The Zen Birdfeeder

Great Backyard Bird Count - It's Easier Than You Think!

If you've thought about doing the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) but felt you were too much of a beginning bird person, think again!  Here's how easy it can be to count the birds at your feeders.

GETTING STARTED

• Jot down these things when you start (you'll be asked this when you submit your counts online):

1. Date and Time
2. Depth of snow in your yard
3. Weather conditions: Poor, Fair, Good, or Excellent
4. Take note of the habitat around you (deciduous woods, coniferous woods, scrub, grassland, agricultural, rural, suburban, urban, freshwater, salt water). 

• Now, pour yourself a cup of Bird-friendly coffee and sit down in your favorite spot to watch the birds.

HOW TO COUNT

You can count for as short as 15 minutes, or you can count all day long.  You can count looking out your window.  Or you can count outside in a park, cemetery, or trail.  You'll count birds at your feeders, in the trees and bushes, on the ground, and in the air.

Here's how:

Each time you see a bird species, count how many you see.  The next time you see that species, count them again.  You'll report the HIGHEST NUMBER you saw at any one time for each bird species you report.

Example:
The first time you look out at your yard, you see 1 Blue Jay on a feeder and one on a tree; 1 Hairy Woodpecker on a feeder; 2 Black-capped Chickadees on a feeder and 1 in a bush; 6 Dark-eyed Juncos on the ground.

You record:
Blue Jay 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Black-capped Chickadee  3
Dark-eyed Junco  6

A couple minutes later, you see 1 Downy Woodpecker on a feeder.

Now your list looks like this:
Blue Jay 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Black-capped Chickadee  3
Dark-eyed Junco  6
Downy Woodpecker  1

Five minutes later, you see 3 Blue Jays, 1 Hairy Woodpecker, 5 Black-capped Chickadees, 2 Dark-eyed Juncos and a Tufted Titmouse.

Here's your list now:
Blue Jay 2 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Black-capped Chickadee  3 5
Dark-eyed Junco  6
Downy Woodpecker  1
Tufted Titmouse 1

You've recorded the most birds you saw at one time of each species.  Easy!

If you have trouble identifying a bird, check a bird field guide.  Birdfeeding hobby shops like your local Wild Birds Unlimited are sure to be helpful too.  If you just can't identify the bird, just don't report it.  That's fine and perfectly acceptable and better than reporting a bird that really wasn't there! 

ENTER YOUR COUNTS ONLINE

Go to the Submit Your Bird Checklist link on the GBBC site and complete the form.  That's all there is to it!

NOW YOU'RE A CITIZEN SCIENTIST!

Just by taking these easy steps, you've become a Citizen Scientist! You will join thousands of other birdfeeders just like you in becoming eyes in the field for the scientists.  The information you submit will help us all understand birds more.

Turn your kids onto nature by involving them in the Great Backyard Bird Count.  The GBBC runs for 4 days over President's Day Weekend (Friday through Monday) each year.  Have fun and thank you for counting the birds!

Where Do Birds Go at Night?

As the last rays of the winter sun disappear, the activity at our birdfeeders comes to an abrupt halt.  Did you ever wonder where these daily visitors go at night to be warm and safe?

Many head for trees and shrubs and perch in leafy bushes, evergreens or vines for the night.  Dense brush piles and discarded Christmas trees on your property can protect birds from night predators such as cats. Brush piles also provide protection from the wind.

Swallows retreat to beams in barns. Starlings and pigeons roost under bridges. Ducks often sleep while floating. Woodpeckers can hook their claws into tree bark or retreat into holes to sleep. Chickadees, titmice, and bluebirds also roost in tree holes for safety and warmth.  In fact, many bluebirds may roost together at night, filling the cavity to capacity!

Surviving Bitter Cold Nights

Warm shelters help, but when the temperature drops below zero, sleeping birds need bellies full of high calorie foods to keep their bodies warm. To help them out, fill your feeders full of high-calorie seed and nuts the last few hours of daylight, especially when it is bitter cold.

And birds wake up hungry!  As day breaks, birds may flock to your feeders to replenish fat lost keeping warm overnight.  Offer sunflower chips (without the shell), shelled peanuts, suet, and thistle seed, which are the highest calorie, easiest consumable foods you can provide for the birds.

Hold on Tight!

Many birds have a special muscle in each leg that can lock the bird's feet to a branch. This keeps the bird from falling off while it sleeps!  To unlock this tight grip, the bird needs only to stand up straight.

So each night as you tuck yourself in beneath flannel sheets and down comforter, feel good that the high-calorie food, water, and shelter you're providing might help birds survive a cold winter night.

Based on material provided by WBU, Inc.

Wordless Wednesday

Icicle Tear

I named this image Icicle Tear because it was literally one of the very last images taken with my Nikon camera before it crashed to the ground into pieces yesterday.  I'm really really bummed.

