Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Woodpeckers and their cohorts wrangle through the winter woods in search of high-energy food to fuel their active lifestyles.
January 29, 2014/by simpledesigns8 Ways to Help Birds
A brand-new year lies ahead, full of possibilities and opportunities. Here are some suggestions for ways to help the birds (and other flying things) that bring such beauty and joy to our lives.
December 29, 2013/by simpledesignsThe Squeaky Bird of the Forest
These long-billed, active little birds zigzag all over a tree in search of a meal, sounding like tiny tin horns as they stay in contact with their kind.
November 16, 2013/by simpledesignsBird World Changes With the Seasons
We can take steps to assist migrants and even the odds for backyard birds who battle the elements during our long, cold winters.
October 16, 2013/by simpledesignsA River of Birds Stream by at Night
Songbirds and shorebirds, geese and ducks and raptors spent the summer raising their young, but now it’s time to head for warmer zones, where food is more abundant.
September 16, 2013/by simpledesignsGrosbeaks are the Bandana Bird
Remember that Coasters tune with the refrain: “He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna, in a honky-tonk, down in Mexico?” Well, who’s to say the rock and roll group’s song doesn’t also refer to one of the most beautiful birds in backyard and woodlot—at least until you get to the "pianna" part?
July 19, 2013/by simpledesignsBlue Indigos Catch the Eye — and Ear
This little songster is heard more often than seen, but out in the sunlight on a summer’s day they’re among the most spectacular birds on the continent.
July 19, 2013/by simpledesignsNest Cams Put You in the Catbird Seat
One of the most endearing thing about birds is how much of their lives are lived on view, out in the open. We watch them drinking and bathing, foraging for food and eating it, resting on perches and even copulating. We can observe nearly every aspect of avian life—except for the most important of all, their lives as parents. That’s almost always been hidden, tucked away inside a cup nest back in a shrub or within a tree cavity. Until now.
June 19, 2013/by simpledesignsIt’s Hooting Season for Great-Horned Owls
Because their offspring have a long learning curve, our largest owls begin raising the next generation even as snow falls in the forest.
February 19, 2013/by simpledesignsWatch for Handsome, Hungry Winter Finches
Crossbills, redpolls and grosbeaks, beautiful birds from the far North, are heading south to find enough food to eat.
January 19, 2013/by simpledesignsBirds Triumph Over the Cold
A backyard scene: winds howl, clouds scud, snow accumulates but even in this maelstrom, dark little juncos hop under feeders, flashy red cardinals scratch under a pine tree, a natty nuthatch spirals down a tree trunk and big blue jays muscle in for a meal.
December 20, 2012/by simpledesignsDownies, the Pocket-Sized Woodpeckers
As the season changes, our ‘old reliables’ are moving back to center stage in backyards and at bird feeders.
November 20, 2012/by simpledesignsBirds Eating Weirdly
Birds don’t always order off the regular menu, including a robin who makes his own jelly worms to orioles dining on corn on the cob.
October 20, 2012/by simpledesignsCranes families are on the move
Standing in a large wooden viewing box in the pitch dark on early April morning, a group of us waited for thousands of sandhill cranes to awaken.
September 20, 2012/by simpledesignsSongs subside as birds rear their young
Beaks stuffed full of insects to feed their young, most birds have retired their exuberant songs.
July 20, 2012/by simpledesignsBlue Jays Get a Bad Rap
These handsome birds are worth a second look as they barrel through each day without any need for assertiveness training.
June 21, 2012/by simpledesignsThe Incredible Egg
Mother Nature designed an ingenious package for a young bird’s first few weeks of life.
June 21, 2012/by simpledesignsNature’s Turncoats
These "wild canaries" are highly social, spending most of their time feeding, flying and even sleeping as a flock.
May 21, 2012/by simpledesignsSaint Paul Bird Alliance
P.O. Box 7275
St. Paul, MN 55107
Saint Paul Bird Alliance is a chapter of the National Audubon Society, Inc.