Of all the birds that nest on our Littleton, Colorado, farm, almost all are permanent residents; in other words, they inhabit the property throughout the year. Only two summer residents, house wrens and broad-tailed hummingbirds, arrive in the spring, nest here and head south in the fall.
Of course, a large number of summer residents fly over the farm (certain raptors, snowy egrets, American white pelicans, double-crested cormorants, various swallows and common nighthawks, among others) and a good variety of summer residents visit the property to feast on seeds, insects and berries (western kingbirds, Bullock's orioles, gray catbirds and cedar waxwings are examples) but none of these species nest on the farm.
Over the past week, I have begun my annual effort to locate the house wrens and broad-tailed hummingbirds as they return from their wintering grounds. The latter will be especially conspicuous as the males engage in their vertical courtship loops, their buzzy wing vibrations impossible to ignore. The wrens, on the other hand, will surely be found in or near one of our brush piles; there they will nest and spend most of the late spring and summer.
