Dear Bird Folks, For the past few years I have had a pair of screech owls nesting in a box in my yard. They are active around the nest box and then nothing. Days go by and I don't see any signs of them. My thought is that both parents are inside the box taking turns...

The high price of birdseed, Part Two: As you may or may not remember (and if you are getting anything like me, you probably don't remember), last week there was a question from Carla, who was looking for an explanation about why birdseed prices have gone up. We...

Dear Bird Folks, I just came back from the local garden center, where I buy my birdseed, and was stunned by the prices. I usually buy an assortment of 50 lb. bags, but all of them have gone way up. I walked out, went home and started calling around. It seems that...

Dear Bird Folks, I've recently returned from a trip to Hawaii, where I saw a new kind of cardinal. It is called a "Red-crested Cardinal." It has the same body shape as the regular cardinal, but it is mostly gray, with a red head and a light colored bill. Have you ever...

Dear Bird Folks, I asked my teacher how many different birds there are in the world, but she didn't know, so she asked another teacher. That teacher wasn't sure but thought the world had something like 22,000 different birds. Is she right? - Everett, Grade 1, Eastham...

Dear Bird Folks, I was reading on a birding blog that some guy from Pittsburgh is traveling to the Cape to see birds called "rheas." First of all, I didn't know what a rhea was until I looked it up. Second, what are flightless South American birds doing on Cape Cod...

Dear Bird Folks, I live on a pond where Mallards sometimes come into my yard to eat bird seed. Recently I noticed one male Mallard had two bands on its legs. I tried to attract him closer by sprinkling a little seed near the house, so I could read the numbers on the...

Dear Bird Folks, As I was watching a Yellow-rumped Warbler eating at my suet feeder I started thinking about bird names. Why was the Sparrow Hawk's name changed to American Kestrel? They still eat sparrows. Who decides that a name should be changed and why? Back to...

Dear Bird Folks, A really sad thing happened with one of my bird feeders. When I returned home, after being away for a few days, I went out to feed the birds and found a dead titmouse stuck in my favorite feeder. It's a pretty ceramic feeder that I bought at a craft...

Dear Bird Folks, As I sit at home tonight, flipping through my bird book, I notice a duck called "Northern Shoveler." Boy, that sure is one freaky looking beak on that bird. Since I don't see any other ducks with bills like that, I would like to know why shovelers...

Dear Bird Folks, I've been hesitant to write in a question because I didn't want to be teased, but this question has been bugging me. Why do geese fly in a stereotypical V-formation? I've searched your website for the answer to this question but, oddly enough, no one...

Dear Bird Folks, I really don't have a question for you, but I'd like to share a wonderful birding experience that I just had. I have recently moved into senior housing in Orleans and have missed the birds that I once had in my yard in Eastham. However, that all...

Dear Bird Folks, Have you ever tried to make a large group of people be silent in a split second? It can't be done. However, birds can do it. Sometimes my backyard birds are making a racket and then a split second later they are instantly all quiet. How are they able...

Dear Bird Folks, Believe me, I'm not going to ask you "Where are all the birds?" because I have plenty of birds at my feeders. Besides, I don't want to listen to your lecture about the birds returning when the weather gets bad or whatever. My question is specifically...

Dear Bird Folks, We stacked our annual cord of firewood today and found a very interesting log. The log is covered with holes that I assume were made by a woodpecker. However, this woodpecker must have been some kind of neat freak because the holes are perfectly...

Dear Bird Folks, My daughter and her husband, who visit us from New Hampshire, are insisting that they have seen Brown Pelicans off Forest Beach in South Chatham. They claim to have seen them when they were here over Thanksgiving and again at Christmas. I can't seem...

Dear Bird Folks, I was listening to the radio today, probably NPR, when they started telling a story about a stuffed seagull. They were saying something about a restaurant being in trouble for having a mounted gull on display. It seemed the bird had been in the family...

Dear Bird Folks, I'm wondering if you can help me identify a hawk my wife and I saw last week. We were walking near Corn Hill in Truro when we saw this large hawk hovering over a field. The hawk was hanging still in the air, staying in one spot like a hummingbird...

Dear Bird Folks, I went out to dinner the other night and, for some reason that I still don't understand, some guy came over to our table and started yapping about chickadees. In the course of the conversation the guy claimed that in the colder weather, chickadees'...

I'd bet many people think that "Ask the Bird Folks" is produced by a well paid, highly efficient staff of writers and researchers, that is on par with the team at CBS's 60 Minutes. The answer is yes we are, except for the well paid and highly efficient part. In...

Dear Bird Folks, For the past few weeks I have had almost no birds coming to my feeders. We always get tons of birds. Has somethng happened to them? Tim, Chatham   No Offense, Tim, But every December we get this question about 600 times a day. And every December...

Dear Bird Folks, I would like to know about Turtle Doves, the ones that are mentioned in the song the "Twelve Days of Christmas." If you don't know this song, you should, it's full of birds. I couldn't find Turtle Doves in any of our bird books. My older brother told...

Dear Bird Folks, I'm planning a trip to California, to visit a friend and perhaps to do a little bird watching. Some birds I'm interested in seeing are those swallows at Capistrano. When is the best time to see them? Will there really be swallows there or is this...

Dear Bird Folks, What do you know about a bird called the Lapland Longspur? I saw a beautiful picture of one in a magazine, while I was waiting in the dentist's office. Unfortunately I was called in before I had a chance to read the story that went along with it. I am...

Last week. In case some of you had something earth shattering to do and missed last week's column, or if you are like me and can't remember your own dog's name, let alone what you read a week ago, let me refresh your memory. Some nice person named "Pat" wrote in...

