The Zen Birdfeeder

Wings on Wednesday - Swallow Nests

Cliff Swallows
Ontario Canada, July 2011

Fall Hermit Thrushes

The Hermit Thrushes passing through our yard this fall were more numerous than ever, and more outgoing than ever.  A family of three passed through, one adult and two young, feeding for a couple days before moving on.  They not only fed on the wooded side of the yard, but even came right up on the front deck.

Hermit Thrush juvenile

Their diet is primarily insects and berries.  On the insect menu, they'll eat beetles, ants, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and crickets, like this hungry hermit has captured.  I also saw Hermit Thrushes quivering a leg while foraging, which is used to scare insects out of the grass.

During migration and in winter, Hermit Thrushes supplement their diet with berries like elderberries, pokeberries, serviceberries, grapes, mistletoe berries, and others.  In our yard, the thrushes were enjoying Mountain Ash berries.

Hermit Thrushes migrate later in fall than the other thrushes, so it's likely that when they are gone, the last of my thrushes are gone.  But hopefully they liked this little stopover patch, and will stop here again in spring!

Sources:  Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman and The Birds of North America Online 

"Dealing" with Grackles

I admit I haven't written much or read up much on Common Grackles, other than being able to answer customers questions on how to keep them off birdfeeders. Though they are beautiful birds to look at with their shiny iridescence, they aren't much desired at feeders by many birdfeeding enthusiasts.

Maybe it's because of their size - their 1-foot length and 17" wingspan dwarf our favorite feeder birds. Maybe it's their "mob mentality", showing up almost always in groups that when combined with their size, makes them a formidable group, taking up lots of space on the feeders and leaving little room for other birds. And when they show up in these groups, these big birds can consume a lot of seed and suet!

Lots of grackles!

I also haven't posted much on grackles because frankly I don't see many of them in my yard. Maybe I'll have a few pass through during spring migration and again during fall migration, but nothing to "ruffle my feathers" so to speak.

In late summer, grackles start forming flocks to migrate out of our area. They don't migrate far; they winter all across southern New York and throughout the eastern states, midwest, southeast, and mid-south. The fact that they migrate offers some solace to those in our area who complain about grackles at their birdfeeders: "Don't worry, this too shall pass. They'll be migrating soon."

Over the last week or so, I've had more grackles in my yard than any other fall migration. Something like 40 of them have been in the yard. They've been mostly on the ground, but a few on the larger hopper-type feeders. As the flock has grown and they've become more accustomed to the yard, they've been trying to eat from feeders that are a little tougher for them to negotiate, like the suet log and the seed tube. They're not the strongest clingers, so hanging on to the side of the suet log requires some effort, and their larger size makes it just a bit tougher to sit on a small tube feeder perch and to reach into the portal.

Struggling to hang on to a suet log

If I wanted to deter them, I could fill the hopper feeders with safflower seed, which they don't care for much. I could put suet cakes out in an upside-down style feeder - they would have a hard time clinging upside down to access the suet, whereas woodpeckers, chickadees, and the like would have no trouble. Or if I really wanted to clear them out, I could just take my feeders down for a few days (a good time for a fall feeder cleaning?) and let them move on.

Grackles establishing dominance

I'm not taking any of these actions though. Sure, there are lots of them, but their presence has given me the opportunity to watch them more, admire their perhaps underappreciated beauty, see their kids, and learn more about them. Maybe it's easier for me to welcome them into my yard knowing that they aren't here for the long haul, but who am I to anoint a species with the "bad bird" label?  I'll "deal with the grackles" by just letting them be grackles.

I believe this grackle is molting - grackles molt once a year

A Gallery of Hummingbird Fun Facts

There are lots of Hummingbird Fun Facts out there.  Here's a gallery of images to help illustrate a few of these fascinating facts.

Hummingbirds have a crop in their throat to store extra food, either nectar or insects.  You can see a little bulge in this guy's throat where the crop is.

They do not have an innate preference for red.
Each hummingbird must learn to associate red, purple, or other colored flowers/feeders and food.  Here's one enjoying a stop at a purple-colored feeder.

 

Juvenile males have a pinstriped throat

 

Some juvenile males might also have a stray red feather or two coming in.

 

Female hummingbirds are sleek and have white tips on the tail.  Both male and female juveniles have white tips on the tail, too.

 

The red in the male hummingbird's throat comes from the structure of the feathers – the feathers themselves are not red.  That's why the throat can appear black in low light.

 

Their weak legs and leg placement make hummingbirds unable to walk or hop. However, they can scoot sideways when perched.

 

Hummingbirds have a remarkable ability to learn food-rich plants and memorize their locations.

 

 
They have a flexible wing joint and wings move in a figure-8 pattern that generates lift forward and back, like treading water.  You can kind of see this in the right wing above.

 

Hummingbirds lap up to twice their body weight in nectar every day (most birds only eat ¼ - ½ their body weight)

 

Hummingbird predators include Praying Mantis, spiders, and frogs, domestic cats, and snakes.
Avian predators include Blue Jays, shrikes, crows, Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels.

