Dennis Paulson

Jan 9, 2025 | birdnote.org | Gregg Thompson |Dennis Paulson

BirdNote®Why Do Chickadees Come and Go? Written by Dennis PaulsonThis is BirdNote!. [Black-capped Chickadee calls]Whether Mountain Chickadees in the Rockies, Black-caps in New England, or Chestnut-backs in the Northwest, chickadees are always worth watching at your feeder. If you’ve laid out a fine feast of sunflower seeds, you’ll see them come in, quickly grab a seed, and fly away. If you watch carefully, you’ll see one land nearby, open the seed, and eat the juicy and nutritious kernel within.

Nov 9, 2024 | birdnote.org | Dennis Paulson

BirdNote®Common Mergansers Pushed by the IceWritten by Dennis PaulsonThis is BirdNote. [Common Merganser calls]Around this time of year, Common Mergansers are flying south from Canada to wintering grounds in the Lower 48. What dictates when they decide to go? [Wintry sounds]These ducks, like most birds, are well insulated against frigid winter temperatures. But they do have to find food, and they only can find their fishy prey by diving below the surface in open bodies of water.

Nov 2, 2024 | birdnote.org | Gregg Thompson |Dennis Paulson

BirdNote®Chorus Line in the SkyWritten by Dennis PaulsonThis is BirdNote![Chattering of Dunlin flock]What is that cloud low in the autumn sky, shape-shifting as you watch from a beach or mudflat, suddenly flashing from dark to light? It’s a cloud of small sandpipers called Dunlins. [Chattering of Dunlin flock] When threatened by a falcon, for instance, Dunlins take to the air, flying so close together that it’s hard for a predator to capture one.

Nov 1, 2024 | birdnote.org | Dennis Paulson

BirdNote®American Wigeon, Feathered LawnmowerWritten by Dennis PaulsonThis is BirdNote![American Wigeon calls, preferably a flock]These rubber-ducky sounds come from a flock of American Wigeons, trim brown ducks with pale blue bills and big white wing-patches. Their squeaky whistles mark their presence. [American Wigeon call]Wigeons are grazers, rather than filtering food through serrated bills like other dabbling ducks. Their bill is narrow, with a pointed tip like that of a goose.

Sep 20, 2024 | birdnote.org | Dennis Paulson

BirdNote®Birds as PollinatorsWritten by Dennis PaulsonThis is BirdNote![Anna’s Hummingbird calls and wing whirring]Birds are part of the complex web of Nature, and each fits into this web in its own way. Hummingbirds are feathered sprites that can dart past you at high speed but then stop on a dime. The bird’s ability to hover lets it hang in front of a flower and probe with its long bill and tubular tongue, sucking up the nectar that provides essential nourishment.