Duncraft has announced their Winged Wonders of Winter Photo Contest, where if your winter bird photo is selected you can win a backyard birding prize package valued at $240.

Winter is a great time to capture photographs of birds in the beauty of the season. Email Duncraft your favorite photo of backyard birds in a winter setting and you could be the winner.

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If the pair’s breeding effort is successful at Midway Atoll Refuge, it would mark the first confirmed hatching of a short-tailed albatross outside of Japan in modern history.

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The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a member of the Picidae family, and is the largest common woodpecker of the eastern United States. It is found primarily in northeastern US and southern Canada, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas. Its common habitat is wooded areas, including suburban neighborhoods and parks. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers are very tolerant of humans, and are regular visitors to backyard garden feeders (especially during the winter), favoring sunflower seed, suet, and fruit. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers climb and “hitch” along branches and trunks of trees, picking at the bark.

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This time of year, we spend a lot of time on the back porch. Skies are clear, temperatures are comfy once again and the mosquitoes are gone! We sit with friends, laugh at the dogs, feed raisins to our chickens and watch birds crashing around the gardens as they forage on seed stems of old plants.

But when the dogs are indoors and all is quiet, that’s when we see the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flying towards our pond. He’s kind of hard to miss, looking like a giant pterodactyl flapping its enormous wings as it lands:

Standing 4′ tall with a 6′ wingspan, the Great Blue Heron is the largest heron in North America, and we are always thrilled to see one visiting our small farm pond to hunt for frogs and fish. I can’t say the same for my horses though…when the heron flies directly over them as he lands or takes off, those nervous horses dive for the safety of their stalls!

Heron Takes Flight
Heron Takes Flight

The heron always uses the same landing strip (the road to our barn) where he first checks out the scene to make sure everything’s safe:

From there, he makes a quick flyover to the other side of the pond where he stands silently in the shallows, like a living sculpture, waiting to spear an unsuspecting frog or catfish for dinner.

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Because of their strikingly beautiful black and orange or yellow plumage, their distinctive whistle, spring songs, and their amazing suspended nest, Orioles are quickly becoming one of Americas favorite birds.

While over eight species of Orioles can regularly be seen in the United States, we’ll deal mainly in this flyer with three species-Baltimore, Bullocks, and Orchard. All United States Orioles show variation on the theme of black with yellow or orange plumage.

Except for in the Southeast, all Orioles are tropical migrants. While migrations vary from year-to-year, Orioles generally arrive in the South in early spring, Midwest in early May, and further North soon afterward.

Fruit Feeder from recycled materials
Fruit Feeder from recycled materials

It is very important that you have Oriole feeders up and ready, or often they will pass you by for better feeding grounds. It is equally important to have nesting materials out and ready to help encourage Orioles to nest in your yard. Long frayed natural fibers are a favorite.

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Eight years ago, Bill Askenburg established New England Birdhouse of Chelmsford, Mass., a niche business offering custom miniature replicas of clients’ homes that serve as weather-resistant bird shelters. As he works meticulously on each piece, he says he always considers how special each one is going to be to the recipient.

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Wildlife photographer and nature writer Marie Read offers five tips on improving your own wildlife photographs both in the field and in your backyard.

Widely published, Read’s images have appeared in magazines, books, calendars, websites, and product packaging. She is the author of Secret Lives of Common Birds: Enjoying Bird Behavior Through the Seasons (Houghton Mifflin, 2005).

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Short video report about the amazing feeding and migration habits of hummingbirds – including slow motion in-flight video.

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Columbus, OH, August 27, 2009 – A former industrial site on the Whittier Peninsula near downtown Columbus is about to be officially reborn as an urban oasis where wildlife can thrive and visitors can connect with nature and the power to protect it. At the heart of this transformation is the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, the latest addition to Audubon’s national network of 50 nature centers.
The new community resource, on the banks of the Scioto River, is the culmination of a unique partnership between the City of Columbus Recreation & Parks Department, Metro Parks and Audubon Ohio. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, Franklin County Commission President Paula Brooks, Audubon Board Chair Holt Thrasher, and other officials and invited guests will cut the ribbon to dedicate the new Grange Insurance Audubon Center and Scioto Audubon Metro Park at 10 a.m., Friday, Aug. 28 at 505 West Whittier Street.

“What was once an area to avoid is now a destination where the seeds of stewardship will grow in a community that reflects America’s diversity and promise,” said National Audubon Society President John Flicker, who attended the Center’s ground-breaking ceremony on Earth Day 2008.

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A University of Colorado at Boulder study shows strong evidence that noise pollution negatively influences bird populations by reducing species diversity and increasing reproductive success of the birds in noisy areas.

The study published June 23rd in Current Biology, is the first to indicate that at least some bird species opt for noisy areas over quiet ones, perhaps because of their vocalization pitches, a reduction in predators and reduced competition from other songbirds that prefer quiet environments.

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