What was the first bird at your feeder in 2026?
The red-bellied woodpecker has already been sited
January 04, 2026Jennifer Even Melton
37 posts
Common grackles are worth a second look
At a distance, common grackles look like large blackbirds and sound like a rusty door hinge. But up close, their yellow eyes are rather expressive and their feathers have an almost peacock-like iridescence. Grackles, like northern flickers, allow ants to crawl on their feathers and secrete formic acid, which helps
December 28, 2025
How many nuts can a nuthatch hatch?
White-breasted nuthatches have large hind claws that help them creep headfirst down trees, searching the bark for insects. They may also be stashing seeds or insects under the bark for later, using moss or lichen to help hide their cache. Nuthatches were named for their practice of jamming nuts and
December 21, 2025
The house finch: more common than before
House finches have been becoming more prevalent in Kentucky in the past several decades after a few were brought from the southwestern United States and released on Long Island, New York in 1940. They quickly spread to all of the eastern states. Males look similar to purple finches but are
December 14, 2025
The purple finch: less common than before
A male purple finch, in the words of naturalist Roger Tory Peterson, is a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” While found in Kentucky, purple finches have become less common over the past decades as the population of house finches (next week’s feature) has grown. The National Audubon Society’s
December 07, 2025
Tufted titmice are storing up for winter
As winter approaches, the tufted titmouse harvests the last berries of the season and transitions from a summer diet of primarily insects to a winter diet of primarily seeds. Common visitors to backyard birdfeeders, tufted titmice prefer sunflower seeds. They tend to choose one large seed and fly to a
November 30, 2025
Mallards rest easy this week
Male mallards sport a variety of colors, most notably iridescent green heads. While the mottled brown female mallard is not as colorful, she does typically get the loudest say in the relationship, as quacking is the purview of the female mallards while male mallards make quieter rasping or rattling sounds
November 23, 2025
The snowbirds are coming!
Unlike many birds that leave the area in the winter, the dark-eyed junco returns to Kentucky in October and November to spend the winter. This sparrow is one of the most common birds in North America. You are likely to see small groups of them foraging for seeds on the
November 16, 2025
Small but mighty
Smaller than a chickadee, the energetic ruby-crowned kinglet is one of the smallest songbirds in North America. These birds earned their name because the males have a tiny patch of red feathers toward the back of their large heads. These feathers fan up when males are excited. If you are
November 09, 2025