Summer Birds

Back with us this summer is one of my all time favorites, the summer tanager. This simply beautiful bird, sometimes called the summer redbird, comes back to us from Mexico and further south into Brazil. I always know when they have arrived by their staccato sounding voices. I hear them before I see them. The male is red all over and is distinguishable from the male cardinal since the tanager lacks the black on its face. The female, very differently colored from the male, is yellow orange below and olive on top. They are frequent visitors to the mist. They eat caterpillars and fruit. I have one friend who reports that the tanagers at her house in southern Leon County eat the suet she puts out on a tray.

A treat for me is to catch a glimpse of the male indigo bunting. He is entirely a deep rich blue, irridescent and vivid. The female is brown with hard to see blue on her tail and wings. The indigo bunting is a finch.

The ruby throated humming bird is busy with the babies now. Their nest is stuck to a twig. It is covered with lichen and very small. These bundles of energy not only drink nectar but also devour small insects.

While canoeing lately I loved looking for and watching the little blue heron. They are such a cute size. Their bodies look like an efficient size. I am attracted to the slate blue color, especially lovely against the lush green vegetation. I even like the little blue heron when it is changing to adulthood. As juveniles they are all white with black on the tips of their wings. As they are changing they start to get the blue feathers. The mix of white and blue almost reminds me of the coats of certain dogs. The little blue eats frogs and small fish.

Another bird I always find striking is the red-headed woodpecker. They will come to the water at my place mostly when it is hot and dry to take advantage of the mister and water. The red-headed will eat suet. It has a full scarlet hood that covers the face and neck. The back is black with good sized white wing patches. I believe this woodpecker prefers more open country than I have. A friend of mine sent this to me...

Other birds include wood thrushes, vireos, the lovely parula warbler (take a look at this bird through binoculars), all seems right when the pewee calls, kingbird, great crested fly catcher; seems all is right when he calls too, and the chuck-will's-widow. The chuck is related to the whip-poor-will and is often called a whip-poor-will. The whip is here in winter and the chuck is in Central and South America. There is a very short time when the two overlap. The true whip-poor-will returns to the north to nest. The chuck-will's-widow says its own name with the chuck being very low or not heard at all. It repeats its call throughout the night. Here in Florida your corn should be in the ground when the chuck first calls.

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