BIRDWATCHING

Articles In This Section:

· Exploring

· BRANCHES AND LEAVES - Part 1

· BRANCHES AND LEAVES - Part 2

· BRANCHES AND LEAVES - Part 3

· ANIMAL TRACKS AND TRACES

· BIRDWATCHING

· BIRDCALLS AND OTHER SOUNDS - Part 1

· BIRDCALLS AND OTHER SOUNDS - Part 2

· LOOKING FOR LESSER CREATURES

· STARGAZING

Birdwatching is a hobby that many people find absorbing. You too can spend fascinating hours tiptoeing through the woods hoping to glimpse the flash of a wing, or observing quietly from a window as birds cluster round a feeding station.

You can probably recognize a few of the many different types of birds. There are many more you can look for and learn about. Do you know the difference between swifts and swallows ? Swifts are frequently confused with swallows, because the way of life— hunting from the air—and the appearance of the two species are similar, but swifts are more closely related to hummingbirds and goatsuckers. Swifts are good flyers but their feet are weak and serve only for clinging to walls. Swifts cannot take off from the ground, so if you find an uninjured swift that has been "grounded," simply throw it into the air.

Here are a few types of swifts:

The chimney swift—nests in walls, unused chimneys, around towns. Has a shrill cry, "Sril-Sril." Smokey black, light throat, tail feathers ending in bare spines, larger than any swallow.

The white-bellied swift—larger than the chimney swift, nests in cliffs and caves. Cries a piercing "Skree-Skree" or a trilling "Gree-Gree-Gree." Brown on top, white underside with a brown band across the breast.

The goatsucker (whippoorwill, chuck-will’s-widow, or nighthawk)— this is also not a swallow. §oft, mottled plumage. About as big as a thrush. Nests hidden on the ground, stays on the ground or on a branch during the day. Lives on bugs and night moths. Cries "Dag" when flying, "Errrr-Oerrr" when resting.

And now a few swallows:

The bank or sand swallow—nests in holes along steep river banks and in sandpits. Is gregarious (birds of a feather flock together) and generally lives in flocks near water.

The cliff swallow—nests in sunny spots on stony places or cliffs.