This is bird note.

Next time you're out walking in the snow,

look to discover a few stories.

The stories birds tell with their tracks. A crow will walk, some might say

swagger, across a snowy parking lot leaving right and left steps much as a walking human would. But the junkos

under a bird feeder are more likely to leave a hopping pattern of tiny footprints

in side-by-side pairs. Some birds, like Robbins and song sparrows, even skip, imprinting

asymmetrical tracks made halfway between hopping and walking. Also, look carefully for beak marks, where a bird picked up a choice morsel or probed the ground.

You may even spy the sweep of wing tips against the snow where a bird took flight.

Out in open country, tell tale signs sometimes tell stories of life and death.

You might see mouse tracks end suddenly,

just where you find the imprint of an house wings.

To learn more about bird tracks and the expert trackers of the Wilderness Awareness School.

You'll find links on our website, Birdnote.org.

I'm Mary McCann. the you're