BIRDS: For the birders out there, or bird-brains as some laughingly call themselves, this is a great time of year for the return of migrating birds.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says songbird migration is increasing and will peak in May. Dan Brauning of the commission wrote an article about the birds to see this time of year.

“Many seed-and bud-eating migrants, such as the Indigo Bunting and Rose-breasted Grosbeak, welcome bird feeding stations as a rest stop and a place for a quick energizing meal as they continue their journey northward or search for a nesting territory. The fields and thickets can be thick with sparrows and towhees on their way north.

“Local resident nesters like cardinals, titmice and chickadees also use feeders as a source of food, for wild seed crops will not be available until summer.

“Hummingbird and oriole feeders also should be stocked by the end of April. But, many of these birds feed primarily on arthropods found on natural vegetation and respond to their availability and switching their diet from seeds to insects. Even by late April, some forest warblers such as Black-throated Green Warbler have returned to their nesting grounds and are staking a claim to territories and attracting a mate with their songs. By the last week of April, many of the woods are alive with migrating warblers, vireos, tanagers, and grosbeaks.”

Raptors are nesting in April, and so are owls.

“Usually unseen but sometimes heard by observers, the small owls are charismatic denizens of Pennsylvania’s woods. Eastern Screech-Owls will adopt a large nest box as a nest or roost site, chortling and whinnying their song at night. The diminutive Northern Saw-whet Owl nests deep in the woods, often at higher elevations, and can be heard at night ‘tooting’ almost like the sound of a truck backing up.”