Author: ConnorsRdCollective

As quickly as the Warblers arrived, they left. In Burgess’ classic “The Burgess Bird Book for Children,” Peter finds a Warbler that stays in the Green Forest, the Northern Parula. He notices Sprite by finding his nest which looks like a bunch of moss hanging from a tree. Cornell Lab explains that Northern Parulas actually depend on moss in order to build their nests and habitat loss affects their ability to breed in certain places (source). The particular mosses that they depend on are Spanish moss in the Southern United States and Beard Moss in the Northern United States.

Here is a great introduction of the Northern Parula and their nest building by Bob Duchesne on Youtube

Here is the rest of our gathering for Sprite:

They really are a beautiful bird! Until next time, keep birding! <3 Kate

Burgess Bird Pages

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Talk about making a statement, the Common Yellowthroat is easy to identify by his black face mask. The females do not have the black masks, but otherwise look very similar with yellow throats and a little more brown along their backs.

The Common Yellowthroat is another Warbler who is often prey to Brown-headed Cowbirds’ brood parasitism. That is the term used to describe the Cowbirds tactic of laying their eggs in other birds nests to be raised. The Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat often build stories in their nest to try and combat this, but the Common Yellowthroat has another tactic. They will also abandon a nest that has been visited by a Cowbird.

Their yellowthroats remind me of the need to highlight this songbird’s call. Check out this Wild Bird and Nature Video by McElroy of the Common Yellowthroat on Youtube

Here is the rest of our gathering for the Common Yellowthroat:

Until next time, keep birding <3 Kate

Find more about the Common Yellowthroat from Cornell Lab’s allaboutbirds.org

For more Burgess Birds in Detail

The Black and White Warbler could easily be misidentified as a Brown Creeper because even as Peter Rabbit notices, they act similarly. Listen in on Creeper’s tactic for his very un-Warbler, Nuthatch-like behavior:

“I’m going to let you into a little secret, Peter. The rest of them (Warblers) get their living from the leaves and twigs and in the air, but I’ve discovered an easier way. I’ve found out that there are lots of little worms and insects and eggs on the trunks and big limbs of the trees that I can get the best kind of a living there without flitting about everlastingly. I don’t have share them with anybody but the Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, and Tommy Tit the Chickadee.”

Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press edition, p. 125

Cornell Lab’s allaboutbirds.org adds that Creeper actually has an extra long hind-claw that helps him with this behavior. He uses it to latch and move along the bark of trees. See if you can find it on the Writing Page below which contains the rest of our gathering about Creeper:

You’ll see them foraging for food along the tree trunks, but these birds nest on the ground in the forest.

Check out Lesley the Bird Nerd’s wonderful video about the Black and White Warbler on Youtube!

Until next time, keep birding! <3 Kate

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We are getting into some migrating birds at just the right time of year, right before the Spring migration! Here we have the American Redstart, the first of our many Warblers. I love what Burgess shares about Warblers wrote through the eyes of Peter the Rabbit:

If there is one family of feathered friends which perplexes Peter Rabbit more than another, it is the Warbler family.

“So many of them come together and they move about so constantly that a fellow doesn’t have a chance to look at one long enough to recognize him,” complained Peter to Jenny Wren one morning when the Old Orchard was fairly alive with little birds no bigger than Jenny Wren herself.

Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press Edition, p. 199

I have been on a nature walk trying so hard to figure out which little warblers I was watching and Peter is right- they are so lively and energetic- always moving!

Allaboutbirds.org shares that as a foraging trick, “the American Redstart flashes the bright patches in its tail and wings. This seems to startle insect prey and give the birds an opportunity to catch them.” source

Here is our gathering for Zee Zee:

Here you can hear a male giving one of the common calls “see see see oh” Cornell Lab’s American Redstart Call on Youtube

Here is a really helpful American Redstart Identification Video by Lycobirds on Youtube. He does a great job describing the identification markers to distinguish females from immature males and some other Warblers.

