Terry Rich

The National Audubon Society's 125th Christmas Bird Count will be held from Dec. 14, 2024, to Jan. 5, 2025. This is one of the longest-running citizen science projects on Earth. The count was begun on Christmas Day in 1900 by Frank M. Chapman, one of the early leaders in the then-new National Audubon Society. Chapman and others were dismayed by the traditional American Christmas competition of teams going out and shooting as many birds and other animals as they could. Even then, 120 years ago, there was a growing sense that killing wildlife for no reason is a bad idea.

This is the second piece looking at where many of our favorite breeding birds are spending the winter. I created the species list by looking at eBird data and asking which species have never been seen in Idaho in January. I then looked at how common they are during the nesting season. The most common bird in this group — covered a few weeks ago — is the black-chinned hummingbird.

Rare birds of any kind, any time of year, are a special treat for birders. And in case you didn’t know, we’re looking for rare birds every time we go out. It’s the endless treasure hunt. But most days we enjoy the usual species, being happy to see some unusual behavior or to get an especially good photo of a common bird.

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We were walking around Hulls Pond in early January looking for any birds out braving the winter morning. Male red-winged blackbirds had already returned to the pond and were singing. The pond was solid ice, and the cattails looked like they were in a diorama in a museum — frozen in time.

We were walking around Hulls Pond in early January looking for any birds out braving the winter morning. Male red-winged blackbirds had already returned to the pond and were singing.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the nutrient content of several types of wild fruit and how birds depend on them over the winter in the Treasure Valley. Another important source of nutrition for many species is seeds.

I doubt any species in this country is more overlooked than the house sparrow. In fact, they are actively despised by many because they are an exotic, invasive species. What’s

This is the third piece on where some of our favorite breeding birds spend the winter. I started (Parts I and II) with species that have never been seen in

The male wood duck is one of the most beautiful birds on Earth. We’re lucky we can see them almost any day of the week, any time of the year,