If you like winter birds, northern Minnesota specialties in particular, there is a festival coming that can’t be beat. The second annual Sax-Zim Bog Winter Bird Festival will be held Feb. 13-15 in Meadowlands, northwest of Duluth. Birds to be seen include Sharp-tailed Grouse, Ruffed Grouse, Snowy Owl, Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Black-backed Woodpecker, Northern Shrike, Gray Jay, Black-billed Magpie, Boreal Chickadee, Bohemian Waxwing, Snow Bunting, Pine and Evening grosbeaks, Red and White-winged crossbills, and Hoary and Common redpolls. There are guided tours and programs. Check it out at http://moumn.org/sax-zim/. This might be the only true winter birding festival in the nation. Last year, birders from 21 states attended. (The bird in the photo is a Black-backed Woodpecker.)   

 For a superb and concise discussion of 10 hummingbird myths (misunderstandings), visit the Web site of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History – http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek080715.html. This is always an interesting site, updated weekly. The photos here were taken recently near Lutsen, on the North Shore. An adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird, defending his feeding territory, attacked a juvenile hummingbird of the same species. That bird was injured in the attack, and possibly died. 

Here is an excellent birding magazine Internet site to check out. “Living Bird,” published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has won the Edustyle “People’s Choice” award for best magazine site in 2008. The spring issue can be found at www.livingbird.org. The magazine has for a long time offered the best bird photography of any birding publication. It’s definitely worth a look.

A few days ago someone asked about birds singing at night. For daytime singers, it’s not just the hint of dawn. This is an excerpt from another blog, compiled by Devorah Bennu, GrrlScientist, and always interesting:   Songbirds in cities are damaging their health, exposing themselves to predators and weakening their gene pool by trying to be heard above the din of urban life. New research shows that male birds trying to compete with traffic and city sounds are singing louder and at increasingly higher frequencies, which could harm their vocal cords and hearing. As a result their songs are becoming more chaotic and less diverse, which makes them less attractive to female birds and damages their mating opportunities. Some birds, including robins, are choosing to sing at night instead of during the day. This not only makes them more vulnerable to attack but, because the birds need to be awake in daylight hours to feed, creates stress and exhaustion. (From The Guardian newspaper in Great Britain.)   The blog address is  http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/06/bird_sin_the_news_137.php