39 posts
The pileated woodpecker is a relatively common sight in Berea. With a height of about 17 inches, the pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America. You may hear their loud and rapid pecking as they excavate their favorite food, carpenter ants, from rotten wood. Once they pair up,
September 14, 2025
Cedar waxwings are sleek, elegant birds with their black masks and yellow tipped tails. They are named for the small red drops of wax on the tips of secondary feathers on their wings. Cedar waxwings love to eat fruit and may descend in large numbers on berry-laden trees. They have
September 07, 2025
The cooing sound of mourning doves often conjures up memories of expansive summer days, even though these birds are year-round residents in Kentucky. Mourning doves mate for life and one pair may raise 5 or 6 broods of young in a year. Mourning doves are also known for the distinctive
August 31, 2025
These photos capture the 2-week transformation of an individual caterpillar into a monarch butterfly. Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed plants because milkweed is the only food baby caterpillars eat; and this hungry caterpillar ate every leaf before forming its chrysalis. By eating milkweed, monarchs ingest cardenolides, steroid compounds that make
August 24, 2025
Brown thrashers are year-round residents in some parts of Kentucky and offer loud, lively, and varied songs. Watch them wildly forage for insects in dried leaves and it is easy understand how they earned the name “thrasher.” If you get close to one, you can’t help but marvel at
August 17, 2025
During the summer, it’s easy to spot robins hopping, and sometimes running, across the grass busily foraging for insects. Both parents diligently bring food to their young and can nest up to three times during the summer. Yet robins still find time to usher in the day with their
August 10, 2025
The 'bee bird' breeds in Kentucky
August 03, 2025
Male goldfinches add vibrant yellow flashes of color to summer days. American goldfinches nest in July and August, later than other songbirds, waiting for milkweed and thistle down to be available for lining their nests. While goldfinches are year-round residents in Kentucky, they sport their bright yellow feathers only in
July 27, 2025
Color among the cattails
July 20, 2025