Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Much Sorry with Delays
Birth, Death and All That Stuff in Between
How to Honor Labor Day, Every Day
My Yom Kippur Miracle (Repost from 2010)
Good intro to fly casting
Peach update, with pie
NYC update
Easy for you to say: To the elites on mass immigration
For NYC on 9/11, Sailors' Snug Harbor
Pickled Peaches
Water Shoes
Labor Costs in U.S.
Your "identity"
Good news about The Great Courses
Uses of Hot Pepper Jelly/Sauce, Chutneys, and Jams
A Saturday Drive to Litchfield County, CT
How to Pick a Kayak
Civilized: Fruit forks and knives
Loads of kayaking on Cape Cod
Psychology Experiments' Questionable Results

Categories


All categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Add to Google

Subscribe with Bloglines

Friday, February 3. 2023

Bird of the Week: Wood Thrush, the flautist of the woods

The song of the Wood Thrush came through my window Friday morning. A migrant, I think. It is a fine, musical spring sound which connects me with every spring I have lived through.


The Wood Thrush inhabits the dark Eastern forests of mature hardwoods and hemlocks, and is far more often heard than seen. His song is often described as a flute-like yodel, and indeed it is one of the haunting sounds from the woodlands. He forages near the ground for bugs, worms, and berries.


They do breed in the woodlands of the Farm but right now most of them are headed north. The great songbird (and warbler) migration to breeding grounds.


This member of the large family of Thrushes, which includes the American Robin, is heavily parasitized by Cowbirds, the Welfare Queens of the bird world.


Hear his remarkable song, and read more about him, here. If you do not really know birds, make sure you listen to the song on the site - if you spend any time outside, you will recognize that tune.



Posted by Bird Dog in Natural History and Conservation at 13:36 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

If you have a cat that loves to sit by the computer like I do play the bird song justfor their reaction. She's still trying to find out where the bird is.
#1 linda skountzos on 2006-05-14 12:53 (Reply)
that does bring a funny image to mind
#2 bird dog on 2006-05-15 04:51 (Reply)
The background music of my life has two parts: mourning dove calls and automobile traffic.
Not the pleasantest of harmonies.
#3 PacRim Jim (Link) on 2012-05-27 16:00 (Reply)
Mourning doves=vermin. Dumb as a rock, no socially redeeming value.
#3.1 Agent Cooper on 2012-05-27 16:58 (Reply)
Tasting good isn't a socially redeeming value?
#3.1.1 T.K. Tortch on 2012-05-27 19:44 (Reply)
So that's the bird that whistles that tune. You're right, I've heard it hundreds of times.

I've been hearing a Goatsucker (aka Nightjar aka Nighthawk) for days now, but always after dark. Didn't see the bird overhead until late yesterday afternoon.
#4 T.K. Tortch on 2012-05-27 19:51 (Reply)
I walk my dog just at dawn here in central Israel. Every spring there is some Spanish-speaking bird who calls out "Buenas Dias!" and is answered in perfect Hebrew by another bird calling "Boker Tov!" I think the Spanish speaker is a Bulbul, but I've never managed to see the birds calling out their morning greeting.
Israel, by the way, is a birder's paradise -- we get species from Asia, Africa, and Europe, and there are several field schools for the dedicated observers.
#5 Alifa on 2012-05-28 03:08 (Reply)
Red-vented bulbuls are common around my house. They sit on my porch while keeping an eye out for insects. I wish they would find some other place to perch. They poop on the railing so I have to keep washing it down with bleach. And their calls are nothing but a raspy screech.

Saw a white cardinal the other day...uncommon but not rare.
#6 Agent Cooper on 2012-05-28 04:02 (Reply)
We have wood thrushes in our woods. I love them. They are indeed like flautists and if the weather is just right and all the birds in our woods and fields are really going at it, some mornings sound like a symphony warming up.
#7 weaver (Link) on 2012-05-28 07:08 (Reply)

Add Comment
(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)

By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email
addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications.

Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u],
[url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here.

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

BBCode format allowed
 
 
A Chris Southern Consulting website.