Walking along the border of a wetland you may hear the sweet, musical-yet-monotonous trill of the Swamp Sparrow. Much of their body is a mix of unassuming earth tones: black, brown, and gray dominate their back, while their underside tends…

This quick-stepping, lawn-loving shorebird seems to be full of contradictions. While most members of the plover family spend their time on Michigan’s beaches and shorelines, making laying eggs and raising young in the sand, the Killdeer can most easily be…

The smallest of the North American swallows, the silhouette of a bank swallow shares the large head, small bill, pointed wings, and forked tail with others in its family (though the wing point and tail fork are less pronounced than…

Visiting a thick-canopied forest during the dog days of summer can feel like entering a bird desert… until you hear the cheery, languid pee-a-wee of the eastern wood-pewee.  While many summertime birds are high up in the canopy and out…

The idea of trekking through a grassland to find a blackbird is one that would rarely excite all but the most avid bird watchers, but this striking bird is far from boring. With his crisp black and white body, golden…

Even on the hottest summer days, male Indigo Buntings can be spotted persistently warbling their sweet, double-noted song from treetops, telephone wires, and other elevated perches. Indigo Buntings learn their songs as youngsters from nearby males, sharing nearly identical songs.…