The Zen Birdfeeder

WBU-Saratoga Supports Work of North Country Wild Care

At our Wild Birds Unlimited store, we get calls year-round (but especially during breeding season) asking what to do with a found injured or "orphaned" bird.  After giving some initial instructions, we refer all these calls to our local wildlife rehabilitation group, North Country Wild Care.

North Country Wild Care is a network of home-based VOLUNTEER wildlife rehabilitators located in Schenectady, Warren, Washington, Saratoga, Albany, Rensselaer, Montgomery, Fulton and Essex Counties.  Just this summer, Lois and I have had to utilize their services twice when young, inexperienced birds struck a window.

In mid-August, we had a weekend Anniversary Celebration and invited North Country Wild Care to set up a table to share information about their organization and possibly recruit new volunteers.  We also pledged a portion of our sales that weekend to support their efforts.

Store co-owner Lois Geshiwlm and Sales Associate Peg Cutler recently attended the NCWC fall fundraiser to present our donation.  We were thrilled to give $300 to North Country Wild Care, which will be used for food, supplies, and medication for their wildlife patients.  We also donated two items to their silent auction.

WBU Co-Owner Lois Geshiwlm presents check to
NCWC President Belinda Howe while
WBU Associate Peg Cutler looks on

Another big thank you to North Country Wild Care and all their volunteers for the work they do throughout the year.

North Country Wild Care Emergency Hotline Number

(518) 964-6740

 

Wings on Wednesday

Ruby-crowned Kinglet coming in for a landing

Faster than a speeding kinglet!

 

My Wings on Wednesdays posts document my long journey practicing in-flight bird photography.

Warblers that Eat Bark Butter

We don't often think about warblers visiting our birdfeeders, but everyone once in a while they surprise you.

Pine Warbler - first fall female

I tend to think of Pine Warblers as the most likely warbler candidate at a feeder.  Last week, a migrating Pine Warbler enjoyed eating the Bark Butter middle out of a Stackables sandwich at a feeder not 10 feet from my house.  I've also had them in my yard eating at a seed tray and eating suet.

The Pine Warbler that visited last week seemed intent on seeking out high fat suet.  Besides the Bark Butter, it also tried to access suet in the suet log feeder.  It was probably working hard to add weight for its migratory journey by feasting on high fat foods like suet.

Pine Warbler (taken with BirdCam April 2008)

Jim's Birdacious Bark Butter has been eaten by 7 species of warblers across the country.

• Orange-crowned Warbler     (rare in NY)
• Northern Parula                   (common in NY)
• Yellow-rumped Warbler        (common in NY)
• Townsend's Warbler             (not found in NY)
• Yellow-throated Warbler       (rare in NY)
• Pine Warbler                       (common in NY)
• Ovenbird                             (common in NY)

I guess I'm lucky because I've had both the Pine Warbler and an Ovenbird eat Bark Butter in my yard.  Ovenbirds are somewhat common visitors to the wooded side of my yard, where they'll come up the gentle slope to within feet of the house.  I occasionally put Bark Butter at the base of a few trees in that area - low to the ground where Ovenbirds forage for food.

Ovenbird (taken with BirdCam Sep 2008)

Bark Butter has been eaten by a total of 102 different bird species as of this writing.  What a great food to attract a variety of birds to your feeding station!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I got my best and longest looks ever at the Ruby-crowned Kinglet when I had three fall migrants stop in my yard a few days ago.

Here are my impressions and observations of this little bundle of energy:

• In constant movement, gleaning insects mostly from the underside of leaves
• A little chubby; more rotund than the warblers passing through at same time of year.
• At only 4" long, it's smaller than our goldfinches and chickadees, as well as the warblers.
• Very thin, pointy bill - all the better for picking insects off leaves!
• Very thin skinny legs which are darker than their orangish feet
• Broken eye-ring gives their eyes a "deep set" and oversized appearance.  I think it sometimes makes their eyes look sad.
• Don't let the name fool you - you'll seldom see the ruby crown.

No ruby crown - is that white spot the start of a crown? 
And look at those skinny legs!!

