Nature and Birdwatching of North Carolina: The greates Eastern Areas of Grasslands

The greatest Eastern areas of grasslands

occur in the prairie regions of the Midwest and west. In the East, there are two types of grasslands; the agricultural grasslands, and old fields or relic grasslands. Agricultural Grasslands: These grasslands are areas where grass is mowed and used for grazing. When the grassland is cut for hay, it is called a Meadow and if the area is used for grazing, it is called a Pasture. Meadows remain green, if cut, through summer and fall and consists of grasses such as Kentucky Bluegrass, Timothy, Orchard Grass, and Foxtail Barley while pastures are a rich green color, short and contain a number of weeds. Flowers are also visible in late spring through fall in meadows. There are grassland birds everywhere in North America, but in the East, the fields attract Eastern Meadowlarks, Ring-necked Pheasants, Vesper Sparrows, Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Grasshopper Sparrows and other sparrows. Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers can be found hunting for food over agricultural land and they are both ground nesters in the grasslands.When mowing for hay it is a hazard to the grassland species. These areas are mowed in early summer at the peak of the breeding season which can destroy the nests, chicks and adults. Biologists have noted that this is the prime reason for the decline of Ring-necked

Pheasants and grass-nesting songbirds.

Bluebird

Behavior
Eastern Bluebirds perch erect on wires, posts, and low branches in open country, scanning the ground for prey. They feed by dropping to the ground onto insects or, in fall and winter, by perching on fruiting trees to gulp down berries. Bluebirds commonly use nest boxes as well as old woodpecker holes.
Habitat
Eastern Bluebirds live in meadows and openings surrounded by trees that offer suitable nest holes. With the proliferation of nest boxes and bluebird trails, bluebirds are now a common sight along roads, field edges, golf courses, and other open areas
Food:
Insects caught on the ground are a bluebird’s main food for much of the year. Major prey include caterpillars, beetles crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders. In fall and winter, bluebirds eat large amounts of fruit including mistletoe, sumac, blueberries, black cherry, tupelo, currants, wild holly, dogwood berries, hackberries, honeysuckle, bay, pokeweed, and juniper berries. Rarely, Eastern Bluebirds have been recorded eating salamanders, shrews, snakes, lizards, and tree frogs.

The Cocoos

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos (family Musophagidae, sometimes treated as a separate order, Musophagiformes). Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute. The cuckoo family, in addition to those species named as such, also includes the roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separated as distinct families, the Centropodidae and Crotophagidae respectively.
The cuckoos are generally medium sized slender birds. The majority are arboreal, with a sizeable minority that are terrestrial. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the majority of species being tropical. The temperate species are migratory. The cuckoos feed on insects, insect larvae and a variety of other animals, as well as fruit. Many species are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species, but the majority of species raise their own young.

Charlotte Area - Mecklenburg County - historic information

The area that is now Charlotte was first settled in 1755 when Thomas Polk (uncle of United States President James K. Polk), who was traveling with Thomas Spratt and his family, stopped and built his house of residence at the intersection of two Native American trading paths between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers.[7] One of the paths ran north-south and was part of the Great Wagon Road; the second path ran east-west along what is now modern-day Trade Street. In the early part of the 18th century, the Great Wagon Road led settlers of Scots-Irish and German descent from Pennsylvania into the Carolina foothills. Within the first decades following Polk's settling, the area grew to become the community of "Charlotte Town," which officially incorporated as a town in 1768.

Mourning Doves

A graceful, slender-tailed, small-headed dove that’s common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground; their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft, drawn-out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America

Size & Shape
Plump-bodied and long-tailed, with short legs, small bill, and a head that looks particularly small in comparison to the body. The long, pointed tail is unique among North American doves.