Lawn Birds in April

     Scores each of American robins, purple grackles, starlings and Canada geese have adapted to getting some of their food from short-grass lawns in the Middle Atlantic States during April.  The robins, grackles and starlings are there to eat invertebrates among the grass blades and roots while the geese consume the grass itself.  Lawns benefit these kinds of birds, by greatly increasing their food supplies, and, therefore, their numbers.  And being abundant and familiar on lawns, these birds make those lawns more lively and interesting in April when we people need an emotional lift close to home in spring after the hardships of winter.
     It's interesting to watch congregations of these birds landing on lawns and quickly taking off from them, particularly when they perceive danger.  The geese always take flight with a roar of wing beats and a clamoring of honking.  
     Flocks of robins and grackles scatter loosely across the lawns, especially on larger ones in suburban areas and in community parks.  There they watch for earthworms and other invertebrates at the grassroots level.  The handsome robins run and stop, run and stop, across the lawns, cocking their heads to the side to look and listen for earthworms in the soil at every stop.  The iridescent and attractively purple and green grackles walk slowly and methodically over lawns while intently searching for invertebrates in the grass and soil.
     Both the robins and grackles originally were forest edge birds hundreds of years ago in North America.  As farmland and lawns rapidly developed on this continent, the habitats of these two species of adaptable birds expanded tremendously, as did their populations.  As the numbers of some species of life shrank with the shrinking forests, the numbers of robins and grackles are probably greater today than ever in their life histories.  Being adaptable is a key to species success.    
     The adaptable and aggressive starlings are originally from Europe.  Several of them were released in Central Park of New York City over a hundred years ago and they have spread across the United States ever since. 
     Starlings are handsome birds in spring and summer, with a purple and green sheen with light speckles in their feathering.  Starlings form tight, restless groups on lawns where they walk about rapidly poking their yellow beaks through the short grass and into the soil after a variety of invertebrates.  I call them "grasspipers" because of their poking into the short grass like sandpipers probing into mud and sand after invertebrates.
     Gatherings of stately Canada geese spread over short-grass lawns and eat the short grass itself, as sheep graze on it.  Geese have long necks for pulling aquatic vegetation from shallow water and thick beaks for plucking land plants so they are well adapted for consuming the tender blades of short grass on lawns.  As with the other bird species discussed in this writing, short-grass lawns are a blessing to Canada geese.
     Not all people favor Canada geese on lawns.  The geese leave large, slippery droppings on lawns and walkways that can cause a mess and are a hazard to people who might slip on them.  Some people even put silhouettes of dogs on lawns to keep the geese off them, though I think the geese get used to those silhouettes and eventually ignore them.
     Though eating grass in short-grass lawns, these adaptable birds are still wild and interesting to see on our lawns.  I think it's a blessing to have creatures adaptable enough to live close to our homes where we can experience them daily.  They have increased populations, and make our lives more interesting and fulfilling right at home.