Vol. 56 // The most exciting bird sightings of 2023 🥳

Exciting News!

Now, that’s committed parenting. (via @birdsgottafly)

Bird of the Week: The American Bittern

Photo by Rick Cameron (Flickr)

Found in North and Central America
Hear Their Calls

The American Bittern is a heron that fluctuates between looking like a stocky and short swamp creature (which it is) and its long-necked, elegant cousins. (They also cross their eyes when looking for prey below them, adding to their somewhat silly appearance.) American Bitterns’ striped chest feathers and brown wings blend in perfectly with their marshy surroundings, making them hard to spot amongst the reeds. They disappear even further when they hide by stretching their necks and pointing their bills to the heavens.

If you want to see one, try using your ears first: they have air sacs that produce the same sort of water droplet-like sound (oonk-GA-loonk) that humans make by flicking their cheeks with a finger. These booming calls gave them the nickname “water-belcher.”

Fun fact: American Bittern’s eyes turn from yellow to orange during breeding season.

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Photo by Dominic Sherony (Flickr)

🦩 Take Flight
Flamingo fever, limpkins on the loose, ‘mega’ rare Terns—the biggest bird events of 2023
Some of the most exciting bird sightings of last year, from Snowy Owls in Southern California to Cattle Tyrants in Texas.

🦉 Who?
Do not underestimate the Elf Owl
It may be the world’s smallest owl, measuring six inches and weighing just one-and-a-half ounces, but this tiny creature is a major predator.

🦅 Free Falling
Two Bald Eagles do a daring courtship
The “death spiral,” where Bald Eagles lock talons and spin through the air, is a thrilling courtship ritual. Check out the action up close in this video.

Your Shot

An amazing bird photo taken by one of our community members. Submit yours to hello@flyingcolors.co to be considered for an upcoming edition!

Elf owl, elf owl, what do you do
When all of us are sleeping?

I go down to the water hole to wait
Where the frisk-tailed things come creeping,
And the little gray mice by the grass stalks climb
To the moon of the mesa, and bide my time
To mark the blind mole's furrow.
And I strike my kill,
And eat my fill,
And get me back to my burrow.

— “Elf Owl” by Mary Austin