Why Carolina Chickadee?

         Ever wonder how birds got their common names?
         No?
         Well I do. So sit down, shut up and take this lesson … and like it.
         Now by common names, I mean Field Sparrow, as opposed to the Latin name Spizella pusilla, which the ornithologist types like to toss around to make us think they know something.
      I’ll discuss birds most of us see at our feeders each day.
       Some birds are named by appearance or color. Cardinal – that’s obvious.  Then there’s Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay and so on. Grosbeaks have big thick bills. Then there are habits and habitats. House Sparrows and House Finches like to live around structures. It is not unusual to find one of their nests in a hanging plant on your porch. Some birds are named for the calls or sounds they make. Take the Mourning Dove – that’s a kind of sad song, right? And listen to a chickadee sometime – “chicka-dee-dee-dee.”
      But there’s a Black-capped Chickadee that most of you see up north. Then there’s a Carolina Chickadee, which looks much like the Black-capped, but lives down south. Why Carolina? Why not Florida Chickadee or Southern Chickadee?
      First of all, many American species were named for – or by - early naturalists. You have the western birds, Lewis’s Woodpecker and Clark’s Nutcracker, named for – you guessed it – the early American explorers.
      Back in the 1830s, our boy John James Audubon hung out with a preacher named John Bachman (Bachman’s Sparrow) from Charleston, S.C.  Now this was back before lenses and photography had been refined enough to capture images like we can today. How did Audubon get all of those detailed images on paper? I mean it’s not like he could get them to pose. So the best way for Audubon to get a good close look at birds was to shoot them and bring them back home for study – and painting. He’d often skin the birds and stuff them, then pin them on a board for his paintings. Sounds brutal, but this was a time before Americans had little notion of conservation or preservation because of the sheer abundance of most species. I referred to this in a previous post about the sad story of the Passenger Pigeon.
      Audubon and Bachman would go out with their trusty shotguns and, when they saw or heard a species of interest, they’d shoot them. Some years earlier Audubon had painted an image of a chickadee he had killed in one of his Louisiana expeditions. He named it a Black-cap Titmouse (titmice and chickadees are from the same family – Paridae. Don’t ask) and sent it up for his Birds of America publication. But while he was in South Carolina, he and Bachman were talking about chickadees one day when Bachman noted how big Black-capped Chickadees were up north. Audubon recalled being shown a specimen from the north that was also particularly large. So Audubon sent for some specimens from buddies up in Boston and Baltimore. In the meantime he and Bachman when out chickadee hunting.
     When they got the specimens together, they discovered that they were two different birds. Just in time, too, because Birds of America was about to go to press, and Audubon had to send word to England to get his Louisiana bird’s name changed. It appeared as “The Lesser black-headed Titmouse: Parus Caroliniensis,” which we now know as the Carolina Chickadee.  The important thing is that Audubon and Bachman were the first to differentiate the two species, and the name Carolina Chickadee evolved from the place where the species was first officially ID’d. The Carolina Wren naming was a similar story.
     In case you’re wondering, I got most of this stuff from a book called Had I the Wings: The Friendship of Bachman and Audubon, by Jay Shuler.  It offers lots of interesting facts about how Audubon went about his work and things he saw that we will never see. There are six species in Birds of America that are now extinct.
      You see the names of Audubon, Bachman, Wilson, Harris and others, tagged to bird names in your bird guide because these were the pioneers of ornithology in the U.S. They were the ones who first discovered and named species that Europeans had never seen.
      Here endeth the lesson.
       I ran out of my regular bird seed, so here are the species who took interest in the suet, leftover rice, apple slices, bread and peanut butter I offered today:

(PM, sunny, 45 degrees, 20 minutes)

Northern Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay

The Sons of Anarchy move in

A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds dropped in on the feeding station the other day and sparked a turf war with the Mourning Doves.

