Birds in Lancaster County with Similar Characteristics

Several kinds of small birds summering in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farmland have characteristics in common, including size (about six or seven inches long), shape and eating invertebrates in summer.  They all nest in meadows and along streams here, as elsewhere.  Those birds are cedar waxwings, eastern bluebirds, eastern kingbirds, blue grosbeaks, Baltimore orioles and orchard orioles.  But these bird species nest and get food in a variety of niches and in different ways, reducing competition for food.

Hammer Creek in Early Spring

Cedar Waxwings nest in strips of riparian trees along streams and creeks.  Their plumage is mostly brown to blend in among the trees and shadows, which conceals them from predators.  They have yellow on the end of their tails, which identifies them beyond doubt.  They fly out from the trees and over the water to snatch flying insects to eat and feed their young.

The attractive male Eastern Bluebirds are blue on top and rusty below.  Their mates are mostly gray with blue wing and tail feathers.  Males are also know by their sweet, cheery songs.  This species nests in cavities of trees and fences, and in bird boxes erected especially for them in overgrown meadows and fields.  They perch on twigs, fences and roadside wires to watch for invertebrates in tall vegetation.

Eastern Kingbirds are a kind of flycatcher that also perches on twigs, fences and roadside wires to watch for flying insects, but in pastures and fields, studded with lone trees.  They flutter out to catch prey on the wing.  Dark above and white below with white on the ends of their tails, this species rears offspring in open cradles on twigs on those lone trees.

Male Blue Grosbeaks are deep-blue all over with two brown bars on each wing.  Females are totally brown for camouflage in shrubbery where they raise babies.  This species nests in thickets in hedgerows between fields and along woodland edges.

Female Baltimore Orioles build deep, beautiful pouches on the tips of sycamore and the twigs of other kinds of tree species hanging over waterways and country roads.  Males are bright orange and black while females and young are light-orange and brown, for better camouflage.  Males sing loud, cheerful songs and the whole family feeds on invertebrates among the trees they nest in.

Male Orchard Orioles have the same color patterns as male Baltimores, but are rufous where the other orioles are orange.  Orchard orioles hatch young in orchards and other groves of trees in cropland.   

Look for these birds in their various niches in Lancaster County farmland.  They are attractive, and interesting in how they are about the same size and shape, but use their traits to eat invertebrates in several different habitats.