1 October 2023
Fall migration has been intense over Pittsburgh in recent times and guarantees to be superb this night and the following day as smartly. The day past morning I went birding at Frick Park, anticipating to seek out a lot of warblers. No such success. The birds flew over with out preventing. On the other hand, for chipmunks it was once an implausible day.
Regardless of the present heat climate, chipmunks (Tamias striatus) are frantically accumulating meals to retailer of their underground burrows the place they’ll spend the wintry weather. Since they may be able to’t use their paws to hold meals, they fill their monumental cheek pouches.
What might be able to make their cheeks so fats? How about acorns?
With such a lot of chipmunks scurrying in autumn, you infrequently see two in combination. Chipmunks are delinquent however they prefer to make calls to warn every different of predators. Amongst their maximum not unusual calls are two varieties of warnings.
Cheep or Chip: “Threat from the bottom!” This name sounds nearly like a chook and warns of within reach terrestrial predators comparable to a cat, fox, coyote or raccoon.
Tock or Knock: “Threat from the air! I see a hawk!” This can be a helpful name for birders that tells us to seek for a hawk within reach. On the other hand, chipmunks know that hawks fly hastily throughout the woodland so they all absorb the decision, in all places, even supposing the hawk isn’t close to them. Tock! Tock! Tock! The place is that hawk? Erf!
Learn extra concerning the chipmunk’s calls at North American Nature: What Sounds Does a Chipmunk Make?
(credit are within the captions)