Fly Away with Me

Written by: Alex Holmes, Assistant Nature Center Manager

There are few things more American than the road trip. Countless Rock N’ Roll songs praise the sights and adventure of Route 66 and other stretches of open road. But for millennia before America’s obsession with the automobile Missouri’s wildlife went on a “road trip” of their own twice a year: the great migration along the Mississippi Flyway. So, let’s get “Wild about Water” this month and explore how the great Mississippi River acts as a beacon for wild travelers large and small.

North America is home to several “flyways.” These are general routes which migrating animals, particularly birds, follow as they move from southern winter refuges to summer breeding grounds in the north. Four major flyways are recognized across North America. Along the east coast runs the Atlantic Flyway. Through the prairies of the great plains runs the Central Flyway. The pacific coast guides the Pacific Flyway. And our hometown spectacle, the Mississippi Flyway, runs from the Gulf of Mexico, along the Mississippi River and north through the Great Lakes. These biological superhighways help shuttle birds nearly a quarter of the way around the planet and offer us an ever-changing conveyor-belt of bird watching opportunities.

Not all birds migrate. As a very general rule birds that can easily find food in the winter tend to stay put. Cardinals, a welcome splash of winter color, are a famous example. Cardinals dine on seeds and fruits all winter long, and don’t migrate. Our insect-dependent species: warblers, swallows, kites and others, however, look for tropical, bug-filled habitats like Mexico and South America. At the nature center we love this time of year. Our bird observation window seems refreshed every day with a new shift of migrating birds, many are only temporary visitors on their way further north. This week’s delight, the rose-breasted grosbeak. Stout for a songbird, the grosbeak is a cousin of cardinals. The male wears a tuxedo with a fuchsia-red bib. The female is an unassuming brown with a light-colored brow. With a heavy seed-cracking beak like a cardinal, this bird is happy to visit feeders stocked with sunflower seeds as it heads to nesting territory in northern Missouri and into the Great Lakes region.

Perhaps one of the most beloved birds of all, the ruby-throated hummingbird, also follows the Mighty Mississippi on its way across the US. Fueled largely on flower nectar, this holographic half-pint’s journey is incredible due to its diminutive size. Weighing less than a nickel, this bird flies several thousand miles, following our water ways as it goes. They dine on tree sap and flower nectar; trumpet creeper, buckeye, and other early blooming red and orange tube-shaped flowers. The nature center’s feeders saw their first hummers of the season at the beginning of May.

Mississippi kite

Perhaps, for me, the most elegant of our migrants is the Mississippi kite, a dainty bird of prey with slate gray plumage and a triangular tail. Arriving around early May in southeast Missouri, this graceful flier sets up nests in neighborhoods and along rivers where it seeks out large trees surrounded by open terrain. This is not a mouse eater like many raptors, but a large bug connoisseur. Keep your eyes to the skies looking for this bird floating around the tree tops in parks as it reaches out with its talons to catch cicadas, dragonflies, and other meaty insects. The kite is a beautiful reminder that we live along one of the most important wildlife thoroughfares in the world. As the muddy water flows south, countless birds rely on it as a reliable landmark as they stream northward. Take time and walk along the river, eyes up, and enjoy the ebb and flow of Missouri’s wild places, spring is here.

Date: Saturday, May 13, 2023 9:00 am - 10:30 am

Location: Juden Creek Conservation Area