The most amazing acrobatic flier is the Swallow-tailed Kite! Such extraordinary aerial skill, and with its striking black-and-white pattern and sharply forked tail, this unique raptor is such a graceful beauty. Weighing only a pound, kites can hang motionless on the wind, rarely flapping their 4-foot long wings. However, hundreds of kites in a “kettle,”…

Read more

Stalking its prey, the Least Bittern, clinging with long toes and curling claws to a pickerel weed stem, can remain poised and still for such a long time. Waiting for a fish, tadpole, crayfish or dragonfly to pass by before striking with great speed, they are able to capture prey in a flash. Narrow bodies…

Read more

What a grand nest! The Great Blue Heron likes the penthouse: the tops of trees, overlooking bodies of either salt or fresh waters where they feed solitarily. Noticeable to even non-birders by their size, Great Blue Herons are the most adaptable, most-recognized and widespread herons in North America. Great Blue Herons often reuse nests for…

Read more

Buffleheads, one of our smallest diving ducks, avoid predators faster by diving than by “running” on the water required to take flight.  This male’s powerfully churning feet uplift its tail.  To dive, they powerfully thrust with their feet, lean forward, and leap upward to plunge underwater.  Wings held close to their bodies, they use only…

Read more