There are about 150 different BIRDS species that one might see on and around Lake Garfield. Some of these birds are shown below with links to further information. A list of all the birds is available below. For further information about each bird go to:
BALD EAGLE
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
The bald eagle has always been a powerful totem in the United States, revered by the Native Americans, and chosen by the European settlers as the symbol for their new homeland. It is justly called the American eagle since it occurs only on this continent.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT
Phalacrocorax auritus
The gangly Double-crested Cormorant is a prehistoric-looking, matte-black fishing bird with yellow-orange facial skin. Though they look like a combination of a goose and a loon, they are relatives of frigatebirds and boobies and are a common sight around fresh and salt water across North America. Cormorants are occasional visitors to Lake Garfield.
Bonner McAllester’s Birds for the Monterey News
DARK-EYED JUNCO
Junco hyemalis
The dark-eyed juncos have been here all winter. We may find our winters cold, dark, and difficult, but to these and other “snowbirds” Monterey is an easy southern place to spend the winter. To us folks, snowbird means someone from around here who goes south, maybe to Florida, not to return until spring. But sometimes these seasonal neighbors decide to stay.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
GREEN HERON
Butorides virescens
Along quiet streams or shaded riverbanks, a lone Green Heron may flush ahead of the observer, crying 'kyow' as it flies up the creek. This small heron is solitary at most seasons and often somewhat secretive, living around small bodies of water or densely vegetated areas.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
Setophaga pensylvanica
The chestnut-sided warbler is a New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America and in southern Canada westwards to the Canadian Prairies. They also breed in the Great Lakes region and in the eastern United States.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER
Melanerpes carolinus
This past month we stocked the feeder, hung the suet, and right away chickadees and titmice hit the café. There were downy and hairy woodpeckers, too, the trusty bird family right out the kitchen window. Every day more old pals showed up, and then one day, the glorious and rather
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
TREE SWALLOW
Tachycineta bicolor
Tree Swallow live on insects, mostly, so they can’t spend the winter in Monterey where it’s so cold. They do take a chance on an early Massachusetts return, though, sticking to the coast, because they are able to eat the bayberries that grow there. In March they can find the berries from the previous year, so they show up then in Plymouth sometimes, and on Cape Cod. They can also stay late over there, until 19 November, because the new berry crop stays on the bushes.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
TURTLE DOVE
Streptopelia turtur
You hear that lonesome turtle dove,
That flies from pine to pine.
He’s mourning for his own true love,
As I will mourn for mine.
Storms are o’er the ocean, love,
The heavens may cease to be,
The earth may stop its motion, love,
If I ever prove false to thee.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
WOOD DUCK
Aix sponsa
The Wood Duck is one of the most stunningly pretty of all waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather; the elegant females have a distinctive profile and delicate white pattern around the eye. These birds live in wooded swamps, where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around lake margins. Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
TUFTED TITMOUSE
Baeolophus bicolor
Titmice, like blue jays and chickadees, stay here through all the seasons. Their most common call, which sounds like “peter, peter, peter,” is given all year round, but we can hear it especially in late winter and early spring, starting in March.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
INDIGO BUNTING
Passerina cyanea
The all-blue male Indigo Bunting sings with cheerful gusto and looks like a scrap of sky with wings. Sometimes nicknamed "blue canaries," these brilliantly colored yet common and widespread birds whistle their bouncy songs through the late spring and summer all over eastern North America.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
WILD TURKEY
Meleagris gallopavo
Turkeys travel in flocks and search on the ground for nuts, berries, insects, and snails. They use their strong feet to scratch leaf litter out of the way. In early spring, males gather in clearings to perform courtship displays. They puff up their body feathers, flare their tails into a vertical fan, and strut slowly while giving a characteristic gobbling call. At night, turkeys fly up into trees to roost in groups.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
CANADA GOOSE
Branta canadensis
The Canada goose is overhead, often out of sight, flying alone or in family groups. Aldo Leopold noted that sometimes geese fly singly, but the flocks are likely to be present in groups of six or in multiples of six, since six is the most common number for a goose family, and geese are family creatures. A flock of many makes a marvelous music, random both in rhythm and in pitch. A lone goose strikes us as lonely, with its solo honk . . . . honk . . . . honk.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
RUFUS-SIDED TOWHEE
Pipilo erythrophthalmus
April comes, May slides in, and we wonder if “the catbird” will be back. Times are uncertain always, but many of us hope this is one of those seasonal pleasures that will come again this year.
