The Zen Birdfeeder

Goldfinches by the Numbers

American Goldfinch male

3    Goldfinches species in North America: American, Lesser and Lawrence’s Goldfinch.

4    miles the distance that flocks of American Goldfinch roam between feeding stations in a single day.

1    brood per year that most female American Goldfinch produce

3 to 2     male to female ratio in the population of American Goldfinch. This imbalanced ratio may be due to the fact that male goldfinch live longer than their female counterparts.

4 - 10    feet high that goldfinches typically place their nest.

5    eggs in a typical goldfinch brood.

12    days goldfinch eggs are incubated and another 12 days to leave the nest.

3    weeks that young American Goldfinch are dependent on their parents after fledging.

10 yr, 5 mo    age of the oldest banded goldfinch ever recaptured in the wild

American Goldfinch female

Information provided by WBU, Inc.

 

Wrens by the Numbers

Carolina Wren

40  the number of different songs a single male Carolina Wren can sing

400 the number of small twigs that might make up a House Wren nest

36  notes per second a Winter Wren can sing.

10  times louder is the Winter Wren's call than that of a crowing rooster (in proportion to its size and weight)

1821 the year that the Bewick's Wren was first identified by John James Audubon.

3,000 times a Carolina Wren might sing its song in a single day.

Wren image and facts provided by WBU, Inc.

The Woodpecker Six Pack in My Yard

Ellen is a Facebook Fan of our Wild Birds Unlimited shop and she has nicknamed the six woodpeckers we're most likely to see in our area as the Woodpecker Six Pack.  I've had them all in my yard at least a few times and some of them every day.  Here's the birds that make up our Woodpecker Six PECK:

The HAIRY WOODPECKER is the most common woodpecker that visits our yard.  His "peek-peek" call often announces his arrival.  Their preferred food in my yard by far is Bark Butter.

 

The smaller DOWNY WOODPECKER is the next most common.  Like the hairy, they love the plum tree off the corner of the deck before heading off to feed on the Bark Butter or suet log.

 

We see the COMMON FLICKER with some regularity, almost exclusively on the ground, probing the yard with its long beak for ants and other insect delicacies.  It's uncommon to see flickers at feeders, but it CAN happen!

 

We used to see the YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER more frequently when we had more Mountain Ash trees in the yard.  Our ashes seemed to be one of the sapsucker's favorite trees to drill sap wells in since their sap flows very freely.  Unfortunately, the sapsuckers have contributed to the loss of several ash trees in my yard.  Only one remains and the sapsuckers have become more infrequent visitors.

 

PILEATED WOODPECKERS have plenty of their preferred coniferous forest habitat and carpenter ant food sources in the surrounding area, so I hear them more often than I see them.  I think it also explains why they haven't had to resort to my birdfeeders to satisfy their appetites.  The picture above is a pileated on a suet log feeder in the yard of WBU customer Sandra M.

 

The least frequent Six Peck member in my yard is the RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER.  They're still just expanding their range into this part of the state and have are not regulars here - yet!  When they do visit, they're quick to the seed cylinder or stackables, so we almost always have some out on a feeder, just in case.

Not in the Six Peck....

Though the RED-HEADED WOODPECKER is a resident of New York state, they are very uncommon and I've never had one visit my yard.  I'd be one happy girl if they did and you'd be sure to hear about it.  In the meantime, you'll have to settle for this red-headed woodpecker picture taken in North Carolina.

So, which of the woodpecker Six Peck have you seen in your yard?

Hummingbirds by the Numbers - 2nd Edition

1/10    ounce is the weight of a hummingbird (like the weight of a penny!)

2        eggs are generally laid in a hummingbird nest.
   
1-½    inches in diameter is a typically hummingbird nest (about the size of a golf ball)

2        times their body weight is the amount of nectar hummingbirds will drink every day (most birds only eat ¼ - ½ their body weight).

12    times per second that a hummingbird tongue can move in and out while lapping up nectar.

80    times per SECOND is how fast hummingbird wings can beat! 
   
50    beats per minute that a Ruby-throated Hummingbird heart will slow down to during periods of energy-saving torpor.  It usually beats 1,200 times per minute!


Check out our 1st edition of Hummingbirds by the Numbers

Bluebirds by the Numbers 2nd Ed.

