Archive for May, 2009
Keep Your Birdbath Algae and Disease Free
Now that the temperatures are warming up, you must keep a close eye on your birdbaths and areas where your backyard birds bath and get their drinking water.
If you see that algae has started growing, scrub your birdbath immediately. I never use any soap but I use hot water and a good brush and often add a bit of chlorine bleach. Rinse it totally and thoroughly before refilling it.
Your birdbath water should be changed at least every three days during the warm months, and once it gets hot, you should do it even more frequently. I change mine every single day - it takes about 2 minutes to throw out the old water and hit the birdbath with a very hard stream of water to rinse out debris and any algae that may have started to form, and to prevent mosquitos from starting to breed, and refill it.
Stagnant or standing water in birdbaths, rain gutters, and small pools can be potentially dangerout,, not only to your backyard birds, but to you as well. These areas are the most likely to breed and harbor West Nile Virus. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for all concerned to keep the water in your birdbaths clean.
You can attract an even greater variety of birds to your birdbath by adding an aerator or an overhanging bottle that drips.
Strange Behaviors of Hummingbirds
There is nothing more thrilling to me than watching the Hummingbirds come right up to my back door and take some nectar from the window hummingbird feeder. I get a thrill everytime, and then again when they take their nectar from the Hibiscus blooms. They have some pretty set in their way behaviors though, and if you are spending time and effort to attract them to your back yard, then I think I should tell you about a few of them.
Did you ever see the arrival of the Hummingbirds in the late spring and early summer and then all of a sudden you don’t see them again? The males are very defensive of their territory. If your yard is in proximity of one of those territories, it is likely that he will drive the others all away, especially during nesting season. Perhaps you have a nesting female nearby. From time to time, she will pay a visit to your feeder, but most of her time will be spent incubating her eggs. Later, after the eggs hatch, her time will be spent feeding at flowers because they will provide tiny insects as well as nectar—her nestlings need the protein from the insects to grow. Even after her babies have fledged, she will continue feeding them for a while. It is onlye after the young have fledged and learned to fetch food for themselves that she may show them to your feeders. Heck, why not show them the easy food. And, by this time, it is time for the males to start their migration with the females following soon thereafter. So, it is a fact that so many of the humingbirds that you see in early summer on on their migration to the north, and then the flurry of them that appears very late in summer are actually just passing through on their trip back south.
Do the Hummingbirds that visit your hummingbird feeders often fight alot? Even though you have ample ports on your feeder or even multiple feeders, this is often the case! The reason Hummingbirds are so aggressive is that they cannot afford to share the flowers. This holds especially true in the early and late months of summer when not many flower blossoms are available. They may have to travel a long way when the nectar is gone. The agression is part of their culture and very much ingrained, so they just can’t tell that the feeders are different. Truly, you will have more success with putting out many single port feeders separating them from each other, than one gigantic one with gobs of ports. They won’t share on the big one. They will be so much happier and you will get to enjoy it more as well.
I recently witnessed a wierd thing and still don’t know … Outside my kitchen window I have 2 Hummingbird feeders in close proximity to one another. There were 2 Hummingbirds - they were going way to fast for me to tell whether they wer male or female, but they were fling in X’s back and forth and back and forth, and they did this for 4 or 5 minutes while I just watched in amazement. if anyone one of you know what this crazy behavior was all about I sure would like to hear from you. It was as if they were holding some sort of ritual. When I find out what it is all about, I will be sure to write about it here and let you know what I have learned.
Proper Placement and Care of Your Hummingbird Feeder
There’s always something exciting about spotting a hummingbird. Not only are they beautiful and interesting creatures, but they move so quickly that spotting them feels like a feat in and of itself. One of the best ways to spot these illusive little fast winged birds is by setting up a hummingbird feeder in your garden. If it’s in an ideal spot with the proper food, you might even see the rare treat of watching a hummingbird sit for a few seconds at a time.
With that in mind, make sure that the feeder is back away from any windows or sliding glass doors. Hummingbirds might fly into these glass structures and hurt themselves if the feeder is located too close, so always make sure it’s at least a few feet away from any potential dangers. Also, fill the feeders with sugar water that’s been dyed red. It’s their favorite, and they can spot the red from an impressive distance away. Also make sure the food is changed on a frequent basis. If the hummingbirds don’t go through it, the feeder can get clogged with insects or the feeder can get moldy.
The Cardinals Will Be Your Reminder
Let us all take a moment this weekend to remember what this holiday is all about. As you are sitting in your back yard this weekend, watching the Cardinals at their Platform feeders, and pehaps enjoy the young fledglings being introduced to the big scary world and start their flying lessons, please take a minute to remember those who died so we could live. Pass up a prayer of thanks for the freedom that the sacrifices of our Veterans, soldiers and their families have afforded us. We take so much for granted. Somewhere, sometime, you have known a soldier, a veteran, a family of a soldier, a member of our armed forces who has fought and sacrificed for our great Country. Pray for peace, pray for our injured and disabled soldiers and their families.
Remember them, be grateful to them and then enjoy a wonderful Memorial day weekend.
God Bless You all, and God be with our soldiers and their families!
Some Facts About Their Flight
Did you know that Hummingbirds beat their wings at a fantastic rate, yet they appear motionless when hovering over a flower? Brown pelicans glide with precise control. Flight has characterized birds fo some 140 million years. So how do birds fly?
