By Jeannie Marcure Because we live in such a desirable tourist destination, many of us have frequent visitors during our beautiful short summers. In fact, a common joke around the Flathead describes our climate as nine months of winter and three months of relatives! At our home south of town, we’ve been privileged to have…
Read MoreCategory: Bird of the Month
Great Gray Owl
Common Raven
By Gail Cleveland The acrobatic aerial display of two jet black birds soaring, wheeling and tumbling with wingtips touching — inverted commas in the sky. This spring scene is the mating display of the Common Raven,the largest of the passerines (perching birds) that has “become the most widely naturally disturbed bird in the world, inhabiting…
Read MoreNorthern Flicker
By Lisa Bate See a flash of red-orange from a flying bird, hear the familiar “flicka, flicka, flicka” call and I know that one of my favorite birds has just landed. It is the Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)! This species is unmistakable in the field because the lower surface of its wings and tail are…
Read MoreRufous, Calliope, & Black-chinned Hummingbirds
By Linda de Kort The whir of young hummingbirds is in the air as they buff up and prepare for their southern journey.Their parents arrived here last spring from as far away as Mexico. Most adults have already started their return to their wintering grounds and the young will be leaving by the end of…
Read MoreGray Jay Revisited
Lewis’s Woodpecker
By Lewis Young Named for Captain Meriwether Lewis, who first scientifically described them during the 1804-1806 Lewis & Clark Expedition, Lewis’s woodpeckers are unusual in that much of the year they feed mostly by catching insects in acrobatic flight. They swoop out from a perch like a flycatcher or circle in the air like a…
Read MoreTownsend’s Warbler
Cassin’s Finch
By Jeannie Marcure Did you know that a group of finches can be called a charm, a company or a trembling? Personally, I like to refer to the group that frequents our feeders as a company, since their large, invasive flocks remind me of a military company or at times even a battalion! The various…
Read MoreWhite-crowned Sparrow
By Mary Nelesen I have been watching daily for the return of the White-crowned Sparrows that frequent our yard each spring. They typically spend several days hopping and scratching on the ground below the bird feeders to expose insects and seeds to feed on before heading to higher elevations to breed. This handsome sparrow nests…
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