   That’s how I think of things with the birds in my backyard – one big battle over turf. Just like gangs in our streets.
   You have the blackbird gangs – the starlings, grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds. They’re like motorcycle gangs; every now and then they swoop in, take what they want, then move on. The Red-winged Blackbirds soon came an agreement with the doves the other day. The doves took the ground territory while the blackbirds took over the tube feeder. So Sons of Anarchy.
   But the Mourning Dove gang pretty much owns this block. They’re like The Sopranos. They have the numbers and muscle control things. And they like to hang out under the feeders, like Tony’s crew did at the restaurant.
   Then there is the cardinal gang. They’re more like the traditional Mafia network. They’re snappy dressers who flit in and own whatever feeder they like as long as they’re around.
   The Blue Jay crew is a raucous bunch that try to scare everyone around. But they’re more like the Reservoir Dogs crew – robbers who storm in when their favorite fare – peanuts - are in for the taking. They pick out these jewels and take off.
    Then you have the phony mayor. That would be the mockingbird. He tries to act like he has control over the whole domain, but everyone knows he’s helpless against the gangs.
   Caught in between all of this gang stuff are the honest, hard-working smaller birds, the chickadees, titmice, wrens and sparrows. They just scratch out a living, coming and going, getting what they can until the bigger gang birds show up.
   The woodpeckers mind their own business. The juncos and finches are like tourists passing through and watching their backs the whole way.
   Then, of course, there are the cops – the hawks. They spy on the scene and wait until just the right time to move in. Everyone scatters when 5-0 shows up, and pity the poor soul who is too slow to escape.
    That’s my backyard street scene. Not much bloodshed, because everyone knows his place. Nevertheless, it’s an entertaining series of episodes I don’t want to miss.

Here’s the lineup from today:

(PM, 75 degrees, partly cloudy, 30 minutes)

Carolina Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
Brown-headed Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-bellied Woodpecker
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay

A tale of two birds

     I think of two birds when I think of the first Thanksgiving.
     First is the Passenger Pigeon. I surmise that Passenger Pigeons were part of that first

Thanksgiving meal, because these birds were once so prevalent in America’s skies and were a good source of food for people. History tells us that Passenger Pigeon flocks were once so big that they would darken the sky. So they were frequently hunted by Native Americans and new Americans alike.  Up until about 1900, people netted them and shot them regularly with no notion that the species could ever be in danger. But the combination of hunting and habitat destruction all added up to a once-abundant species simply vanishing. The timing wasn’t too good for Passenger Pigeons because until the 20^th Century, people weren’t too concerned about things like conservation and preservation of species.
      The timing was a little better for the Wild Turkey. These birds were once abundant in America,

too. So they could well have been part of the first Thanksgiving meal. Of course, turkey has been the traditional plate of the holiday ever since. But the fate of the Wild Turkey could easily have been that of the Passenger Pigeon had we not paid attention to the dwindling numbers of these birds. It was in the early part of the 20^th Century that people began noticing the decline of the species, and by the 1940s the situation was so dire that conservationists began trapping and moving the birds to more favorable habitats. Now, thanks to those conservation efforts, hunting regulation and licensing, and organizations such as the National Wild TurkeyFederation, these grand birds have become a healthy and prosperous lot once again.
     For those of us who live in suburbs, seeing a Wild Turkey would be rare. But for people who live in rural areas, it is not uncommon for Wild Turkeys to stroll into their yards and even snatch food from their platform feeders. I passed a home in the North Carolina mountains once, and saw three Wild Turkeys on their deck!
    So the return of the Wild Turkey is something we can all be thankful for.
    I don’t expect to see a Wild Turkey in my yard any time soon. But here is what I did see today:

(AM, partly cloudy, 52 degrees, 20 minutes)

Carolina Chickadee
Northern Cardinal
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco             

 

 

When suet isn't suet

  My nephew e-mailed me the other day with a problem. It went something like this:
- Squirrel knocks down suet
- Little terrier gets into suet
- Dog poop everywhere
   So I suggested to him a recipe for a suet without the suet. Suet is beef fat, and that's what the pup likes.
   Since winter is coming on, and homemade suet works better in cold weather, I'll offer a couple of recipes here, one without the beef fat.
   I generally don't suggest making your own suet because it is so messy,
and store-bought suet is cheap and adequate. But you can come up
with ingredients that vary from the store-bought kind, and your birds may
like it better.

Here's a recipe for suet without the beef fat:

• Take some crunchy peanut butter and mix in some bird seed - mixed and/or sunflower.
• Add some grits (for southern birds!) or corn meal, and then some raisins or berries. 
•  I like to put a little honey in mine, but you can put in brown sugar, table sugar or molasses to sweeten it up.
• Mix it and form it into a mold to fit your suet cage. I use one of those Tupperware sandwich containers, but you can also use the bottom of a 1/2-gallon juice or milk carton. You might want to line it with waxed paper to prevent sticking.
• Cover and put it in the freezer overnight.
• Serve

For the suet with beef fat:

•  Get some beef fat from your butcher, or use trimmings from your own cuts of meat.
•  Cut it up into small squares - running it through a grinder is even  better.
• Cook it down to as close to liquid as possible, but BE CAREFUL NOT TO SCORCH IT - it will smoke and smell up the joint. You can do this in a pan or even in a microwave on a lower setting.
• Then mix it with the peanut butter and the other stuff above, and freeze it like above.

