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The Pure Dedication of Birders

In News by couchiching

Take the Christmas Bird Count season as an example. Any time between mid December and early January, alarms are waking birders up very early in the morning.

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Roosting Boxes: Building a home for the winter

In Birds, News by couchiching

Many bird lovers either purchase or build nest boxes for their favourite wild birds: bluebirds, swallows, chickadees, nuthatches and many more. These boxes vary in size and shapes and in particular, the size of the entrance hole, depending on the desired species. We have had as many as 40 swallow houses on our property, and an equal number of bluebird houses on fence posts along the sides of the roads in our area but only after receiving the permission of the landowner.

Songs by the thousand – the Brown Thrasher

In Birds, Events, News by couchiching

Brown thrashers got their name from the thrashing sound they make as they forage for food in dried leaves and other vegetation on the ground. Where the “brown” came from is beyond me, because, in fact, they possess beautiful rufous- or rusty-coloured feathers on their back, wings and long tail.

Bird-watching: Brown headed Cowbirds

In Birds, News by couchiching

Brown-headed Cowbirds are birds of the Western Prairies. They acquired their name from following herds of bison, feeding on the insects stirred up as the animals grazed the grasses. As the forests of Eastern Canada were cleared to provide agricultural farm lands, the cowbirds began to expand eastward, and their range now extends across Ontario.