Navigators Club Extra - Learn to Bird

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Learn to Bird on the North Shore

Have you found any of the birds from Issue 1 yet? If not, no worries! Birds can be tricky to spot, and some like to keep their hiding places secret (for good reason!). Check out this interactive list of birds you can find on the North Shore, your own logbook, and some places to get started!

American Herring Gull

Black-Capped Chickadee

Mourning Dove

Blue Jay

Wild Turkey

Gray Catbird

Robin

Eastern Whip-Poor-Will

Tree Swallow

Birding Log

Where to go Birding

American Herring Gull

The American Herring Gull is likely one of the seagulls

you encounter on your local beach! This is the kind of bird Salty is!

Curious what the red dot is on their beak? It acts as a visual cue for gull chicks to be bed! Chicks peck at the red dot to tell their parent they need to be fed. The parent then regurgitates food to fed the chick!

Black-capped chickadee

The black-capped chickadee is the Massachusetts state bird! If you have a bird feeder at home, these birds love suet, sunflower seeds, and peanuts.

Black-capped chickadees love to hide seed and other food to eat later. If you hear a lot of "dee" notes in a chickadees call, that means there is a higher threat level.

mourning dove

Mourning doves are fast and love to fly in straight lines! They tend to nest in Evergreen trees but also love to spend a lot of time on the ground.

If you have bird feeders at home, mourning doves love cracked corn, sunflower seeds, millet, and oats!

blue jay

Blue Jays are often stealthy! They fly across open areas quietly and one at a time. They migrate in large flocks, but their migratory patterns are still largely a mystery to scientists.

If you have a bird feeder at home, blue jays love fruit, millet, peanuts, cracked corn, suet, and sunflower seeds.

Wild turkey

Wild Turkeys are abundant throughout Massachusetts, but that wasn't always the case! Turkeys are native to North America, but they were brought to the Atlantic Coast by European settlers.

If you have a bird feeder in your backyard, wild turkeys may feed on cracked corn, sunflower seeds, and oats. They may also love any berry trees you have planted nearby!

Gray catbird

Gray catbirds have a distinct cat-like mew call. That's how it gets its name!

If you have a bird feeder in your yard, gray catbirds love fruits and feeding on small shrubs. They may like dogwood, winterberry, or serviceberry!

Robin

You may see robins more often in the Spring, but they are also around in Fall and Winter!

If you have a bird feeder in your backyard, robins love fruits, sunflower seeds, and suet.

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Eastern whip-poor-will birds lay their eggs alongside the lunar cycle. They plan for their eggs to hatch just before a full moon, so the parents can use the light to forage throughout the night to find food for their nestlings!

These birds love insects and foraging along the ground.