Brooklyn

As you may know, there are four young Peregrines in the 55 Water Street scrape. They are scheduled for banding tomorrow. Over at the House of D scrape however, this year’s crop of birds are older, much closer to fledgling. A friend and I have been stalking the place like paparazzi, which is sort of…

Sometimes you don’t get a great view. Also, this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is one of last year’s fledglings, so it’s still too young to have the red, which is really russet- or brick-colored, tail. But those rough, white, V-like markings on the back are an excellent clue to the identification of this species, at…

We’ve been following the rapid growth of two baby Rock pigeons (Columba livia) under a local bridge. Click here for the first half of the month. The picture above was taken on May 19th. Just a little of the yellowy-fuzz on their heads now. Wings look good and feathered. Won’t be long now….Well, maybe not…

The afternoon sun was going right through this Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) and transforming into something rich and strange.

I have been asked more than once if I have ever seen a baby pigeon. If I’m feeling snarky, I say “no, they reproduce via parthenogenesis.”Here’s a pigeon chick, to the right of the parent; it’s so young it can’t even hold itself upright yet. Here it’s being fed by one of the parents, both…

Brightening up the greenery and the airwaves in a greensward near you, Baltimore Orioles (Icterus galbula) are in town and nesting. Watch for them pulling at grasses and various fibers, like rope, for their woven nests.

A Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) in the grass, where you will usually find them before they flush in little darting flocks into the nearby trees.A White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis), whose song enlivens the winter woods, is more likely found under cover, and rooting through the leaves. They breed to the north, mostly in Canada; there…