I've received many interesting emails this year. I’m sharing a few of them here, and I’ve chosen those pertinent to the spring migration.

Question:

Is it true birds migrate at night and if so is there a reason?

Answer:

Yes, birds migrate at night — but not all birds do.

By migrating at night, they are able to feed during the light of day, but there are many other reasons why warblers and other species migrate at night.

Initially, it was believed that birds needed the stars to find their way to their breeding sites, but through years of incrementally contributing research, we now know that there are many more reasons. Some of these include the better flying conditions that birds experience at night. For example, at night there is less risk of hyperthermia and dehydration from flying in direct sunlight.

Additionally, heat from the sun creates up drafts and instability in the air that often results in turbulence. By flying at night, there is less turbulence, and flight speeds can be achieved far more efficiently, consuming less of the bird’s precious energy reserves. For hawks and many other species, daytime migration works best. Hawks migrate by rising with the thermals, then gliding and flapping as far as possible until they are able to catch another rising warm air mass. The thermals are generated by the heat of the sun, and in our region, they generally don’t form until mid-morning. This method of migration is highly efficient for the hawks that would quickly become exhausted with continuous regular flight.

Question:

We recently had a beautiful orange oriole land on our deck. Is there a way to attract these birds? How can I get them to come to our bird feeder?

Answer:

The Baltimore oriole truly is a beautiful bird. They arrive here from Central America in early May and can be enticed to your feeder at that time. The secret is to catch their attention early in the spring before the leaves fully foliate the trees. During these early spring days, when orioles are arriving exhausted and hungry, they will readily take to your offerings. Although they have a diverse diet of fruit, nectar, and insects of many types, you can lure them in with just ripe fruit. Try slicing oranges, placing them in a large onion bag, and hanging them in plain sight. You might also consider purchasing an oriole feeder, which you fill with an orange-colored sugar solution.

Question:

Can you recommend some good birding sites?

Answer:

I recommend the following: Bluff Point (Groton), Devil's Hopyard (East Haddam), Barkhamsted Reservoir Area, Station 43 (South Windsor), Northwest Park (Windsor), Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (Westbrook), and Hammonasset State Park (Madison).

Some are local, others require a short drive, but each site offers excellent spring birding. They range from coastal habitat to upland forest. Visiting each habitat provides you a greater variety of birds.

Every night now, thousands of warblers are settling down at choice sites such as Bluff Point, where birds coming in off the coast find a safe stretch of wooded land to rest. Birders arriving at dawn are often rewarded with several, sometimes a dozen, of each warbler species.

Hammonasset is the premier birding site in our region. Some recent bird sightings are as follows: whimbrel, orchard oriole, white-faced ibis, yellow-bellied flycatcher, and many magnolia warblers.

Robert Tougias is a Colchester-based birder. You can ask him questions at rtougias@snet.net.