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Habitat/Range: common in eastern deciduous forests, with range stretching into the Midwest as well

Size: length 14-16 cm inches; weight 0.6-0.9 oz

Appearance: Tufted titmouses’ feathers are a soft, silvery gray, but have whiter feathers on their bellies and around their eyes; they also have a bit of a rushy wash along their flanks, with a shock of black right above their short beaks. They have a taller shock of feathers on the crown of their head—thus “tufted” titmouse.

Diet: insects (caterpillars, wasps, bees, and more) and non-leafy vegetation (seeds, nuts, berries, small fruits). They also are common utilizers of bird feeders.

Nesting: They typically nest in tree holes, but are incapable of excavating their own—instead using natural holes and cavities left by woodpeckers.

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: Mid-Atlantic and the southern Midwest; forested areas or urban/suburban areas with large trees

Size: length 10-12 cm inches; weight 0.3-0.4 oz

Appearance: The feathers on their crown and under their beak are black, bisected sharply by white feathers from the beak towards the back of the head. Their back, wings, and tail are a range of grays.

Diet: Outside of breeding season, Carolina Chickadees associate and feed with each other, their typical diet consisting of insects, seeds, and berries.

Nesting: In the winter, they nest in tree holes, typically created by enlarging a natural cavity in dead wood.

Other: The pair bond between a mating couple can remain intact for several years to entire lives.

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: wide range—from almost the entire East coast to the midwest then down into Mexico

Size: length 21-23 cm; weight 1.5-1.7 oz

Appearance: Males and females are starkly different in appearance: males are bright red on their feathers and beaks, with a black ring encircling their beak and eyes; females retain the red beak and black ring, but are a pale brown with only tinges of red in their wings, tail, and crest. Both genders have a tuft of feathers poking out of their head.

Diet: They primarily consume seeds, insects, and berries, but also additional plant matter as well as even snails.

Nesting: Their nests are open cups of various plant matter, hidden in dense shrubs, vines, or low trees.

Other: During breeding season, they are very territorial and have been known to attack their own reflection.

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: the entire eastern half of the United States, with populations extending to bits of the Northwest Coast as well. Barred Owls live in dense, mature forests made up of both deciduous evergreen trees, often adjacent to bodies of water such as swamps. In the Northwest, they’ve settled into old-growth coniferous forests and compete with the threatened Spotted Owl.

Size: length 43-50 cm; weight 16.6-37.0 oz. In between the size of crow and a goose.

Appearance: With brown-and-white-striped plumage, a bright yellow beat, and deep-set, dark eyes, they are certainly a charismatic species.

Diet: Their diet consists primarily of small mammals, such as mice, squirrels, rabbits, possums, and shrews. They also eat various birds, frogs, salamanders, snakes, lizards, and some insects, on occasion catching aquatic creatures such as crayfish, crabs, and fish. They are most active at night, but are known to be active on occasion during the day.

Nesting: in tree cavities

Other: Their call is notorious for having the cadence of the words “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?”

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: a mighty swath of the East half of the United States—their range pushing more and more Northeast as time goes on. Carolina Wrens most often make their homes in densely vegetated wooded areas, but also pop up in suburban areas where dense tangles of growth have been left undisturbed.

Size: length 12-14 cm; weight 0.6-0.8 oz. About the size of a sparrow.

Appearance: Rich cinnamon plumage, a white eyebrow stripe, and a long, upward-cocked tail; their wings and back are a darker brown than their copper-dusted underbelly.

Diet: Insects such as caterpillars, beetles, and grasshoppers, but can also catch small lizards and tree frogs. In the winter, they’ll eat berries and small fruits, as well as some seeds.

Nesting: They nest in various outcrops, natural and manmade. Pairs may mate for life, and the female and male work together in building nests out of twigs, leaves, weeds, moss, grass, and feathers.

Other: If you can’t see them, you can definitely hear them, for they constantly chirp their high-pitched call to defend their territories. Due to their year-round paired living situation, Carolina wrens may "duet" at any season, with the female giving a chattering note while the male sings.

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: Along nearly the entire East Coast, stretching to the Midwest and then down into Mexico. During the breeding season, their range expands into Southern parts of Canada.

Size: length 16-21 cm; weight 1.0-1.1 oz. About 2/3rd the size of an American Robin.

Appearance: Similar to cardinals, the male has a starker color pattern, with the female’s plumage consisting of more muted tones. Males have a vivid blue head, back, and wings, tapering to a dark gray along their wingtips; their underbellies are a rusty orange, with an off-white color around their feet. Females retain this pattern, but they are primarily a dull gray where the males are blue.

Diet: Mostly insects and berries. Does much foraging by perching low and fluttering down to the ground to catch insects, often hovering to pick up items rather than landing.

Nesting: They nest in cavities, natural (tree hollows) and manmade (birdhouses), usually 2-20 inches off of the ground. Their nests are primarily built by the females, but the males attract mates by collecting nest material and enticing a female to visit by waving his wings.

Listen to their call here!

Habitat/Range: A migratory species—inhabits the lower, eastern half of the United States’ woods, swamps, and marshes in nonbreeding seasons and up into the boreal forests and spruce bogs of Northern Canada during the breeding season.

Size: length 21-25cm; weight 1.2-2.8oz. About the size of a robin.

Appearance:

• Males, winter: Dark brown with rusty accents along their feathers, along with a lighter arch along their eyebrows.

• Males, summer: Dark, glossy, black feathers; pale, yellow eyes.

• Females: Gray-brown plumage the same insipid yellow eye color and black beak as males. Their feathers are tinged with a rusty color, as well

Diet: Insects (aquatic and terrestrial) and seeds. Occasionally eat larger prey such as nails, crustaceans, small fish, and small salamanders.

Nesting: Sometimes nests in small, loose colonies but more often nests in isolated pairs. Their nest sites are dense in foliage, usually in conifer or in shrubs above the water placed only a few feet off of the ground. Nests are built by the female, composed of twigs and Usnea lichens, with a lining of fine grass.

Other: Rusty Blackbirds have the highest declining population rate of all birds in North America, though scientists are still puzzled as to the cause of why. It is believed that it has something to do with climate change narrowing the range of its breeding habitat in the upper reaches of Canada. At William & Mary, we have a flock that winters along Lake Matoaka, Dupont, and Botetourt Area.