PREDICTING SEASONAL CHANGE
--Wild Bird Style

It is time to start paying a little more attention to the birds in your neighborhood.

Interesting changes are about to occur; some because of anatomical cycles in the birds, others due to migration.

Goldfinches are a common year-round bird in Ohio and during our late fall, winter and early spring both sexes look pretty much alike. But soon, the males will start to reveal themselves by molting into their breeding plumage. They will sprout bright yellow color in some of their feathers giving rise to their popular name of wild canaries.

They will look just dandy until late fall when the cycle will reverse itself.

A common winter bird in Ohio is the Junco. The sexes of these critters look alike. They are sparrow-sized with a mostly dark gray body which shows a sharp change to a nearly white belly. Pay attention as they flit about. They will flash their very white outer tail feathers, not unlike the mannerism of a white tailed deer flashing its tail as it bounds through the woods.

Juncos will soon disappear entirely when they migrate to their breeding range far in the north of Canada.

You likely have not seen a Red-Winged Blackbird for quite some time. While Ohio is included in their year-round range most have quite sensibly spent their winter south of here. Their arrival is a delightful heralding of spring.

One of the most well-known migrants is our Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. It, by the way, is the only hummingbird commonly seen east of the Mississippi River. It, too, has been long gone from Ohio; most likely wintering in South America and truly representing the touristy critter humans like to call snowbirds.

Keep your eyes open for their return after mid May. They have the good sense to avoid most possibilities of a late winter assault.