View this nightly aerial spring spectacle as the birds come back to Bend to roost The Vaux s (rhymes with foxes) swift is a 4½-inch long, fast-moving bird (it s a swift after all) that resembles a cigar with wings. The smallest of all North American swifts, these aerial acrobats put on a nightly show during their annual migrations through downtown Bend. From their winter range which is the tropics of Mexico south to Venezuela, these 4-ounce birds undertake a Herculean migration flying to their breeding grounds in the Northwest (central California to southeast Alaska). Bendites and visitors may bear witness to this passage and enjoy watching these whirlwinds of wings as they circle round a downtown chimney atop the Boys & Girls Club at 500 NW Wall Street before descending in a controlled chaos into the darkness below.
Spring has sprung, so the birds are back
A variety of different winged visitors can be found at the Crooked River Wetlands Complex
Spring is here (yay!) and along with a change in greenery comes the arrival of spring bird migrants. This movement has already started with a trickle of early migrants (turkey vultures, swallows, Say s phoebes, red-winged blackbirds), will peak around mid-May (most of the songbirds) and tail off (no pun intended) with late migrants like the common nighthawk in late May. Some early migrants have probably arrived by the time you read this, including the cinnamon teal, which usually shows up around March 24 and the osprey on March 25.
Rare birds aplenty during the Central Oregon winter By Brian Rathbone, The Bulletin (Bend, Ore.)
Published: February 7, 2021, 12:30pm
Share: A cedar waxwing pauses to check its surroundings while eating berries from a tree near the Old Mill District on Jan. 13, 2021. (Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin/TNS)
BEND, Ore. Some days, a message is sent out on WhatsApp, alerting birders of a northern saw-whet owl, others it might be a message on the Central Oregon Birders Online website informing the close to 1,000 members on the site’s message boards about a swarm of purple finches and hermit thrushes taking over a birdbath.
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There is a well-developed pastime taking place across the nation that keeps thousands of people occupied from dawn to dark. You can usually find them congregated around bodies of water, binoculars glued to their eyeballs. The sounds coming from these groups are usually subdued, with sudden outbursts, such as, Are you sure?! , NO.! , Hey! or That s a lifer! Chuck Gates Sneaking up on birds started out as bird watching, but today these folks are birding. These are birders. Most of the time they re recreational birders, out looking at birds for their own enjoyment. However, sometimes these exercises can be official, such as conducting the Christmas Bird Count.