MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 18, 2021
Bird song has diminished significantly in recent weeks. In doing some field work for the Maine Breeding Bird Atlas, I was struck by how few veeries, yellow warblers, ovenbirds, black-throated green warblers and white-throated sparrows I heard at several central Maine sites. Males of these species filled the air with their songs in June. Of course, the silence makes sense. Most of these birds have fledged young. The male no longer needs to sing to attract a mate or to warn other males to stay out of its territory. However, there is one bird that sings vigorously well into August: the red-eyed vireo. ~ Herb Wilson