    As I have said before, birds eat most anything, so the combinations of
ingredients are almost endless. Some people put in flour or bread crumbs,
dried fruit, leftover rice, chopped nuts, oats, cereal, eggshells ... the list goes on and on.
    But suet of any type gives birds extra energy they need, particularly in winter.
Here's what I saw today:
(AM, sunny, 42 degrees, 20 minutes)
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Carolina Wren
Northern Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee
Blue Jay
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird

Is Woodstock skating on your bird bath?

 

   November is usually the driest month of the year. Windy too. That means our
bird baths dry up in a hurry, so it's good to keep an eye on them and make sure they
stay in water.
  For people up north, November means something else: the first freezes set in as
precursors to a winter of frozen bird baths.
  The best solution for an icy bird bath is is a heater. We folk here in da South kinda snicker at the notion of a heater for a bird bath. "Oh my, what'll they think of next." Our idea of ice is the wiper sticking to the car windshield. At the first forecast of snow, we flock to the stores like a bunch of doomsday preppers. But then, we don't play ice hockey on our ponds and lakes down here.
   So, a bird-bath heater is the best way to go if you live where hard freezes are the
norm. You can buy these things for as little as $20, but the high-end hot-tub versions
go for up to $100. And they're usually plug-in deals, so you have to use a drop-cord
and all that.

Here are other options to consider:

•  Move the bath out of the shade and into the sun.
•  Use a black trash bag as a liner - it absorbs heat.
•  Just clean the birth bath and put it away - birds often don't like to bathe in water during the coldest weather, since the water can freeze up on their feathers.
•  Some birds like to take dust baths, so a small pile of loose sand in the yard might be good.

  If you have one of those garden fountains or some sort of drip device, just keep an eye on it for the coldest temps.
  Of course, bathing isn't the only reason for a bird bath. Birds need to drink, too,
which makes the heater option the best. If you don't want to do any of that, just take
something like a Frizbee or one of those flat bottoms to a potted plant and put it out
each day.
  I live in eastern North Carolina, so I rarely need more than an ice pick and a little
warm water, even on the coldest days. But this year I'm gonna try one of those shallow black dishes you get with a microwave meal at the store, and just put it in the middle of the bath to absorb heat.
  A water source is always an attraction for birds, so it is good to have something out there.
Here's what I saw in my yard today:
(AM, sunny, 47 degrees, 30 minutes)
Carolina Wren
Carolina Chickadee
Chipping Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird
Mourning Dove

Getting back to normal

   The sparrows have returned. A couple of Chipping Sparrows showed up about a week ago, and a couple of days later a beautiful White-throated Sparrow was at the platform feeder on my deck.
   As luck would have it, my computer was down with a virus and I couldn't relay this stuff to you right away. My little baby was whisked away to CPU ICU UFN. But now she's back and humming away as usual.
    It's like the end of the world around here when the computer goes down. I only use one unit, so I'm lost without it. I can't get to my work, my bank account, my email, my porn sites ... it's a downright disaster. I was doing stuff like house-cleaning last week! And TV. A mall shooting a day on CNN. I bet I put in four hours of CSPAN - now THAT'S depressing. Oh yes, and I started into "Call me Ishmael ..." I can't wait to get to the whaling chapters. Well, yes I can ... and will.

"I really could put it down!"

