Watch our Videos!
This new page is dedicated to videos showing birds in action - from flying to feeding, from singing to swimming, from drinking to bathing. Whatever is an appropriate action birds perform.
If you have a short (one, two, or three minutes) video that you made and would like us to present here, contact our webmaster, Tom Moeller (thosjmoel@gmail.com) with your suggested video.
All the videos below can be enlarged by clicking the four-arrow button in the lower right corner of the video.
Shady Avenue Screech-Owl Disappears!
Throughout January 2018 an Eastern Screech-Owl was using a hole in a tree right across Shady Avenue from the entrance to the Phipps Garden Center (see photo). It was discovered by Todd Ladner, who drove by the tree every day on his way to work. In December he noticed a face in the hole - the screech-owl! The owl liked to sun itself on nice days - good opportunities to photograph it. On January 31, Todd captured a video of the screech-owl sunning itself when chickadees and a nuthatch disturbed it, and the owl disappeared down into its hole. The reaction of the nuthatch in Todd's video below is comical!
Unfortunately, the screech-owl was no longer seen soon after that time. It disappeared again!
AMERICAN ROBINS
American Robin's Danger Whistle
Mike Fialkovich's video shows an American Robin producing a call that most people are not familiar with. It's a clear whistle type call, and the birds produce it in times of possible danger. You can see the bird in the video utter the call three times, and you can hear another giving the same call in the background. While most of us are familiar with the loud, sharp teek call robins produce when they feel threatened, listen carefully for this call during the summer.
Robin Digs into Leaf Litter to Find Food
Last fall's dead leaves become a treasure trove of food for robins in the spring. Robins search our lawns for worms and grubs, pecking into the moist soil for them in the warmer months. They also forage in leaf litter in late winter/early spring searching for tiny invertebrates, insect eggs, seeds, and other tidbits. This robin, recorded by Tom Moeller, shows us how it's done.
Tom Moeller has established a relationship with a wild robin, feeding the bird raisins out of his porch window. The bird will see Tom at a window and fly up to the porch expecting the window to be opened and Tom to place bits of raisins on the porch railing for the bird. The robin comes within two feet of Tom, even hesitating there, confident that his human benefactor will not harm him. Don't worry about waste, the robin will be back later to finish the raisins.
Robins and other birds do not recognize their own reflections. They see the reflection as another bird, and if it is in their territory, the reflection will be attacked to chase it away. Tom Moeller recorded this female robin repeatedly attacking its own reflection in a car window. This particular bird spent many hours in the day attacking the "other robins" she saw in car windows and in the glossy sides of cars in her territory.
PILEATED WOODPECKER
Here's a short video Mike Fialkovich made of a cooperative male Pileated Woodpecker pecking away at a tree limb in Schenley Park on April 7, 2018.
YOUNG KILLDEER
Sue Miller submitted two videos of young Killdeers taken at Murrysville Community Park wetlands on May 5 and 6, 2018. Killdeer often nest in gravel near parking lots, and that's where Sue found these precocious babies.
Killdeer Nestlings
Before looking at the video, see if you can find the four camouflaged nestlings in this screen capture. This is part of the Killdeer's defense against discovery. The nestlings are supposed to remain still, but there's always one offspring who doesn't listen.
Young Killdeer on the Run
Juvenile Killdeer are 'all legs' as this youngster proves running on the trail. Its parents and siblings are not far off. Note that young Killdeers only have one black breastband, not two like their parents.
BONAPARTE'S GULL
A Bonaparte's Gull appeared at Duck Hollow in Pittsburgh on July 9, 2018, a date when Bonaparte's Gulls are not supposed to be in this area. The gull seemed to be a second cycle immature going through a heavy molt - sightings and photographs of the bird flying showed ragged looking wings.
On July 16, 2018, Trini Regaspi videoed the gull as it swam past logs on the shore. The gull was a strong swimmer, indicating it did not seem to have health problems. Why it chose Duck Hollow in July to undergo its molt remains a mystery.
The gull was last seen on Friday, July 19, 2018, about 5:00 pm. It must have successfully molted its flight feathers and headed away...
