Previously, we’ve identified species that it should be possible to confirm as breeders in most blocks. Two of those species are New World sparrows (a third, house sparrow, is an Old World sparrow – a completely separate family). And both begin nesting early enough in the year that confirming them should already be possible in many places. Continue reading
Month: May 2019
Night birds (part 2)
Yesterday I wrote about night birds, but didn’t mention owls. On my return from whip-poor-will listening last week, though, I also heard a pair of great horned owls calling from my yard. Last summer, I confirmed breeding for this species when I heard both the parents and young owls calling. Continue reading
Night birds (part 1)
Night birds are often among the most under-reported species in bird atlases. Precisely because they are hard to detect, however, they are also among those species we most need to learn about, because there are few other good sources of information about most of them. Continue reading
Expanding woodpeckers
Last spring, Greg Hanisek wrote a blog post about the growing range of yellow-bellied sapsuckers in Connecticut. During the last breeding atlas, in the 1980s, the species was largely confined to the northwest corner of the state, with only scattered records of possible breeding elsewhere. Since then, the species is known to have spread south and east, but exactly how much was unclear. Continue reading
Can we confirm robins in every block?
Last summer I wrote a blog post highlighting 12 species that it should be possible to confirm as breeders in almost all atlas blocks. That list is reproduced here:
1. Song sparrow
2. American robin
3. Gray catbird
4. Black-capped chickadee
5. Mourning dove
6. Northern cardinal
7. Blue jay
8. House finch
9. Common yellowthroat
10. House sparrow
11. Chipping sparrow
12. Tufted titmouse
8. House finch
9. Common yellowthroat
10. House sparrow
11. Chipping sparrow
12. Tufted titmouse