Until next time, keep birding <3 Kate

Burgess Bird Pages

Chapter 23 of Burgess’ classic “The Burgess Bird Book for Children” rounds out with one more bird: Chuck-will’s-widow. It’s funny to me that I had never heard of any of the three birds before and the chapter finishes with the perfect retort from Jenny Wren:

“That’s what comes of never having traveled,” retorted Jenny Wren. If you’d ever been in the South the way I have you would know Chuck-will’s-widow. He looks a whole lot like the other two we’ve been talking about (Common Nighthawk & Whip-poor-will), but has even a bigger mouth. What’s more, he has whiskers with branches. Now you needn’t look as if you doubted that, Peter Rabbit; it’s so. In his habits he’s just like his cousins, no nest and only two eggs. I never saw people so afraid to raise a family. If the Wrens didn’t do better than that, I don’t know what would become of you.” You know Jenny usually has a family of six or eight.” (emphasis mine)

Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press, p. 118

If you see a range map for Chuck-will’s-widow, you’ll see that they range from the Eastern and Southeastern part of the United States all the way down the eastern coasts of Mexico and into the North West top of South America. A range map for the House Wren shows you how extensive their coverage can be: all over the United States and South America. No wonder she is the ambassador for the birds in this classic.

If you are interested in trying to locate them in the US, venture to the South East. Cornell Lab writes, you can find them “roosting in dry woodlands in the southeast, from pine barrens to oak-hickory and mixed deciduous woodlands.” (Source: allaboutbird.org) That is one place I haven’t spent a lot of time and I would love to venture there soon.

Here is our gathering from learning about this interesting bird:

You can find their call here: American Bird Conservatory (Youtube)

A really interesting view of the size of their mouth: A WILD Connection (Youtube)

Until next time, keep birding <3 Kate

Burgess Bird Pages

The Living Books Press link above contains an affiliate link, so I may receive a small payment if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Have you ever met a Whip-poor-will? Introduced to Peter Rabbit as one of Boomer the Common Nighthawk’s cousins, “Whip-poor-will has just the same kind of big mouth and he is dressed very much like Boomer, save that there are no white patches on his wings.” (Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press Edition, p.117).

Peter Rabbit recognizes Whip-poor-will very easily because he is often driven crazy by his song, “That voice of his goes through me so that I want to stop both ears. There isn’t a person of my acquaintance who can say a thing over and over, over and over, so many times without stopping for breath.” (Burgess, Bird Book, p.117). They are very easy to hear but quite hard to spot as they blend in so easily with the forest floor. Take a listen to the call that Peter is referring to, can you see why it’s called the Whip-poor-will?:

The other thing that Jenny Wren remarks on in regards to Whip-poor-will’s appearance are his whiskers! Allaboutbirds notes that “at dawn and dusk, and on moonlit nights, they sally out from perches to sweep up insects in their cavernous mouths.” (source). Jenny Wren guesses that his whiskers help him to catch insects during these times after they get tangled up in them.

Here is one more video of a Whip-poor-will’s threat display as a chipmunk comes towards it (the chipmunk is out of the shot). What about this display would seem threatening to you if you were a small rodent on the forest floor?:

Here are some of the things we gathered about this really interesting bird:

Until next time, keep birding! <3 Kate

More Burgess Birds in detail

Check out the Burgess Bird Pages

This is a bird that I had never heard of before reading The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton W. Burgess. Boomer has a small bill but a very big mouth, as Peter Rabbit learns. But that isn’t the only thing that Peter learns about Boomer first hand…

Peter tipped his head way back. High up in the blue, blue sky was a bird which at that distance looked something like a much overgrown Swallow. He was circling and darting about this way and that. Even while Peter watched he half closed his wings and shot down with such speed that Peter actually held his breath. It looked very, very much as if Boomer would dash himself to pieces. Just before he reached the earth he suddenly opened those wings and turned upward. At the instant he turned, the booming sound which had so started Peter was heard. It was made by the rushing of the wind through the larger feathers of his wings as he checked himself.

Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press Edition, p. 115

As I was doing a little research, I found this wonderful account of a well-known birder’s encounter with the Common Nighthawk. I really recommend listening to this because Greg Budney, an Audio Curator for the Macaulay Library, does an amazing job at recreating his experience.

Here is the Common Nighthawk in flight around dusk- a wonderful time to see them in the field:

It is great to know the characteristics that make Boomer different from other birds that fly close to the ground and make similar calls. The white wing bar that you can see during flight is a good one for us to be aware of. Here is the rest of what we gathered about Boomer:

I’m really grateful that we can spend time learning about birds that were once unfamiliar to us! Can’t wait to continue on as we enjoy birding together.

Until next time, keep birding! <3 Kate

Burgess Birds in Detail

Burgess Bird Pages