If you're a Doodler of any skill, I'd love to see your rendition of a bird gang. It doesn't have to be fancy. Let's share! We all know people are fond of forming tribes or gangs based on some affiliation to dominate a neighborhood, a city, or other zones. One wonders what it might look like if birds engaged in the same behavior? Would they gang up according to species? Some do, and a 'murder of crows' is known to gang up on a great horned owl, for example. A flock of chickadees hardly seems like a threatening proposition, but they are known to harass larger birds or warn the whole woods about a threat if one appears.I did this drawing of a Bird Gang one day during a boring meeting. If you're a Doodler of any skill, I'd love to see your rendition of a bird gang. It doesn't have to be fancy. Let's share! #birds #gangs #bird #birding

Birding has a bit of a misogynistic attitude when it comes to celebrating the bright or gold colors of male birds. Everyone loves the pizzazz. We know that. The male rose-breasted grosbeak is a real sparkler when it comes to that. But consider the female, for one. The strong facial pattern in chocolate tones is remarkably beautiful. They "eyebrow." The subtle chest streaks. If the females weren't around for the males to court, nothing happens anyway. The species fades into extinction. Their colors are there for a specific purpose: to keep female birds safe as they go about making nests, brooding eggs, and raising young. The males pitch in by feeding nestlings, but I've seen the females making the nest with that prodigious beak. They weave fine material around branches, fill them in with other twine, and build a cup worthy of a great architect. Let's hear it for the females. It's not all about the males. #birds #birding #birder #birdwatching #nature #outdoors #art #photography

I hope this shows you that birding isn't always a "go out in the field and find them" activity. It's just as much an opportunistic awareness that cool birds are often within easy access. For days now, the Sora rails in our backyard wetland emit whinnying calls at all times of the day. But last night, while sitting outside at our fire pit with family for Mother's Day, I noticed a call coming from the nearest wetland section beside the bike trail. I crept out with the iPhone and waited for the bird to emerge. At first, I thought I was out of luck as the rail pushed between the cattails. But then (about halfway through the video) it walked out into the open and strutted down a fallen log. The head-bobbing walk. The long toes. The striking black face markings, yellow bill, and purplish plumage with strong barring on the flanks make Sora rails a fun find every time.

There''s a small bird called the blue-gray gnatcatcher that you need to know about if you've never encountered them before. Their range extends across the United States from New England out to northern California. They frequent scrubby woodlands where they build lichen-nests that rest flat atop a branch. I've included a photo here of a gnatcatcher on its nest. They are highly active birds, flit about catching insects in perpetual motion, flicking their tails as they go. They are most nattily dressed, with the requisite blue-gray upper plumage, a simply white chest and a black-and-white tail that is a great field mark. Look for them in forest preserves where leafy canopies offer them plenty of bug-catching opportunities. #gnatcatcher #birding #birder #birds #ornithology #nature #birdwatcher #naturalist #christophercudworth

This afternoon I heard a call coming from high up in the oak and hickory canopy of Norris Woods, one of the oldest growth forests in our area, although that's not saying much. Many of our Illinois woodlands were timbered over a hundred or two years ago, yet there remain some small tracts evidencing trees worthy of being called "old growth." Those trees sprout buds in late April and early May, when the first warblers and songbirds arrive on migration. I didn't recognize the call I heard, so I opened my new downloaded Merlin app and opened its ears. It suggested both a Summer tanager and a Hairy woodpecker. I knew the Hairy's call notes by heart, so I checked my Sibley's bird app, played the Summer tanager calls, and sure enough, that was the bird. That shows you why birding is a lifelong learning activity. I'd heard these tanagers sing before, but that was just a few years ago at Bliss Woods near our home. I'd been frustrated never seeing this tanager in Illinois before, so I played the call on the Sibley app and headed out to the woods to see if I could match it up. Sure enough, that day I heard and saw a Summer tanager. Nemesis bird no more. Yet this find today was just as joyful. It's amazing to know that these birds were in Central and South America just a few weeks ago. They will feed and nest here this summer, and head back in late August. They take no chances on losing food supplies as they feed on insects and worms. While the bird stayed high up in the trees today, I was able to capture a few reasonably clear photos. Beautiful, strawberry-red birds!