Atlanta Summer Birding Doldrums?
I was being interviewed for a podcast when the interviewer asked, “What good birding is happening in Atlanta right now?” The question stumped me. Migration season had ended six weeks earlier and the local chat groups had gone silent of rare or unusual sightings. We had welcomed back our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Eastern Kingbirds, Green Herons, and our other typical summertime birds. Nothing to add to our life or county list. Nothing special. Or was there?
In response to her question, I sheepishly mumbled an answer I now wish I could go back and repeat with enthusiasm. I told the host that it was a great time for birds as I was enjoying all the new baby birds around our feeders and throughout our yard. I had given a quick answer that failed to communicate a wonderful truth.
It truly is an amazing time in our yard. The month of June has been fascinating. It’s been an avian nursery teeming with fledglings, immature, and juvenile summer birds. This summer, my wife and I have had our joy tanks filled watching baby Brown-headed & White-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, House Finches, Carolina Chickadees, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, and three species of woodpeckers: Downy, Hairy, & Red-bellied. Below the feeders, young Eastern Towhees, Mourning Doves, and Chipping & Song Sparrows have feasted on the fallen seeds, discovering that finding their own food in the vast new world isn’t too challenging.
While not at the feeders, the sightings of young robins, House Wrens, and Red-headed Woodpeckers can be heard and seen. European Starlings annoyingly frequented our feeders during the spring, yet early summer brought us our first sighting of baby starlings at our feeders. I can’t always say a starling at a feeder is exciting, but when it’s just a few days old, it certainly is.
Watching the young birds can be amusing. Fledgling Downy Woodpeckers bang on the wire rim of a suet feeder, having not quite figured out that the good stuff is inside the green cage. A young thrasher sits atop that same cage, now empty, wondering where the food has gone. “When is it coming back? What do I do?” A momma bird feeds a cowbird that is twice her size. Young finches, nuthatches, sparrows, and cardinals feverishly flap their wings in anticipation of their parents bringing them something to eat. Chickadee siblings converge on the feeders in unison, playing and feasting together. It’s the avian world’s version of toddler camp. Training wheels galore.
Ask me again! Please, ask me again! I’m ready for the question now. It’s a great time to be a backyard birder in Atlanta. Let me tell you about it!