Molting & Paring

As much as Mother Nature doesn’t want to let go of winter weather, birds in our garden don’t want any part of it.  Their songs are much louder now and they chase each other around in the garden a lot more too.  There are a couple of things indicating spring has arrived: American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) are molting and the arrival of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor).

American Goldfinches are gregarious birds.  They flock together and never stop chirping. Sometimes we have 20 or 30 of them crowding around the feeders.  A male Goldfinch has very bright yellow feathers with black and white stripes on the wings in summer but he’ll molt to a greenish brown in winter.  He’ll put on his brown winter coat in autumn.  Many of them have that ‘rolled in the soot’ look now.

Many birds like the Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) and the House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus) have already paired up.  The Northern Cardinals are still chasing one another around, claiming territory and mates.

We heard and saw Tree swallows that flew back from the Carolinas and only to be hit by snow the next day.   They haven’t come down to check on the nest boxes yet.  Hopefully they nest early enough and will not to be chased out of their usual nest box by the Bluebirds.