia image credit)
But, from the perspective of prey seized by this falcon’s sickle-shaped talons, the Merlin is no laughing matter.
Merlins — like other falcons (e.g., peregrines), hawks, and kites — are feathered predators, zooming down upon their next meal with sudden bursts of aerial speed. Like “sparrow-hawks” (i.e., kestrels, which are also a type of falcon), merlins ambush and seize smaller birds, for food, some as little as sparrows and others as large as grouse. In the same cluster of trees, by the lakeside where the Merlin was perching, I repeatedly saw an American Robin, as well as several gulls (perhaps they were Ring-billed Gulls?). Hopefully that robin escaped the merlin’s hungry hunting.
Merlins are flexible in adapting to various ranges, with different biome habitats.
Merlins are often found in northern forests and grasslands, including birch scrubland country (e.g., in Saskatchewan’s birch-studded prairies) and willow-prominent wet woods, from sea level to timberline. Many of their summer breeding ranges are in North America’s boreal forests and prairies, as well as in Eurasia’s taiga forests and steppes. Most merlins migrate, seasonally, with warm winter ranges in mild grasslands, woodlands, and coastlands.
SUMMER & WINTER RANGES of Merlin migrants.
Laughter makes life more livable. And seeing a squealing-laughter-calling Merlin, as a “lifer”, while attending a precious Christian family camp in rural Saskatchewan, was an unexpected blessing, to say the least. (So was visiting the fish hatchery that serves Fort Qu’Appelle – but I digress.)
The Lord has many beautiful places on earth, plus many beautiful birds therein – and Saskatchewan’s Merlin illustrates that beauty. No surprise, because the ultimate source of all beauty is God Himself (Psalm 27:4).
MERLIN in flight (U.S. National Park Service photo credit)
LAUGHING GULL at tidewater shore, Virgin Islands (Wikipedia image)
To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven … a time to weep and a time to laugh….
(Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 3:4a)
When you think about seagull conservation, you might feel like laughing.
Years ago, in AD2015, I wrote about an avian conservation success, the comeback of the Trumpeter Swan—specifically, increasing the American population of Trumpeter Swans from less than 70 to well beyond 46,000! (See “Trumpeter Swans: Trumpeting a Wildlife Conservation Comeback”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2015/08/21/trumpeting-a-wildlife-conservation-comeback/ .)
Today, however, we can also appreciate another such avian conservation success, the Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla), now well-populated in coastlands of both North and South America. This seagull is recognized by its laughter-like call, as well as (during summer) by its black-hooded head and its white eye-liner-like crescents (above and below its eyes); otherwise, this gull’s plumage is mostly white below and mostly grey above.
RANGE of LAUGHING GULL (Wikipedia image credit)
Alonso Abugattas, writing for the CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL [volume, 34, issue 5, page 39 (July-August 2024)], notes this Laughing Gull population rebound:
By the late 1800s and very early 1900s, the coast-hugging laughing gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) had been all but wiped out by hunters and poachers who profited from their feathers and eggs. At the beginning of the new [20th] century, a series of federal laws—the 1900 Lacy Act, followed in 1913 by the Weeks-McLean Act and finally the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918—afforded enough protection to laughing gulls that they gradually recovered. Fast forward to this [21st] century, and the [Laughing Gulls] are no longer threatened but have become the most abundant seabirds breeding in the eastern U.S., with 528,000—538,000 breeding pairs, according to the North American Waterbird Conservation Plan. . . .
Laughing gulls have recovered extremely well. They are quite adaptable, can feed on so many things besides fish or mollusks, and have no trouble living near people. Indeed, for many of us, they are the soundtrack of a day at the beach. [Quoting Alonso Abugattas, cited above]
Population recovery success, and then some!
And that fetches happy memories of dozens of times at the beach, in Florida, near St. Petersburg (where Laughing Gulls reside, year-round), when I would visit those white-sandy beaches with Chaplain Bob and Marcia Webel, who now reside in Missouri. Happy memories!
As the Irish say, you need to laugh to keep from crying. That’s often true; yet it’s also true that it’s good to laugh at other times (Proverbs 17:22; Psalm 126:2), even if you don’t feel like weeping. As Solomon observed, in Ecclesiastes 3:4a (quoted above), sometimes it’s just a good time to laugh.
LAUGHING GULL in summer plumage (Ben Keen photograph, via Wikipedia)
“And Haman answered the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head.” (Esther 6:7-8 NKJV)
There are various Latin/scientific names for the “Crested” birds. The birds featured here use the term “christus” and we may check out more Crested birds in another article. Most are really gorgeous when the display that crest. What a Creator! Enjoy!
Here are the rest of these beautiful Avian Wonders “Crested” cristatus birds. They are in the order that the Birds of the World site lists them when you enter “crisstatus”:
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 