birds

The acrobatic sunshine-yellow males and their olive-yellow female mates that we’ve named American Goldfinches are seasonally some of the last birds to nest in the Blue Ridge.

Swift in flight and fleet of foot in the branches, the wood duck can be seen year-round and/or during breeding season across the Blue Ridge and a large swath of North America.

Our smallest oriole species arrives in the U.S. in late spring, raises (generally) a single brood, and makes an early return flight during mid to late summer to Central and South America for the winter season.

While many people quickly spot the statuesque form of a great blue heron, the secretive and smaller green heron can be elusive.