Archive for the ‘All About Birds’ Category
Very Very Strange
Some things never cease to amaze me. Yesterday when I was doing my blog and looking for a picture of the brown-headed cowbird I discovered that this small member of the blackbird has some very strange nesting habits. They have a larger head than some of the other blackbirds and a shorter tail.
These rather distinctive looking birds have always fascinated me. They are always around, bobbing around on the ground at the foot of the feeder poles. They enjoy eating the seeds of grasses and weeds, as well as insects. They are enthralled with the free meals at the feeders too. The one I spotted staring at me from inside the platform feeder, flew over and sat on top of the blue bird house for quite some time before taking up residence on a high prominent tree branch.
When it comes to breeding time the female puts every bit of her energy into producing eggs. These are sometimes in excess of three dozen a summer. She doesn’t bother building a nest though. Rather she deposits her eggs in the nests of other bird species. A study once showed that the cowbird’s eggs have been found in over 220 other specie’s nests. They abandon their young to be fostered by the others, and usually at the expense of at least some of the other’s chicks.
Needless to say, the female is in need of lots of additional calcium due to laying so many eggs. So they eat snail shells and often even the eggs of some of the other nests they visit.
Had To Laugh At This
“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.” - Robert Lynd
Why did I have to laugh, you ask? The birds aren’t doing much building right now - not yet, but they are being very enterprising. It has been snowing here all day, and they have been digging dilligently all day at the window bird feeder to remove the snow and at the platform feeder to get down under the snow to get to their food.
Seems, that once they find their food source, they just keep on coming back. However, I will not agree on this day that they have left the landscape as it was - just not so at all!
We’re Taking a Tour
What a beautiful Sunday. The temperatures were well into the 40’s, and lots of snow melted away. Needless to say, I had to get out and enjoy the warm air, the afternoon rays that were actually warm. I took a tour of the yard for the first time since our huge snow storms. At some points, I was still calf deep in snow, but I did it anyway.
Come on, take a walk with me. You won’t get tired as we have to stop and be very still and quiet from time to time so we can identify the visitors along the way. We’ll only do part of it today and finish it later.
It all starts at the back door where the bluebirds visit the mealworm feeder but wouldn’t be caught while we are here. Right next to it is the platform feeder. The cardinals, doves, finches and others empty it every day. This morning there was a blue jay happily sitting there. They don’t like it when it’s windy, but today the air was still. The blue jay is a member of the crow family and his bold and gregarious nature actually scares the other birds away so I don’t get too excited when I see him.
After we pass the heated bird bath, it’s time to stop and rest and watch so we don’t disturb the two downy woodpeckers - one on each of my two caged suet feeders. And right next to them is a finch feeder which is full of niger seed, but no visitors at the moment. On the tree practically upside down is a nuthatch patiently awaiting his turn at the suet while pecking away at the tree trunk where he probably has some niblets stored in the bark. OK, rest time is over and up the hill we trudge to the caged bird feeder and mesh bird feeder. Let’s rest now, and we’ll complete the walk another day. Below is a nuthatch and a downy woodpecker.
The Snowy Owl
I keep looking out my window and thinking I see thousands of these guys covering the grounds. Truth be told I have never seen one, but a customer was talking about them the other day, and curiosity sent me to investigate and find out more.
Snowy Owls are mostly found in exteme northern margins of the artic tundra. Some years a good number of them remain there year round, and other years they migrate to southern Canada and the northern half of the United States. They are commonly seen in new York and New England and across the northen plains in the winterm, but in other areas of the northern US they make appearances some winters and not others.
Their diet consists of lemmings when they are available as well as other birds, fish, rabbits, rodents and waterfowl. They are fierce defenders of their nests, male and female alike. One snowy owl can eat from 3 to 5 lemmings a day - that’s about 1600 a year. They are the largest and heaviest of the North American owls and also the most distinctively marked. The adult male is pure white with some distinctive barring - I pictured the male a couple of days ago, today you have a female.
The snowy owl is certainly not one I would ever expect to see at my caged bird feeder or even on the ground. I think since we are in the middle of a little blizzard here, his name just caught my attention.
First In, Last Out
Getting up early and taking inventory of the different birds who are dining at the bird feeders and suet feeder in my back yard has its advantages. With the huge amount of snow we have on the ground, we are inundated with my happy birds, the dark eyed juncos otherwise known as snow birds. They like every feeder - not picky at all.
The advantage in getting up early is seeing the first in. The cardinals are always here very early. I think they always travel in pairs too, and when you see the female, the male cardinal is always close by. This morning was no exception, only there were 3 pairs just after dawn. They were on and under the platform feeder and the heated bird bath is the best investment I have made in years.