Top 3 Birds from Great Backyard Bird Count 2010

As we get ready for this year's Great Backyard Bird Count that starts this Friday, here's a recap of the most frequently reported birds from last year's count:

CONTINENT-WIDE
#1 Northern Cardinal
#2 Dark-eyed Junco
#3 Mourning Dove

 

 
NEW YORK
#1 Black-capped Chickadee
#2 Northern Cardinal
#3 Downy Woodpecker

 

SARATOGA SPRINGS NY
#1 Black-capped Chickadee
#2 Tufted Titmouse
#3 White-breasted Nuthatch

 

CUSTOMERS OF WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED - SARATOGA
#1 Black-capped Chickadee
#2 Tufted Titmouse
#3 Downy Woodpecker

Counting is as easy as 1-2-3!  Find out how on the Great Backyard Bird Count website.

Five Ways to Better Identify Birds for the Great Backyard Bird Count

As a Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) participant, you may see birds you don’t know. To identify lesser-known birds, practice answering the following questions, looking at a bird from the top down.

1. Silhouette

Look at the bird’s overall size, shape and posture. Is it the size of something familiar like a sparrow, robin or crow?  How does it sit, perch or fly?

2. Head Markings

Does the bird have a colorful or striped cap, also known as a crown? Is there a stripe above or through the eye, or does it have an eye ring or “spectacles?” Look for cheek patches or a mustache. Is there a white throat patch?

3. Body Markings

What are the overall back, breast and belly colors? What’s on the chest:  a patch, spots, streaks, or is it clear? Are the flanks (sides of body) clear or streaked? Is there a white or yellow rump patch?

4. Wing Markings

Are the wings a different color than the body? Are there wing bars or spots?

5. Tail Shape and Markings

Is the tail long or short compared to the body? Is it forked, squared, pointed or another shape? Are there certain colors or vertical or horizontal stripes?

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Make sure you have a nice pair of binoculars on hand to provide you clear views of these features.  Have your field guide ready as well to help you determine a bird’s identity.  But remember: take note of a bird's features FIRST before reaching for your field guide.  Birds fly away, books don't!!

With practice, you will quickly gather all the clues you need to positively identify birds.  For more tips on how to better identify birds, visit www.birdsource.org/gbbc.

Based on material provided by WBU, Inc.

Birds Kind of Slow: Mid-Winter Project FeederWatch Report

A Tufted Titmouse enjoys some open drinking water

It's just past mid-winter in this season's Project FeederWatch counts.  I've missed a couple of weeks, but have had enough counts to make some overall observations.

Over 11 weeks of counting, here's what I've been seeing:
- 11 average bird species each week
- 67 average individual birds each week
- 12 high species count (November)
- 122 high individual count (redpolls in early January)
- 14 different species seen

Common Redpoll

Compared to my Project FeederWatches since 2004, this winter has been a little slow.  I've seen fewer species each week and am seeing fewer birds overall, especially considering this is a winter finch irruption year.  Common Redpolls showed up in early January (about normal arrival for an irruption year), but their numbers have been smaller and their feeder visits shorter and less frequent.  In the winter of 2007-08, I had a redpoll count as high as 200!  This year's high redpoll count has been 60. 

Customers at our Wild Birds Unlimited store seem to be experiencing the same thing: occasional redpoll visits but not any huge flocks.

During winter finch irruption years, I often enjoy a visit from Evening Grosbeaks as well.  But this winter, I have yet to see any of these special birds.  There have been a report or two from well within the Adirondacks, but few from our area.

Dark-eyed Junco

I thought Dark-eyed Juncos were going to be around in bigger numbers this winter based on the numbers I had been seeing in the fall.  They're here regularly, but always number in the single digits.  I frequently broadcast a high-millet blend like WBU Select Blend just for these ground-feeding birds.

Hairy Woodpecker enjoying high-fat suet plugs

Goldfinches have moved on, only occasionally showing up as they roam widely for food.  My woodpecker counts, especially Downy Woodpeckers, are a little on the low side.  I sadly lost a downy to a hawk strike on Christmas day.  European Starlings are starting to visit regularly.  Luckily, starlings are not regulars at my feeders at any time of the year and the only break they get from my harassment is when a Hairy Woodpecker is around and I choose not to spook all of them off.

Blue Jays

I'm grateful for the sometimes big flocks of Mourning Doves, Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays.  These reliable resident birds guarantee me color and life and usually lots of sound in my yard, day-in-and-day-out through the winter.

I don't know what is behind the lower activity at my feeders other than the typical ebbs and flows of nature.  Snowfall is about normal (I'm looking out at a yard covered by 2-feet of snow), though accumulations started a bit later than normal.

One thing I am sure of is that I'll see a few more species as spring approaches.  I look forward to native sparrows like the Fox, Song, and American Tree Sparrows, as well as Common Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds as they pass through during their spring migration journey.  I'm anxiously awaiting the return of my resident Purple Finches.  And I'll probably see and count a less-than-welcome Brown-headed Cowbird or two.  Just passing through, I hope!

So even though things are a bit slower than past winters, I know more is to come.  I think it was Thoreau who wrote the phrase "faith in a seed"; we as bird lovers put "faith in a bird", as we anxiously await spring, and the birds that announce its arrival.

Wordless Wednesday

Dark-eyed Junco - obviously NOT wordless!

