Today in Nature: The Bird That Started the Study of Migrations

October 9th: This is an Eastern Phoebe. Like many birds, it is on the move, taking part in the fall migration. In fact, this species helped pioneer the study of bird migrations. In 1840, it was the first bird ever banded by John James Audubon, who wanted to study how birds migrated. To his delight, the banded Phoebes returned the next year. Today, banding helps scientists track the movements of hundreds of species. But you can also enjoy the migrations simply by looking up. I saw dozens of turkey vultures flying across the city today. Please feel free to share pictures and stories of any birds you see migrating.

Today in Nature: An American Goldfinch

September 19th: It took me a while to figure out who this was - I am pretty sure it is an adult female American Goldfinch. Their male mates are a bright yellow. This one was with a flock that was happily harvesting the seeds from these late flowering plants. Goldfinches rely on seeds, so they breed late in the summer, unlike most other birds. Once the breeding is over and the young are ready to fly, they will head south to the U.S. for the winter. I hope they have health insurance....

Today in Nature: Ospreys

August 28th: What a nice present for the end of summer - another encounter with the Osprey that has taken up residence along the Humber River.  Ospreys are one of the great comeback stories of the last 50 years. They almost disappeared during the DDT  decades, but when that pesticide was banned, they started to return, thanks to environmentalists in southern Ontario who built platforms for their nests. Their return also means the fish are worth eating. Things *can* get better.

Today in Nature: A Tern in Flight

August 10th: This is a common tern, the better-looking member of the gull family. He/she was flying around, getting ready to pluck a fish out of the water at Toronto's Tommy Thompson Park today. The park is a wonderful place to go bird watching, easily the best in the city. During my trip there, I saw Great Blue Herons, a green heron, Cedar Waxwings, American Goldfinches, thousands of cormorants, and much more. For more information on the park, please visit http://www.torontonature.com/tommythompsonpark.php


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Today in Nature: The American Goldfinch

An American Goldfinch

August 17th: This glorious little bird is an American Goldfinch. About the size of a sparrow, but much flashier, they survive mainly on seeds. Since most seeds only appear after July, they start breeding later in the summer. This saves them the headache of having other birds steal their nests earlier in the year. Since seeds are a dry diet, they can be seen drinking from puddles and streams.

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Hawks in the Woods

On my way home today, I walked through the woods of Etienne Brule Park, which borders the Humber River in Toronto. It was a rainy day, so I didn't expect to get much. But as I was taking some pictures of rain drops on leaves, I heard a loud screeching in the woods. It was coming from several different directions. I have learnt through experience that only one type of bird will dare to make that much noise - a predator. So I started looking around, and sure enough, I caught sight of a hawk flying through the woods.

A pair of Cooper's Hawks

After some searching, I located the source of some of screeching - a very tall, old tree at the edge of the hill that leads to the top of the ravine. High up in the branches, I spotted two hawks. It took some fiddling with the long lens on the camera to get a shot of them. They look to me like a pair of Cooper's Hawks. The hawk on the right is the mature one, with a red eye. The one on the left is immature, and smaller. There was a third hawk in the woods who looked the same and had the same call, but I couldn't get a good picture.

At the time, I assumed they were Red-Tailed Hawks, simply because those hawks are very common in these parts. But the tip of the tail of these birds was definitely white or yellow. Also, these guys were feeding in the forest, picking apart some carcasses. Red-tailed hawks are larger, and prefer to hunt in wide open spaces, like the sides of highways and open fields. These hawks are smaller, so they can fly through the dense foliage of the forest.

I spotted the hawks in an important spot, in terms of Toronto's history. They were very close to what is now called Baby Point, but in the 17th century, this was the site of a Seneca village of about 1000 people. The Iroquois from the south has pushed out the Hurons, and established a village at the point where a long portage began to  what is now called Lake Simcoe. These hawks were hunting just below the plateau where the Seneca lived. Back then, the area was surrounded by agricultural fields where the Seneca grew their crops. I don't know if there was forest down below, as there is now. In any case, before Europeans arrived, there would have been lots of forest nearby where hawks like these could hunt.

Written by Stephen Milton, of www.torontonature.com. If you would like to get a daily nature picture via Facebook, join my Toronto Nature Diary. Also, visit the website if you want more information on the best places in Toronto to find wildlife, and information about specific species.

June 19th: Baby Redwinged Blackbirds and some Red-necked Grebes

June 19th: This is the time of year when baby birds get big enough to leave the nest, but aren't big enough to feed themselves. The bird hanging precariously here is a young redwing blackbird. They are born in nests in marshes, but this little fellow was big enough to hop up some reeds - and then get stuck. He held on awkwardly to two reeds for a bit before figuring out how to hang into just one. He then proceeded to plead for food for the next ten minutes. No parents came to feed him, but I assume they were eon the job somewhere nearby.

Red-necked grebes

I also came across a different kind of red bird - the rednecked grebe, a kind of duck. They are notable because they create floating nests. These ones were nesting on a platform built to keep them coming back year after year. You can see the baby next to the mother. Its siblings were out on the water, making a very loud racket as their father dove down to retrieve fish. (For a video of a father feeding his family, go to our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/naturediary).

Here's an image of an adult male.

I found these birds out a Colonel Samuel Smith park in Toronto, at the bottom of Kipling. It is a lovely place, great for birding, and for a nice stroll.

Baltimore Oriole Nest, June 18th

June 18th: I came across a female Baltimore Oriole in the bushes beside a busy bicycle path near the shore of Lake Ontario in Toronto. As I took out my camera, she flew up to the top of a tree next to the path. I could hear the cry of young birds, so I took a closer look. She had flown up to her nest.

Baltimore Oriole nests are quite distinctive. They are not made of sticks, but hang, like a macrame bag. The young ones live in this sling-like shape.

Over the next twenty minutes, I took pictures of the mother and the father coming by to feed the two young ones. One of the fledglings was standing on a branch above the nest. A second young one was inside the nest, and I could see its head as the parents came by with food. It was devilishly hard to get a good picture as the sun was directly behind the nest. It didn’t help that the parents flew in and usually hung upside down, so they could drop seeds and perhaps berries into  their children’s mouths.

This tree was in a busy spot, right next to a bicycle and pedestrian path near some condos. Nonetheless, it became clear that Orioles had made nests here before, as an older one was hanging lower down on the tree.


Adult Orioles are distinctive due to their orange colour. The male has a dark orange belly, and a black head. The mother is more of a flecked orange. The young ones don’t have much colour at all, being more of a dark gray colour.


Later that day, there was a ferocious storm. I hope the nest withstood the rain.