 

Hummingbirds eat about every 10 minutes; this male is getting a quick sip at a WBU Window Hummingbird Feeder

 

Hummingbirds can extend out their tongue approximately a distance equal to the length of their bill.  While lapping up nectar, they move their tongues in and out of their bill at a rate of up to 12 times a second.  Click on this image and you can see the beak, tongue, and ripple on the nectar through the clear bottom bowl of a WBU hummingbird feeder.

Hard-working Chickadee Parents

I'm pretty sure I had a nestful of Black-capped Chickadees successfully fledge last month from a nestbox in my backyard.  I wrote about them in my early-July post, "A Mid-summer Chickadee Brood?".

Without an easy-opening panel, I was unable to monitor the box for Cornell's NestWatch, but I was able to observe the hard-working parents.  Here's a series of pictures of them bringing in all kinds of high-protein bugs to their brood.

I haven't seen the little family since they fledged because as soon as the last bird has fledged, the whole family group moves away from the nest site.  And as the fledglings get older, the family may move even farther away.  After a few more weeks, the fledglings take off on their own, never returning to their nesting area.  (SOURCE:  Wild Bird Guides Black-capped Chickadee by Susan M. Smith)

Saving a Baby Barn Swallow

Was it fate that made us take a short detour on the way back to the time share to walk the short "Hens & Chickens" trail?  And was it just sheer luck that made the woman choose US to ask a question about a baby bird in the grass? Why don't you be the judge?

We had just spent the afternoon on Wasaga Beach, enjoying Georgian Bay in the province of Ontario, Canada. As we drove through Collingwood, I suggested we check out the short, 2km Hens & Chickens trail that ran alongside condos on it's way out to the harbor. It's a nice little trail, paved and flat, with grassland areas and some deciduous trees.

Juvenile Purple Martin

There were many Eastern Kingbirds, Purple Martins, and Barn Swallows hawking insects, showing the immature birds how to hunt for themselves.  As we walked near the back patios of the condos, we were approached by a resident who asked us if we knew anything about what to do with a baby bird that had fallen from the nest. She walked up the yard and brought us to a spot in the grass where a little baby bird sat.

It was blueish, with the clown-like beak of a nestling, and still had many downy feathers in the wings - a nestling Barn Swallow.  It appeared a few days too young to fly. Tucked into the dark grass, it would've been easy to step on the poor little guy.

We asked if she'd seen adult birds checking on it and she said "yes"; that was good news.  She showed us where the nest was; it was about 15 feet away, under the patio eave, built on a 1" diameter copper gas line. The nest was upside down, apparently having spun around on the pipe, dumping out the not-ready-to-fledge-yet youngster. She hadn't attempted to return the bird to the nest, fearing that the parents wouldn't return if they smelled human scent. We assured her that was not the case, rather an old myth that just won't die.

Lois pulled up a patio chair to be able to reach the nest, and she carefully spun the nest back to an upright position. She also scooted it along the pipe so that it would rest up against a beam, hoping that would prevent the nest from flipping again.

With the nest right side up, she returned to the baby bird. At first it tried to fly away but couldn't, and it settled down when Lois had it securely in her hands.  Lois climbed the patio chair again and placed the tiny bird back in the nest. He scooted in and quickly settled himself back in his comfortable nest.

 

Our work was done - now mom or dad just needed to come back!  We continued down the path, and on the return trip, we checked on the nest. In the short 20 minutes we were gone, the parents HAD returned, and junior was chirping away!

We talked briefly with the woman who flagged us down; it seems she had seen the binoculars around our necks, and thought we looked like we might know what to do with the baby bird.  We're glad she spotted us and we feel great about saving this little Barn Swallow!

Wordless Wednesday

  Brown Thrasher fledgling
May 2011

Who's My Daddy?

Here's some hints:

• Location - eastern upstate New York
• In yard of home in somewhat rural setting of mixed coniferous/deciduous woods at 1300 foot elevation.
• Taken August 7, 2011

 

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Here's our little family revealed:

Dark-eyed Junco fledgling and adult

Young Blue Jays

I hope you enjoy this little gallery of young Blue Jays.  They're not so small, are they?

STILL BEING FED

SIBLINGS

JUST THE "BABY"

FAQ - If you touch a baby bird, will the parents abandon it?

Q.  If you touch a baby bird, will the parents detect your scent and abandon it?

A.  No, most birds do not have a very well-developed sense of smell. However, most mammalian predators (skunks, foxes, raccoons, weasels, etc.) do have a good sense of smell and may follow your scent trail to a bird's nest.

If you are going to handle a baby bird be sure to place it out of harm's way, back in the nest, or in an open-topped cardboard box propped in a tree.

However, many bird species are equipped to survive outside the nest at a very young age. These species include many shorebirds, gamebirds, and birds such as robins and wrens.

Reprinted from the Summer 2006 edition of WBU BIRDTracks®.  Tufted Titmouse image by Nancy Castillo