                     -  Webster Lupton
                       Birds In The Yard

    Anyhow, the presence of the sparrows and the absence of any hawk sightings tell me I may have sparrows back as regulars for the first time in weeks. White-throated Sparrows are winter visitors in the South. They are one of the few backyard birds that sing in the winter; you'll know the song when you hear it. The Dark-eyed Juncos have appeared here also, and together they indicate that the fall migration is nearly complete.
    If the Song Sparrows and Field Sparrows show, I may have a normal winter. I'm also going to put out a fruitier version of suet to see if I can get more woodpeckers.
    Here are the species that visited while my computer was down:
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
Carolina Chickadee
Dark-eyed Junco
Chipping Sparrow
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Mockingbird
White-throated Sparrow
Mourning Dove
Carolina Wren
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Tufted Titmouse

Finally, a sparrow

     A House Sparrow showed up at the platform feeder on my deck this afternoon, the first sparrow I had seen here in weeks. The weather system that moved through must have brought it in. It was hungry. When a big old cardinal flew up, the sparrow didn't yield an inch, just kept on eating. The sparrow flew off soon enough, and I don't know if I'll see it again. I think it was just passing through.
    Strange that it was a House Sparrow - it actually adds to my backyard life list. That's right, one of the most common birds in North America never comes around here. House Sparrows prefer urban settings, so if you live in the middle of the city, chances are you'll have more at your place that I do here. They're the chirping birds that like to hang out in parking lots and stores like Lowe's or Home Depot. Like crows, they feed on stuff we leave behind. I recall being at the Mall in Washington, D.C., and the House Sparrows were so keen to being fed by people that you could simply reach for your jacket pocket and they would fly to you with the pigeons.
   I still haven't seen any of the sparrow species I used to see around here. Nor have I seen other newcomers from migration season.

 

Here's what I did see today:

(PM, cloudy, 67 degree, 20 minutes)
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Blue Jay
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren

I'm seeing red

   Still no sparrows seen nor heard around here. No hawks either, but I suspect they still shop from time to time.
    As they say in the wild kingdom, when one species goes into decline, another replaces it. With me it has been cardinals. They're almost always at the feeders. I have seen as many as four males in the yard at one time, with their entourages of females and juveniles in tow. This tells me that I have three or four families visiting. This time last year it was one or two groups. 
   I guess there are worse things than a bunch of cardinals raiding the feeders. They do bring color to the surroundings.
   But I'm hoping one of these weather systems will bring some migrants soon. I need new faces.
   Here's what I saw today:
(AM, drizzle, 66 degrees, 20 minutes)
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Chickadee

The case of the missing sparrows



Here's a White-throated Sparrow in my yard - back when I
had sparrows.

 

     This sparrow thing is beginning to concern me. I haven't seen one in about a month now, and I used to have them regularly. Now I'm not sure what to do.

     I once had as many as four species of sparrows feeding here. Chipping, White-throated, Song and Field sparrows all showed up from time to time. They are generally ground feeders, but they also came to my platform feeders and even to a tube feeder if it had mixed seed. They're hard to identify from a distance, because their size and coloring are so similar and they are well camouflaged.

     Over the past few days I have been putting mixed seed on the ground between my feeders and a nearby holly bush, in order to provide a feeding area near cover.

    Why near cover? Predators. There may be a number of reasons for the missing sparrows, but I’m putting my money on things that like to eat birds.

       So let’s take a look at the clues and the suspects.

• Clue #1: Hawks have been raiding the feeding station with more frequency lately. I had to run another Cooper’s Hawk from my yard the other morning.
• Clue #2: Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned hawks have an affinity for munching on sparrows.
• Clue #3: I saw a cat schlepping through the yard just yesterday, tail twitching and eyes fixed on the House Finches at my tube feeder. A ground-feeding sparrow could be easy lunch for a cat.

      So, is it Mr. Cooper, at the feeding station with the talons? Or could it be Mrs. Tabby near the holly bush with the claws? Tune in later.

      Meanwhile, I'll continue to put food on the ground for the next couple of weeks, in hopes of getting a family of migrants to visit. But if the number of hawks I see around here continues to exceed the number of sparrows, I just may take the drastic measure of halting the feeding altogether - for a while, anyway.

Here's what I saw today:

(AM, sunny, 66 degrees, 20 minutes)

 

Northern Cardinal

Northern Mockingbird

Carolina Wren

House Finch

Blue Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Mourning Dove



 





Nuthatches don't hate to eat and run

This Brown-headed Nuthatch has his seed and is headed for

 cover.

Nuthatches are fun little birds to watch. With their fat bodies, short tails and no neck, they have a cartoon-character look about them. They’re bundles of energy, scooting around tree trunks and branches looking for insects. And they're bold enough to fly in close to people. They often buzz me when I’m putting out food.

If you have suet and sunflower seed out, there's a good chance you'll get to see these entertaining little birds at work. Of course, they also like nuts. They'll also nibble on crunchy peanut butter.

