Maryland Grows

With the return of warm weather, new plant growth, and emerging insects, you may have noticed the return of bird song, too. Migratory birds begin to return to their breeding grounds in May from locations as far south as Central and South America. Some species will stay in Maryland all summer to nest; others are passing through on their way to breeding grounds farther north. Maryland is under the Atlantic migration flyway, so we have quite a lot of migrating birds in our community, including orioles, warblers, swallows, and more!

With bird diversity at its peak in our region due to the return of summer species and the temporary presence of northern species on their way home, it’s a great time to go birding! While the Maryland Ornithological Society’s annual May Count has already passed, you can check out their calendar for smaller birding events across the state, including meetings, tours, and educational opportunities.

You can also see which birds are coming and going through the BirdCast Migration Dashboard —enter your county to see how many birds flew over the previous night and cumulatively this season, as well as a list of species to expect this time of year. The Audubon Society hosts an interactive migration map where you can select a location and a bird species to watch where birds travel throughout the year, thanks to data collected from individually-tagged birds.

In addition to tracking their progress and contributing to community science efforts, there are steps you can take to help migratory birds on their journeys:

• Keep cats indoors or supervise outdoor excursions, as free-roaming outdoor cats frequently prey on birds.

• Reduce artificial light at night, as birds often fly at night to avoid predators, stay cool, and navigate by the stars and moon. Artificial light from the ground attracts and disorients migratory birds, disrupting their flight paths and increasing collisions with buildings. Minimize light pollution around your home by turning off outside lights, using red bulbs or red gel filters, and/or adding shades to direct light downward instead of up at the sky. You can also put path or porch lights on timers or install motion sensors, so lights are only on when you need them. Close your curtains or blinds at dusk to protect birds from indoor lights.

• Lastly, an action where gardeners can excel: plant native vegetation to provide fruits and support insects for native birds with varied diets. For example, our Maryland State bird, the beloved Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula), which spends the winter in Central America, feeds mostly on insects like caterpillars, beetles, and grasshoppers, but also eats berries and nectar. A native plant like serviceberry (any species in the genus Amelanchier) would be an excellent choice; it can host 124 species of caterpillars and produces fruits that look similar to blueberries, another oriole favorite (any species in the genus Vaccinium). Native birches (like the sweet birch, Betula lenta), plums (like the American plum, Prunus americana), and oaks (like white oak, Quercus alba) also support higher caterpillar abundances, and red mulberry (Morus rubra) and native blackberry species (like the Allegheny blackberry, Rubus allegheniensis) grow attractive fruits.

With these actions, you can help protect our beautiful springtime singers!

Serviceberry by Native Foods Nursery; blueberry by 88 Acres; red mulberry by K. Dave; blackberry by Ragesoss

By Sarah Rothman, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland. Read more by Sarah.