The Breeding Birds of Lake View Cemetery

*Great Horned Owl: Bubo virginianus. A pair nests annually in the wooded areas of Lake View or nearby. In 1983 the pair used an old hawk nest in the most extensively wooded area of the cemetery. An adult was incubating on 5 February, present on the nest, probably brooding, on 5 March and two downy nestlings about four weeks old were exercising in the nest on 26 March. The young had left the nest by 10 April. This nest was again used in 1984, but had disappeared by 1985. In 1986 they successfully used the Red-tailed Hawk nest built in 1983. On 15 March 1995, an adult was seen brooding on the former Red-tailed Hawk nest in an tall evergreen tree below the dam.

Common Nighthawk: Chordeiles minor. They nest just outside the cemetery on various rooftops and are occasionally seen over the ponds.

Chimney Swift: Chaetura pelagica. Many nest in several chimneys outside the cemetery and regularly feed over the ponds.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird: Archilochus colubris. Occasionally seen in summer and may nest in the cemetery.

Belted Kingfisher: Ceryle alcyon. Individuals were frequently seen, infrequently a pair. In 1983 a pair was present and calling on 23 April. They seemed interested in the streambed. The male was most often seen on the ponds and on 12 June, the female was chased down stream by a Cooper's Hawk. The kingfishers were not seen the rest of 1983. No female was present in 1984 and 1985. The 1983 behavior was suggestive of a nesting attempt, but a nest was never located. None have summered recently. A lone observation of a bird flying downstream on 7 June 1995 is unexplained.

*Red-headed Woodpecker: Melanerpes erythrocephalus. In most years a pair is present in the cemetery. In 1983 a nest with young was found in a large oak near the edge of a woods. Beginning in 1991, nests have been located around the ponds where a pair was feeding young in the nest on 7 July 1995. [more details on 1995.]

*Red-bellied Woodpecker: Melanerpes carolinus. One or more pairs nest annually. This species was first noted in the cemetery when a male was found on 21 November 1976. On 9 April 1977 a female was seen with the male who was excavating the third in a series of holes. As of 1 May they were still present at that hole, but on 15 May a Northern Flicker was in residence there and there was no further evidence of nesting by the Red-bellied Woodpeckers that year. In subsequent years they began to nest successfully. On 27 July 1983 a nest hole was found in a dead tree in a wooded area. Both adults were feeding good-sized young that stuck their heads out of the hole while waiting for food. The fledglings were seen nearby in August. A fledgling near the ponds on 21 July 1995 confirmed nesting in this area as well.

*Downy Woodpecker: Picoides pubescens. Several pairs nest throughout the cemetery in cavities in smaller trees or limbs. Small young were being fed in a dead tree on 28 May 1983. Birds nearly ready to fledge were quite active in a nest in a live maple on 26 June 1983.

*Hairy Woodpecker: Picoides villosus. One or more pairs probably nest annually in mature woods. Independent but still begging young were with an adult on 22 June 1983. A nest in a hole in a snag of an oak tree along the brook was observed with both adults on 5 May 1991. A red-crowned fledgling was being fed on 18 June 1995. An adult was bringing food to noisy young in a nest hole in the woods on 25 May 1996.

*Northern Flicker: Colaptes auratus. Several pairs nest throughout the cemetery in cavities in dead trees or large dead limbs. This species was noted in interspecific contention for suitable nest holes. In May 1977 Flickers appropriated a hole drilled and apparently occupied by Red-bellied Woodpeckers. In May 1983 starlings took over a hole in a partly dead sycamore that was the potential nest site for a pair of flickers. Young flickers, nearing fledging, could be seen at the entrance to a nest hole in a maple when being fed on 25 June 1983.

*Eastern Wood-Pewee: Contopus virens. Several pairs nest in woods and formal areas with large trees. In 1983 a female was observed building a nest in the crotch of a dead limb of a large oak on 22 and 23 June while a male sang nearby. On 26 June all but a few wisps of this nest were gone and the male was singing over a slightly different territory.

Acadian Flycatcher: Empidonax virescens. One singing along the brook on 12 June 1983 was quite inexplicable as this species has not been recorded at any other time.

*Eastern Phoebe: Sayornis phoebe. A male singing near the dam on 10 and 17 May 1986 was mated on the latter date. On 30 April 1988 a pair was feeding in the vicinity of a nest freshly built behind the capital of a mausoleum pillar. On 27 May 1989 one was incubating on a nest built in an entryway in the dam structure, and in subsequent years, territorial males have continued to be present around the dam.

