Author: Sharon Swaney

Brown Thrasher
Photo by Matt Valencic

April will bring about 35 species of birds to NE Ohio.  Some will stay for the summer and some will just be passing through.  Brown Thrashers like dense thickets next to fields and forests.  Learn its crazy, mixed up song, a medley of musical phrases...

Native Plants for Birds and Pollinators

In the last two newsletters [January and February 2021]I wrote about the importance of native plants for birds and pollinators and suggested you consider adding some to your home landscape.  Native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants support more caterpillar species for birds and attract more...

Hardy Birds – Snow Bunting
Photo by Matt Valencic

Snow Buntings blend well into our snowy agricultural fields during winter where they forage for spent grains as well as weed seeds and insects.  Soon they will leave for the tundra where the males secure a nest site in rocky areas, waiting for the females...

Hardy Birds – Common Redpolls
Photo by Matt Valencic

Common Redpolls don’t visit NE Ohio every year so the hundreds being seen this year are a real treat. They may visit your thistle (nyger) feeder but most likely the flock will be foraging on catkins of birch and alder. They can survive to -65F...

Hardy Birds – Horned Lark
Photo by Matt Valencic

Horned Larks inhabit most of the continental US all year round!  Because they prefer to forage for seeds and insects on the ground we see them better in winter, especially on bare, agricultural fields.  In spring, females will make a nest in a depression on...

Hardy Birds – Lapland Longspur
Photo by Matt Valencic

In winter, Lapland Longspurs could be overlooked as just another LBJ (little brown job – aka, sparrow), except that most of our sparrows don’t inhabit open fields during winter.  They nest in the high tundra where it is estimated they eat over 3,000 seeds and...

Hardy Birds – American Pipit
Photo by Matt Valencic

Because they eat mostly insects, American Pipits go all the way to the southern US to spend the winter. That means we have to enjoy them in late fall and early spring during migration. They can be hard to see because they blend in well...

Short-eared Owl
Photo by Matt Valencic

Winter Raptors. The five featured species for this season: Merlin, Snowy Owl, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, and Short-eared Owl eat other birds (Merlin) and small mammals. They are only in NE Ohio during the winter months. When the weather warms in March they head north...

Rough-legged Hawk, light morph
Photo by Matt Valencic

Winter Raptors. The five featured species for this season: Merlin, Snowy Owl, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, and Short-eared Owl eat other birds (Merlin) and small mammals. They are only in NE Ohio during the winter months. When the weather warms in March they head north...

Male Northern Harrier
Photo by Matt Valencic

Winter Raptors. The five featured species for this season: Merlin, Snowy Owl, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, and Short-eared Owl eat other birds (Merlin) and small mammals. They are only in NE Ohio during the winter months. When the weather warms in March they head north...