Dear Bird Folks, Being an eye doctor, I have been wondering how birds protect their eyes while flying. They must come into contact with swarming insects, yet very few of them appear to have eyelashes. Also, how are they able to keep their eyes from drying out while in...

My turn: Hobbies are what we like to do in our spare time. They help us unwind. But let’s face it; even when we are doing stuff to relax, most of us are still pretty competitive. The golfer always wants to get a hole-in-one, a gardener strives for the showiest garden,...

Dear Bird Folks, Please take a look at the bird in this photo. Is it a gull, tern or plover? Thanks. – Kate, Wellfleet, MA   It’s a gull, Kate, The bird in your photo is a gull. It’s a Great Black-backed Gull to be exact, and I’m glad you asked about it. Gulls...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve been reading about the influx of birds from Canada this winter. Have you heard any reports about redpolls arriving, and also, do they ever visit bird feeders? – Tim, Harwich, MA   Yes, Tim, I have indeed heard reports of redpolls being in...

  Dear Bird Folks, Please find the attached photo. It’s a Fox Sparrow, a new bird for my yard, and I’m super excited to see it. Is there any special food I can put out to keep it around for a while? – Susan, Needham, MA   Good for you, Susan, When it comes...

Watch your feeders: Some people, the lucky ones, will wake up on Christmas and instead of getting the usual pair of argyle socks, will find a brand new bird feeder under the tree. Oh, sure, socks are important; but right now, with everyone stuck at home, the most...

Dear Bird Folks, I loved hearing about the little owl that was recently discovered in the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. What a charming story. Do those owls live around here and is it possible to attract them to my yard? – June, Orleans, MA   Me, too,...

Dear Bird Folks, We used to look forward to seeing flocks of migrating Canada Geese each fall, but in recent years it seems the geese never leave our area. Or is that just my imagination? – Mark, Plymouth, MA   Yes and no, Mark, Yes, the Canada Geese never leave...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve read about this year’s influx of Pine Siskins and Red-breasted Nuthatches. What about Evening Grosbeaks? Any chance we could see them return this winter, too? – Chris, Chatham, MA   There’s a chance, Chris, In the birding world, there’s...

Europe comes to Rhode Island: There’s a long list of excellent reasons to drive an electric car, but there is one major drawback, at least there is for me. I have to go to Warwick, RI to get my particular car serviced. Ouch! I had made my first ever service...

Dear Bird Folks, I’m looking forward to the return of our winter ducks, specifically the Buffleheads. When will they be back, and like many other birds this fall, will there be more than normal? – Ethan, Harwich, MA   Oh, right, Ethan, I almost forgot about...

Dear Bird Folks, Each spring I look forward to the return of the phoebes that often nest under the overhang of our shed. But it’s now November and the phoebes are still around. Shouldn’t they have migrated south by now? – Katelyn, Provincetown, MA   It’s a...

Dear Bird Folks, Could you please tell me what birds are in the attached photos? A whole flock of them just landed on my feeders. – Nina, Rick, George, Cindy, Elissa, Steve, Sheryl, Mark, Amy…Cape Cod, MA Based on the large number of inquiries I’ve received, it’s...

Dear Bird Folks, What is with all the Red-breasted Nuthatches on my feeders lately? We used to see one occasionally, but now they are the most common bird in the yard. Did they have an exceptionally successful breeding season? – Terrance, Sandwich, MA   You...

Dear Bird Folks, Please look at the image on my phone. I think we have an albino flicker in our yard. – Donna, Orleans, MA   Wow, Donna, That sure is one bright white bird…at least I think it’s a bird. It could also be a bottle of Ivory dish detergent. It’s hard...

A trip to Sipson Island: Over the past year or so, there has been a fair amount of local chatter about a twenty-four-acre island in Pleasant Bay. For over 300 years, this island, just off the coast of Orleans, has been privately owned. The only way any of us could...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve read that an American Avocet is being seen on Yarmouth’s Seagull Beach. Have you seen this particular bird yourself? Is it worth a trip to see it? – Paul, Freetown, MA   No and yes, Paul, Even during these scary times, lots of people are...

