When it comes to birdwatching, there are very few simple answers.

What does a cardinal look like? It seems like a question that would have a simple answer. It’s a medium-sized songbird with a crest, thick and colorful bill, and beautiful red plumage. But, of course, that’s only half — or even less than half — of the answer. Female cardinals do not fit that description and neither do immature cardinals.

So, there is a simple answer to that question, but it is not the complete answer. The full answer is longer and more complicated.

Now, if someone asked what a cardinal sounds like, then it becomes even more complicated. Like many birds, cardinals have a call and a song. In fact, cardinals have many songs. You could simply say the cardinal’s call is a short, high-pitched chip and that their song is a loud whistle. But to fully describe what a cardinal sounds like requires a much more lengthy answer.  

I walked outside to the truck to start my day, and among the myriad other bird sounds, I heard a high-pitched trill.

I was certain it was a dark-eyed junco, but chipping sparrows have a similar song. I had seen somewhere that chipping sparrows are returning to their breeding grounds in New England, so just to be sure of the ID, I decided to test the app on my smartphone that recognizes birds by their songs and calls.

Sure enough, it came up dark-eyed junco. But to my surprise, the phone kept lighting up with more and more species being identified by the app. I was so focused on the trill that I didn’t realize so many other birds were singing as well.

I was skeptical about these apps for a long time, but I was more than impressed with it on this morning.

Say what you will about European starlings – and I’ve said some not-so-nice things myself – their plumage is pretty cool. The closer you look, the cooler it is.

Here’s a follow-up to a recent post with more photos. The post, which may be found here, was about attracting birds with a birdbath, especially in the winter.

The American robin has long been known as a harbinger of spring. In fact, of all the “signs of spring” that we see each March, the robin is perhaps the most popular.

I certainly have no problem with anyone getting excited about seeing a robin in early spring. Anything that offers hope and optimism is a good thing. 

Many robins, however, have been around all winter in New England. They just haven’t been as visible as they are in the spring and summer. In winter, many robins travel in large flocks throughout the woods looking for leftover berries, and other morsels.

To me anyway, the eastern phoebe would be the perfect harbinger of spring bird. 

Unlike robins, phoebes do not winter in New England and return only in the spring. In fact, eastern phoebes show up in New England pretty much on the dot of spring. This year, my first sighting of an eastern phoebe was March 21, one day after the official start of spring. 

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. If only it were that simple.

This March, like many before it, seems to be toggling between lion and lamb daily. One day last week, I was at the beach photographing oystercatchers and other shorebirds. The next day, I watched out my window as several inches of snow fell. As with any snowfall, I enjoyed watching my feeder birds. This day’s visitors included bluebirds, Carolina wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, juncos, woodpeckers, and other feeder birds.

Such is life in New England in March, and even early April, as outdoor enthusiasts are subjected to the whims of mother nature. Thankfully, there is birdwatching to be done regardless of the weather.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a few hours last week at a Connecticut beach watching and photographing shorebirds along the edge of Long Island Sound. The stars of the show, of course, were the American oystercatchers. Oystercatchers have always been a favorite of mine, and seeing their carrot-like bills in March is an underrated, yet certain, sign of spring.

Eastern phoebes are singing their namesake song and flitting among the trees at work today. Their return is right on cue with the official start of spring.

Sharing some birding news from the area and beyond:

Several readers have responded to last week’s column about bluebirds. The spectacular and adored birds are becoming a common sighting in New Hampshire throughout the winter. Jim from Keene, who also made an appearance in last week’s column, wrote in this week to say he had eight bluebirds congregating around his birdhouse. The birds stayed for about 15 minutes. It was the same birdhouse that was used by bluebirds last year, so hopefully that is a good sign of things to come this spring.

I mentioned last week that eastern bluebirds were the only bluebirds that live in the East. That being said, a mountain bluebird has been seen at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newington, as reported on the birding news page of the American Birding Association’s website. As of this writing, the last sighting was reported on February 28. Visit aba.org/birding-news/ for updates.

I did two bird talks in New Hampshire last weekend and loved meeting everyone and talking about birds for a while.

In both talks, many questions and comments were about bluebirds. Everybody loves bluebirds, and these talks only confirmed that is true. And why not? They are beautiful birds and many of them are hardy enough to stay with us all winter. 

I have found that New Englanders appreciate the birds that stick with us year-round. When I did an informal survey many years ago to determine New England’s favorite bird, the chickadee and cardinal were the top two species named. Both birds, of course, are with us spring, summer, fall and winter.