Category: Crickets

Winter Arrival of the Hermit Thrush

Seems every day I’m seeing another of my winter birds. This one, my treasured Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). A medium sized bird with a magical, flutelike song which it doesn’t bring along on its winter visit. It saves those lovely notes for summer, choosing to blend in and not make too much of a noticeable presence while in the black and white landscape of winter.

Out of necessity it also changes its diet, going from being an active hunter of yummy crawly things such as beetles, ants, caterpillars, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and earthworms to what winter offers up to birds of winter, berries.

You can see in these pictures that the Hermit Thrush enjoys Smooth Sumac berries to dine on. Other berries they enjoy include Elderberries, Pokeberries, Serviceberries, Grapes, and Mistletoe berries. These are plants that I have in my yard or would certainly consider adding, just to invite more winter birds to come visit for the winter.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). A bird that I seldom see. In part perhaps because they will sit in dense shrubbery sitting perfectly still, like a frog that is trying to convince you that, “You can’t see me.” They do this as they are watching and waiting for a meal to come by. Few birds will eat hairy caterpillars but this doesn’t stop the Yellow-billed Cuckoos who will consume thousands of caterpillars per season. They also eat cicadas, tent caterpillars, webworms, katydids, crickets, and even frogs and lizards. They may hop to the ground to catch the frog or lizard that they spot, or fly from their perch to catch a flying insect, midair.

Flying to South America in the winter, returning late April to early May. I look forward to at least hearing the Yellow-billed Cuckoo this summer. Both males and females make a soft cooing sound which reminds me of a Mourning Dove. Another sound, to me a more distinctive sound, a hollow sounding, rapid, harsh, rattling ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-kow-kow-kowp, kowp, kowp, kowp, slowing down at the end. A sound that I can’t say sounds like any other bird. It would be such a delight to see one of these Blue Jay sized birds, but knowing their shy nature I’ll be quite happy to at least hear one.