By Lewis Young The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) is a small, very agile hawk of the forest and woodlands. With a wingspan of 17-22 inches and a length of 10-14 inches, it displays an amazing ability to fly rapidly through dense trees and shrubs in pursuit of prey. Adults are a slatey blue-gray on the…
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Swainson’s Thrush
A SONG ABOVE OTHERS By Kathy Ross Mid-spring is filled with anticipation for the enchanting, heavenward spiraling song of the male Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) returning each year to our mountain world to breed. This secretive, not often seen, medium-sized Thrush (6″-8″ long, 12″ wingspan), entertains our sense of hearing during the summer months with its…
Read MoreSnow Bunting
By Jeannie Marcure This month’s feature bird visits the Flathead in winter, seeking relief from the harsh weather of its breeding grounds in the tundra and has the distinction of being the only winter songbird in our area that is mostly white. A circumpolar bird, the sparrow-sized Snow Bunting breeds farther north than almost any…
Read MoreRed-winged Blackbird
RETURN OF SPRING’S HARBINGER By Linda de Kort February seems to be a time when we begin to question the length of our winter. Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow on February 2? Will we have 6 more weeks of misty skies and crystalline trees? One of the reassuring events of this month is the…
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House Finch
By Jeannie Marcure House Finches are among the most reliable and frequent visitors to feeders in the Flathead Valley. At our home south of Kalispell, 30 to 40 of these cheery, sparrow-sized birds spend most of the day perching in the top of a larch tree near the house and making frequent visits to the…
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Bald and Golden Eagles
By Ben Long Flathead County is fortunate to host both of North America’s eagles. Both are majestic, but they are unique and not even closely related species: the bald eagle and the golden eagle. Both birds are roughly the same size— about three feet long, a wing-span of about six feet and weighing roughly 10-12…
Read MoreWestern Meadowlark
By Jeannie Marcure The first bird song that I learned to recognize as I was growing up on the prairies of eastern South Dakota was that of the western meadowlark. There, as here, spotting a meadowlark sitting on a fence post, head thrown back in jubilant song, was one of the rites of spring. Some…
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Common Nighthawk
By Jeannie Marcure When I moved to a new neighborhood five years ago, I was fairly confident in my ability to identify the birds that frequent the Flathead Valley. However, that confidence was soon shaken when I met my new neighbors who were camping and building a house on the hill above us. Once I’d…
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Sandhill Crane
By Jeannie Marcure The bird that we’ve chosen to profile this month is one of only two crane species native to North America and is also one of the largest birds found in our area. While the other native crane, the Whooping Crane, is highly endangered, the Sandhill is more abundant and is quite easy…
Read MoreNorthern Harrier
By Jim Graves We have been watching a family of raptors swoop and soar around a neighborhood wetland throughout the summer. These relatively small hawks are Northern Harriers. Harrier means hunter and the harrier jet, which can take off and land vertically, was named for it. This avian hunter was formerly known as the Marsh…
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