Our largest swallow, the purple martin (Progne subis), has a very short breeding period in North America. In Pennsylvania they arrive in late April and fledge young in mid July.
Purple martins at Bob Allnock’s in Portersville, PA, July 2016 (photo by Kate St. John)
As soon as the fledglings fly well, adults and young leave the nesting area and spend their nights in a communal roost.
Flocking begins as soon as nestlings fledge; birds of all ages assemble in roosts before fall departure. This may represent nonbreeding activity rather than a specific response to upcoming migration, because the species is highly social and flocks in large roosts throughout the overwintering period.
Since the breeding period is earlier in the South, roosts in the Carolinas fill up in July and contain so many birds that their early morning departure can be seen on weather radar. This happened last week in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Germander in bloom, Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
6 July 2024
Flowers, insects and birds were active this week though the end of the week was so humid that it felt like the tropics. Here’s a trail of photos from Duck Hollow, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, Schenley Park and my own neighborhood.
Don’t forget to check out the two photos at the end: A mystery match-the-leaves moth or butterfly and some amazing bird behavior.
Deptford pink, Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)Chickory in bloom, Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 2 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
With false sunflowers (Heliopsis helianthoides) at their peak in Schenley Park, the red aphids are out in full force.
Aphids on false sunflower, Schenley Park, 5 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Wineberry is already forming fruits.
Wineberry, fruit forming, Schenley Park, 5 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
I found a moth or butterfly that I could not identify at Duck Hollow. It was impossible to get close for a photo so this is the best I could do. Perched on Japanese knotweed. Can you tell me what it is?
What species is this insect? Duck Hollow, 4 July 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
And here’s some bird behavior I’ve never seen before: Two red-tailed hawks are perched on the hoist rope of this enormous crane on O’Hara Street near Thackeray on 29 June. This crane spends five days a week moving back and forth. I’m amazed that they decided to test it on a Saturday. Can you see them? If not, click here for a marked-up photo.
p.p.s. See Karen’s comment below in which she identifies it as a Bad-wing moth (Dyspteris abortivaria). So my next question is, Why is it called a bad wing? –> And see J’s comment with the answer!
Continuation of sky, trees, buildings: Effron Music Building, Princeton University, 24 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
30 June 2024
In May I encountered a building that showed me how to think like a bird. Here is the building. What do you see?
Sky. Trees. Four buildings. Railings. Stairs.
At street level we see stairs, railings, trees, white buildings but not the building we are close enough to touch. The Effron Music Building at Princeton University virtually disappears in its reflections.
Continuation of sky, trees, buildings: Glass exterior of the Effron Music Building, Princeton University, 24 May 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Facing the glass you can see through it to suspended wooden practice rooms, yet the surface of the Effron Music Building still reflects its surroundings.
These optical illusions are why glass kills one billion birds every year in the U.S. That’s 2.7 million birds per day.
Towering skyscrapers might seem like the most obvious culprits [of bird deaths], yet Loss’s team found that 56 percent of the mortality occurs at low-rises (4-11 stories tall); 44 percent at residences (1-3 stories tall), and less than 1 percent at high-rises (12 stories and up).
56% of the deaths are at 4-11 story buildings: offices, apartments and academic buildings such as 5-story Craig Hall at Pitt where a juvie peregrine died in 2012.
Juvenile peregrine’s death left a mark on Craig Hall, 28 June 2012 (photo by Kate St. John)
Low-rise buildings are more likely to cause bird deaths when they reflect trees in the glass. I noticed that the Effron Music Building does not have greenery anywhere near the reflective surface so it probably doesn’t cause many bird deaths.
Our homes, however, reflect our backyards. 44% of bird deaths are at 1-3 story residences.
Do birds hit your windows at home? Take a look at your windows and think like a bird.
PREVENT BIRDS FROM HITTING YOUR WINDOWS AT HOME: Reflective glass must be treated on the outside to alter the entire look of the windows. The treatment must make the birds see a wall or a mesh too small to fly through. Here are tips from Fatal Light Awareness Program in Toronto and the American Bird Conservancy
Airborne! at Westinghouse Bridge, June 2022 (photo by Dana Nesiti)
28 June 2024
If you watch peregrines you know how improbable it is that you will ever see one make its first flight. In 23 years of watching peregrines I’ve seen it once, maybe twice. I have no photographic evidence but I know of two Pittsburgh examples.