I finally got out: With Labor Day well behind us, I decided it was safe to venture out once again. I wasn’t really confident about what I might find out in the real world, so I only went as far as the town of Wellfleet and Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife...

Dear Bird Folks, Could you please tell me what bird is in the attached photo? It was feeding in a muddy pond not far from my house. It looks like a shorebird, but it’s a long way from the “shore.” – Dave, Franklin, MA   You are right, Dave, The bird in your photo...

Dear Bird Folks, All summer long we have enjoyed watching the hummingbirds coming to our feeder. But why do they spend so much time chasing each other? – John, Brewster, MA   It’s been nuts, John, Way back in June, when the hummingbirds were busy with their...

Dear Bird Folks, In a section right below your weekly column, the newspaper also lists the recent bird sightings. Last week the sightings included two Brown Boobies. Shouldn’t those birds be in the Galápagos or someplace like that? What brings them up here? – Jason,...

Dear Bird Folks, Is a Pyrrhuloxia another name for a cardinal? A friend of mine sent me a postcard from Arizona. The picture on the front of the card depicted several birds. One of the birds was a cardinal but the caption read "Pyrrhuloxia." I don't know a lot about...

Dear Bird Folks, Could you listen to this audio clip and tell me what bird is making this awful noise? It sounds to me like a crow in pain. It continues like that all day long, for days at a time, and it’s starting to be annoying. – Ben, Brewster, MA   I’ll trade...

Summer Reruns: Recently (today) I received two questions that I’ve written about several times in the past. But due to the heat (and my laziness), I’ve decided that instead of writing entirely new columns on these topics, I’ll just resubmit my previously published...

Dear Bird Folks, A few weeks ago you started writing about American Bitterns, but then switched to night-herons. That was fine, but I would like to know more about bitterns. Could you write an entire column just about them? – Jack -Barnstable, MA   It happens,...

Dear Bird Folks, This photo was taken in the marsh, off the bike trail behind Eastham’s Coast Guard Beach. It looks bittern-ish to me. What do you think? – Amy, N. Eastham, MA   Yes, it is, Amy, The bird in your photo is indeed “bittern-ish,” but it’s not...

Dear Bird Folks, I’m one of those guys who is too lazy to wash his own car. I’d rather let the rain do it for me. Rain does a good job on dirt, dust and pollen, but it never seems to remove old bird droppings. Why is bird poop so hard to wash off? – Dennis, Kingston,...

Dear Bird Folks, I had hoped to ask you this question in person, but with face-to-face conversations being limited right now, I’m writing to you instead. What can I do to “grackle-proof” my bird feeder. They keep cleaning me out. – Neil, Truro, MA   I agree,...

Dear Bird Folks, I didn’t realize that we had Black Skimmers around here, but someone has recently posted seeing four of them on West Dennis Beach. Are they nesting there? –Tony, Centerville, MA   It’s a surprising place, Tony, West Dennis Beach is one of the...

Birding the stump dump: Even though the summer of 2020 will be different, Cape Cod is still a hectic place in July. Finding a quiet location to look for birds can be a challenge, but I think I’ve found one. There are several local areas affectionately known as “stump...

The search for Common Ravens: In May of 2002, I wrote a column in which I explained to “Connie” that Cape Cod has plenty of crows, but no ravens. It is thought we did have ravens in the 1600s, but then those wacky Pilgrims, and their even wackier descendants wiped,...

Dear Bird Folks, My daughter in North Andover (MA) is concerned about the orioles that were around earlier, but have disappeared. I’ve had the same issue in my yard as well. Any ideas? – Bill, Hyannis, MA   I was so close, Bill, It’s the end of the month and I...

Spring birding trip…sort of: In the past, my spring birding trips have ranged from Alaska to Newfoundland to other birdie places in between. This year, however, the lovely pandemic has forced me to remain in the ‘hood for a while. As a result, I’ve had to find bird...