Birds have a number of physical characteristice that give them the ability to fly. The qualities include hollow bones, flexible yet lightweight feathers, huge pectoral muscles; complex, efficient circulatory and resporatory systems - essentially keep thier weight low and their power output high. Another practical trait that keeps birds light is that the female has only one ovary, and both sexes have small reproductive organs. During the nonbreeding season birds’ reproductive organs decrease in size almost to the point of atrophy.
You could say they are built to fly. Next time you look out and see these amazing critters at your birdbath or one of your birdfeeders, or even just perching on your patio furniture or deck, you can marvel at how quickly they spread their wings and fly.
It’s Like a Whole New World
To me, the garden is a doorway to other worlds; one of them, of course, is the world of birds. The garden is their dinner table, bursting with bugs and worms and succulent berries. Anne Raver
I found Anne Raver’s quote today in an old magazine. How true, and the timing was perfect. I was sitting outside on the terrace admiring my bird and butterfly garden after pruning a few shrubs, pulling a few weeds, cleaning the bird bath and then filling it with fresh water. I am always amazed at how different it looks after a little tender loving care. It is always a satisfying moment for me. The clean water brings the birds from all corners of the yard, as do all of the other treats that await them.
Their table is nicely set with the bugs, worms and berries, but one little secret ingredient is missing from that lis - mealworms. I put them in mealworm feeder, and watch them feast. What a site! It never ceases to amaze me. The Blue Birds love them, and it is the most up close and personal view I get of them, and if I stay perfectly still in my chair, they just keep on coming.
It’s very therapuedic and I just cannot imagine why everyone doesn’t just try it once . I bet you will do it more than just once.
Enchanting Robins
There’s no need to supply bird houses for the American Robin, they simply won’t use it. They prefer to make their homes in the bushes. This year we have a nest in an ornamental cedar bush and another in the forsythia. Robins are a year round visitor here, but I always look forward to the spring. It is so comical to watch them with their young. I marvel at some of their habits. The Robin fledglings leave the nest after about 2 weeks, and this is before they have a full compliment of feathers. So they can’t fly. This leaves them under a VERY watchful eye of their parents until they are ready to fly, as it puts them in danger of other animals. During this time before than can take flight, they are so much fun to watch.
At this time of year, my binoculars are never far away, and the other day I heard a rucous outside and grabbed my binoculars only to see a baby robin flapping his wings and jumping up and down on the post of a neighbor’s fence. And in a moment along came the dinner he was so excited about when his Momma landed beside him and gave him a nice juicy worm. This little guy remains under his parents watchful eye and in a few more days he, along with his brothers and sisters will be able to fly away and fend for themselves.
Our home is built on land that was previously farmland. There is absolutely no shortage of worms here, so the Robins we have year round have plentyof food. Occasionally though I will put out some raisins, fruit or peanut butter and take delight in watching them enjoy their special treat.
Hummer Abundance
I have recently been reading some pretty elaborate stories about the things people go through to attract Hummingbirds to their yard. Heck, one story I read was about a woman in Texas who literally rolls out a red carpet by spreading out a big red plastic table cloth that she anchors down with flower pots to attract them as they migrate with the color. There is another story about a man in Minnesota who attaches a hummingbird feeder to a hard hat to attract them and get an up close and personal look.
I am blessed, as time would not permit me to take so many measures. I live in a relatively new development with very few mature trees and yet since the day we moved in here in August of 2004 there have been hummingbirds in my back yard. Yes, I was excited and the hummingbird feeders went out in short order, and the following spring, I made sure to provide them with Hummer Helper nesting materials along with the nectar in the feeders which I put out in mid or late April as they began to migrate back to the area. And, when we did the landscaping I threw in some honeysuckle, and always have a big hibiscus on the back terrace. They seem to love the planters with the bight colored petunias too.
This year I KNOW they are nesting in the Bradford Pear tree that we planted just behind the house, and though I have spent quite a lot of time with the binoculars staring up and examining all the branches I have yet to spot the nest (about 1″ in diameter). I have 5 feeders all positioned close to the house and the Hibisucus plant blooms delight the Hummers as well as my husband and I as the take their nectar about 2 feet from our kitchen table. Blessed, yes. The Hummingbirds are delightful, amazing, and this year more than ever in abundance with some of the feeders having 3 or 4 at time. nature is such an amazing thing!
Attracting Finches to Your Yard
Finches are one of the best kinds of bird to try to attract to your garden for several reasons. First and foremost, they are extremely common, and as such, there are many varieties and variations throughout North America. Whatever type of finch is going to be local to your backyard, attracting them will be relatively simple. You’ll just need to know their favorite types of cuisine. The best types of foods for finches are everything from mulberries and blackberries to cherries and sunflowers.
You can also attract finches, or really any types of bird, by having a fresh supply of water. Just make sure the water source is fresh and clean. You are also likely to have success with finches if you look into finch bird feeders. These are specifically designed to attract that kind of bird, and so long as you keep them stocked with enticing food, you’re sure to be enjoying your local variety of finch.
Putting The Accessories To Use
A few days ago, I wrote about the importance of keeping your feeders, houses and bird baths clean. It was a lovely Mother’s Day, and I found the perfect opportunity to clean all of my bird feeders, the bird bath, and the hummingbird feeders as well.
After all the rain we had there was plenty of caked food inside the tube feeders and the bird bath was a bit on the scummy side. The bird bath brush did a great job removing the scum. The bird feeder brushes made the task of cleaning the ports a lot simpler as well.
I will tell you that the results of my 20 minutes of effort will pay off. The birds are just having so much more fun!! Keep them clean, and they will continue to delight you!