Going Home, Coming Home, At Home
Birds of March story and photos By Michael Furtman
Trumpeter swan pairs often return even before the ice goes out in order to defend their breeding territory from interlopers.
March is one of those in-between months. Some years, March is still winter. Other years, it’s our first breath of spring. In all years, it’s a transition month for bird life. Winter birds are leaving, some summer birds are arriving, and year-round birds are preparing for the breeding season. Here’s a key for what to watch for. Going Home Northern Wilds country may seem quite “north” to us, but in fact, a lot of birds from even further north migrate to our region during winter, and the list can be pretty long depending upon the year. It’s often the food supply further north that dictates whether we see a lot of these winter birds or only a few.
Resident woodpeckers of both sexes, like this pileated, begin “drumming” in spring, sometimes even on buildings, as a means of establishing territories and attracting a mate. 18
MARCH 2022
NORTHERN WILDS
Come March, any northern owls that have wintered here will begin to disappear—great gray, snowy, boreal and northern hawk owls—each feeling the urge to get home for their nesting season. These owls tend to set up a temporary territory when they visit our region in winter. They become part of our neighborhood, like seasonal cabin owners. When they depart in March, it will happen suddenly, and the woods or fields where you regularly spotted them will seem sadly empty. Of course, there are always exceptions to the March departure. The latest I’ve photographed a snowy owl in our area was at the end of April.
The Canada (or gray) jay nests in late winter, and by March will already be incubating eggs, or even feeding nestlings. Finches—redpolls, pine siskins, crossbills and pine grosbeaks—are another group that tend to depart in March. So too will the busy flocks of bohemian waxwings that have been gobbling fruit from our trees all winter, winging their way north. In order
