Welcome!
Welcome to Sapsucker Woods bird sanctuary! The building in front of you is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a world leader in ornithology research, education, and conservation.The sounds that you will hear in this tour are all provided by Macaulay Library, the Cornell Lab's enormous media archive of audio recordings, photos, and videos of birds and other animals. Formerly known as the Library of Natural Sounds, this archive dates back to 1929, and has long been used for both scientific research and public education.In 1958, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology published a vinyl LP record titled "An Evening in Sapsucker Woods," which paired audio recordings of birds and frogs with narration by the Cornell Lab's founder Dr. Arthur Allen. Below are a few short clips from that record. (All other stops on this tour will use more recently recorded sounds.)Excerpts from "An Evening in Sapsucker Woods"Introduction to Sapsucker Woods / Macaulay LibrarySunset Over Sapsucker Woods / Macaulay LibraryVoices of the Night / Macaulay Library
Feeder Garden & South Trailhead
Hidden from the trail by a thick screen of trees, bushes, and a wooden privacy fence, is the Cornell Lab's feeder garden. Inside, the garden contains a natural stone bird bath, a variety of native plants, and bird feeders filled with seeds, suet, and sometimes fruit. Garden access is for staff only. Please watch the feeders through the gaps in the wooden fence, or from inside the Visitor Center when the building is open. You can also watch the feeders online, with our live feeder cam! The feeder garden is a noisy spot, attracting dozens of species, each with their own songs and calls. Below are just a few of the most common and distinctive sounds you might hear:Breeding Season (Spring & Summer)Baltimore Oriole © Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)American Goldfinch © Wil Hershberger / Macaulay LibraryBlack-capped Chickadee © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryBlue Jay © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryPileated Woodpecker © Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg / Macaulay LibraryWhite-breasted Nuthatch © Roselvy Juárez / Macaulay Library
Timmy's Walk
Timmy's Walk is a short trail detour that takes you to the edge of Sapsucker Woods pond, close to two of the pond's islands. A small channel, filled with cattails and other marsh plants, separates this point of land from the feeder garden and Lab building. This is a great place to hear geese, ducks, and pond-loving songbirds.If you look carefully across the channel, you might notice a microphone atop a small tripod, nearly hidden among the plants. That microphone streams live audio to a real-time sound ID demo, which automatically identifies and counts every bird song and call heard here. This is powered by BirdNET, a machine-learning algorithm for bird sound recognition. There is also a free BirdNET mobile app for Android phones.Breeding Season (Spring & Summer)Common Grackle © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibraryRed-winged Blackbird © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibrarySong Sparrow © Marky Mutchler / Macaulay LibraryWood Duck © Michael Andersen / Macaulay Library Permanent Residents (All Year)Canada Goose © Livia Santana / Macaulay LibraryMallard © Michael Andersen / Macaulay Library
Edge Habitat
This transitional habitat contains a diverse mix of meadow plants, low bushes and shrubs, and taller trees at the forest's edge. Many warblers can be found foraging for insects here during migration. Some year-round residents, such as cardinals, finches and doves, enjoy this spot for seeds in the winter, and high-yet-visible perches for mating songs and displays in the spring.Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Black-throated Green Warbler © Brad Walker / Macaulay LibraryYellow-rumped Warbler © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Common Yellowthroat © Fabricio Gorleri / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)American Goldfinch © Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library Mourning Dove © William R. Fish / Macaulay LibraryNorthern Cardinal © Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
Podell Boardwalk
