Birds in Summer - The Heat of the Day

BirdNote^®

Birds in Summer -
The Heat of the Day

Written by Ellen Blackstone

This is BirdNote!
[Strains of “Summertime,” with Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong]
It’s just a few weeks past the solstice, and the real heat of summer is yet to come. Some shorebirds are already on their way south, but most songbirds will be here for a while longer. What’s the best time of day to look for them?
Well, many birds are most active in the morning, not long after sunrise [Midsummer ambient with warblers, towhees et al.], taking advantage of the abundance of insects at that hour.
As summer waxes and temperatures rise, midday heat sends people inside, and birds take a siesta, too.
And then, both birds and bugs rev up again in the late afternoon. [Medley of songbirds] In the early morning, and again near dusk -- just about the time mosquitoes are biting -- that’s when birds are busiest. [Mosquito buzzing]
One exception is gulls: you’ll see them soaring and feeding throughout the day, because their preferred foods – whether a salmon fry or a French fry – are available all day long [Glaucous-winged Gull ruckus]. Hummingbirds are out and about, too, because their frantic metabolism requires that they feed almost constantly.
But mostly, midday is a quiet time for birds.
Are you looking for birds this summer? The cooler parts of the day are the best for a stroll, and the best for watching birds.
[Strains of “Summertime"]
    For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann.
###
Audio provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York.  Spotted Towhee recorded by G.A. Keller, Glaucous-winged Gull by B.J. McCaffery, Insects recorded by G.F. Budney.
Ambient sound track recorded by C. Peterson
Producer:  John Kessler
Executive Producer:  Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org     July 2012     Narrator: Mary McCann

ID#070907heatKPLU   summer-01b