Magnolia warblers have stayed around our area near Harper's Ferry in NE Iowa all summer. Iowa bird books say they only migrate through. Haven't seen them yet this spring.
Bird Migration and Misc Birding Thread
- Thread starter Kinch
- Start date
You also might want to experiment with an oriole nectar feeder (the orange solution you mix up). Either way, make sure you are checking at least once and day....they can eat a lot and you don't want them to take off. The first 2 my mom got this year weren't that hungry, but now she has at least 5 male Baltimores and at least 2 male Orchard orioles who are eating a lot.
Pileated are awesome to see! We watched one destroy a good-sized rotting stump a few years ago over course of a few days! Chunks were flying everywhere!
Orioles are about my favorite. Most years they stick around for a fairly long time. And they are so pretty. I also love Indigo Buntings, but they don't stick around as long and there are fewer of them. And Scarlett Tanagers, which seem to stick around even less.
I've only seen a Scarlet a couple of times. But their red color is just stunning. Very tropical. Summer tanagers aren't quite as pretty.
I mentioned upthread that my sister got 36 different types at my parents' this weekend on Merlin. If you have good places for the birds to hang out and someone pretty dedicated to feeding them, you can get lots of fun birds.
Also, my turning into a bird person is a plot twist I did not anticipate.
Me too I go fishing at a state park and always look for birds more than fishing lately. My sister is 78 years old and "hooked on Merlin" her hearing is much better than mine she says she can go outside and hear what birds are around. What a gift hearing is.
Three different species of Orioles arrived here around 2 weeks ago. They will go through around 25 large jars of grape jelly between now and when theor southern migration begins. We also have suet feeders up for several species of Woodpeckers. We have Catbirds and a Grosbeaks that also enjoy the suet. Hummingbirds arrived last week. We love watching all of these beautiful birds.
I went into a Wildbirds Unlimited store when I was just starting to get interested in birding. The guy at the counter asked what kind of feeder I was looking for. I answered “one that draws pileated woodpeckers.” He gave me a stern look and said “you aren’t asking for much are you?”
Over on the Iowa Birding Facebook page someone in Granger had a painted bunting on the 7th. That’s probably a once in a lifetime thing in Iowa.
Indigo Bunting (not my image). What a lovely little creature.
I think we definitely have a new friend. Oriole back at the feeder today and then has spent all morning singing in our trees. 
Sorry I keep dominating with my oriole posts. I just never thought we would get such results so quickly when we got the oriole feeder.
Sorry I keep dominating with my oriole posts. I just never thought we would get such results so quickly when we got the oriole feeder.
Ruby crowned kinglet:
Ooops, sorry. This is the kinglet:
Not my circus, not my images...
Darkest colored phoebe I've ever seen. Caught my eye it was so black and had me thinking I had spotted something else.
