FRIENDS OF JAMAICA POND 36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030 Gerry Wright, Founder and President Telephone: 617-524-7070 Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370 www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org

Friends of Jamaica Pond History and Annual Park Keeper Award Frederick Law Olmsted a one-man play by Gerry Wright Nature's Class Room: Environmental Education Projects Environmental Research Projects Forestry Protection Projects Emerald Necklace Bird Club Volunteer Stewardship Program Calendar and Meetings and Press Memberships and Donations Links and Resources Contact and Email Info

"Let it be not for present use and delight alone, but let it be of such a work that our descendents will thank us for it." Frederick Law Olmsted

Nature's Class Room: Environmental Education Projects Jamaica Pond's Albino Gray Squirrel Eastern Chipmunk Cottontail Rabbits Great Horned Owls Red Tailed Hawks Butterflies and Dragonflies Emerald Necklace Wildflowers Pink Lady's Slipper Great Blue Herons Emerald Necklace Fungi (Coming Soon)

Boston's Emerald Necklace EASTERN KINGBIRD Tyran tritri (French) Pitirre americano, Tirano viajero (Spanish) by Stephen Baird info@CommunityArtsAdvocates.org Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus Common in Emerald Necklace Parks and nests during summer in Franklin Park, Arnold Arboretum, Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Pond and Olmsted Park. Active at dusk and dawn and seen on tree tops, fence posts and exposed locations where it feeds by flying out to catch insects and often returning to the same perch. Medium size song bird best identified by the white tail band, blue-black back and wings with white throat, breast and belly feathers.  The red crown head feathers are often hidden. Song is “kit-kit-kitter-kitter” or “dzee-dzee-dzee” Adult birds grow to 7-9 inches with a 13-15 inch wingspan and weigh 1-2 ounces. Migrates from and to Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia (Arrives here around May 1st. Departs mid September) Conduct courtship during May-June with flight display and dives often done with loud vocal songs. Nest of twigs and grasses usually over looking water like this one on the eastern shore of Jamaica Pond just past the Gazebo June 2009 Usually lay 3-5 white eggs with brown or lavender markings in cup nest of twigs and grass. Incubation by the female with some help from the male lasts around 15 days and eggs hatch June-July Nest often near water - on branches over hanging Emerald Necklace ponds and streams. The Eastern Kingbird lives up to its Latin name tyrannus tyrannus by aggressively defending its nesting territory.  It often chases away much larger birds including crows and hawks.  I have seen them land on a Red-Tailed Hawk back and ride it in flight for 40-50 yards while pecking it with its beak. References and Links Cornell University All About Birds University of Michigan Animal Diversity National Audubon Society US Forest Service Bird Atlas Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter Arthur Cleveland Bent Life Histories of North American Birds 1968 John James Audubon Birds of America 1840 NOTE:  8 x 10 matted and framed photographs are available for $100 membership donations or 11 x 17 matted and framed photographs are available for $500 membership donations to Friends of Jamaica Pond. Contact Stephen Baird at info@communityartsadvocates.org

Contact and Email Information

FRIENDS OF JAMAICA POND 36 Perkins St., PO Box 300040, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130-0030 Gerry Wright, Founder and President Telephone: 617-524-7070 Email: FrederickLawOlmsted@yahoo.com TTY/MA RELAY 800-439-2370 www.FriendsOfJamaicaPond.org