The Podell Boardwalk spans the best example of swamp habitat along the Wilson Trail. (Check out the Woodleton Boardwalk along the Stadlen Trail for a larger swamp that attracts even more species!) The combination of forest shade and lush undergrowth interspersed with standing water is very attractive to woodpeckers, as well as birds that eat flying or aquatic insects. It's a good spot to hear the harsh two-note fee-bee song of the Eastern Phoebe, which catches flying insects above the water, and nests underneath the boardwalk every spring and summer.The Rusty Blackbird is a less common visitor to Sapsucker Woods, but will occasionally show up in large, noisy flocks. This species is easily identified by its fast, jumbled, squeaky song, sometimes compared to "an audio tape on fast-forward."Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Rusty Blackbird © Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Eastern Phoebe © Glen Chapman / Macaulay LibraryNorthern Waterthrush © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryYellow-bellied Sapsucker © Gregory Budney / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)Downy Woodpecker © Wil Hershberger / Macaulay LibraryHairy Woodpecker © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay Library
Wilson & Severinghaus Trail Junction
In breeding season, this mature forest is a reliable spot to hear several distinctive, easy-to-recognize songs. Keep an ear out for the strident teacher-teacher-teacher! of the male Ovenbird, who loudly claims a territory at this trail junction every spring.But, good luck trying to see the singers! The species common in this spot sing from the leafy upper branches of the trees, high overhead. Those who come down to the ground in search of food, such as the Ovenbird and the Wood Thrush, are well camouflaged and remain quiet while foraging, always returning to their hidden perches in the canopy to sing.Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Black-throated Green Warbler © Brad Walker / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Ovenbird © Daniela Souza / Macaulay LibraryScarlet Tanager © Martha Fischer / Macaulay LibraryVeery © Roselvy Juárez / Macaulay LibraryWood Thrush © Martha Fischer / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)Turfted Titmouse © Malinda Chapman / Macaulay Library
Wilson Trail Shelter
Like the previous stop, this is an area where the birds are more easily heard than seen, as they sing from the treetops!The mature forest around this shelter is a consistent breeding territory for the Red-eyed Vireo, whose short phrases and 1-2 second pauses are repeated for 15-20 minutes at a time, all day long. Meanwhile, American Crows and Barred Owls are occasionally seen here, but it is more common to hear their loud voices in the distance, usually to the south. Don't be fooled by choruses of loud, repeated chirps! These are not birds, but Eastern Chipmunks, who vocalize during spring courtship, when harassing predators near their burrows, and when loudly encouraging their grown offspring to leave home in the fall.That's Not a Bird! (Spring & Fall)Eastern Chipmunk © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Red-eyed Vireo © Taylor Heaton Crisologo / Macaulay LibraryWood Thrush © Martha Fischer / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)American Crow © Michael Andersen / Macaulay LibraryBarred Owl © Geoffrey A. Keller / Macaulay Library
Junction of Wilson & West Trails
As the trail approaches the boundary between forest and pond, keep an ear out for birds that enjoy this particular type of edge habitat!The Gray Catbird alternates between complex, improvised songs and simple cat-like meows while foraging in the bushes near the pond's edge, side-by-side with the Common Grackle's dry chuck. Meanwhile, both the burry trill of the Great-crested Flycatcher and the clear, flute-like notes of the Baltimore Oriole can be heard from above, as these species like tall trees at the forest's sunny edge. Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Yellow-rumped Warbler © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Baltimore Oriole © Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg / Macaulay LibraryCommon Grackle © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibraryGray Catbird © Simone Dena / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)Red-bellied Woodpecker © Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Pond Viewpoint
There are times in the spring and early summer, especially in the evenings or after a rain shower, when the deafeningly loud choruses of frogs and toads drowns out all other sound around the wetlands. This shallow, marshy corner of the pond is often the loudest spot of all.Depending on how early or late in the season you visit, you may hear the chorus of short, high peeps of the Spring Peeper, the long, high trill of the American Toad, the rubber-band-like gunk! of the Green Frog, or the low jug-o-rum of the American Bullfrog. That's Not a Bird! (Spring & Early Summer)American Bullfrog © Geoffrey A. Keller / Macaulay LibraryAmerican Toad © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibraryGreen Frog © Peter Paul Kellogg / Macaulay LibrarySpring Peeper © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay Library
