North Coventry Township Bird Town

10/06/2026

⏟ ⏟
⏟ MIGRATION MONDAY ⏟ ⏟
⏟.. a day late!

The most recent check in showed birds in the following locations:

🇭🇳 Honduras
Reay & Minden

🇬🇹 Guatemala
Mattawa

🇲🇽 Mexico
Ridge & Potts & Moose & Miskwabi & Hugger & Kathleen & Amelia & Granite & Stuart

🇺🇸 USA
Brewer & Cadotte & Muskoka & Willow & Flyn & Morgan & May & Billings & Bates & Ottauquechee & Seguin

As the GPS-tagged birds start to make their way into Central and South America we will start to lose transmission with many of them due to less cell towers in the region. We will share updates when we can in the coming weeks!

10/06/2026

10/04/2026

All of these birds can be found in our area, because all of these plants grow wild in our area. They can grow in your yard, too.

(OK, we completely understand why you don't want the poison ivy in your yard - but when you see it in wild areas and parks, know that it is providing an important food source for birds and admire it from afar.)

10/02/2026

Migration alert! The kinglets are back!

Golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets have just returned to the area after spending the summer breeding in the conifer forests of the northern U.S. and Canada. Smaller than a hummingbird and weighing only as much as a nickel, kinglets are a delight to watch as they energetically flit about. These two different but closely related species of birds often forage high in the treetops, but they regularly also come down into small shrubs in yards and parks to search for insects. They are also quite bold little birds and can seem quite tame, occasionally coming very close to people while foraging. Both the male and the female golden-crowned kinglet have a yellow crown, but only the male ruby-crowned has a bright red patch on his head which he flashes when excited.

Photos by John Werth

09/30/2026

Here's a great reason to be a lazy gardener this autumn!

09/28/2026

Go Potts Go!

A couple of weeks ago in a post on this page about Broad-winged Hawk kettles, we mentioned that one of the hawks that nested in southeastern Pennsylvania in the summer of 2025 migrated all the way to Brazil to spend the winter! We know this because that hawk - "Potts" - received a GPS tag last year and is now tracked by researchers at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as part of their Broad-winged Hawk Project, a study on the breeding and migration ecology of these beautiful raptors.

After nesting here in North Coventry in 2025 and then spending the winter in Brazil, Potts returned to southeastern PA this spring and successfully nested again this past summer, raising one chick. Potts began to migrate on September 5th is now already in the Houston, TX area.

Where will Potts wind up wintering this year? Follow the The Broad-winged Hawk Project to see the migration routes of Potts and other birds carrying GPS tags during their incredible, long migrations.

⏟ ⏟
⏟ MIGRATION MONDAY ⏟ ⏟
⏟

Five additional broadwings have joined the kettle since last week, including Granite (tagged in New Hampshire in 2025), Ottauquechee (tagged in Vermont in 2023), Amelia and Kathleen (tagged in Ontario in 2025), and one of our longest tracked broadwings, Muskoka (tagged in Ontario in 2022)!!

Hugger and Reay are leading the charge and have already crossed into Mexico, with Minden, Amelia, and Miskwabi trailing behind in southern Texas.

09/27/2026

A good list of wildlife rehabbers can be found here: https://valleyforgeaudubon.org/wildlife-rehab-rescue/

09/25/2026

Where do your beautiful and bright goldfinches go in the winter? Nowhere!

Toward the end of the breeding season in September, American goldfinches begin to molt, replacing every single feather on their body, including flight and tail feathers, over a period of six to eight weeks. But the new feathers are not as brightly colored as the ones worn during the summer. The drabber-colored feathers of winter aid the goldfinches in hiding from predators and are structurally sturdier, which helps the feathers withstand the rigors of winter weather.

It is common for people to assume their goldfinches have left for the winter and been replaced by an entirely different species, when in reality the same individual birds are still right there, just wearing a completely different set of feathers!

The story does not end there, though. Come late winter and early spring, hormonal shifts driven by lengthening daylight trigger a second, partial molt. Head and body feathers are replaced again, patch by patch, this time reintroducing the vivid yellow body feathers of the males and the more subtle yellow of the females. The sturdier wing and tail feathers grown the previous fall are retained rather than replaced a second time. By the time breeding season rolls around again, the same bird at the same feeder has cycled through two entirely different looks.

So if the American goldfinches at your thistle feeder start looking a little patchy or oddly colored over the next couple of months, don't worry about them. You are simply watching a dramatic seasonal transformation play out in real time, right in your own backyard.

09/23/2026

Here's a simple way to help birds as the weather turns colder.

If you don't have a nest box in your yard, check with your local park to see if there are nest boxes there that you could adopt and care for.

When you turn up your thermostat to stay warm, you'll feel good that that you're doing what you can to help the birds stay warm, too.

09/22/2026

Happy first day of autumn!