Flycatchers and cuckoos arrive later in the month, along with some of the later arriving warblers, particularly Connecticut warbler. Though they’re sometimes resented for their abundance and aggressiveness, they’re still dazzling birds when you get a good look. As an invasive species, starlings cause their fair share of destruction. This is a good time for loon migration on the Great Lakes, and in the Upper Peninsula the duck migration is in full swing. First brought to North America by Shakespeare enthusiasts in the nineteenth century, European Starlings are now among the continent’s most numerous songbirds. Those pesky starlings are notorious for causing significant damage to buildings, vehicles, property and machinery with their excessive droppings. North Shore Birding FestivalOccurs early December in Maitland, Florida », YUMA BIRD, NATURE & HISTORY FESTIVALOccurs early January in YUMA, Arizona », Bald Eagle DaysOccurs early January in Rock Island, Illinois », White Pelican CelebrationOccurs early January in Chokoloskee, Florida », Wings Over WillcoxOccurs mid-January in Willcox, Arizona », Eastern Phoebe (Photo: John Benson/Creative Commons), Get professional advice from the editors of, Presque Isle County, Michigan: A Hidden Paradise », Introduction to Bird Watching in Michigan ». Starlings become aggressive when they feel threatened, and approaching them is unnecessarily dangerous. They tend to construct their homes on the outsides of buildings as opposed to nesting in attics, like many other species of birds. Property owners can also employ several preventative measures to make environments less favorable to starlings. Starling feathers are dark, usually black, and change depending on the season, displaying white spots in the winter and glossy sheens in the summer. American Robin (62%) 2. American Goldfinch (45%) 4. Whimbrels make a fleeting appearance statewide in a narrow window centered on May 25, but most other shorebird species have mostly departed by the end of the month. For much of the year, they wheel through the…. European Starling (20%) The most common backyard birds in Michigan in summer (June to July) are these: 1. Oct 2, 2018 - Explore Christine Lux's board "MICHIGAN Birds: Starling", followed by 365 people on Pinterest. May is the peak of migration throughout the state, with greatest numbers of some species occurring in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula as much as one or two weeks earlier than in the northern Lower Peninsula and the Upper Peninsula. Spruce and sharp-tailed grouse breeding activity is at its peak this month, making them somewhat easier to see than most other times of the year. Find art you love and shop high-quality art prints, photographs, framed artworks and posters at Art.com. If flocks of the pest bird are causing problems, Critter Control technicians should be called to eradicate infestations. Robins, sparrows, warblers and hummingbirds are among those that leave for the comforts of a warmer climate. 15. The arrival of male red-winged blackbirds by the first week in March, when they begin defending territories, filling the still brown marshes with their first song in months, could perhaps be considered a harbinger of spring. They travel in large flocks and forage in open fields for their favored food source: insects. Loss of habitat and collisions with human-made structures are newer hazards that the birds haven’t adapted to, and these cause far greater mortality than natural forces. Starlings require three features of all their habitats: open, grassy areas for feeding, water sources, and several trees or buildings with suitable nesting cavities. Starling feathers are dark, usually black, and change depending on the season, displaying white spots in the winter and glossy sheens in the summer. Their wings are triangular, short, and pointed. Tab will move on to the next part of the site rather than go through menu items. Covered in white spots during winter, they turn dark and glossy in summer. Under these conditions, bird watchers may find birds nearly everywhere in the morning, and often feeding very near the ground as most insect activity will also be depressed in cooler conditions. Although woodland areas are still not leafed out, the forest floor blooms in profusion with spring ephemeral wildflowers including bloodroot, spring beauty, hepaticas, Dutchman’s breeches, common toothwort, spring cress, red trillium, and large white trillium. While allowing bird watchers excellent opportunities to observe many colorful migrants at close range in almost any habitat, including urban parks and suburban backyards. please visit my website sanramat.nl & Facebook www.facebook.com/search26, get_DSC0138 You can also find me here gallery @ ALAMY gallery @ Stockxpert gallery @ JPG Magazine, The murmurations of starlings → https://www.facebook.com/SynapticStimuli. Cool mornings early in the month will often find Baltimore orioles visiting your hummingbird feeders, so it’s a good idea to give them a separate feeder and some orange halves before the first of May. Do starlings harm people or property? See more ideas about Starling, Birds, Pet birds. Use BWD's Birding and Nature Festival Finder to help you select from events all over the USA and beyond. We can help you get rid of starling problems. Flock of Starlings Avoiding a Peregrine Falcon at Dusk Photographic Print by Andrew Parkinson. The birds avoid dense forests, scrublands, and deserts. Least flycatchers sometimes move into the state during the last week of April. Favored environments include cities, ranches, farms, open woodlands, fields, and lawns. Common Grackle (36%) 8. Mourning Dove (44%) 5. In contrast, while some birds are tentatively arriving in the southern portions of the state, including an incursion of migrant waterfowl following the ice breakup on the Great Lakes, the north is still firmly in the grip of winter, with some northward movement of northern finches and some raptors. Finally, their droppings are odorous and contribute to the spread of the respiratory disease histoplasmosis. Migrants encountering these conditions at night are grounded, where they must find shelter and food to wait out the passage of these weather systems. Chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals and blue jays are year-round residents. Like many good things, it seems to have come to an end. Helpful actions include sealing off any openings on the exteriors of buildings greater than one inch in diameter, trimming tree branches, fitting outdoor trash bins with lids, keeping gutters clean of debris, and eliminating sources of pooling water. Song Sparrow (46%) 3. When they gather in particularly large numbers, starling flocks riddle golf courses, lawns, and parks with holes while they forage, damaging costly landscaping. Loons and waterfowl continue to migrate along the Great Lakes, especially in the Upper Peninsula. Since they enjoy eating fruits like grapes, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and apples, they are often considered agricultural nuisances. Yet other birds, including great blue heron, great horned owl, red-tailed hawk, mourning dove, gray jay, and horned lark, have actually begun nesting early in March. Industry tools and extensive training keep our specialists safe throughout the removal process. They have strong jaws and long, pointed beaks that are well suited to plucking insects out of the ground. As such, the pest birds set up nests in ornamental lawn tree cavities, holes in buildings, and any other available nook or cranny that provides suitable protection. Spring Birds of Michigan (March, April, May) March is perhaps the most variable month weather-wise, sometimes being an extension of winter, sometimes heralding the beginning of spring, and usually exhibiting characteristics of both seasons. Adaptable, resilient, and intelligent, starlings negatively affective native populations of hole-nesting birds, like bluebirds and species of woodpeckers, by aggressively running them out of their natural habitats. Many common Michigan birds leave for winter and return in spring. Other birds migrate to Michigan for the winter from northern environments. Sign Up for our Critter Chatter® Newsletter. As of January 2020, there are 450 species included in the official list. American Crow (34%) 10. Home » Explore » Birding by Region » Birding the Midwest and the Great Plains » Michigan Bird Watching » Michigan Birding by Season: Spring, by Bill Thompson, III | Editor, Bird Watcher's Digest. But, with the possibility for winterlike weather the entire month even in the southern portions, can this really be called spring? Starlings are very unhealthy birds who carry a tremendous amount of diseases. American tree sparrows, which have been resident all winter, usually depart for their more northerly breeding range by the end of the month. March is perhaps the most variable month weather-wise, sometimes being an extension of winter, sometimes heralding the beginning of spring, and usually exhibiting characteristics of both seasons. Since then, the bird's numbers have soared over 200 million and they can be found from Alaska to Mexico.