Sherwood Observation Platform
The boardwalk leading to the Sherwood Observation Platform passes over a shallow marsh, densely vegetated with cattails, sedges, and water-tolerant shrubs. This marsh is an excellent place to hear the buzz- and trill-filled phrases of the Song Sparrow, the super-slow trill of the Swamp Sparrow, and the complex improvised songs of the Gray Catbird.The end of the Observation Platform provides a commanding view of the entire western half of Sapsucker Woods Pond. This side of the pond is only a few feet deep, shallow enough for the Great Blue Heron to wade through. This normally silent hunter can occasionally surprise you with a harsh, deep croak or grunt. Keep an ear out for the chattering laughter of the Belted Kingfisher, too, who perches in the branches of dead trees in the middle of the pond.Breeding Season (Spring & Summer)Belted Kingfisher © Wil Hershberger / Macaulay LibraryGreat Blue Heron © Paul Marvin / Macaulay Library Song Sparrow © Marky Mutchler / Macaulay Library Swamp Sparrow © Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Wilson Trail Split - Young Forest
This young forest habitat contains some tall trees, with sunny gaps in the canopy, intermixed with a dense thicket of shrubs, vines, and other understory vegetation. This thicket is popular with a variety of insect-gleaning migrants, including warblers, kinglets, and wrens -- some of whom stay to nest here through the summer, while others merely stop by on their way further north.Year-round, listen for the unique rolling kwirr call of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, who prefers this younger forest and habitat edges over the more mature forests and swamps favored by other woodpecker species.Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Ruby-crowned Kinglet © Brad Walker / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Common Yellowthroast © Fabricio Gorleri / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)Red-bellied Woodpecker © Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Owens Observation Platform
The Owens Observation Platform overlooks the Fuller Wetlands, a smaller pond surrounded by cattails, with islands covered with alder and willow trees. In spring, the alders and willows are favorite spots for warblers to sing and display. Listen for the Yellow Warbler's sweetly whistled phrase: sweet sweet sweet isn't it sweet?, and the Blackpoll Warbler's high-pitched staccato notes that increase and then decrease in volume: tsit tsit TSIT TSIT tsit tsit.The cattails are loudly claimed as breeding territory every year by the harsh conk-la-REE! song of the Red-winged Blackbird, while the Baltimore Oriole often nests in the highest branches of tall trees overlooking this pond from the forest's edge. Families of Wood Ducks frequently move between the larger pond and this one.Just Passing Through (Spring & Fall Migration)Blackpoll Warbler © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryBreeding Season (Spring & Summer)Baltimore Oriole © Arthur A. Allen and Peter Paul Kellogg / Macaulay LibraryRed-winged Blackbird © Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay LibraryWood Duck © Michael Andersen / Macaulay Library Yellow Warbler © Michael Andersen / Macaulay Library
North Trailhead
The Wilson Trail comes to an end at the visitor parking lot, surrounded by an eclectic mix of tall native grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, and borders of mowed lawn with scattered trees.In summer, Cedar Waxwings and American Robins are drawn to the fruits of the Serviceberry, Red Osier Dogwood, and Multiflora Rose bushes. Listen carefully for the bzeee song of the Cedar Waxwing, which is so high-pitched it can be difficult to hear.Much harder to miss is the irregular-rhythm drumming of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. A metal-sided shed behind the Lab building, not far from this trailhead, is a favorite extra-loud drumming surface for the sapsuckers in spring.Breeding Season (Spring & Summer)Cedar Waxwing © Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryEastern Kingbird © Ian Davies / Macaulay LibraryYellow-bellied Sapsucker © Gregory Budney / Macaulay LibraryPermanent Residents (All Year)American Robin © Wil Hershberger / Macaulay LibraryMourning Dove © William R. Fish / Macaulay LibraryNorthern Cardinal © Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