PURPLE MARTIN ROOST IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Ken Kostka's video of the Purple Martin flock swirling over the Allegheny River at Natrona, PA near dusk before roosting in trees for the night on August 30, 2018.
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD FEEDING
On October 31, 2018 (Halloween) Donna Foyle found a Rufous Hummingbird at her feeder. The juvenile male stayed at her house and feeder until November 4, 2018. On November 3, Bob Mulvihill was able to capture and tag the hummingbird. On that date, Bob determined the bird's fat level was good for migration. Sure enough, the hummingbird was observed in the morning the next day but departed about midday for Southern climes.
Here is a short video by Tom Moeller of the Rufous Hummingbird feeding on November 3, 2018 just before its capture.
"BURKET'S WARBLER" SINGING
Lowell Burket made this video of the three-species, two genera warbler he discovered in Blair County in May 2018. The release of the news of his discovery on November 7, 2018, has reverberated around the world reaching 86 countries, and added a new chapter to the knowledge of bird genetics and breeding.
SHORT-EARED OWL
Dave Brooke took this video of a Short-eared Owl in a field in Armstrong County on February 19, 2019. At 7:30 am Dave was driving on some farm roads when the owl flew out from the roadside and landed about 25 feet away. He shot some photos and then this short video until several crows flew in to mob the owl, which took cover in tufts of grass. The 7 degree temperature was evident from the ice crystals and snow in the field.
BIRD SONG OPERA
As a diversion from the stress of COVID-19, we would like to present some 'light opera' performed by birds from around the world titled Bird Song Opera. This is an original video conceived and created by Volker Pannes of www.shakeup.de, a German website. Volker based this 'opera' on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, which he rearranged and edited for this video.
Take some time to enjoy this video and see how many of the birds in it you can identify. There is a helpful list at the end of all the performers.
BIRDS CAN DANCE!
As another diversion from the stress of a cold winteer and COVID-19, we would like to present some dance moves performed by birds from around the world titled Birds Can Dance!. This is an original video conceived and created by Volker Pannes of www.shakeup.de, a German website. Volker based this 'dance' on Johann Strauss's The Blue Danube, which he rearranged and edited for this video.
Take some time to enjoy this video and see how many of the birds in it you can identify. There is a helpful list at the end of all the performers.
VIRGINIA RAILS
Last year Virginia Rails bred in Harrison Hills Park. They have returned this year (2020), and Dave Brooke was able to find a pair in the park again on May 14 and videoed them moving about among the reeds. Thankfully the reeds have not grown up too much yet to obscure these secretive birds.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
After years of trying Tom and Nancy Moeller finally got Baltimore Orioles to visit the feeders in their yard. First one male, then a female arrived on May 11, 2020. Soon that pair was joined by a second pair. At first the birds were attracted to grape jelly, but fresh grapes and oranges became the foods of choice by the orioles. Tom was able to video one of the males really digging into an orange one warm afternoon.
RED-TAILED HAWK NESTLING
Al Borek filmed a nestling in a Red-tailed Hawk nest in Allegheny Cemetery on the Fourth of July just as it was expelling a pellet - the indigestable part of a meal a raptor must regurgitate. The video is slightly disgusting, but this is a normal part of bird behavior.
AMERICAN AVOCET
On Thursday, July 24, 2020, an American Avocet was found at Southside Riverfront Park in Pittsburgh, the tenth county record of that bird. Mike Fialkovich was able to record a video of the avocet wading in the shallows of the Monongahela.
Rush hour and boat traffic and people in the park contributed to the background noise on the video.
(To preserve the quality of this video, it appears a bit larger than others on this page.)
CLIFF SWALLOWS GATHERING MUD
A short video shows Cliff Swallows gathering mud to build their nests on the wall of a nearby school. Notice how quickly the birds dig out the mud pellets they need. They keep their wings up in the air for a speedy lift-off from their vulnerable spots on the ground. Tom Moeller recorded this video in May 2021 in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
BLUE JAY EATING PEANUTS
This short video shows a Blue Jay expertly opening a peanut on the ground and then swallowing a whole nut (mostly). Tom Moeller recorded this video in a snow shower on November 15, 2022 in Pittsburgh.