Cardinals do not seem to like the tube feeders. They seem to like something solid under their feet. They love the safflower seed that I scattered on the snow for them. We got about 16 inches of snow and it is so much fun to watch them. From an inventory point of view they should be the last ones here this evening too and I can’t wait. The splash of color on the white is a true picture to behold.
The Comforts Of Home
Birds need places to get out of the wind and snow to stay warm. Shrubby growth and evergreens like junipers and pines are great at providing this cover. It can be enhanced by leaving your nest boxes up over the winter. Whether they are decorative bird houses or wooden bird houses like wren or bluebird houses, they house slumber parties with the birds huddling together to stay warm.
Be sure to position your bird feeders and baths close to the shelter you have provided for them, and you will have birds all winter long.
Ordinary With A Twist
I love comical surprises. The day started out like just an ordinary day. A little laundry, a couple of cat boxes to clean, and breakfast, and breakfast dishes before scurring out the door to work, and all the while trying to keep my eye out the windows to see if I had any special visitors at the bird feeders. Right before Bob left for work, he asked me to take a look at the strange bird sitting in the tree outside the door. I looked out to see not a single bird around except a sharp-shinned hawk that was ready to take off over the hill.
Right after he left the back yard was bustling with my happy snow birds at the -window feeder, a couple of siskins and other finches and mourning doves. So, off I went to finish folding the laundry. When I returned to my place at the table with my coffee and yogurt, the back yard was once again empty. The doves had left the platform bird feeder, the snow birds were nowhere to be seen.
They had all decided that they didn’t want to be breakfast for the two sharop-shinned hawk that were stalking over the entire area. Sharp-shinned hawks and cooper’s hawks are often mistaken for one another, but the sharp-shinned is smaller. They are year round residents here, though it was the first I had seen one in the yard. They may be small for a hawk, but a fierce predator.
One sat atop the shepherd’s hook on the hill and one on the heated bird bath. So that’s the twist and very out of the ordinary. It was quite a thrill, and something I may only see once in this lifetime, so I had to pass it on.
Pine Siskins A Plenty
I’m back again and feeling better - not great yet, but better is moving in the right direction.
Do you offer thistle food to your back yard birds? Thistle is really an incorrect term, though it is used widely when referring to nyger seed. The thistle feeders are usually tight knit mesh or tube feeders with very small holes. I feed the nyger seed all year round, and find that it is twice as popular in the winter months. Today, the two tube feeder that have the nyger seed were literally covered at every port with pine siskins. The mesh nyger feeder was covered with them too. I counted 6 at one time and it is only 9 incles long. Nyger seed is a high energy food, and it is especially loved by the finches of all varieties especially in the winter months.
Pine siskins aren’t seen too much around here in the warm months. They are indeed a winter visitor. Siskins are a small finch and are often referred to as “winter finches”. They are brown and heavily streaked with lighter tones underneath. They have 2 buff colored wingbars and some yellow at the base of their flight feathers. They prefer to hang out in coniferous areas, but will seek the small seeds like the nyger seed, and remain close to the food source all winter. The Pine Siskin has been know to hang out in their winter habitats long enough to breed.
Happy Birds
Well, I got my husband’s bug and didn’t make it here last night. I was otherwise occupied. It has literally been years and years since I was hit with a gastrointestinal bug - I hope it is years and years until the next time. Not fun at all.
We woke up to some snow this morning. It’s just a squall and won’t last, but I love the way the dark-eyed juncos swarm around in the snow. Their common nick name is snow birds, but I prefer to call them my happy birds. They are swarming the patio and covering the window bird feeder. And of course the cats are loving it. The snow birds always make me smile and I needed a smile this morning. They always look like they are smiling and hopping and skipping. That’s why I call them happy birds.
A Sign Of Spring
I didn’t get here last evening. My hubby was quite sick with a bug and family first, always. Now this morning I discovered the reason - there is always a reason when life’s events take me away from this blog.
The binoculars have been out all morning. A sign of spring? I rather doubt it because they are predicting snow a bit later this week. But, this is a glorious, bright sunshiny morning and the birds were having a ball. So why the binoculars? High atop the red Maple tree sat a robin, and right next door in the branches of the bradford pear tree sat 3 beautiful bluebirds.
Some might say that the robin is indeed a sign of spring, but we do see them here quite frequently in the winter. They stay close to the wooded areas, where there is protection and cover, and near water where they can find soil that is not frozen to find their insects and worms. The bluebirds are year-round residents and are regular visitors to my back yard. I never tire of seeing them in the trees, on the fence, under the bird feeders foraging around on the ground and of course at the mealworm feeder.