Q&A: Gravel Roads in Wintertime

February 10, 2025

Bird Info

By Tony Moline
[from spring 2025 newsletter]

Question: Why do birds flock to gravel roads in the wintertime?

Answer: Because they have no teeth! Instead, birds have a gizzard, a muscular part of their stomach that helps them grind up food. Small rocks and sand (or grit) are ingested by birds to create “teeth” in the gizzard. Although birds practice this year-round, winter snow depth makes plowed gravel an oasis of grit, especially for open county birds such as Lapland Longspurs, Snow Buntings and Horned Larks.

Snow Bunting
Dubuque, IA
1/27/25
© Marty Corfman

Horned Lark
Dubuque County
3/14/23
© Mary Leigh

Cover Photo: Horned Lark on Cox Springs Road, Dubuque, IA (3/13/23) Mary Leigh

Mar 4, 2026

Bird Info

Bird-Brained: Insult or Compliment?

By Kari Zelinskas
[from spring 2026 newsletter]

Derogatory expressions such as bird-brain, crazy as a loon, and dumb as a dodo imply birds lack intelligence or common sense. But modern research has debunked that idea...

Jan 6, 2026

Bird Info

Did You Know? Flock Names

By Kari Zelinskas
[from winter 2025 newsletter]

Did you know there are different names for the flocks of birds? You might see a blush of Robins, a charm of Finches, or a confusion of Warblers.

Dec 12, 2024

Bird Info

2024 eBird Taxonomy Update

By Mary Leigh
[from winter 2024 newsletter]

I noticed recently that my eBird life list bird count increased by 1 when I hadn’t added any new species. The explanation was the annual taxonomy update! Every year, based on new insights by ornithologists, species are split, lumped, and renamed.