Solar Eclipse and the Birds
I passed up the chance to travel an hour or so north to witness solar eclipse “totality” last Monday because I wanted to watch “our” Pine Siskins here at home in Glen. A large flock has been here every day since November. I’ve come to know their behavior well, so I thought I could tell if it changed. We had 99% totality, so I knew it would get pretty dark. What would the birds do? At left was the eclipse here at 3:06pm April 8, 2024.
The number of siskins here swells from about 30 to over 90, especially when when a storm is coming. Putting out seed triggers their buzzy song and before long they swoop in and devour it. Lately, as the days grow longer and breeding season approaches, they push each other around more, and some males perform aerial displays, circling overhead to impress the females. They are probably forming breeding pairs within the flock. They are always active – constantly singing and bursting into flight.
Eclipse day started out unseasonably bright and sunny, in the low sixties. Up until just before 3pm, as the eclipse was starting, the siskins acted normally. As the light changed to something like moonlight, their numbers dwindled, and a few unusual birds showed up. A Northern Cardinal, rare here and known to sing at dawn and dusk, sang. A Red-tailed Hawk, also a bird we seldom see at this time of year, flew low into the garden and circled around. Temperatures started to drop and the wind picked up. By 3:12pm, the flock of siskins had disappeared and gone almost completely quiet. The quietest point was 3:19, when for a few minutes all I heard was a couple of soft buzzy notes. Nearly every bird within ear shot was silent in the face of this rare and awesome celestial event, just like people were. Gradually as the moon moved out of the way and the sun fully reappeared, the siskins resumed their normal buzzing and swooping. It was a cool thing to witness.
These photos (by Megan Polis) show what the eclipse looked like in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, about an hour and fifteen minutes northwest where Kathy travelled with her brother, Matt, sister-in-law, Megan and 5-year old niece, Adeline. I was sorry to miss the total eclipse, but really thrilled that I got to see what the birds made of it.
