This is Birdnode, it's morning on the bayou. Cypress trees draped with Spanish moss rise from

still dark water, a red-bellied woodpecker calls and then drums on an ancient snag.

A northern perilla sings its rapid rising trill, a barred owl hoots mightily as an alligator slithers by.

Bios are found in much of the southeast from Arkansas to Alabama across flat land that drains into the Mississippi.

A typical bayou, such as those for which Louisiana is famous, is a tributary stream or a former river channel that loops and meanders but has a very sluggish flow.

And the word bayou, it may sound French, but it comes from a Choctaw wood for small stream.

A bayou's luxuriant wetness supports lush growth of trees and shrubs, which in turn offers secluded nesting for a broad range of birds.

The striking yellow-crowned knight Heron, nested on bayou's, as does the slim and sinuous anhinga.

And these yellow-throated warblers join many songbirds in testifying to the bountiful habitat of the bayou.

For Birdnode, I'm Mary McCann.