*Great Crested Flycatcher: Myiarchus crinitus. Two or more pairs nest in dead trees or snags at the edge of wooded areas. A pair were carrying food, probably to a nest near the woods on 14 June 1995, while near the ponds on 7 July 1995, a begging young bird chased an adult.

*Eastern Kingbird: Tyrannus tyrannus. Normally one pair nests near the ponds though they were absent in 1983. A fledgling in perfect miniature of the accompanying adult was seen on 6 July 1975. In 1984 a pair appeared to be constructing a nest in a sycamore near the upper pond on 3 June. On 6 June they had moved to a sycamore at the edge of the pond and were building on a branch over the water. On 17 June incubation had begun and on 7 July the young were being fed and brooded.

*Warbling Vireo: Vireo gilvus. One or more pairs nest annually in large trees around the ponds. The male of this species sings repeatedly, even while incubating. Nests with singing males incubating were found on 4 June 1972 and 11 June 1983. On 29 June 1983 adults were feeding young which had fledged by 9 July.

Red-eyed Vireo: Vireo olivaceus. This is a common breeding bird in wooded areas, but no nests were located. A singing male escorting a female while she fed on 14 June 1995 probably indicates a nest with eggs was present.

*Blue Jay: Cyanocitta cristata. This is a common breeding species in wooded areas and shade trees. An unusual nest combining the usual twigs with paper and plastic discards was begun on 4 June 1983. The nest was completed and occupied on 8 June and the adults were feeding young there on 4 July. In another nest on 4 July the young were beginning to move out onto surrounding branches. Fledglings had been seen well before this in other parts of the cemetery.

*American Crow: Corvus brachyrhynchos. One or more pairs nest in tall trees in more secluded areas. In 1983 a nest in the top of a pine tree surrounded by large deciduous trees was found on 21 April. An adult was incubating on 26 April. By 21 May the young could be observed in the nest.

*Northern Rough-winged Swallow: Stelgidopteryx serripennis. Several pairs nest annually. They are regularly seen feeding over the ponds and open grassy areas. In 1983 one pair nested in a drain pipe in the dam structure. Birds were seen carrying nesting material into the hole on 14 May. On 18 June the pair began feeding young. Another pair appeared to be using a hole in the natural bank below the waterfall.

*Barn Swallow: Hirundo rustica. Given the opportunity, one or more pairs nest in the chapel, though nests were apparently removed at one time. In 1985 a pair was incubating at a well hidden nest in the chapel on 19 June, but by 29 June it was seemingly gone as had occurred several years earlier. However, in 1992 a pair again nested in the chapel and on 28 June four fledglings, perched on the outside of the building, were being fed by the adults. In 1995 four fledglings were perched shoulder-to- shoulder on the cable that still spanned the lower pond on 23 June, the adults sitting nearby and on 12 August young of a second brood fledged from a nest on the chapel. Some years they nest nearby and frequently feed over the ponds and grassy areas.

*Black-capped Chickadee: Poecile atricapillus. Several pairs nest annually. Begging young were being fed on 29 June 1983. They usually fledge by mid-June.

*Tufted Titmouse: Baeolophus bicolor. Several pairs nest annually. Fledglings were being fed by adults on 26 and 29 June 1983.

*White-breasted Nuthatch: Sitta carolinensis. Several pairs nest annually. On 10 April 1983 a pair was observed removing material from a hole in a large tree but this hole was not apparently used. On 19 June 1985 fledglings were being fed by an adult.

*Carolina Wren: Thryothorus ludovicianus. First found on 26 November 1973, Carolina Wren became regular in the cemetery. In the spring of 1975 one was seen carrying food to a location undoubtedly containing a nest. The severe winter of 1976-77 decimated the northernmost population of this species and it was not discovered in Lake View after 18 December 1976 until 17 December 1988. A female was seen carrying food to young in a nest in a mausoleum on 17 and 18 May 1989 while the male sang nearby. This nest was very close to the 1975 site. The winter of 1993-94 may have eliminated this species from the cemetery again.

*House Wren: Troglodytes aedon. Though seldom noted, a few pairs may nest annually. On 29 May 1986 a female was incubating at a nest in a maple snag where the male had been singing since 10 May. A pair was feeding young in a nest on the edge of a woodland clearing on 18 June 1995 while another male sang from a nearby territory.

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Changes last made on: Wed Jul 30, 1997