High-Elevation Birding in SWVA
Little-known southwest Virginia peaks offer some of the East Coast’s most fantastic birding opportunities. And they’re dramatically under-Atlased.
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Treasures in the Database
In October 2018, VABBA2 director Dr. Ashley Peele began the task of reviewing the year’s observations.
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The Early Bird: Great Horned Owls
This weekend marks the start of Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season for many counties in Virginia, which also means that we’ve arrived at the start of the breeding season for one of our most impressive Virginia species, the Great-Horned Owl (GHOW). In fact, reports of territorial pairs of GHOWs are already coming in for counties […]
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Tracking the Ghost Owl
Barn Owls and the VABBA2 One evening several years ago, while standing in the middle of a grassland somewhere on Long Island, NY, a Barn Owl flew over my head, pale and silent despite the flapping of its wings. It was a definite WOW moment. The Barn Owl is known by several colorful names inspired by […]
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The Northern Saw-whet Owl: Virginia's Other Small Owl
F0r this second installment of our ‘Year of the Night Bird’ series, VDGIF Avian Biologist, Sergio Harding, shares the story of our smallest and most mysterious owl species… When it comes to Virginia’s owls, the Eastern Screech-Owl is often thought of as our smallest species. But that distinction really belongs to the Northern Saw-whet Owl, […]
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Year of the Night Birds - Prowling for Screech Owls
As many of our readers may already be aware, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This landmark leglislation paved the way for legislative regulation of bird hunting/harvest, ultimately helping to prevent the loss of many species of wading birds, waterfowl, and brighthly-colored songbirds. Many conservation organizations are marking this […]
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Techniques for Locating Great-Horned Owl and Hawk Nests
Many birders find their interest piqued by a specific group of species. For some it is the hummingbirds, for others the coastal breeders, and for many, the birds of prey. This interest often leads to development of specialized methods for documenting and studying these species. For Jon and BJ Little, finding and confirming the nests […]
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American Woodcock, The Forest Species Few Have Seen
For many, the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) remains a somewhat mysterious species and for good reason. A forest-dwelling bird species doesn’t seem remarkable until we consider that the woodcock is in the shorebird family, Scolopacidae. Suddenly, this species takes on a much more intriguing aspect.
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Tips for Identifying Crows and Ravens
For any and every checklist submitted to eBird, care should be taken to accurately identify or distinguish among species. This can be tricky when several very similar species occur in the same locations.