Cool Stuff about Birds I Didn't Know Until...

...until I read Wild About Northeastern Birds - a Youth's Guide

Okay, it's a "youth's guide" but I still found out some more fascinating facts about birds that I didn't know.  Like:

• Ground-nesting birds lay eggs that are shaped to spin rather than roll away.
• Red-breasted Nuthatch nests have a mat of sticky tree sap around the hole to keep out predators.  With the gummy resin there, parents don't enter the nest after the first week.  In preparation for young leaving the nest, parents put clumps of mammal fur over the resin.
• Baltimore Orioles will eat fresh or frozen peas (we'll have to suggest that to customers and see what they say!)
• When Brown-headed Cowbirds lay eggs in the nest of a goldfinch, the cowbird chicks typically die because the seed diet provided to goldfinch young doesn't have enough protein for the cowbird chicks to survive on.
• Female cowbirds lay up to 40 eggs each year, NONE of which she hatches.  144 species have been host to cowbird eggs.
• Fossil records show that both wooly mammoths and Eastern Meadowlarks lived in North America over 10,000 years ago.
• Owls aren't the only birds that cough up pellets.  Belted Kingfishers produce pellets of hard-to-digest fish scales and fish bones.

Read my review of Wild About Northeastern Birds to find out more about this fascinating book.

Baltimore Oriole image courtesy of WBU, Inc. image library

 

Book Review: Wild About Northeastern Birds - A Youth's Guide

Wild About Northeastern Birds - A Youth's Guide, features birds of the Northeast and how, when, and where to find and observe them.  For this book, "Northeast" means the 11 states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, a clarification that should have been made on the front or back cover.

I like the layout of the book, with the 70 birds organized by habitat versus alphabetical or taxonomic order.  This is a lesson in itself, helping readers young and old connect the dots between the birds and the habitats in which they are most likely to be found.  That doesn't mean that taxonomic order (or binomial nomenclature for that matter) was left out; indexes in the back of the book list the birds taxonomically and alphabetically.

Since the type of habitat one is in is not always obvious or known, each of the four habitats are described, discussing natural history as well as the flora and fauna to look for in determining a habitat category.

Within the habitat group, each bird species has a two-page spread, starting with a large photograph marked with key visual characteristics to look for.  Additional smaller photographs are provided when there are differences in sexes, morphs, or color variations.  A bubble gives a cursory description of one of the bird's calls, song, or other sound and what it is interpreted to mean. 

"Habitat Cafe" tells the reader what the bird eats by season, while "Life Cycle" covers the nesting process, from nest to fledgling and beyond.  An additional panel covers when best to see the bird (day and season), when they migrate and to where, when they nest, how they get around and where to look within the habitat.  "Do the Math" activities help illustrate some of the amazing facts about birds.  And interesting paragraphs share fascinating facts and stories about each bird.

I loved the details of the food preferences by season (both natural food and feeder food) and that the migration section includes information on where the bird migrates to (if at all).  Tools and hints are provided to help start a bird journal, which could lead to a lifetime activity.  There is a good emphasis on conservation, responsibility, and safety throughout the reading.  All of this is written in an easy to read and easy to understand fashion. 

Buyers of this book will be interested in knowing the intended age range, which online is stated as "5 and up".  (This would be useful information to place in an easy-to-find location like the front or back cover).  Don't let this age recommendation deter you from getting this book for readers up to middle school age. 

Wild about Northeastern Birds is more than a field guide to identify birds; it provides easy-to-read details of a species' life history, which hopefully will lead the young reader to learn more about all aspects of the life of the birds around them.  And though it is marketed as a "Youth's Guide", there's something for almost everyone to learn in this book.  If you're looking for new reading for the 5-13 year old bird and nature lover in your life, I can highly recommend Wild about Northeastern Birds.  Hint: Read it yourself before you wrap it!

WILD ABOUT NORTHEASTERN BIRDS
by Adele Porter
Published by Adventure Publications 2010
Paperback
ISBN 978-1-59193-258-1
$17.95

Available at Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs NY.  If you plan to purchase this book at WBU-Saratoga, click here for a money saving coupon (expires March 31, 2011).

DRAWING: Comment on this post to have your name entered in a drawing to win my review copy of Wild About Northeastern Birds.  Entries close February 15, 2011.  Winner will be notified by email.
RESULTS: Congrats to Steve H. who won the drawing for the free book.

In accordance with Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255, it is disclosed that the copy of the book read in order to produce this review was provided gratis to the reviewer by the publisher.

Juncos by the Numbers

 

2         rank of juncos as the most frequently reported birds in last year's Great Backyard Bird Count, second only to the Northern Cardinal.

6       distinct populations of Dark-eyed Junco: Oregon, Pink-sided, White-winged, Slate-colored, Gray-headed, and Red-backed.

11     years old is the oldest recorded Slate-colored Junco.

30     percent more feathers (by weight) on a junco during winter than in summer.

65     percent of a junco's time is spent on the ground.  The remaining time is spent in shrubs and/or saplings and low trees.

260     million juncos live in North America according to Partners in Flight.  This is second only to the American Robin.

Source: WBU, Inc.