3     The number of bluebird species in North America (Eastern, Western and Mountain).

2     Number of bluebird broods per season, and maybe even a 3rd!

3-5      the percent of young birds that return to the territory where they were hatched

45     mph is the speed that bluebirds can fly!

75     percent of the time, when choosing a natural nesting cavity, that Eastern Bluebirds choose an abandoned woodpecker cavity

1934      the year the first bluebird nesting box trail was established in Adams County, Illinois in 1934, by T.E. Musselman.

See our first edition of Bluebirds by the Numbers

Juncos by the Numbers 2

 

 

9-12    days after hatching that young juncos leave the nest.

 3        the rank of the junco in the 2011 Great Backyard Bird Count as Most Frequently Reported Bird.

0        percent of the time that juncos were observed in the canopy of large trees (during a New Hampshire study on junco foraging habitats).

20-80    percent of the time that junco nests fail due to predation.

3-5    the number of eggs in a typical junco nest.

10    acre area that wintering flocks of juncos stay within.

2        the rank of the junco in overall population in North America, second only to the American Robin.

Read more Juncos by the Numbers

Based on material provided by WBU, Inc.

Groundhogs by the Numbers

150       days that a groundhog hibernates, all without eating!

37         degree body temperature during hibernation - down from about 99 degrees!

14         pounds a groundhog could weigh

8           mph is the top speed of a groundhog, too slow to evade a predator like a fox that can hit 25mph

5           heartbeats per minute during hibernation (down from about 80 beats per minute.)

2           breaths per minute during hibernation (down from around 16.)

1           pound of vegetation is how much a groundhog may eat in a single sitting. (Like a 150-pound man eating a 15-pound steak!!)

1/16     inch is how much a groundhog's teeth grow EACH WEEK

Source: National Wildlife Federation

Cardinals by the Numbers

3 - 4   months a young Northern Cardinal will have a black bill

7         species in the world with the name Cardinal

7        states have the Northern Cardinal as their state bird (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia)

9 - 35    percent of nestlings in a cardinal nest that have a biological parent different from the mated pair that raises them.

15 - 37    percent of cardinal nests that succeed in fledging young.

15     years plus 9 months was the age of the oldest recaptured banded Northern Cardinal.

77    percent of the time cardinals spend foraging on the ground, according to one study in North Carolina

200    number of songs per hour male cardinals may sing in the early morning hours

 

Adapted from material provided by WBU, Inc.
Cardinal pair image from the WBU, Inc. image library

Chickadees by the Numbers

27    times per second a chickadee in flight flaps its wings

6-8    eggs in a typical chickadee clutch

12    days chickadee eggs are incubated before hatching 

21    days in nest before baby birds fledge

20    times more food a chickadee needs in winter than in summer

37    percent is the winter survival rate when chickadees don't have access to birdfeeders (at temps below 10 degrees)

69     percent is the winter survival rate when chickadees do have access to birdfeeders

Derived from material provided by WBU, Inc.

An Early Rose-breasted Grosbeak Return to Region 8

My First-of-Season Rose-breasted Grosbeak
A female that returned April 26, 2011

A few days ago I wrote a post "Are the Birds EARLY or LATE This Spring?" and determined that most of the spring migrants in my yard returned EARLIER than their average return date.  One of the earliest was the Rose-breasted Grosbeak that returned on April 26.  This was TEN days earlier than the average return date and the earliest return date ever in my yard.

Unexpectedly, a female returned first, and two males appeared later in the day.  I read the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club Birdline emails, and at that time, I didn't remember having seen any reports of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks yet. 

The New York State Ornithological Association Kingbird publication lists earliest reported return dates for migrating birds throughout the state, so I looked back 6 years to research the earliest return dates for the Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Region 8 - Hudson-Mohawk.

2005     April 24     Lansingburgh     Rensselaer County
2006     April 27     Niskayuna          Schenectady County
2007     April 17     Claverack          Columbia County
2008     April 27     Colonie              Albany County
2009     April 26     Palenville           Greene County
2010     April 25     Brunswick          Rensselaer County

So it appears that my April 26 return date is fairly early, especially from my location in northwestern Saratoga County (all these earlier dates are in counties south of Saratoga.)  I reported the sighting on eBird just in case my girl grosbeak was the earliest sighting of 2011 in Region 8!