NPS Image Whether you are an avid birder, or new to the hobby, the Natchez Trace Parkway provides numerous opportunities to see and hear a variety of birds. Stop along any of our wooded nature trails, or near a stream or river to have your best chance of viewing a unique species. Several of our pull-offs are noted for their quality birding opportunities. For wading birds try the Ross Barnett Reservoir, Tenn-Tom Waterway, or Colbert Ferry. There you may spot a Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, or a Double-Crested Cormorant. For songbirds it is hard to beat the Rocky Springs, Jeff Busby, Witch Dance, Donivan Slough, and Meriwether Lewis nature trails. Deep in these woods you may hear or spy a Northern Cardinal, Cedar Waxwing, or Scarlet Tanager.
Don’t forget to listen for the hollow drumming of woodpeckers and sapsuckers tapping out a meal. For raptors the skies are big at Chickasaw Village, Pharr Mounds, Water Valley Overlook, and Birdsong Hollow. Bald Eagles, Red-Tailed Hawks, Mississippi Kites, and American Kestrels have been spotted. Check out our grasslands and experience the gorgeous blue of the Indigo Bunting, the never-ending song of the Whip-poor-will, or the whistled hoy of the Northern Bobwhite. Hundreds of people visit Rock Spring every fall to witness the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feasting on jewelweed nectar. Featured on the North Alabama Birding Trail, both Rock Spring and Colbert Ferry provide excellent birding opportunities throughout the year. You do not have to leave the roadway to happen upon a few birding opportunities. Turkey, Canada Geese, vultures, and hawks are often visible while driving. Drive carefully and this resource will be enjoyed by many to come.Discover a few of the 134 confirmed species of birds found along the Natchez Trace Parkway.Feathered Fridays - Birds of the Natchez Trace Every Friday, we will feature one of our marvelous native bird species. Click on each drop down to learn about that week's bird.
Just in time for the Olympics, it turns out we have a world record holder right here on the Parkway: our featured species for this week’s Feathered Friday! Though a tiny bird weighing only about 20 grams, the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus) holds the world record for the greatest number of songs sung in a day at an astonishing 22,197 songs!! Now that’s a busy bird! We frequently hear red-eyed vireos singing on the Beech Springs Nature Trail next to the Parkway Visitor Center. They can also be heard (and rarely seen) in a variety of wooded environments and even residential or urban areas if there are large trees around.
A bird’s song is much more than just a pretty tune; it’s a demonstration of the bird’s fitness. Singing requires a lot of energy and male birds can spend as much as 70 percent of their days singing during breeding season. This feat shows female birds that the male is in exemplary health and can find enough food to not only survive but have the extra energy required for singing. In turn, she will recognize him as a suitable mate. However, female birds are picky and just singing isn’t enough; you have to be good at it! That’s why we see such a great variety and incredible complexity of songs among singing birds. Only the best for these feathered ladies! If you exist, then you’ve probably seen a Barn Swallow. One of the most widely distributed and abundant birds in the world, evidence shows that these familiar birds may have evolved alongside humans, expanding out of North Africa and into the rest of the world “with” us. Indeed, more and more evidence places the timing of Barn Swallow speciation (i.e., when the Barn Swallow separated as a species from other birds) close to that of when humans began to build structures and settlements. Although they originally nested primarily in caves, Barn Swallows changed as humans settled—they now nest almost entirely under or near human-made structures like bridges and sheds.
This preference for human company was noted in cultures all over the world. Ancient Greek sources mention the bird, evidence that the Barn Swallow has been associated with humans in Europe for at least 2,000 years. The Japanese have considered the birds as an omen of good fortune since ancient times. In North America, the shift to human-built nesting sites began before European settlement—remnants of their nests can still be seen on ancient indigenous structures in the American Southwest. They were—and are—everywhere. Of course, the real question still remains: WHAT is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? What’s that lovely sound coming from deep in the woods? Some magical creature playing a flute? No, no, it’s simply the ethereal song of the wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)! With its complex melodies and wide variety of choruses, the wood thrush is, in our opinion at least, the top songster of the Southeast. You can usually hear their song at dawn and dusk in heavily wooded areas, especially those with old-growth trees and an abundance of understory growth. Though a prolific singer, the wood thrush is shy and is almost never actually seen. Along the Parkway, try listening for them at places like Jeff Busby (MP 193) or the Meriwether Lewis site (MP 385) and let us know if you hear one!
Did you know birds can sing twice at the same time? Whereas humans have a larynx that can usually only produce one sound at a time, birds have a structure called the syrinx which has two sides that the bird can operate independently. This is why a bird’s song can sound so complex and rich! If you are interested in learning what birds are singing around you, try using the Sound ID feature on the Merlin app! Have you been lucky enough to spot a prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) this year? Though brilliantly colored with bright yellow bodies and sleek gray wings, these warblers can be quite elusive! During the spring and summer, prothonotary warblers can be found in the eastern United States with the greatest numbers found in the Deep South and near the Mississippi River. They prefer to live near water, whether in flooded forests, wooded swamps, or just somewhere near a lake or stream. For this reason, even though they tend to nest in large swaths of forest, you may also see prothonotaries in your backyard if you live near a water source.
Although not classified as endangered, populations of prothonotary warblers have declined about 30% since the 1960s. Reasons for this decline include the loss of wetland habitats and the fact that prothonotaries are obligate cavity nesters, meaning they require a cavity such as a hole in a tree to build their nest. But the good news is, you can help prothonotary warblers by installing a nest box or even simply leaving dead standing trees with cavities in them. If your property includes a swampy area or is near a body of water, consider putting up a nest box and you may just get to see some of these elusive beauties right in your own backyard! On the Parkway, look for prothonotary warblers in wetland areas such as Cypress Swamp (MP 122), Cole Creek (MP 175), and Donivan Slough (MP 283). #DYK...After capturing a wasp, summer tanagers bash it against a branch until it dies, rub the corpse against a tree to remove the stinger, and sometimes follow up this brutality by tearing apart the wasp nest to get at its babies (in larva form, but still). Nature is pretty metal.
Welcome to our new series, Feathered Fridays, where we will feature one of our marvelous native bird species each week! To kick us off, this week we will learn about the beautiful Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis)!
Mississippi Kites are medium-sized birds of prey with a wingspan of around 3 feet. They are usually seen soaring overhead and can be recognized by their sharply angled wings, squared-off tail, and overall neat and compact silhouette. As they soar, they hunt for small prey, primarily large insects (though small reptiles, birds, and other prey may be taken as well), and often consume their finds on the wing. Unlike most birds of prey, Mississippi Kites are highly social, do not defend territories, and roost in colonies. They even practice cooperative breeding, in which the one-year-old offspring remain with their parents to help raise the new babies. The Mississippi Kite was first named and described in 1811 by ornithologist Alexander Wilson, who just one year prior had traveled along the Old Natchez Trace to market his book of newly documented American birds. Though Wilson named them after the Mississippi River, these kites spend only the summer here to breed and raise their young. They then travel thousands of miles to their wintering grounds in South America every year. Currently, the majority of their breeding territory is in the southern United States, including all of the Gulf states as well as Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. However, due to their tendency to travel over long distances and their high adaptability to human-altered landscapes, these birds are rapidly expanding their range with breeding pairs documented as far away as Colorado and New Hampshire! Now that’s a success story! |
Last updated: August 18, 2024