Local birding report

Migrating at night is a risky business. One way to increase chances of success is for birds to travel in small flocks, constructively working as a team. Many songbirds including warblers, sparrows and thrushes use short, high-pitched nocturnal flight calls to communicate while on the wing. These distinct calls most likely evolved to facilitate collective decision-making, helping flocks of birds stay together and navigate in darkness. Only in the last couple of years has technology allowed for efficient identification of these unseen rivers of northbound neotropical migrants - cuckoos, grosbeaks, tanagers and orioles all soon to be moving across our night sky.

On the night of April 25, Cornell’s Migration Dashboard estimated that nearly 1.6 million birds had crossed through Cumberland County. The following morning our backyard was carpeted with White-throated Sparrows along with an array of first of the year birds including a Northern Parula, two Gray Catbirds and a female Eastern Towhee. I could also hear the calls from Black-throated Green Warblers in the surrounding woods and the squeaky wheel turning, wee-see-wee-see-wee-see call notes from Black-and-white Warblers. Later that morning I also discovered my first Blue-headed Vireo within Pond Cove.

Blue-headed Vireos are a joy to come across with their moss-green body and clean white “spectacles” set off against a blueish-gray head. With a bit of patience, I was able to hear the Vireo whispering its cheerful carol song. Blue-headed vireos move in a deliberate, methodical fashion, which contrasts with the lightening quick pace of most wood warblers occupying the same middle elevations of mature and second growth woods.

On this same morning within Kettle Cove, I noted several Laughing Gulls, a plump of Brant sea geese, eleven Long-tailed Ducks and rafts of Black Scoters. The musical twittering’s of Ruby Crowned Kinglets filled the invasive tangles surrounding the shoreline.

Travelling along Fessenden Road yielded hundreds more White-throated Sparrows and several Dark-eyed Juncos and Song Sparrows. Mixed in with these birds were three Savannah Sparrows.

Also, on the afternoon of April 26 I noticed a small bird with what appeared to be a forked tail perched high up in an Ash tree along the fringe of our yard. The Song Sparrow sized bird sat for five minutes, carefully watching the other birds at the feeder. Although little more than a black outline against the cloudy backdrop, the bird’s head shifted at one point so that the daylight cast a Raspberry red glow atop its crest and crown - Haemorhous purpureus! Purple Finches are always a special treat to see because I do not see these gems very often. Later that afternoon a total of nine Purple Finches, five males and four females were cracking black-sunflower seeds with their heavy rounded bills at our feeder. This boreal species has been driven deeper into the woods by the introduction of the more aggressive House Finch in 1939 and its population throughout southern Maine is in decline.

The identification of male Purple Finches depends quite as much on his song as his color. In fact, this favorite bird of mine is one of the most melodious of New England finches. The male’s song is a gushing, ecstatic warble with a variety and rapidity that gives it a character of its own. In Neltje Blanchan’s 1899 publication of “Bird Neighbors,” she writes of this remarkable vocal effort, “By the beginning of May the male Purple Finch is desperately in love, and sudden joyous peals of music from the elm or evergreen trees on the lawn enliven the garden. How could his little brown lady-love fail to be impressed with ta suitor so gayly dressed, so tender and solicitous, so deliciously sweet – voiced? With fuller, richer song than the Warbling Vireo’s, a perfect ecstasy of love pours incessantly from his throat during the early summer days.”

Additionally on the evening of April 27 and within less than a minute of each other, I heard both a Barred Owl and a Great-horned Owl calling from their haunts along Shore Road.

As spring migration continues to heat up it is critical for all of us to remember how perilous songbirds’ journeys are. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services estimates that between 388 million and 988 million birds die from glass collisions each year. Glass can be both transparent (when lit from inside) and reflective (acting like a mirror) creating a mirage for birds. Alerting a bird to the presence of a window is the solution and this is accomplished by treating the outside surface of windows with a range of bird strike deterrents ranging from screens to hanging cords to window decals made by CollidEscape and Feather Friendly.

Over the last half decade BirdSafe Maine, a coalition between Maine Audubon, the University of Southern Maine and the Portland Society for Architecture have led the efforts to educate architects, homebuilders, homeowners and local and state officials about the magnitude of bird strikes. Using data (dead or injured birds) collected by volunteers who survey routes in the early morning hours in Portland during spring and fall migration BirdSafe Maine has been able to take years’ worth of data and turn it into policy action. Companies like MEMIC with a six-story building on Commercial Street have covered a significant section of their exterior windows with polka-dot spot decals which has virtually eliminated bird strikes thanks to BirdSafe Maine.

Additionally, WEX has committed to similar glass improvements at their headquarters and L.L. Bean’s new headquarters in Freeport has been completely retrofitted to help prevent bird strike. Other noteworthy efforts by BirdSafe Maine include the Portland City Council unanimous approval of a city-wide bird safe buildings ordinance in June of 2024. Additionally, this amazing coalition has been at the forefront in making Maine one of only four states currently taking statewide action with the passage of LD 670, An Act to Protect Birds in Construction, Renovation and Maintenance of Public Buildings.