 

I think the eye ring can make their eyes look sad or contemplative

Here's some tidbits about the Ruby-crowned Kinglet from the experts:

Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Ted Floyd
"Hyperactive; always fidgety. Flicks wings constantly. Forages at mid-level in tree, singly or in flocks with other species."

Essential Field Guide Companion by Pete Dunne
"A tiny, compact, hyperactive, and undistinguished bird that draws attention to itself by its perpetual motions and habitual wing-flicking."

Birds of New York State by Bob Budliger and Gregory Kennedy
"The wing flicking is thought to startle insects into movement, allowing the kinglet to spot them and pounce."

Gleaning insects from leaves

Kinglets drop by my yard during most fall migrations, but this is the first time I've seen three.  What fun little visitors to have!

Top 5 Tips for a Clean & Healthy Birdfeeding Station

We're wrapping up Clean Feeder Month here at Wild Birds Unlimited Saratoga Springs NY so here's my Top 5 Tips for a Clean & Healthy Birdfeeding Station.

1)  Clean your feeders & baths regularly as well as the ground beneath them
Using a weak bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) to clean your feeders and baths will help kill bacteria, mold and other bad stuff.  I like to soak feeders for awhile in this solution; soaking helps loosen grime, making them easier to clean.  Rinse - rinse - rinse then air dry.  Drying feeders out in the bright sunshine is a great way to let them dry.
A good regular feeder cleaning helps ensure that the birdseed and birdfood are always fresh and dry.  And if bird activity is slower, don't fill feeders all the way.
Don't forget to clean the ground underneath the feeders by raking up debris and bagging it up for the trash.  Using trays on or below feeders helps keep the ground clean, as does use of a no-mess (no shell) seed or seed blend.
Clean birdbaths at least weekly regardless of the season.  Use the weak bleach solution prescribed above, scrub well with a stiff-bristled brush, and air dry or sun dry before refilling.

2)  Select well-designed feeders

Don't select a feeder just because it's pretty - choose it because it's FUNCTIONAL.  That includes ease of cleaning. 
Things to look for: easy to disassemble; all parts reachable to clean; removable bottoms.
It's human nature that we will clean a feeder that's easy to clean more often than one that's a pain to clean!

3)  Decide on a regular cleaning strategy that works for you
Me? I prefer to clean one or two feeders at a time rather than all feeders at once.  I take one or two down, replace them with already-clean feeders so there's no openings at the station, then clean the feeders I took down.  This also lets me rotate the types of food being offered.  I might take down a dirty peanut feeder and replace it with a clean seed cylinder feeder.  Birds like variety too!
You might choose to clean all your feeders at once.  Just decide what fits your situation and lifestyle.

4)  Spread things out
Rather than crowding a single feeding station with a half-dozen feeders, set up a couple stations in your yard.  Crowding feeders facilitates the spreading of disease.

5)  Watch for signs of trouble and stop feeding if necessary 
If you see sick (puffed up; approachable; swelling around eyes, etc.) or dead birds take action to prevent further spread of disease.  In some cases, this means shutting down your feeding stations.
To shut down your stations, take feeders down and disinfect them as described above.  The food from the feeders should be bagged up and thrown away in the trash.  Clean all hanging hardware and birdbaths with the bleach solution as well.  Rake in a wide berth around feeding stations and baths and bag up the debris to be thrown in the trash.  Leave feeders down for 2 weeks to allow birds to disperse. 

BONUS TIP:  Always Wash your hands after handling feeders

Did I Save the Jay but Hurt the Hawk?

I've heard the call before - a distress call from a Blue Jay and the surrounding calls of his fellow jays trying to ward off the predator.  I know the cry of a jay being held by a hawk - perhaps a Cooper's Hawk - as it dispatches its prey.

Cooper's Hawk with Blue Jay prey - February 2009

It was coming from in the woods, so I headed into the trees, snapping downed branches as I walked, certainly not stealthy by any stretch of the imagination.  I walk down the slope, loudly crunching more branches, and from the woods across an opening, a hawk flies off - empty handed.  The cries from the jay stop, but I don't see the jay fly off.  I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact location of the strike, so I didn't pursue it any further.

But thoughts linger in my mind.  Did I just save a Blue Jay to live another day or leave it mortally wounded to die in the woods?  Did I hurt the hawk by scaring it off of its first meal in a week? 

