Dear Bird Folks, We decided to look into our bluebird boxes today to make sure they were all set for this year's occupancy. Much to our surprise we found a dead female bluebird sitting on top of a nest with four eggs. (See attached photos.) Except for the fact that...

Dear Bird Folks, The other day I witnessed at least six different Ospreys swooping around a nesting platform in Sandwich (MA). Two birds would sit on the platform but then another pair would drive them off. The new birds would then be driven off by yet another pair....

Dear Bird Folks, I just read that one of the most abundant birds in eastern North America is the Red-eyed Vireo. Well, you couldn't prove that by me. I've lived in the East all of my life. I have two birdbaths, several feeders, and at least a dozen birdhouses and have...

Dear Bird Folks, We often tap on our windowpanes in order to shoo the grackles away from our feeders. That usually works and we haven't broken any glass yet. However, sometimes the grackles leave before we start tapping. Do they see us coming or do they hear us? How...

  Dear Bird Folks, A while ago I took your advice and put all of my bird feeders on a single pole. I attached a large baffle to keep off both raccoons and squirrels. Everything was working great until a few weeks ago when I noticed that my feeders were empty each...

Dear Bird Folks, I just came back from fishing on Scargo Lake in Dennis, (MA), where my favorite area was posted: "Caution Nautilus Duck nesting area." First of all, what is a Nautilus Duck? And most importantly, is this bird going to keep me away from my favorite...

Dear Bird Folks, Where I live we usually see hummingbirds by late February. What happens to these little birds when we get a late spring snowstorm? They can't fly back to Mexico. Do they simply die or are they somehow able to hunker down and survive the cold? - Steve,...

Dear Bird Folks, While sitting in the car last summer, looking at the mounds of compost on Giddiah Hill Road, in Orleans, we spotted a Killdeer. A few minutes later the Killdeer was approached by two Piping Plovers. The plovers snuggled up against the Killdeer as if...

Dear Bird Folks, Last week I had an odd-looking House Finch at my feeder. One of its eyes was nearly swollen shut. Then, a few days later, I saw a goldfinch with the same problem. What is wrong with these birds? Is there something I can do to help them? - Mary,...

Dear Bird Folks, Like everyone else in the world we have problems with squirrels eating our bird food. I've heard that they make suet with hot pepper mixed in it. Do you know if this is an effective way of keeping the squirrels off suet? More importantly, is hot...

Dear Bird Folks, This winter I have several bluebirds coming to the feeders in my yard. I'm hoping they will nest in my birdhouses someday. Are the bluebirds that are eating from my feeders now going to be around during the breeding season or are they just here for...

Dear Bird Folks, This winter I have a flock of birds in my yard that I can't identify. Every morning at least a dozen of these mystery birds invade my thistle feeder. They look like they are part goldfinch and part sparrow. If there weren't so many of them, I'd be...

Dear Bird Folks, In light of the recent "Miracle on the Hudson," in which a commercial airliner was brought down by a flock of birds, I'd like to know how common bird-plane collisions are. Also, what is being done to prevent further accidents? - Rick, Andover, MA...

Dear Bird Folks, What is the dealeo with bird watchers and the word "ivory"? A few years ago they got all worked up over a possible sighting of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. This past week there were stories in The Boston Globe, the Cape Cod Times, and on TV about an...

Dear Bird Folks, I hope to see an American Dipper some day. Just reading about this fascinating bird makes me want to go out and find one. I also read that it is sometimes called the "Water Ouzel." I've never heard that term before. Do you have any idea where the name...

Dear Bird Folks, Even though I don't live near water I regularly see gulls flying around my neighborhood. I understand that they don't have to live by the "sea," but my question is: Where do the gulls go at night? They must sleep at some point, but I can't imagine...

Dear Bird Folks, I found your book on bird advice in our local library. I enjoyed reading it, but I have a question. On page 88 you advise us to remove all of the old seed from our bird feeders each time we filled them. Then, after we added the new seed, you said to...

