Dear Bird Folks, I heard a distinctive bird song outside my window today. Try as I might I wasn’t able to see the bird, but I was able to record its song on my iPhone. I’ve attached a sound clip to this e-mail. Can you tell me what bird sings such a distinctive...

Dear Bird Folks, I hope you don’t mind but I have a rather strange question. One of my favorite birds is the cardinal. I would like to know how it got its name. Does it have anything to do with Catholic cardinals or is there a more birdie explanation? - Emma,...

Dear Bird Folks, Every spring a pair of Mallards arrive on a tiny pond near my house. They are there for a few weeks and then they disappear. Do you think they are nesting nearby? Also, do you think they are the same birds I see year after year? – Tobin, Orleans, MA...

Dear Bird Folks, I was excited when I read that they’re finally going to replace the long-forgotten target ship in Cape Cod Bay. I have fond memories of watching the sunset over that rusting old ship. Now I hear that the event is being delayed because of some bird....

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve just returned from a cross-country skiing trip in Colorado where I saw several Black-billed Magpies. When I got home I looked through your archives hoping to find more information about these birds, but I only found a column about Australian...

Dear Bird Folks, I called your store about the attached photo. I was hoping someone there could identify the bird for me. I was told by the person who answered the phone that I should e-mail the picture to you, so here it is. The bird is sitting on the edge of my...

Dear Bird Folks, I think I’ve asked this question before, but since you never answered it I’m asking it again. Why do birds sit on telephone lines? With all the trees around I would think they’d rather sit on branches. No? – Ann, Dennis, MA   Shhh, Ann, The...

Dear Bird Folks, I have a leucistic sparrow coming to my yard. It looks and acts exactly like a Song Sparrow only its head is white, like it was dipped in white chocolate. How did the bird get this way? – Chris, Brewster, MA   Not another one, Chris, Not another...

Dear Bird Folks, I recently saw the rare Lazuli Bunting at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. I understand that these buntings normally live out West and that this particular bird is a young male. Could it have born here from parents that had already straggled into...

Dear Bird Folks, Last week I saw a flock of eighteen (yes, eighteen, I counted them three times) turkeys walking along Station Ave (in Yarmouth, MA), right across from the high school. All eighteen were exactly the same size, shape and color. Do you think they were...

  Dear Bird Folks, I enjoy seeing the woodpeckers at my suet feeders, but recently the feeders have been taken over by starlings and crows. Is there a way I can feed woodpeckers without the crows and starlings getting all the food? – Dave, Middleboro, MA  ...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve just returned from Cancun, Mexico, where I did a little birding while the rest of the family did beachy stuff. The birds that caught my attention were the weird Northern Jacanas, which don’t look like anything we have in Cooperstown, NY. I’m...

Dear Bird Folks, While walking on Nauset Beach, in Orleans (MA) this past weekend we came upon a beautiful Snowy Owl. I’ve attached a photo, but I don’t know if you can actually see the bird. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t the best. (The bird is there somewhere, I...

Dear Bird Folks, Today I looked out my kitchen window and saw a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers having a nasty skirmish. They were going up and down the tree, squawking and attacking each other. Do you think they were actually fighting or was it a mating ritual? –...

Dear Bird Folks, I was stuck in my hotel room in Oahu, totally bored and waiting for the rain to stop, when suddenly this pretty bird (see attached photo) landed on the railing of my balcony. Since seeing this bird was the most exciting part of my day I decided to...

Dear Bird Folks, For the past few days I’ve been watching a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls feeding in front of my house overlooking Plymouth Harbor. As I watched these birds I started wondering about their name. Why are they called “Bonaparte’s Gulls”? How did a North...

Dear Bird Folks, For the past few winters I have seen a single Eurasian Wigeon swimming on Mill Pond in Marstons Mills. I’ve also heard these birds are being seen in other parts of the Cape. Is the Eurasian Wigeon moving over here from Europe? Do you think it will...