Why did I go towards it in the first place?  As an observer of birds and nature, I just wanted to observe nature in action, but by doing so, I actually disturbed the course of nature.  Both birds were hurt by my actions.  The jay I'm sure is at least injured from the strike.  The hawk left empty-handed.  Only I gained.  Not from the audio observation, but by a hard-learned reinforcement to make sure my actions to observe nature don't interfere with nature.

Wordless Wednesday

Hang in there!

128 Days of Hummingbirds

As much as I keep track of the arrival and departure dates of hummingbirds, I never really stopped to figure out the length of time hummingbirds are present in my yard and how long they're in their winter home.  What I found surprised me.

2010 Hummingbird Season
First Arrival May 9
Last Departure  September 14
Hummingbird Days  128 days

This is just a bit over 4 months (most of May, all of June, July, and August, and a little bit of August).  So the rest of the year - 8 months - they're either in migration mode or at their winter homes in Central America or Mexico. 

On the way north in the spring, hummingbirds take 2-3 months to make the 2000+ mile trek.  And on their way south, by the end of October, most have left the U.S., so fall migration likely takes 2-3 months as well.  That means that they are on their wintering grounds for about 3 months - and then they start the whole cycle again!

During those 3 months, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are known to utilize the rainforest-like tree canopy found in shade-grown coffee farms.  Sun-grown coffee, like most commercially-produced coffee, poses a threat to the future of shade-grown coffee farms and thus to the winter habitat of our hummingbirds and other neotropical migrants.  You can help protect the winter habitat of our hummingbirds by making the decision to drink only a certified Bird Friendly® shade-grown coffee like Birds & Beans™.  Birds & Beans is available at Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs NY and online.

Days until our hummingbirds return: 
Approximately 237 days, about 8 months from now.

The Last Hummingbird

We saw our last hummingbird a week ago on September 14.  These season-end birds are most likely females or immature birds, and are typically migrating birds as opposed to resident hummers.

The last 2010 hummingbird in my camera
An immature male taken August 31

This "last seen" date is about average for our area, as was the departure of the adult males on August 25th.

	2010	2009	2008	2007
Adult Male	8/25	8/25	8/24	n/r
Female/Immatures	9/14	9/15	9/18	9/13

My hummingbird feeders are still up, though I've taken 2 of them down (of the 7).  I continue to change the nectar and clean the feeders even though nothing appears to be using them.  I'm filling them only halfway though, and will keep this up for about another week or so, just in case any late migrants pass through my yard. 

Hummingbirds NEVER stay longer than they should just because you have a hummingbird feeder out for them.  And what you may do is help out a migrating bird that is running just a bit late.  Just remember to keep the feeder clean and the nectar fresh for them!

The Goldfinches of September

Sometimes a bird species just seems to dominate the month.  They're everywhere you look, there's lot of them, their high level of activity captures your attention and your heart.  Last month it was the hummingbirds.  This month, it's the goldfinches.


Of course, over the past 3 weeks, the number of American Goldfinches on this earth has increased as fledglings have emerged from nests.  They're demanding little things, like young birds are, calling for mom or dad's attention, quivering their wings, hoping for some regurgitated food (yummy!)

Goldfinches on WBU EcoClean Feeder filled with niger seed

Goldfinches enjoying sunflower chips

Goldfinch on WBU Dripper/Mister

Feeders are busy with lots of jockeying for position.  They're going through a half a tube of niger seed and about a cup of sunflower chips daily.  The sunflower chips are like lazyman's (or lazybird's) lobster - all seed, no shell, less energy-use for the birds, less clean-up for you.  The goldfinches are frequent visitors at the birdbath too, especially those with moving water.



I leave standing the few coneflowers that haven't been destroyed by chipmunks so that the goldfinches can enjoy the seed heads.  Goldfinches will eat from the coneflower seed heads well into the winter months so leave them standing if you can.



Goldfinches in my area start their molt in September.  Molting takes a lot of energy for a bird but so do all the activities involved in breeding and raising young.  So goldfinches' fall molt takes place at the end of the breeding season.

I'm enjoying the activity and their sweet little flight calls.  Their numbers will decline as the weeks progress but I hope to see a few throughout the winter months.  My feeders will be ready!