Four Bird Signs of Spring
Red-wing blackbird is an iconic bird of spring. Courtesy of Jeff Wells
The few song sparrows that spent the winter around the authors' yard are now moving into "spring mode"—singing! Courtesy of Allison Wells
As spring approaches, the singing of the tufted titmouse becomes more prominent, often resulting in "song dueling." Courtesy of David Small
Red-wing blackbird is an iconic bird of spring. Courtesy of Jeff Wells
The few song sparrows that spent the winter around the authors' yard are now moving into "spring mode"—singing! Courtesy of Allison Wells
As spring approaches, the singing of the tufted titmouse becomes more prominent, often resulting in "song dueling." Courtesy of David Small
Most of us who live in the northern part of the globe, even those of us who love winter sports and activities, can’t help but look forward to the return of spring. It’s just part of being human and feeling connected to the earth and the rhythms of nature. We respond to more daylight and, at least intermittently, warmer temperatures. But we also look for signs of spring in nature—especially in the birds. We’ve been noting four signs of spring in the bird world this year. Maybe you are noticing them, too?
More Singing
It seems like even as we head into January, we start to notice certain of our resident birds beginning to sing more regularly and with more energy. This year, by February, we were hearing what sounded like multiple song duels across the neighborhood from tufted titmice, northern cardinals, and black-capped chickadee. The resident Carolina wrens began singing more often and louder as February gave way to March. The scattered song sparrows that spent the winter now are starting to belt out their tunes as well.
More Fighting
Some of the first birds that we started noticing having skirmishes over territory in our area were bald eagles. On cold, clear days in February, there were multiple times where we heard the high stuttering “tee-tee-tee-tee-tee” calls of bald eagles and looked up to see the massive birds high in the air, chasing each other across the blue tapestry of the sky. A few weeks later, it was the crows that we noticed, chasing each other and diving through backyards and parks as they begin to set up their breeding territories. Now, the singing cardinals often end up chasing each other around the treetops, too. More and more of our resident birds are getting serious about establishing the territories in which they intend to nest, and thereby are attempting to exclude others of their species.
Departures
As spring advances, some of the birds of winter begin to depart. We’ve heard a few people mention already that they juncos that they had all winter at their backyard feeders have now left, though ours are still here (and some of them are starting to sing even though they don’t breed in our neighborhood). American tree sparrows will start to disappear as they drift back north to their northern Canada and Alaska breeding grounds. If you live on the coast, you’ll start to see fewer of the various sea ducks, grebes, and loons that breed in Arctic and Boreal regions but for which Maine is their wintering grounds.
Arrivals
The arrival of birds that don’t spend the winter (or do so only rarely or in small numbers) is the ultimate sign of spring for most people. The classic spring arrival bird is the red-winged blackbird. When they first show up in your backyard or at your favorite little marsh near the lake after being absent since last fall, it really feels like something big has happened. And when you hear that first “Ok-er-lee” song from one, then it seems safe to say that spring is really and truly on its way. There are other favorite first birds of spring for many people—the first eastern phoebe wagging its tail from the clothesline, the first tree swallow fluttering near the nestbox, the first American woodcock giving its buzzy “peent” call in a brushy field. As the season progresses, the list of first arrivals gets longer and more diverse as the flood of migrants makes its way north from Central and South America and the Caribbean.
We hope you are getting some joy watching for the signs of spring from the birds that connect us to the rhythms of our natural world.
Jeffrey V. Wells, Ph.D., is a Fellow of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Vice President of Boreal Conservation for National Audubon. Dr. Wells is one of the nation's leading bird experts and conservation biologists. He is a coauthor of the seminal “Birds of Maine” book and author of the “Birder’s Conservation Handbook.” His grandfather, the late John Chase, was a columnist for the Boothbay Register for many years. Allison Childs Wells, formerly of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a senior director at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, a nonprofit membership organization working statewide to protect the nature of Maine. Both are widely published natural history writers and are the authors of the popular books, “Maine’s Favorite Birds” (Tilbury House) and “Birds of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A Site and Field Guide,” (Cornell University Press).
