Birds Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Heartland Safari

Action photo of a Northern Flicker boosting itself out of a hole in a dead tree. Bright yellow flashes from the underside of its unfurling wing, as it shows its white breast with black dots.

Another Drummer: Northern Flicker

Updated April 13, 2023

There’s a lot of drumming going on in the trees on Owl Acres. Woodpeckers are staking out their territory and calling to potential mates. One of the drummers is a northern flicker (Colaptes auratus). Unlike Woody Woodpecker and all his cousins, the northern flicker is brown, not black. He does have a profusion of black […]

Birds

A European Starling takes flight. Wings spread, showing the tapered tips that give the bird its name. Brown bird with white mottling and a long, tapered beak.

Thank You, Shakespeare: Starlings

Updated April 6, 2023

There’s a racket going on inside the fireplace. This is the second time this spring. A bird has mistaken the chimney for a home, and, once it tumbled down that pipe, it can’t go back up. So it’s fluttering and bumping around in there trying to get out. After some attempts that sound like they’d […]

Birds

Red Tail Hawk in full flight, carrying a gray rat in its talons

The Hawkeye State: Red-Tailed Hawk

Updated March 30, 2023

On a bright sunny day, a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) sits surveying his domain from the top of the cupola on the barn. We see them everywhere—on top of utility poles, high up in trees, sitting on fence posts, even sitting on the cable barriers that run down the median on the interstate. They hunt […]

Birds

Northern cardinals have a short, stout bill, adapted for cracking seeds. This species is the only bright red bird with a crest.

Solo Duet: Northern Cardinal

Updated March 23, 2023

All winter, northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) have been brightening the landscape with their red plumage and their upward-rising whit-whit-whit calls followed by that descending pfew, Pfew call. Three or four pairs of them have been frequenting the bird feeder, lording it over the finches and chickadees. On this cold March morning, one is sitting on […]

Birds

On the Move: Canada Geese

Updated March 2, 2023

Spring must be coming. The Canada geese are on the move. We’re out for the morning walk. Dave is distracted. He stands riveted—big floppy lab ears cocked, nose pointing to the south—he hears the season’s first gaggle of Canada geese (Branta canadensis) flying overhead. They may have been wintering south of here, and if so, […]

Birds

An olive drab song bird with black wing margins mottled with white, sits on a bird feeder in winter. Eastern Goldfinch.

Iowa State Bird: Eastern Goldfinch

Updated February 23, 2023

We put up a bird feeder station this year, and the Eastern Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) have decided it’s an easier way to get that 100% of their body weight serving of seeds than foraging for them in the fence rows and woods. A mixed flock of a couple dozen birds flits about, snacking, perching, fluttering […]

Birds

Large grey brown bird with yellow eyes perches on a bare electric wire. Great Horned Owl sporting ear-like feather tufts on top of his head

Ruler of the Night: Great Horned Owl

Updated January 26, 2023

It was 1:30 in the morning. Bryan woke me with “Listen.” Through the fuzz of sleep, I heard it—a pair of great horned owls singing their love songs to each other. They were somewhere in the woods on the northwest corner of Owl Acres. His voice was lower in pitch than hers, and their hoots […]

Birds

Sailing into the Wind

Updated January 12, 2023

We put a new mix of seed in the bird feeder this week. It has more corn and peanuts in it than the last batch. This morning seeds are scattered on the ground beneath the feeder. Here’s a chipmunk stuffing his cheek pouches with it. He runs away toward his burrow, then comes back empty-cheeked […]

Birds

Bald eagle stands on a bare snag, wings and tail spread in iconic pose. Black body, white head and tail, yellow beak against a white sky

America’s Bird: The Bald Eagle

Updated December 29, 2022

A huge bird just flew in over Owl Acres. Its wings stretch to eight feet as it flies, and its dark brown body and wings contrast with its stark white head and tail. It lands in the big elm near the driveway. Clearly, it is a living representative of America’s symbol of strength, courage, and […]

Birds

Black capped chickadee perches at bird feeder in winter

Winter Strategies: Black-Capped Chickadee

Updated December 26, 2022

The weather is harsh today. Snow covers the ground. Wind is expected around 30mph from the northwest, driving temps below zero where they’ll stay for several days. The trees in the woods to the north and west of the house moan and creak as they sway bare branches in the wind. The wind chimes on […]

Birds