So what does it look like when a peregrine chick makes its first flight? Wakefield Cathedral, UK (@WfldPeregrines) has so many cameras on their peregrines that the moment was captured on 17 June.
Yesterday morning when the heat index was 96°F, Carla sunbathed for 20 minutes at the Pitt peregrine nest. Her fanned tail shows us why she was doing it. Not only does sunbathing kill feather lice, it eases the discomfort of molting. Carla is molting her tail feathers two at a time.
Carla began her sunbathing session after she and Ecco bowed briefly over the scrape. She might have stayed longer but her youngster “Blue” showed up. Carla and Ecco are both avoiding their “kids” in an effort to make them independent.
Carla and Ecco bow at the nest, 26 June 2024 11:26am
Sunrise on the last day of Excessive Heat Warning in Pittsburgh, 22 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
22 June 2024
Most of us didn’t see much of the outdoors this week. It was just too hot. Fortunately today is the last day of Pittsburgh’s Excessive Heat Warning. Tomorrow we’ll have rain, thunderstorms and wind, though it will reach 90°F. Certainly hot. Not “Excessive.”
Yesterday while it was 93°F, one of the Pitt peregrine youngsters (“Blue”) tried to beat the heat by resting in the shade at the front of the nest. She opened her wings and gular fluttered (like panting) to cool herself off.
Blue is “panting” at the nest, 21 June 2024, 5:15pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Two days earlier her father, Ecco, was sunbathing at noon! The sun’s heat kills feather lice and forces the live bugs off the bird’s back to places where it’s easier to preen them away. After roasting a bit, Ecco spent time preening in the shade.
Ecco sunbathing, 20 June 2024, 12:09pm (photo from the National Aviary falconcam at Univ of Pittsburgh)
Some day soon (I hope!) it will be pleasant enough to take a walk in the sun as I did on 12 June at Aspinwall Riverfront Park. Every time I go there I look for peregrines but have not found any.
Common mullein at Aspinwall Riverfront Park, 12 June 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)
Cooper’s hawk standing in running water, Pittsburgh, 18 June 2024 (photo by Alan Juffs)
21 June 2024
On Tuesday afternoon when it was 94°F, a Cooper’s hawk stepped into a stream of running water on a street in Squirrel Hill. When blue jays and robins raised the alarm, “Hawk! Hawk!” Alan Juffs took these pictures.
Birds are feeling the heat this week because they wear down coats all year long, but special circulation in their legs makes chilling their feet an excellent way to cool off. The National Zoo explains:
Wading birds, such as flamingos and ibises {and this Cooper’s hawk}, have long, thin, featherless legs that make it easy to release heat from their bodies. When the blood circulates up and down their legs, heat dissipates through their skin. This natural method of thermoregulation gets a boost when the birds’ feet are submerged in cool water.
For a quick minute the Coopers hawk cooled his heels.
Cooper’s hawk cooling his feet, Pittsburgh, 18 June 2024 (photo by Alan Juffs)
His respite was cut short when the robins and jays drove him away.
Fortunately today is the last full day of Pittsburgh’s Excessive Heat Warning. The warning ends tomorrow, Saturday 22 June, at 8:00pm. Sunday will be better. Whew!
Carl Bovis filmed one at Skomer Island, Wales where there are over 42,000 nesting pairs from April to July: “To cheer everyone up, here’s a little Puffin going for a little walk.”
Juvenile Pitt peregrine whines for food at Cathedral of Learning on 2 June 2011 (photo by Nancy Weixel)
12 June 2024
Ever since both Pitt peregrine youngsters fledged on 2 June, their parents have been moving them toward independence. At first they supplied the juveniles with food just as they did at the nest, but within three days Ecco and Carla began showing and teaching them how to hunt. As the juvies gained hunting skills the adults reduced food deliveries to encourage the “kids” to hunt. Yesterday one of the youngsters missed those easy meals and was so loud that he attracted attention from the upper floors of the Cathedral of Learning. “Bring me food!” he whined, “I don’t want to grow up!”
Here are some video examples of this behavior filmed at other peregrine sites. Juvie peregrines all share this behavior.
“Hmmm. Maybe my parents can’t hear me. I’ll beg louder.”