Dear Bird Folks, I really don't have a question, I'm just writing to tell you about a life bird that I saw thanks to your store not being open. On my way back to New Jersey last Sunday I stopped at your shop, but you hadn't opened it yet. So, instead of waiting I did...

Dear Bird Folks, Over the past few weeks I have lost three suet feeders to the squirrels. It's bad enough that they eat all the bird's food, but now they are stealing my feeders. I put out a new feeder and the next morning it is completely gone and I can't find it. Do...

Dear Bird Folks, I've just returned from a visit to Cape Cod. I stopped at your shop with a question but neither of the two young saleswomen could answer it for me. I'd like to know where in Orleans did Margaret Stanger, the author of That Quail Robert, live? Many...

Dear Bird Folks, I'd like to buy my husband a heater for his birdbath, but I'm worried that the cost of running it would increase our electric bill too much. Do you know how much they cost to run? - Rusty, Milton, MA   This might shock you, Rusty, I'm not an...

Dear Bird Folks, I recently saw a display of very colorful birds that were labeled as "Carolina Parakeets." I had never heard of them. The label also said that these birds were extinct. How sad. How long ago did they live? Were they ever found in my area? Why did they...

Dear Bird Folks, This morning we woke up to an inch of snow on the ground, the first of the season. The snow also produced the first juncos of the season. I know they breed up in Canada, but how come we never see these "snowbirds" until the snow flies? And how did...

Dear Bird Folks, This may be an early colonist's version of an urban legend, but I read that Benjamin Franklin lobbied for the Wild Turkey to be the national bird of the United States, instead of the Bald Eagle. Is that true? -Craig, Kingston, NY   Nope, it's not...

Dear Bird Folks, My eight-year-old niece visited me recently, and one night we heard an owl calling in our yard. She asked me if it was a "hoot owl." That got me wondering, do any owls actually say, "hoot"? I've never heard one enunciate the "t" at the end of "hoot."...

Dear Bird Folks, I have a question. It seems if two warblers look basically the same, except one has a freckle in a different location than the other, they are given different names and are considered to be two different species. Yet, there are some Great Blue Herons...

Dear Bird Folks, I bought my aunt a bird feeder for her birthday. Upon opening it her face became pale, she closed the box, and handed it back to me. My uncle explained that she had a fear of birds and would never use the feeder. A bird phobia? How could anyone be...

Dear Bird Folks, I hope you can help us with this one. I photographed this bird today in our yard. (see attached). It appears to be all white! It seems to have a little bit of a Blue Jay shape. Is there such a thing as an albino bird? Any ideas? Thanks. - Vince and...

Dear Bird Folks, I live in Gulfport, Florida, the land that time forgot. I have been watching gulls and pelicans for years and there is one thing in their relationship that I can't figure out. Each time the pelican dives, the gull lands right next to it; yet I've...

Dear Bird Folks, Now that the leaves have fallen off the trees, I've discovered several intact bird's nests around my yard. I believe one was a cardinal's nest, another belonged to catbirds and another was a robin's nest. Will these birds reuse their old nests next...

Dear Bird Folks, I just know that the "horns" on the Great Horned Owl are not horns or ears, but merely tufts of feathers that have nothing to do with the bird's ability to hear. What purpose do they serve? Are the tufts useful somehow or do the birds grow them just...

Dear Bird Folks, Our 2008 daily trivia calendar has a question that I'm wondering if you know the answer to. Let's see how smart you are. Here it is: What animal enjoys more hours of daylight than any other? Any guesses? By the way, none of us got it right. - Matty,...

Dear Bird Folks, While gardening last week I laid my gold-plated watch on a window ledge of my house. When I returned to retrieve it, I discovered it was gone and I have not been able to find it anywhere. My neighbor speculated that either a hawk or crow, which we...

