Bird of the Week

Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus Bill Rowe Back in November, we headlined the Red-tailed Hawk as our most widespread and best-known member of Buteo—the genus of large, wide-winged hawks that divide their time between perching and soaring. Now comes our second, and second-best-known,…

Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica Bill Rowe A true citizen of the world, the elegant Barn Swallow can be seen on six continents, in the Northern Hemisphere in summer and the Southern in winter. You’ll find it in literature about as far…

Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas Bill Rowe Summer is here, and for the next two months we will focus on summer birds that you might see in the course of your June and July outings. We could fill that whole schedule with…

Black Tern, Chlidonias niger Bill Rowe Of all the birds you can see around our rivers, lakes, and marshes, there is nothing more striking than a Black Tern in breeding plumage, swooping gracefully over the water surface to pick off insects.…

Blue-headed Vireo, Vireo solitarius Bill Rowe Once again, in May we’ll stick with “migrant-only” birds, then move to more of our nesting residents in the summer. This week’s migrant gives us a chance to introduce another whole family: the vireos, of…

Least Flycatcher, Empidonax minimus Bill Rowe Following the plan of “spring migrants in May,” here’s one that is common, likely to show up in your yard or local park, and typical of a group of flycatchers that everyone wrestles with as…

Blackburnian Warbler, Setophaga fusca Bill Rowe Out of the millions of birds headed north through Missouri right now (as mentioned last week), a great many are going to their nesting grounds in the taiga—the great spruce-fir forests of Canada and the…

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa melanoleuca and flavipes Bill Rowe It’s May, and millions of birds are pouring through the central United States right now, some of them stopping here for the summer to nest, others heading farther north and found here…

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea Bill Rowe It’s hard to find a bird more charming, by human standards, than the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a woodland sprite that rivals the kinglets for its hyperactivity and its tiny size. By overall length, as stated in…

Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus Bill Rowe The genus Catharus includes four closely-related thrushes, brown above and spotted on the breast, that migrate through Missouri. All are rather shy forest birds, but as migrants they may show up anywhere, from the woods to your…