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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Mountain & Black-capped Chickadees
By Jeannie Marcure “The chickadee is a symbol of faithfulness. It lives the year around in the same region. It never deceives its human friends, as so many birds do, by changing its coat and colors. In the summer, to be sure, it is not much seen. …. But with wintry blasts, time the others…
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American Kestrel
By Jeannie Marcure Although my years of bird watching have familiarized me with many of the beautiful birds in our area, I have to confess that when it comes to raptors I’m still often frustrated by my inability to make positive identifications. Most people tend to think of all the day-flying birds of prey with…
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Wild Turkey
By Gail Cleveland Although the Wild Turkey was well known to American Indians and widely used as food, certain tribes considered these birds stupid and cowardly and did not eat them for fear of acquiring these characteristics. In early August, two Wild Turkey Moms and twelve chicks showed up in our backyard. At that time…
Read MoreCackling Goose
By Linda DeKort One of the most significant changes for birders in the 2004 supplement of the American Ornithologist Union checklist, according to Sibley, was the split of Canada Goose into two species. “The former broad Canada Goose species has been divided into a large-bodied, interior- and southern-breeding species, and a small-bodied tundra-breeding subspecies. The…
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American Goldfinch
By Jeannie Marcure For most of us, the month of December is filled with visions of sugar-plums and the other trappings that have come to be expected during the holiday season; but for bird lovers the premier event might just be Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count. This annual event offers opportunities for both expert and…
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Pileated Woodpecker
By Karen Nichols & Ben Long Big, raucous and handsome, the pileated woodpecker is a favorite of hard-core birding enthusiasts and casual nature-lovers alike. The pileated woodpecker is the classic “Woody Woodpecker.” The word “pileated” refers to its bright red crest, its most distinguishing feature. The name may be pronounced either “PIE-leh-ated” or “PIL-eh-ated.” The…
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