Perched in a silver maple, a male catbird pauses in between long phrases of song.
House Wrens
Cherished by humans for its delightful songs and perky ways, the house wren has another side to its breeding-season behaviors. Photo by Carol Hamilton
Beautiful Birdsong
Beautiful Songs (with wood thrush photo) and this caption: Often heard but seldom seen, the wood thrush is known for its melodious song of lilting,…
Sharp-dressed Men
Sharp dressed in red and black, male scarlet tanager pauses for his closeup before resuming his foraging activities. Photo by Nikki Dahlin.
Icarus’s Road to Recovery
Sporting bare shafts where feathers once grew, Icarus the red-tailed hawk is in the process of recovering from a near-fatal encounter with a landfill flare. He is under the care of KARE, Kane Area Rehabilitation and Education for Wildlife, a rescue that has treated birds with similar injuries in the past. Good Natured: Icarus’s Road
Hosting Purple Martins
As social birds that are aerial insectivores, purple martins require treeless open space around their housing. Good Natured: Hosting Purple Martins April 7, 2023 According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, North America is home to 2,059 species of birds. Of these, 2,058 are pretty self sufficient. Sure, they could do without humans’ constant interference,
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned night herons are listed as endangered in Illinois. Last summer at least one breeding pair nested in Rock Falls, IL, as evidenced by this photo of an immature YCNH taken by Good Natured readers Jan and Dean Zinanni. Good Natured: Yellow-crowned Night Heron March 10, 2023 One of the really great things about life
Rough-legged Hawks
Owl Ears
The long-eared owl’s namesake “ears” on top of its head are used for camouflage and communication, but not for listening. Its actual ears are located…
Ben Franklin & Turkeys
The wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, was never a candidate for our nation’s symbol, but it did help Benjamin Franklin advance his study of electricity.