Fantastic Birds of SHADOW & Where to Find Them

One tiny resident of SHADOW, Anna’s hummingbird, can be found in many areas of the Nature Preserve including on our upland trails, Native Plant Garden, and the Boardwalk. A resident male hummingbird has been observed flying and lingering overhead in the hemlock trees along our Boardwalk Trail. Male Anna’s hummingbirds can be identified by their iridescent throat patch, which the females lack. Other birds hanging around our Boardwalk Trail are dark-eyed juncos, black-capped chickadees, and American robins.

This year, our amphibian pond was home to a mating mallard pair! In late May, mallard ducklings were diligently following mom around the pond and seeking cover in the vegetation along the ponds edge. Female mallards will lead newly hatched young to the water and continue to tend to them after hatching. The younglings will not have their first flight for 52 to 60 days.

Another avian favorite of ours is the pileated woodpecker. Pileated woodpeckers live in mature deciduous or mixed deciduous-coniferous woodlands of nearly every type, including tall western hemlock stands of the Northwest. SHADOW is the perfect place for the pileated woodpecker. If you’re lucky, you might spot a one along our Boardwalk Trail. Other types of woodpeckers present around SHADOW are the downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker.

There are many more species of birds that use SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve as a home and as a place to forage for food. Interested in seeing some of these bird species and more? Don’t miss your opportunity this June to observe birds at SHADOW Lake Nature Preserve.