There are others. In the bird department I have been wistful about the chewinks, as my dad called them. They are also called rufous-sided towhees, or just towhees…
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
BLACK BILLED CUCKOO
Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Slipping furtively through leafy thickets, this slim, long-tailed bird is heard more often than seen. It seems even more elusive than the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and is generally seen less often during migration, although the Black-billed is the more common nesting bird toward the north.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
COWBIRD
Molothrus
We have a daily visitor, coming always in social groups, gleaming in the sun. He delights us. We are so fortunate, so chance-chosen, to welcome him into our lives and imaginations. These days he is called brown-headed cowbird, cow blackbird, cow bunting, cow troopial. Or we can say “buffalo bird,” as he was once called, and here comes the romance.
Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
CHICKADEE
Poecile
Winter chickadees are foraging and roosting now in flocks of up to twelve. Sometimes other small birds join them. In spring they’ll be pairing off to dig out chambers in decaying punky stumps of pine or birch. Sometimes they take over an old woodpecker nest and line it with plant down, feathers, fur, anything soft…. Read Bonner McAllester’s Article
George Emmons’ Birds for the Monterey News
KESTRAL FALCON
Falco sparverius
The kestrel falcons are beautiful little hawks less than a foot long, larger than a robin but smaller than a crow, with black stripes under their eyes and down the side of their face to reduce glare from the sun, while hunting high in the sky.
Read George Emmons’ article in the February 2024 Monterey News
COMMON MERGANSER
Mergus merganser
Few ducks in the Berkshires are more eye-catching in spring than the male Common Merganser. The boldly black and iridescent green crest on its head is supported by a pristine pure white body, which itself is offset by a bright orange bill up front and webbed feet in the back. Read George Emmons Article in Monterey News, May 2021
COMMON LOON
Gavia immer
Common Loons hold a special place in the hearts and minds of all who see and hear them. Their striking plumage, soulful cries and ability to seemingly vanish under water have inspired legends of magic and mysticism. Few can hear the cry of a loon drift across a dusky lake without feeling a connection to an ancient and wild spirit.
SNOWY OWL
Bubo scandiacus. —
The seasonal reports of appearances of snowy owls in early winter gets our undivided attention with all the environmental concerns about global warming and the effects on annual bird migrations.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, February 2022
GRACKLE
Quiscalus quiscula
The best way to tell if the unwanted grackles are invading your backyard is to check on flocks of blackbirds and starlings already there making a nuisance of themselves. The tallest with the longest tails among them might turn out to be grackles with their shiny purple heads in sharp contrast with their bronze iridescent bodies.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, June 2023
GODWIT
Limosa fedoa
The best way to tell if the unwanted grackles are invading your backyard is to check on flocks of blackbirds and starlings already there making a nuisance of themselves. The tallest with the longest tails among them might turn out to be grackles with their shiny purple heads in sharp contrast with their bronze iridescent bodies.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, January 2024
AMERICAN CROW
Corvus brachyrhynchos
The American crow is one of the most widely distributed and recognized birds in North America. According to naturalists, there are more crows in this country now than when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Their success is due in part to the fact that they take good care of their young and are very clever in defending them against numerous enemies.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, April 2023
GREAT HORNED OWLS
Bubo virginianus
Great horned owls are one of the largest masters of the skies along the south shore of Buzzards Bay, relying on both sight and sound for hunting prey. They are similar in size to snowy owls, with a wingspan of up to six feet and weighing in the range of five pounds.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, April 2022
TURKEY VULTURES
Cathartes aura
One of the first signs of spring may be turkey vultures (often simply called “TVs”) circling overhead to clean up carcasses killed by cars, which they can locate from miles away with their keen sense of smell.…
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, April 2022
BALD EAGLE
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
The largest predatory “master of the sky” over Buzzards Bay, as well as the national emblem of America, has returned to being frequently seen along our southern New England coastline. However, according to Benjamin Franklin, it is not at all regal because of perceived character flaws and bad habits.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, June 2022