Dear Bird Folks, In an effort to have a “green,” earth-friendly Christmas, I suggested that my garden club string cranberries on our shrubs instead of power-consuming lights. However, someone in the club dismissed my idea because she said the birds would quickly eat...

Dear Bird Folks, I just read that a Gyr Falcon was seen on Nauset Beach in Orleans (MA). Apparently, that’s big news in the bird world. While I have no intention of making the drive to the Cape in hopes of seeing this bird, I would like to know how to pronounce Gyr...

Dear Bird Folks, As I watch the ducks swimming out in Pleasant Bay I’m wondering why their little, thin feet don’t freeze. After only being out in the cold for a short period my toes are turning blue, yet the ducks glide past me with happy, smiling faces. How can they...

Dear Bird Folks, When is the breeding season for ducks? Yesterday I watched a flock of male Hooded Mergansers pursuing a lone female. It’s not even winter yet, but these birds were acting like it was spring. Could they be courting or were they just playing? – Erin,...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve just returned from a trip to Bermuda where I saw several new birds, including some rather noisy birds called “kiskadees.” My books say kiskadees live in southern Texas and Mexico. How did they end up in Bermuda? - Todd, Newport News, VA  ...

Dear Bird Folks, In one of your past columns you wrote about the differences between grackles and crows, but I want to know about Rooks. We saw Rooks in Ireland last summer and they reminded us of grackles. Are Rooks the European cousins of our grackles? – Andrea,...

Dear Bird Folks, I’d like to know why penguins can’t fly. They have wings, thus they should be able to fly. No? – Brian, Anytown, USA   More importantly, Brian, I’d like to know why you left something out. When asking a question, the universally accepted...

Dear Bird Folks, This question has been bothering me for quite a while and now I finally have a chance to ask it. When I have more than one Tufted Titmouse on my feeder, do I have titmice or titmouses? I need to know. – Susan, Brewster, MA   It must be November,...

Dear Bird Folks, What do Eastern Phoebes look like in the winter? Each year they nest on our back porch. Their energetic tail wagging is a welcomed sign of spring. This fall we’ve been seeing several of these wagging birds on the ground in our garden, only now they...

Dear Bird Folks, A few days ago we had hundreds (no kidding) of grackles in our yard. They were everywhere. It was scary, like a scene from Albert Hitchcock’s movie, The Birds. What gives? – Ed and Marguerite, Brewster, MA   Yo, Ed and Marguerite, I hate to start...

Dear Bird Folks, Finally, most of the grackles have gone south and have stopped hogging my feeders. But now the Blue Jays have moved in and they are even piggier. They just eat and eat and eat, and never leave. Speaking of leaving, are the jays going south, too? They...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve seen ads for a new Steve Martin movie that’s supposed to be about bird watching. The movie is called The Big Year. Is it actually about bird watching? And if so, why is it called The Big Year? That doesn’t sound very “birdie” to me. –Lance,...

  Dear Bird Folks, I live in a fairly urban environment that’s just outside of Boston. We have a bird feeder that the local sparrows love. Unfortunately, they are the only birds we get. If our yard can attract so many sparrows, why doesn’t it attract other birds...

Dear Bird Folks, This morning my husband and I were walking on Sandy Neck Beach when we came face to face with a massive flock of birds. However, these weren’t shorebirds, as we might have expected. They were all swallows, lots and lots of swallows. There must have...

Dear Bird Folks, I read about a large flock of ducks that were seen on a recent bird count. The number reported was in the thousands. I’d like to know how they obtained this total. How are they able to count that many birds, and more importantly, why do they do it? -...

Dear Bird Folks, For the past several weeks we have been hearing chirping sounds coming out of our fireplace. After a little investigation we’ve discovered that Chimney Swifts are nesting in our chimney. We are thrilled, but it’s now getting towards the end of summer...

Dear Bird Folks, It’s been days since Hurricane Irene blew through our area and I’m still sitting in the dark waiting for the electric company to restore my power. With so much time on my hands I’ve been wondering how the birds are doing. How do they manage to deal...