Dear Bird Folks, While visiting a Cape beach recently (mid-August) I observed a flock of thirty Sanderlings feeding along the water's edge. As I watched I noticed two rather aggressive Sanderlings get all fluffed-up and chase away the others. The aggressors would...

Dear Bird Folks, I enjoy hearing the early morning songs of the birds around my house. As we approach the end of August and summer is fading out, so has the birds' singing. They are much quieter now. Are they quiet because they are fattening up for migration? What...

Dear Bird Folks, I was thinking about buying my brother, who lives in Chicago, a hummingbird feeder. However, I'm not even sure if he has hummingbirds in his area. Do they get hummingbirds in the West or are they just an East Coast bird? - Laura, Washington, D.C....

Dear Bird Folks, For the past several summers we've had a family of bobwhites come and eat under our feeder. The chicks would scratch for leftover seeds while their parents, a mother and father, stood guard. This year a family of quail is once again eating under our...

Dear Bird Folks, About two weeks ago I discovered a Mourning Dove nesting in one of the plants on my second story deck. At first there was one egg and then a few days later a second one appeared. Now Mrs. Dove sits absolutely motionless on her nest all day long,...

Dear Bird Folks, I enjoy reading your weekly column and have sent your book to friends in Oklahoma. Now I have my own question. On a trip to Plimouth Plantation, I was told that the Pilgrims added marigold petals to butter to enhance the color. I also remember that...

Last Week: For any of you who care to remember, a guy named, David, from Vestal, NY, wrote in to ask why he didn't see as many gulls in Provincetown during his July visit as he did in January. He wondered if the closing of the landfills had caused a drastic drop in...

Dear Bird Folks, I'd like to know where all the gulls have gone. This past January we took a mini vacation to Provincetown. In the course of our trip I noticed that the beaches and parking lots were filled with gulls. Yet on our recent Fourth of July visit, we saw...

Dear Bird Folks, With the ever-rising price of birdseed, I'd like to know how I can get rid of those darn crows that keep hanging onto my feeders all day. I've tried cutting and even removing the perches, but they hang on with one leg, flap their wings and eat,...

Dear Bird Folks, I've been fortunate to have a Downy Woodpecker family coming to the feeders in my backyard. The parents pick off bits of suet and then stuff them into the waiting mouths of their begging babies. Seeing those accepting little birds makes me wonder if...

Dear Bird Folks, Do you remember me? I'm the one who called you from my backyard last week. I held out the phone so you could hear and identify a mystery birdcall for me, and you actually did it. Now, I'd like to know how I could perhaps see this bird, which I think...

  Dear Bird Folks, We have a pair of catbirds nesting in the bushes next to our house. They sometimes sit on a nearby planter and feed each other bugs. More recently they have been flying right into the bushes with the bugs, presumably to feed the babies. My...

(FYI: This column was written back in 2008. Things have changed since then. See the “The Eagles Have Landed, May 5, 2023, for a more recent eagle column.) Dear Bird Folks, I would like to know if any Bald Eagles nest on Cape Cod? If not, are they headed this way? I...

Dear Bird Folks, A strange bird has been eating sunflower out of our bird feeder. It's about the size of a cardinal. It has no crest, but it does have a huge cardinal-shaped beak. Except for a line above the eye, the bird is mostly brown, like a sparrow, a really big...

Dear Bird Folks, Recently, I read that woodcocks are never found in flocks. Yet, when I was kid, I clearly remember finding a group of several woodcocks in the woods behind my house. When I stepped off the trail, woodcocks went running everywhere. I know there are...

Dear Bird Folks, At 7:00 PM yesterday evening, I heard my dogs barking at a raccoon that they had treed in our backyard. I was just about to take the dogs inside when a titmouse flew over and started attacking the raccoon. It kept flying at the raccoon, ripping out...

Dear Bird Folks, During my college years I used to spend the summers working on Cape Cod. Back then I didn't have much interest in birds, but I do remember the papers being filled with stories about people who were trying to save the terns. That was years ago (I won't...