Marion County Naturalist Marla Mertz tells KNIA/KRLS News that Friday, May 19 is National Endangered Species Day. It’s a good time to celebrate, learn about, and take action to protect threatened and endangered species.

May is an active month for all kinds of birds moving in and out of the area. According to BirdCast (live bird migration forecast maps), over 400 million birds were migrating into the U.S. earlier this month in just one day. According to Mertz that number has declined to around 25 million around the middle of the month.

Mertz adds, “We had what I call the jungle bird migration. It’s the most colorful song birds that we find. They come from the tropics of South America.”

According to Mertz the sounds of Baltimore Orioles are currently arriving in Marion

County, along with the hummingbirds and the numerous warblers, grosbeaks, buntings, and others.