Dear Bird Folks, I recently borrowed some bird song CDs from the library. I wanted to match the songs I hear with their owners. The trouble is, there are 272 different birds on these CDs. The task would be easier if I knew which birds I am likely to hear in my...

  Dear Bird Folks, We’ve been watching a family of swans in a local pond. In addition to the two parents, there are seven young ones. However, two of the young swans are white, while the other five are brown. Why aren’t all of the babies the same color? – Marg...

Dear Bird Folks, Please check out the attached video clip. Every year about this time I see Laughing Gulls acting like flycatchers. A large flock of them swoops through the sky appearing to catch insects. Is this typical gull behavior? What could they be catching? –...

  Dear Bird Folks, When I was growing up in Ireland I remember hearing and seeing Corncrakes. Now these birds aren’t seen anymore. What has happened to the Corncrakes? – Tom O’Leary, Cape Cod, MA   Come on, Tom, Who are you kidding? You’re not from Ireland....

Dear Bird Folks, Without getting into the old joke, I’d like to know if hummingbirds sing. I’ve heard their wings buzz when I’m outside filling their feeder, but I’ve never heard them sing, or say anything for that matter. Do they even talk? – Dale, Scranton, PA...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve been hearing owls calling near my house. Hearing owls in my neighborhood is not uncommon, but what’s strange about these owls is that they have been calling during the day. Isn’t that unusual? Also, what kind of owls do you think they are? –...

Dear Bird Folks, This morning I noticed a strange bird looking out of the hole in my birdhouse. It appears to be a frog of some kind. I called Mass Audubon and Dennis Murley told me that it’s most likely a gray tree frog. Here’s a photo. What do you think? – Janet,...

Dear Bird Folks, We saw this beautiful bird (see attached photo) while we were fishing off the coast of Sandwich, in Cape Cod Bay. None of us have ever seen this species before, but we think it might be a jaeger. Thanks for any info you can offer. – Melynda, Buzzards...

Dear Bird Folks, One of my favorite birds is the Gray Catbird. Its sweet personality really brightens my day. My book says catbirds are “mimics,” just like mockingbirds, but I don’t agree. I can easily hear other birds’ songs coming from mockingbirds, but all I hear...

Dear Bird Folks, Every once in a while I see a group of sparrows that seem to be involved in some sort of gang fight. It looks like an entire flock of House Sparrows is picking on a lone House Sparrow. I usually run out to break it up, but now I’m wondering what is...

Dear Bird Folks, There is a bird singing in my yard that I can’t identify. I have not been able to see the bird, but I hear it every day. The song is a rapid “dee, dee, dee, dee, dee,” which quickly rises up the scale. It reminds me of a singer warming up before...

Dear Bird Folks, This week I’ve seen several Brown Creepers on my morning walks. Why so many and why now? Have I just been lucky or are these birds passing through on their way south? – Amy, Eastham, MA   Not another Amy, Amy, Last week’s question was from Amy in...

Dear Bird Folks, For the past few months I have been getting tons of birds at my feeders. Suddenly, however, they have stopped coming. I haven’t changed anything. I’m still using the same feeders and the same special seed mixture, which I buy locally. What is going...

Dear Bird Folks, We have an odd-looking dove eating under our feeder. We’ve decided that it’s either a Eurasian Collared-Dove or a Ringed Turtle-Dove. Any idea which one it is? – Beth and Terry, Chatham, MA   It’s tough, Beth and Terry, Identifying...

Dear Bird Folks, It’s great to have the hummingbirds back. I get a lot of them at my feeder each summer, but I have never found a hummer’s nest. Do you have any suggestions of where to look? And do they build a new nest for each brood? – Lily, Princeton, NJ  ...

Dear Bird Folks, I’m going to be in New York City on business later this month and I may have some time to do a little bird watching. I’ve heard that Central Park offers decent birding. Do you know if this is true and if it would be worth my while to take my...