Dear Bird Folks, I've always considered myself to be a nature lover. I stop my car to let turtles cross the road. I pick up plastic on the beach. I have several bird feeders and even let the squirrels eat in peace. But I have a woodpecker that is about to turn me into...

Dear Bird Folks, For the last few weeks crows or grackles (I don't know how to tell which is which) have been digging up my yard. I don't mind because it's a Cape Cod yard and survives with no attention from us. However, I would like to know what they are birds...

Dear Bird Folks, I know you write exclusively about birds, but I was hoping you knew about foxes too. I've read that when foxes steal eggs from Herring Gull nests they bury them, as opposed to eating them on the spot. Is this true? If so, how can they find them again...

Dear Bird Folks, Having once lived in Northern Wisconsin, my friends seem to think that I'm a loon expert. Recently, one of my friends in England wanted to know something about loons but couldn't find them listed in her British bird books. Wanting to keep my...

Dear Bird Folks, I recently purchased some suet for the woodpeckers at my local farmer supply store. I placed the suet in a new wire feeder and hung it amongst my other sunflower seed feeders. Even though birds are readily feeding from the other feeders, I have yet to...

Dear Bird Folks, Last week, while walking the beach, I fed a one year old Herring Gull some leftover bits of French bread. The bird ate quite a few morsels, stared at me for a minute, then waded out into the water and delicately took four sips of water. It was...

Dear Bird Folks, What is the highest flying bird and at what altitude does it fly? - George, Chatham, MA   Come on George, You can tell us why you want to know what the highest flying bird is. I know you just didn't wake up this morning wondering about high...

Dear Bird Folks, My wife and I are planning a trip to New Zealand and Australia in January. We will be doing mostly tourist things, but I'd also like to do some casual birding. Since we only have three weeks, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts as to which country...

Dear Bird Folks, So we know that summer is officially over, what group of birds is the last to migrate south? - Donna, Marshfield, MA   Good idea Donna, I like that you want to base the seasonal changes on which birds are leaving. Most people base the passing of...

Dear Bird Folks, I've always heard that grit is an important part of a bird's diet. I've seen bird seed for sale that has grit listed as an ingredient. Is it a good idea to put some grit out for the birds or should I buy the seed with the grit already added to it. -...

Dear Bird Folks, We have a different bird coming to our feeder. It could be a gracle*, only it has a yellow head. According to our field guide it is a Yellow-headed Blacbird, but the range maps indicate that they are a western bird. Would it be possible for you to...

Dear Bird Folks, First of all I'd like to say that I enjoy reading your columns so much that I cut them out and mail them to my friends in Virginia. My question is about herons. I've seen several Great White Herons hanging out in a local marsh. Will they be there all...

Dear Bird Folks, Back in July my wife and I observed a Downy Woodpecker feeding another Downy Woodpecker, like it was feeding a chick, but both birds were adults. We assumed that this was some kind of mating ritual. Then a few weeks later, in August, we saw a pair of...

Dear Bird Folks, My friend told me that the reason why hawks make such loud screams and screeches when they fly is to scare prey out into the open so they can swoop down and capture them. Is this true? -Susan, Brewster   No offense Sue, But I have the feeling...

Dear Bird Folks, Could you please help me identify the bird in the attached photo. It was taken near a Denver reservoir. As you can see it's a fairly large bird, that's mostly black and white, and looks like a long-legged penguin. It could be a heron, but the only...

Dear Bird Folks, I'm looking for a little bird bath advice. I've heard (probably from you) that water is an excellent way to attract birds. But I'm worried about attracting mosquitos and the diseases that they carry. My local garden center sells "mosquito donuts" that...

Dear Bird Folks, Here's a crazy story for you. The other day I put mothballs around my garden in an effort to keep the critters out. The next day I noticed that a flock of grackles had discovered the mothballs and they were picking them up and rubbing them on their...

Dear Bird Folks, Maybe you can answer this question for me. One of the most talked about birds in our area is the Piping Plover. I don't know much about the bird except that everyone seems to hate it. My question has nothing to do with the bird itself, but rather its...

Dear Bird Folks, Please find the enclosed DVD. It's a clip of a home movie that I took on a family hike in the White Mountains. The footage is a bit rough but you can clearly see a pair of plain-looking birds that appear to be begging for food, as we sat resting on a...

  Dear Bird Folks, A friend of mine saw an unusual thing the other day. He saw a seagull nab and eat a chipmunk. Isn't that amazing? I know seagulls are omnivores, but isn't it rare that one would eat a chipmunk? John, Harwich   Good for you John, Your take...

Dear Bird Folks, Earlier this year we had a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers that raised a family in one of our birdhouses. After the young flycatchers took their first flight the box sat quiet for a few days. Now Great Crested Flycatchers are once again using the...

Dear Bird Folks, The other day I stopped at a local farm stand. While I was waiting in line to pay for my quart of blueberries, I heard an awful scream coming from the adjacent woods. It sounded like someone or something being killed. The sound frightened me, but no...

Dear Bird Folks, Ever since my job was outsourced, I've been home listening to a lot of talk radio. Today, for some reason, the topic of the day was whether there were birds out in the middle of the ocean. A merchant mariner called and said that he had seen lots of...

Dear Bird Folks, "What is a lonesome dove? Also, when a group of doves are feeding on the ground, why will one seem to chase after another? Is a mated dove chasing off a competitor? -Clay, Huntsville, AL   It's a "dole" Clay, Several doves together are called a...

Dear Bird Folks, How does a new House Finch couple find their way to my hidden porch light every May, build a new nest, raise a family or two, leave midsummer, only to return the following May to repeat the same behavior? Are they the same birds? Where do they go when...