It is winter time and, no surprise, the weather is cold. This is not the time of year to expect to hear birds singing. But I have been hearing Carolina wrens singing just about every day this month. Not only their staccato chattering alarm call, but their boisterous, loud, whistled and usually three-syllabled song that is repeated over and over again. The song sounds something like “teakettle” or “committee.”

Which weighs more: a bird's bones, or its feathers?

We all have bird feeders to provide nutritious food for our feathered friends. Likely the feeders are fairly close to our houses, so the birds can be seen up close and personal. All well and good, but we can all do more! They need water to drink and to bathe in. To be most effective, the water needs to be shallow for the smaller birds like the chickadees, and deeper for the larger birds. A small pile of pebbles reaching up to the surface can provide the necessary varied depths.

The 61st annual Christmas Bird Count was held on Jan. 2, but the initial compilation of the data was started the next day when we all gathered via Zoom to review the species we saw in the field.

Some local species may seem ho-hum to us, but visitors from abroad will rave about them.

Island musicians will play an all-ages Zoom concert Saturday to benefit the Mass Audubon Bird-a-thon and Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary.

In a first for Martha’s Vineyard and Massachusetts, a black-whiskered vireo was spotted near the Edgartown Golf Club on Sunday.

One of the most impressive spectacles of the bird world is to be amidst a large swarm of tree swallows as they swirl, swoop and soar around you.

In the past 50 years, a majority of bird species have declined by 50 percent or more. But rusty blackbirds are unique, and not in a good way.

For perhaps the first time in September, the weather was favorable for migrant birds to reach the Island.