Marcia Davis

• Marcia Davis: Common gallinule is uncommon sight in Tennessee Published 02/04/2012 at 2 p.m.

  "Much to my surprise, I noted a common moorhen this a.m. in a local pond in the company of an American coot. Is this unusual?" asked Ron Oliver of Sevierville on Jan. 25.

• Marcia Davis: Great horned owls are winter nesters Published 01/28/2012 at 1 p.m.

  Why would a bird nest in the dead of winter? Great horned owls have their reasons — some pretty darn good ones.

• Marcia Davis: Sap wells cause kinglet's curious behavior Published 01/21/2012 at 1 p.m.

  It was the odd behavior of a tiny ruby-crowned kinglet that first caught my attention.

• Marcia Davis: Maryville's peregrine falcon has taste for pigeons Published 01/14/2012 at 2 p.m.

  A peregrine falcon with a taste for pigeons is spending the winter in downtown Maryville.

• Marcia Davis: Sandhill Crane Festival is Hiwassee spectacle Published 01/07/2012 at 1 p.m.

  Tennessee's Sandhill Crane Festival is a premier wildlife event and a true extravaganza. The annual two-day free winter festival is held Jan. 14-15 this year.

• Marcia Davis: Wilderness Wildlife Week programs help homeowners create habitat, attract wildlife Published 12/31/2011 at 2 p.m.

  The 22nd annual Wilderness Wildlife Week Jan. 7-14 in Pigeon Forge provides a wonderful opportunity to enjoy nature, learn about the environment, and meet well-known wildlife experts, photographers and guides who volunteer their experience and knowledge.

• Marcia Davis: Hooded crane is season's gift Published 12/24/2011 at 1 p.m.

  All I want for Christmas is a new bird species for my life list. But I'll have to wait a while to find out if the hooded crane I saw Dec. 18 in Meigs County at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge is ...

• Marcia Davis: Tanner's quest for ivory-bills makes intriguing tale Published 12/17/2011 at 1 p.m.

  What an adventure. It started as a four-month, 15,000-mile road trip in 1935 to record bird songs. It led 20-year-old James T. Tanner, a graduate student at Cornell University at the time, on a multi-year quest to document the life ...

• Marcia Davis: Deterring squirrels, raccoons needn't be baffling Published 12/10/2011 at 1 p.m.

  I know some of you are beyond annoyed when it comes to squirrels and raccoons. They may eat bird seed and destroy feeders but you can't fault wild animals for taking advantage of easy-to-get food.

• Marcia Davis: Ivory-bills' journey to Ijams involves many players Published 12/03/2011 at 2 p.m.

  Two stuffed and mounted ivory-billed woodpeckers (one a male and one a female) finally found a forever home as a part of Ijams Nature Center's lost species exhibit.

• For the birds Published 10/16/2009 at midnight

  Tennessee's native plants are proven winners. For centuries they've provided nutritious fruits, seeds, nuts, nectar and berries for millions of birds.

• Colorful orioles arrive late, leave early Published 06/21/2009 at midnight

  Flaming orange, yellow, chestnut-red and black orioles are so colorful it's hard to believe they're members of the blackbird family. The oriole habit of feeding on flower nectar is another untypical blackbird trait.

• Birdlife: Feathers, song, nest distinguish parula warbler Published 06/14/2009 at midnight

  Only 4 1/2 inches long, the northern parula warbler is the smallest warbler nesting in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

• Birdlife: Bird songs of the Smokies Published 06/07/2009 at midnight

  You'll hear far more birds than you'll ever see on a June visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It's hard to learn every song of every bird species nesting in the Smokies this time of year without the ...

• Tree swallows feather their nests Published 05/24/2009 at midnight

  People "feather their nests" by adding furnishings to create warm, cozy, comfortable, feel-good homes. Or they feather their nests by accumulating money - sometimes selfishly taking advantage of their position at the expense of other people. If you feather your ...

• Davis: Scissor-tailed flycatcher cuts only air Published 05/17/2009 at midnight

  The conspicuous pale gray bird with a dramatically long tail perched on a roadside fence wire May 8 at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture's beef cattle farm near Rockford.

• Songbirds' astounding migrations tracked Published 05/10/2009 at midnight

  We know purple martins winter in South America (mainly Brazil and Bolivia) and wood thrushes winter in Central America. But, until recently, we haven't known a lot about exactly where individual songbirds go and how fast they migrate.

• Smoky Mountain Field School lets parents, children explore environment Published 05/08/2009 at midnight

  W hen it comes to learning about nature, nothing beats a real outdoor adventure. Few places on Earth rival the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for exploring the natural world.

• Davis: Gourd lines provide purple martin perches Published 05/03/2009 at midnight

  What makes a purple martin colony a hit with the martins?

• Davis: Frightened cardinal sacrifices tail, abandons nest Published 04/26/2009 at midnight

  The cardinals made such a good choice for a nest site this year. Or so I thought. The densely packed evergreen needles of the yew shrub looked like the perfect hiding place. The nest was in a section of the ...

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