Nuthatches, like titmice and chickadees, are grab-and-go eaters. Their thin bills aren't designed for crunching down on sunflower seeds. So they don't light at feeders for long, like the thicker-billed cardinals and finches. They zoom in to a feeder, grab a sunflower seed, take it up to a limb, put the seed between their little feet and peck out the good stuff. Seems like a long, involved process, I know. But in a day, a crowd of nuthatches can go through about as many sunflower seeds as a baseball player would during nine innings.

Most Americans have two types of nuthatches - Red-breasted and White-breasted. In the South, we have the Brown-headed Nuthatch, too.

Here's what I saw today:

(AM, sunny, 55 degrees, 30 minutes)

Northern Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee
Mourning Dove
House Finch
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Brown-headed Nuthatch

Windows, as birds (don't) see them

A couple of wrens were chasing about my deck yesterday, and one hit my storm door. The bird wasn't hurt and flew off. This is not common in my yard, but it happens a couple of times a year. Most times the birds aren't hurt. If they fly in fast from a distance, sometimes they are stunned and fall to the deck. I have also seen a bird killed. The break room at my former workplace had a huge picture window. One day a flicker flew in hard, smacked the window and never came to.

               The instances of birds flying into windows are more common than you think, particularly in cities with skyscrapers that have a lot of window glass. The birds either see a reflection of sky or see past the glass to the light from another window and think there is a flight path. The number of bird deaths because of window glass rises during migration periods like now.
               In my yard, a bird will hit a window or storm door out of panic caused by a hawk or a rival. (Doves fly too fast for their own good, sometimes.) If you have a large window, it may happen just because the bird thinks it has a path to find cover. If a bird sees a reflection of a tree, it might be flying toward that.
               Reflection is a big factor. My brother's family had to deal with a cardinal that had regular war with the side-view mirror on the family car. The cardinal saw a rival in that mirror and continually attacked it. They ended up having to put a bag over the mirror to keep the cardinal safe!
This rare; matter of fact I had never heard of it. So I wouldn't worry about covering your side-view mirrors.
               However, there are things you can do to make things a little easier for your backyard buddies. What you are trying to do is make sure the bird knows there is some sort of barrier in front of it.

• One my favorites is to let the windows get dirty. Ha! That's just too easy. 
• You might try putting up blinds or curtains to block their view. I know, "So how am I supposed to watch birds?"
• Well, a sticker or two on the window can work. People with sliding-glass doors have these to keep their kids from running into them.
• Screens over windows help, too.
• Or try hanging ribbons or a flag in front of the window.

       There are some more-expensive measures to take, like installing shutters or special windows.
      Of course, if this doesn't happen in your yard, you probably shouldn't worry. Just go out to your feeder and look back toward your house to get a bird's point of view. If you see yourself, the reflection of a tree or something, or if you see through the window or door to light from another window or door on the other side of your home, the bird probably sees the same thing. Then there's a chance of an accident.

----- 

OK, the last time I saw a hummingbird was on Sept. 17. I'll leave the feeder out longer, just in case a Rufous Hummingbird shows up. That's a long shot; I've never seen one here, but the Rufous has been reported in the vicinity during the winter.

 

Here's what I saw today:

(AM, sunny, 60 degrees, 20 minutes)

 
Blue Jay
Red-bellied Woodpecker
House Finch
Carolina Wren
Northern Cardinal
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
Mourning Dove                

Hummingbirds hanging out

I missed seeing hummingbirds for a couple of days, so I thought they had moved on. Then one showed up today. I couldn't tell if it was one of the two or three families that have been here this summer, but it had no competition, so it may have been passing through.

    Eight doves were in the yard the other day. That's more than normal around here, so I suspect they like the new seed mix I put out.
    Conspicuously absent for about a week or so have been sparrows of any sort. They may NOT like the seed mix, but I suspect a hawk problem. Sharp-shinned Hawks like sparrows.
    I have also missed seeing - or even hearing - any woodpeckers lately. Don't have a clue about that.
    Oh yes, the rabbit that likes to graze in the yard, now has a baby following along. It seems to be curious about the squirrels; today I saw it chase after one as if looking for a playmate. Its survival skills may be tested, since there are a couple of Red-tailed Hawks who patrol the neighborhood regularly.  

