Category WildWatch Weekly

Tiny but Mighty: Meet Pennsylvania’s Wrens

WildWatch Weekly Tiny but Mighty: Meet Pennsylvania’s Wrens Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Carolina Wren Small Birds, Big Personalities If you’ve ever heard a burst of rapid, bubbling song pouring out of a hedge, woodpile, or marsh only to spot a tiny brown bird bouncing through the shadows, chances are you’ve just encountered a wren. Wrens are some of Pennsylvania’s most energetic, vocal, and surprisingly diverse songbirds, yet they often go unnoticed. Their modest colors help...

Not Just for Spring: The Secret Winter Life of Songbird Nest Boxes

WildWatch Weekly Not Just for Spring: The Secret Winter Life of Songbird Nest Boxes Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube Nest Boxes Aren’t Just for Nesting When most people think of nest boxes, they picture spring: chirping chicks, patient parents, and busy beaks delivering meal after meal. It’s easy to forget that these wooden houses don’t sit empty the rest of the year. To many backyard birds, a well-placed nest box is far more than a nursery, it’s a valuable piece of real estate...

What Is Leucism? The Science Behind Pale and Patchy Birds

WildWatch Weekly What Is Leucism? The Science Behind Pale and Patchy Birds Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube An Unusual Visitor at the Feeder It started with a flicker of pale feathers at the feeder, the kind of moment that makes regular PixCams viewers lean in a little closer. Among the bustling flock of house finches, one bird stood out: a male with ghostly white patches scattered across his normally rosy plumage. Leudcistic House Finch Captured on Camera! At first glance, it...

Queens of the Sky: Understanding Female Size Dominance in Raptors

WildWatch Weekly Queens of the Sky: Understanding Female Size Dominance in Raptors Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube A Perfect Time to Look Up As we get ready to kick off another exciting Bald Eagle Cam season at PixCam, it’s the perfect time to look up and reconnect with the incredible raptors that call Pennsylvania home. Soon, fans of the Hays bald eagles (now Glen Hazel), and our other eagle nests across the state, will once again be tuning in daily to watch courtship displays,...

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....

When Weasels Work in Pairs: Unexpected Insights from Our Trail Cameras

WildWatch Weekly When Weasels Work in Pairs: Unexpected Insights from Our Trail Cameras Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Unexpected Guests Trail cameras are often full of surprises, but this fall one of our remote setups in southwestern Pennsylvania captured something extraordinary, a flurry of long-tailed weasel activity that defied expectations. What began as a routine camera check turned into a genuine mystery. These small, fast, and secretive predators rarely show...

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...

Autumn Builders: Muskrats Prepare for Winter at Iroquois Refuge

WildWatch Weekly Autumn Builders: Muskrats Prepare for Winter at Iroquois Refuge Live Cams Latest Posts Store Facebook YouTube The Marsh Comes Alive Autumn settles gently over the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, draping the wetlands in gold and amber. Morning mist drifts across the still water, and the rustle of dry cattails mixes with the calls of distant geese. Just beneath the Bald Eagle nest, where so many eyes focus skyward, another drama unfolds at water level. Ripples spread through...

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,...