Dear Bird Folks, We have a family of bluebirds in one of our birdhouses. They have been fun to watch, until this morning when we found four newly hatched bluebird chicks laying dead on the ground below the house. We looked for signs of trouble, but everything seems...

Dear Bird Folks, Whenever I go for a walk I see lots of Tree Swallows. They are all over my state. (I would take them over any other bird and I think they would take me over any other human.) Please tell me why I see so many Tree Swallows. – Ian, age 11, 5th grade,...

Dear Bird Folks, Please take a look at the attached video clip of this little sandpiper I saw on my morning walk. As I got closer to the bird, it didn’t run away or fly off, it just started rocking back and forth. Any idea what was going on? – Sarah, Chatham, MA...

Dear Bird Folks, Are these birds (see photo) common around here? This is the first time I have seen one. – Carol, Harwich Port, MA   It’s time to fill your feeder, Carol, I really like it when people send me photos. It makes bird identification so much easier....

Dear Bird Folks, I was out walking this morning when I noticed a tree filled with Cedar Waxwings. I counted twenty of them. Why such a big flock? Isn’t it mating season? Shouldn’t they be paired off by now? – Noah, Eastham, MA   There’s always one, Noah, Don’t...

Dear Birds Folks, There has been a thrush, maybe a Hermit Thrush, drinking from my birdbath most every day since last fall. Do you think it will stay around all summer? – Robert, Sandwich, MA   Me, too, Robert, I, too, have had a Hermit Thrush coming to my...

Dear Bird Folks, Here is a photo of the bird we discussed this morning in your parking lot. It’s been coming to my feeder for the last few days. Please let me know what it is. – Phil, Wellfleet, MA   You got it, Phil, I’ll let you know about your bird in a...

Here come the birds: With almost everyone homebound right now, I think we all could stand a little good news, and I think I have some. The birds are coming. Luckily for us, birds don’t watch cable news so they aren’t constantly bombarded with menacing headlines. The...

Dear Bird Folks, Last week you wrote a column about birding games, but what about birding movies? A few of my family members would rather watch stuff on TV than play games. Any suggestions? – Jason, Munson, MA   Yeah, okay, Jason, First it was games and now it’s...

Dear Bird Folks, As we sit here, stuck at home, waiting for this awful virus to pass, I was wondering if you knew of any bird games we could play. We are growing a little tired of jigsaw puzzles. – Linda, Rochester, MA   Yes, I do, Linda, I do indeed know a few...

Dear Bird Folks, I’m almost sure I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling near my house last week. I’m familiar with these birds from my time spent in Florida, but have never heard one on the Cape. Do they breed around here? – Kelly, Brewster, MA   Maybe, Kelly, It...

Dear Bird Folks, Have you ever written a column about mockingbirds? If not, could you please tell me something about them? Also, in Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character, Atticus Finch, said, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Any idea...

Happy April Fool’s Day! Each April first, for the past eighty years, I’ve written about some factitious birding event. For the most part, readers have found these columns to be entertaining…but not everyone. Last year, one humorless lady called me a nasty name. It’s a...

Dear Bird Folks, I’ve decided this would be the year I would try to see some American Woodcocks and their famous spring “sky dance.” Do you know of any secret places where I should look for them? – Paul, Dennis, MA   No way, Dennis, I’m not telling you about my...

Dear Bird Folks, Here’s a photo of a Red-shouldered Hawk that my friend sent to me. Notice that the hawk is standing on one leg. I was told that birds sometimes keep one leg tucked up in order to conserve heat. That makes sense when it’s cold out, but I’ve seen them...

Dear Bird Folks, Several of my birdhouses have had their entrance holes chewed larger by something. Now I have to buy all new houses. Any idea what creature is doing the chewing and how I can prevent it from happening to my new boxes? – Bob, Dalton, MA   Hold on,...

Dear Bird Folks, Back in December, on WCAI’s Weekly Bird Report, they said it would be a bad winter for seeing Snowy Owls, but a good year for finding Short-eared Owls. I’ve never seen a Short-eared Owl before. Any suggestions where I should look? – Debra, Yarmouth,...