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Histrionicus histrionicus
The eastern harlequin duck is one of the most brilliantly decorated creatures you will ever see as a birdwatcher, for their both graphic design and flaming colors. Like the wood duck, it is an exotic example of how nature paints the males of most bird species with brighter, more visible colors for the breeding phase.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, December 2022
MOCKINGBIRD
Mimus polyglottos
The musical mockingbird is well known as a backyard bird with a vast vocabulary of songs and a variety of up to two hundred other sounds to select from. Each sound may be frequently repeated during the day and even more during the nights of mating season.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, March 2023
BARN SWALLOW
Hirundo rustica
The barn swallow is one of the most active insect and mosquito predators—fortunately well distributed around most of the world. It is very common everywhere across the continent of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and here in North America well into the north of Canada. It ranks in public opinion as one of the most essential species for insect control. In the fall, all the barn swallows migrate to the central and south Americas.
Read More from George Emmons’ Article, Monterey News, April 2024
There are about 150 different bird species that one might see at and around Lake Garfield. Species listed below in Italics, are reported to breed commonly in the Berkshires although not necessarily around the Lake. These bird species are listed in the approximate order of the checklist of the American Ornithological Union which lists birds by related groups.
* Common at Lake Garfield — a relative term for each species, its usual habitat and season.
** Abundant at Lake Garfield — somewhat relative, for each species, habitat and season.
*** Occasional visitor to Lake Garfield
† Early spring visitor
Blue underlined links are to Bonner McAllester articles from Monterey News
Canada Goose **
Wood Duck *
American Black Duck **
Mallard **
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
American Widgeon
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Hooded Merganser * †
Common Merganser * †
Ruddy Duck
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey
Common Loon ***
Pied-billed Grebe ***
Double-crested Cormorant ***
Great Blue Heron**
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black Vulture *
Turkey Vulture **
Osprey **
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle**
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk * (in winter)
Broad-winged Hawk*
Red-tailed Hawk *
Rough-legged Hawk
American Kestrel*
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer (in fields)
Spotted Sandpiper *
Wilson’s Snipe
American Woodcock
Ring-billed Gull *
Herring Gull
Rock Pigeon *
Mourning Dove **
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Great Horned Owl *
Barred Owl **
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Common Nighthawk * (early fall)
Chimney Swift *
Ruby-throated Hummingbird **
Belted Kingfisher **
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker **
Downy Woodpecker *
Hairy Woodpecker *
Northern Flicker **
Pileated Woodpecker *
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee **
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe **
Eastern Kingbird **
Northern Shrike
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo **
Blue Jay **
American (“Common”) Crow **
Fish Crow
Common Raven *
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow *
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow **
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow **
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco **
Northern Cardinal **
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird **
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird *
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch **
House Finch *
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin *
American Goldfinch **
Evening Grosbeak
Tree Swallow **
Northern Rough-winged Swallow *
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow *
Black-capped Chickadee **
Tufted Titmouse **
Red-breasted Nuthatch *
White-breasted Nuthatch **
Brown Creeper *
House Wren *
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet *
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery *
Hermit Thrush **
Wood Thrush
American Robin **
Gray Catbird **
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling *
Cedar Waxwing **
Blue-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler **
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler **
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black and White Warbler
American Redstart *
Ovenbird*
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat *
Wilson’s Warbler
Canada Warbler