Date: 05/03/2019
Number: 1
Wood Thrushes: I only heard 1 in Bethesda, MD in the first week of May. About couple weeks later, I heard a few singing loudly in Rock Creek Park, Kensington, MD. I also, heard an owl and a hawk that evening. I went back a few days days later, and did not hear any wood thrushes. I hope they survived the owl, the hawk, the crows, or cats. I went to another location in Rock Creek Park in Rockville, MD, later in May, and heard the faint singing of only 1 wood thrush. This is not good. However, this is a better sign than last year, when I did not hear any wood thrushes in Rock Creek Park, DC, or elsewhere. The Wood Thrush is the official bird of Washington, DC. Wood Thrushes really need protection, as their numbers have mostly head steady to very low over several years in the DC Metro area from my observations. WT's enemies are cats, crows, owls, hawks, buildings, etc. Wood Thrushes do not seem to be very fast flyers, unless they can elevate and get a strong push from the wind. I once drove a hawk out of a group of 5 migrating wood thrushes by shouting, jumping, and clapping my hands very loudly. Crows probably kill as many WTs as cats, because crows love to mob and raid tree top nests. Very sad. The crow population should be reduced, because crows kill millions of song birds through nest raiding and preying on eggs, babies, and injuring, and killing many other valuable migratory songbirds. We are in a flyway over Rockville, Bethesda and the Potomac River, so we see lots of what happens to migratory birds in this area. Some small migrating songbirds are very tough, energetic, and brave; as I have seem them valiantly fight off hawks that would otherwise have killed them. Perhaps those hawks were impressed by their bravery, or just were not hungry enough. However, I would like to think that the hawks were impressed.
Silver Spring, MD
Latitude: 39 Longitude: -77
Observed by: Marlene
Contact Observer
The observer's e-mail address will not be disclosed.
Contact will be made through a web-based form.