Here's what I saw today:

(AM, clear, 62 degrees, 30 mins)

 
Northern Cardinal
Mourning Dove
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Northern Mockingbird
American Goldfinch
House Finch
Brown Thrasher
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Carolina Wren

Fall, football and flight

               Fall is on the way and that means a number of things. Yeah, I know; football and ragweed. But around this time of year, something clicks in the heads of millions of birds. We're not exactly sure, but we think they notice the length of the days changing. Whatever it is, they decide it is time to move. And by move, I mean thousands of miles in some cases.  
              It is the seasonal migration, and people who feed birds in their yards may notice a few things. Birds get more active and aggressive around feeders. Some change colors; the most noticeable is the American Goldfinch, who loses those bright yellow feathers for something more drab. Then the birds come and go. Depending on where you live, you may see a number of species you haven't seen all summer. Other species will be with you year round. For instance, we here in North Carolina have the Northern Cardinal all year. Hey, it's the state bird; it belongs!  But the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds leave. (I'll see the last of them between mid and late September. Farther north, you'll notice their absence earlier.) The martins, swifts and many of the swallows head out too. And the Dark-eyed Juncos show up. A few different species stop at my feeders on their way south.
               With all of this flying, birds need nourishment, and our feeding stations become something like diners on the interstate. So there are a couple of things we should all do.
               First, make sure there's plenty to eat - the birds are either prepping for a long trip, or they have just made one. They're tired and hungry. This applies especially to hummingbirds, who spend their winters in Central and South America. Mourning doves start looking for a feeding sanctuary. On Sept. 1, dove hunting season begins in much of the nation. You might put out a seed mix that includes millet and cracked corn. It offers doves an option to a cornfield that features flying birdshot. 
              Also make sure feeders and baths are kept clean. Birds are coming in from everywhere, and God knows what diseases they're bringing with them. One of the causes of the spread of disease is the common feeding area. I use water with a tiny bit of bleach to clean up (see my April 12 post).
               Then just pay attention to what shows up. For the next three months, you may be surprised at the species that come to your feeders. I'll let you know what newbies I see as they come in.

               Meanwhile, here's what I saw today.

(PM, sunny, 82 degrees, 20 minutes)

Northern Mockingbird
House Finch
Mourning Dove
American Goldfinch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch

Squirrels stump my setup

I'll be doing a fall season update next time. But now I'll do a squirrel update.

               My super duper line-and-baffle squirrel-proof setup ... is not squirrel proof. That's right; it has been conquered more than once, and by two squirrels. It took them several tries (squirrels are a persistent bunch), but when they figured it out, they hit on about one every three tries.
               The two squirrels who have been successful, take different approaches. One tip toes the line and with two jumps, makes the mark. The other chooses to spring from the tree, grab the PCV pipe and make one more jump to the goal. His jump from the tree is about six feet - a backyard record.
               Why they don't just figure that the goal is not worth the effort, I don't know. I feed them sunflower seeds and peanuts every day at the three stands in my yard. But they don't appear to want to give up until they have exhausted the supply everywhere. 
               I have added a baffle to the line and will continue to refigure the plan until I have stumped them all.
               We shall see.

Here are the birds I saw today:

(AM, cloudy, 77 degrees, 30 minutes)

Northern Cardinal
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Brown Thrasher
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Mad Ants Attacked My Home!

       Yeah, I thought that headline would catch your attention. And like most things you read on the internet, it is at least partially true.
       This veers from the subject matter of this blog, but it carries the overall theme of the wild kingdom that is my back yard.
         So I wake up day before yesterday because of an electrical smell. You know it - like something is burning. I immediately notice there is no readout on the air conditioner thermostat, so I go to the breaker box and power down on the AC unit, wondering whether to call the fire department or the AC service first.
          The smell went away soon enough, so I figured I was safe.
           Today the AC man shows up.
           "Come here and see what caused that smell," he said after opening up the unit.
           There they were; thousands of them, crawling madly about a mass of charred wire and a burned-out servo.
       The guy said it wasn't that unusual - for ants to short circuit an appliance. Really?
        So where do I turn? To the internet, of course. I mean why trust what a real life human person says when you can go into cyberspace and find the real facts?
         I  Google "ants electronics" and lo and behold, this turns up:
       
http://www.livescience.com/37720-crazy-ants-invade-electronics.html

 

My questions:
- Is this the end of civilization?
- What do they want?
- Who is their leader?
- Can President Obama figure a way to screw this one up?
- And when will I get my damned air conditioning back??!!

