Category:

Video

Bird of the WeekVideo

A Green Heron’s Fishing Lesson: Knowing just when to strike

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

The Green Heron, moving so slowly that it blends into the background, is all but invisible. That can be a fatal mistake. 

Gradually lifting one foot, then the other, the heron edges forward until it’s within striking distance of its prey. Then with breathtaking speed, it snaps up a tiny fish in a single move and swallows almost as quickly, before it moves on to the next encounter. 

We stumbled upon this magnificent bird last weekend at Raleigh, N.C.’s Crabtree wetlands. The swampy expanse not far from downtown is a feathered circus this time of year, with swallows circling constantly, warblers adding color to the trees, a Bald Eagle passing overhead, a Great Blue Heron snagging a fish of its own, and crows and grackles supplying the soundtrack.

All the while, the Green Heron makes its way around the shallow water, nearly invisible in all the clamor until it makes its move. 

Here’s the cast of colorful characters gathered in these wetlands:  

 

0 comment
1 FacebookTwitterEmail
Birding researchConservationMigrationVideo

Probing a hummingbird mystery — one band at a time

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

The tiny captive is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, held firmly in fingers that are far bigger than he is. What happens next will help solve an intriguing migration mystery affecting one of the world’s most intriguing birds.

Along the North Carolina coast, hummingbirds are creating a birders’ kerfuffle by staying into the winter when they’re expected to be headed to South American with millions of their fellow migrants. Susan Campbell, an ornithologist from Southern Pines, and the state’s leading expert on hummingbirds, is trying to figure out why.

First, Campbell tags the hummingbird with a small aluminum band on his leg, then weighs and measures him and puts a dollop of white paint on his forehead. After a sip of nectar, this young male is ready to be set free in the woods near North Carolina’s Hatteras Island to join the research project.

Susan Campbell

“This is one of the last frontiers in bird research right now,’’ Campbell said. Over the past 20 years, she has banded some 4,000 hummingbirds in North Carolina in hopes of tracking their travels to try to make sense of these migratory patterns.

The banding last month was part of a demonstration to raise visibility of the volunteer campaign to study the 15 species of hummingbirds that migrate through North Carolina. This is one of the best places there is to do it: More hummingbirds have been spotted in North Carolina than anywhere in the U.S. but Arizona.

Here’s a video of the banding process: 

Continue Reading
1 comment
0 FacebookTwitterEmail
BirdingVideo

Birding with a Banjo: The day tweet met twang

by Anders Gyllenhaal
written by Anders Gyllenhaal

What do you get when you mix a songbird’s chirp with a banjo?

We found out one day last spring when we were camping near Charlottesville, Va., alternating between long birding walks and sitting by the fire. On a perfect afternoon, I dragged a chair over to a nearby creek and started tuning my banjo to play a few tunes.

That’s when a Tufted Titmouse chimed in. While not exactly beautiful music, the encounter isn’t like anything I’ve ever heard before. Here’s what happened:

A friend of ours, Robbi Farrell, pulled out her phone and videoed the scene as the Titmouse joined me in a long and lyrical duet of alternating tweets and twangs.

A Tufted Titmouse — not the one in a duet with my banjo — but a cousin a spotted some time later.

At times, it was hard to tell who was leading whom. 

Birds are always offering us lessons of one sort or another if we’ll listen. They have much to say, between mating songs, scolds to competitors and danger calls when a predator is approaching.

I couldn’t tell which of these I was hearing, and I only got a glimpse of the Titmouse. But it’s a conversation I’ll always remember. With the winter moving in and the birds heading south, this seems like the perfect time to share this video. We hope it puts you back in the springtime woods at least for a moment.

(Scroll down a bit to leave a comment.)

0 comment
0 FacebookTwitterEmail