Category Songbirds

Beyond Parrots: Surprising Songbirds That Mimic in Your Backyard

WildWatch Weekly Beyond Parrots: Surprising Songbirds That Mimic in Your Backyard Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Hidden Impersonators: Local Birds That Copy Calls and Songs When most people think of birds that mimic sounds, their minds jump straight to parrots. It’s no surprise that parrots are famous for imitating human speech and other noises. But what many backyard birdwatchers don’t realize is that some of the best vocal impressionists in the bird world are found right...

Why the Male Cardinal Wears Red: The Science Behind the Scarlet

WildWatch Weekly Why the Male Cardinal Wears Red: The Science Behind the Scarlet Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Flash of Red in the Gray On a quiet winter morning, when the trees stand bare and the world seems painted in shades of gray, a sudden burst of color can take your breath away. A male northern cardinal lands on a snowy branch, a living ember glowing against the cold. His feathers blaze crimson in the pale light, as if he carries a piece of summer in his wings....

The Starling’s American Takeover: Beauty, Chaos, and Song

WildWatch Weekly The Starling’s American Takeover: Beauty, Chaos, and Song Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Sky in Motion Like a living cloud, a murmuration of starlings twists and folds above a winter field, nature’s ballet, born of an accident in American history. The flock moves as if guided by a single mind, sweeping and turning in fluid arcs that shimmer with the last golden light of day. Each bird reacts in perfect harmony with its neighbors, creating patterns that seem...

The Snowbird Returns: Meet the Dark-eyed Junco

WildWatch Weekly The Snowbird Returns: Meet the Dark-eyed Junco Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Arrival of Winter’s Little Messenger There’s a quiet magic to that first cold morning when the juncos return. The leaves have mostly fallen, the air carries a sharper edge, and suddenly the familiar flutter of small gray wings animates the ground beneath your feeders. Dark-eyed Juncos, those tiny, slate-colored songbirds with snowy bellies and pink bills, seem to appear overnight,...

The Power of Many: How Citizen Scientists Are Changing Ornithology

WildWatch Weekly The Power of Many: How Citizen Scientists Are Changing Ornithology Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Power of the Crowd Every spring and fall, one of nature’s greatest spectacles unfolds overhead: millions of birds embark on epic migrations, traveling thousands of miles across continents. For centuries, this awe-inspiring movement was a mystery. Scientists pieced together clues using small-scale banding programs, scattered field observations, and a lot of...

How Weather Radar Reveals the Hidden Highways of Bird Migration

WildWatch Weekly How Weather Radar Reveals the Hidden Highways of Bird Migration Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Sky Comes Alive at Night Each spring and fall, the night sky above us is filled with life. While most of us are winding down for the evening, countless songbirds, waterfowl, and raptors are taking flight, embarking on long-distance journeys under the cover of darkness. This nightly spectacle of migration is one of the great natural wonders of the world, yet it...

Warblers: The Gems of Migration

WildWatch Weekly Warblers: The Gems of Migration Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Tennessee Warbler Wings of Color, Stories of Endurance Warblers are among nature’s most dazzling travelers. Though small enough to perch lightly on a fingertip, they shine like living jewels in the treetops, splashes of yellow, green, blue, and orange that catch the morning sun. These tiny songbirds bring a burst of color and song each spring and fall, transforming our forests and backyards into...

How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration

WildWatch Weekly How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Marshall Radio Telemetry Tracking Device How Tracking Devices Unlock the Secrets of Bird Migration Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, embarking on extraordinary migrations that span continents and oceans. For centuries, humans could only wonder where these feathered travelers disappeared to each fall and how they found their way back each spring. But thanks to...

Juvenile Helpers: Cooperative Breeding in Bluebirds

WildWatch Weekly Juvenile Helpers: Cooperative Breeding in Bluebirds Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Nature's Helping Hands: Cooperative Breeding Not all birds fly the nest and leave family life behind. In a remarkable natural behavior known as cooperative breeding, some juvenile birds actually stick around to help raise their younger siblings. That’s exactly what we’ve seen recently at one of our PixCams neighbors nest cameras a young bluebird from an earlier brood lending a...

Feathers in Flight: Barn Swallows Nesting at Schwarz Barn

WildWatch Weekly Feathers in Flight: Barn Swallows Nesting at Schwarz Barn Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Barn Swallow in Nest at Schwarz Barn Barn Swallows Nesting at the Schwarz Barn If you’ve ever watched a barn swallow dart and dive through the summer sky, you know just how agile and graceful these birds can be. Now, thanks to our newest live streaming camera at the historic Schwarz Barn on the Westmoreland Land Trust property, you can watch a pair of barn swallows up close...