This article was originally published in the BFEC newsletter, Vol. 20/No. 4, Fall 2016.
By Sarah McPeek '19, BFEC student manager
As I was walking home along the roadside meadows on a clear September evening, I glanced up to find the skies swarming with life. Hundreds of chirping Tree Swallows wheeled overhead, swooping and soaring over the treetops. They chased flashing green darner dragonflies in crazy twists and loops, somehow without crashing into each other.
I watched another flock of swallows stream past over the fields, as if caught in a sudden gust of wind. And then, the birds were joined by more swallows three times their size with a long white stripe under their wings. Not swallows at all, but nighthawks: the elusive ground-dwellers of our forests and fields. I rarely see these secretive birds during the year, but now they are active, darting silently among the swallows, scooping up insect after insect in midair with their large froglike mouths.
This feeding frenzy has an important purpose: these birds are entering a stage in their yearly cycle called hyperphagia, fattening up for their fall migration. In the coming weeks, they must consume enough food to nearly double their body fat, storing energy they will need as they make the long journey south. Soon, populations that made their breeding grounds here this summer will begin heading for warmer climates: to Texas, Mexico and Central America for the swallows, and continuing on to South America for the nighthawks, theirs being one of the longest migrations of any North American bird.
Why must our feathered friends leave us? Right now, our meadows and skies are bursting with activity, providing ample food for these insectivorous birds. However, as the weather cools and insect populations taper off, the birds must trail the warmth, and the abundant food, south. Some travel over 4,000 miles in the span of several months.
Fall is an exciting time for birds, and an exciting time for bird lovers. We bid farewell to our summer breeders while new arrivals take their places in our fields and forests. Swooping swallows, bubbly warblers, and vireos follow the warmth into Central and South America, but don’t despair! As they depart, we welcome back the northern-breeding tree and white-crowned sparrows, hordes of dark-eyed juncos, and the tiny golden-crowned kinglets. Some, like the sprightly yellow-rumped warblers, are only visitors for October and November, but while they are with us, their massive flocks resting in trees are an impressive sight.
Birds make these harrowing journeys every year, and for this year’s fledglings, this will be their first long trip. How do they know where to go? Many birds, like sparrows, swallows, and robins, migrate in huge flocks of thousands of individuals, and the flocks work together to make it safely to their wintering grounds in the tropics. While migration is still something of a mystery to scientists, we think they follow the stars, the sun, even the magnetic fields of the Earth itself. Keen eyesight allows them to track landmarks like the wide Mississippi River. Many birds travel the same routes every year and wind up in the same wintering grounds, often in dense, tropical environments. Imagine a little Red-breasted Grosbeak from your feeder snacking on seeds with Scarlet Macaws in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest!
Fall is one of the best times to see large numbers of birds because species congregate in large groups to feed and fly. Consequently, it’s also a great time to see hawks and owls. These raptors follow the huge crowds looking for tired or weak individuals to pick out of the flock.
The diverse habitats of the Brown Family Environmental Center make us an attractive spot for migrating birds. Our spacious prairie grasses and wildflowers provide excellent food for seedeaters like white-crowned and white-throated sparrows, and our favorite house finches, which should be coming through in vast numbers in October and November. Some of these, like the house finch and the white-crowned sparrow, will stay through the winter. Coniferous woodlands are wonderful resting places for weary flocks. The Kokosing River and the riparian corridors surrounding it are wonderful places for mallards, Canada geese, black ducks, hooded mergansers, and other waterfowl returning from their breeding grounds in the north.
Migration season poses a unique challenge for birders because many species have molted their vibrant summer breeding plumage and many young still retain their juvenile feathers. The birder’s greatest frustration is the dreaded "Little Brown Bird" or "LBB." Could it be a juvenile sparrow? A catbird? A faded goldfinch? Looking at the body shapes, sizes, and flight patterns of the birds you see, and knowing their preferred habitats are important to identifying which is which. Certain resident birds are good marker species for certain migrants. For example, warblers and sparrows often join in with flocks of foraging chickadees.
Thankfully for us, many of our feathered friends will stay with us through the winter. Our chickadees, titmice, cardinals and goldfinches, our white-breasted nuthatches, catbirds, blue jays, and crows, our woodpeckers and beloved eastern bluebirds will all keep the cold, dark days with us. We will miss the dawn chorus of warblers and sparrows, but it’s comforting to know that our skies will never be truly empty.
How can you help these travelers on their journey? Birds need food as they travel, so stocking feeders with seeds, millet, and cracked corn will help them refuel, and help you see them in action. Keeping birdbaths full is important too, because all birds need a cold drink and a nice bath after strenuous exercise. Limiting light pollution at night is also critical, because many migrants like wood warblers and vireos, do most of the journey by moonlight, and excessive light from the ground can be dangerously disorienting.
If you are curious to see what kinds of birds are taking advantage of BFEC habitats, join us for a fall birdwatching program on Saturday, November 5 from 7:30 to 11 a.m. We will begin with a short presentation inside the Resource Center discussing Ohio migrants and how to identify them. Then we will head outside to see what we can find!