Spring on Staten Island
The Return of Nesting Songbirds

As Spring continues to develop on our island, you can wake up to the sounds of birds singing over their nests as they wait for their young to hatch. In my neighborhood, we wake at sunrise to the incredibly LOUD call and song of the Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). As summer approaches on campus, keep your eyes open for the return of the hummingbirds to the wild area near 6S; keep your ears open, too, as you are most likely to hear the sound of the ruby throated hummingbirds' wings beating. I'll keep watching for the return of the glossy ibis, downy woodpeckers, and night herons, all of which I have seen on campus along the Willowbrook stream near the Victory Boulevard entrance.

Links of interest:
|| Chipper Woods Wild Bird Observatory Catbird Site ||
|| Patuxent Wildlife Research Center's Catbird Information
(source for linked photo and song) ||
|| Cornell University's Bird's Nest Cam, with live shots of several nests ||
Songs and calls of some New York State birds (source for call) ||
|| More Bird Songs ||

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