Oh yes; this is a bird blog. Here's what was flying around the yard today:

(PM, mostly cloudy, 74 degrees, 20 minutes) 
 
Northern Cardinal
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Blue Jay
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
Brown-headed Nuthatch

Take this fun quiz!

It has been so boring around here lately that I haven't had any good stuff to relay to you. So how about filler?

          But don't go away; this should be fun.
          In one of my first blogs, I used a cliché. Like "for the birds" I believe it was. It was bad and I apologized for it.
          But I could really litter up this blog with bird-related clichés, because there are soooo many.
          So I've decided to go ahead and get them out of the way, right here and now. And rather than just list them, how about a little quiz?
          The answers can be phrases, sayings or terminology that you might not even consider cliché. But they are all related to birds.
          Those of you who do crosswords should love this.
          Score 100% and you get the Wise Old Owl award.              
           The answers are at the bottom.  

 

1 - A chain of command in an organization could be called a ....
2 - If you are at the top of the chain, you ....
3 - Two people who are alike in many ways are ....
4 - A last, fond farewell
5 - A person with no cares or obligations could be considered ...
6 - Zoom in on Google maps, and you have this
7 - Your bold boast is burst; you'll be ...
8 - Point A to Point B
9 - Your hungry kid ...
10 - A crazy person could also be called a ...
11 - But a stupid person is simply a ...
12 - A man with a bothersome wife is ...
13 - The motto of a person who's always first on the scene
14 - "What a beautiful voice you have; you ...."
15 - If you consider letting go of something to go for more, consider this
16 - Two people equally deserving know this
17 - What you get from that thrilling experience
18 - To rear-end
19 - One of the first signs of aging is when you get these.
20 - The prisoner felt all ...
21 - Then one day he decided to escape, and he ...
22 - "Casey comes to bat, bottom of the ninth, his team trailing 3-0. The bases are loaded. Yessir, he has ..."
23 - "And he strikes out! Mudville loses. They score zero, nill, naught, the ol' ..."
24 - "Hogan's second shot on the par 4; if it goes in, he'll have an ..."
25 - "But he missed. If he sinks the next one, he'll still have a ..."
26 - A type of tournament in which everyone plays everyone else
27 - With everything organized and in order, you have your ...
28 - Well, I could make this list longer, but it is dinner time and I am downright .... 
 

Answers:

1 - pecking order

2 - rule the roost

3 - birds of a feather

4 - swan song

5 - free as a bird

6 - birds-eye view

7 - eating crow

8 - as the crow flies

9 - eats like a bird

10 - loon

11 - bird brain

12 - hen pecked

13 - The early bird gets the worm

14 - sing like a bird

15 - A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

16 - What's good for the goose is good for the gander

17 - goose bumps

18 - goose

19 - crows feet

20 - cooped up

21 - flew the coop

22 - ducks on the pond

23 - goose egg

24 - eagle

25 - birdie

26 - round robin

27 - ducks in a row

28 – ravenous

 

Why can't they all just get along?

Under the category of "Things I never saw around here."

               My latest bird-feeder configuration isn't to the liking of the hummingbirds. The hummingbird feeder is a little too close to the other feeders. And this causes friction.
               Sometimes the titmice or chickadees pass a little too close to the hummingbird feeder, and it ticks off the hummingbird. He chases the other birds off.
               I had never seen this before, probably because I had always had the hummingbird feeder isolated in the yard.
               But the sight of a hummingbird chasing another bird around the yard is downright funny. It's not like it really bothers the bigger birds. They seem to come back for their food and ignore the little pest as best they can. Meanwhile, the hummingbird - the smallest of birds, no bigger than my thumb - insists on being bossy and buzzing the others when they get too close.
               So I'm watching these antics the other day when something more sinister develops.

               (Bassoon music, here)

               In a flash, I catch the big wings and the fan tail of a Cooper's Hawk zooming into the big shrubs nearby. The birds scatter, the squirrels scramble, and the whole yard is suddenly empty.
              Now, this happens many more times that I actually ever witness, because the whole scene develops so quickly.
               But this hawk was successful. And he stayed. He actually brought the prey to the ground and fed - for about five minutes.
               I had never seen this in my yard. I had seen a Red-tailed Hawk feeding in my brother's yard out in the country. But I had not seen a hawk feed in my yard.
               The Cooper's was around long enough for me to go get my binoculars and give him a good study. I couldn't tell exactly what the food was, but it looked small, and the feathers were gray. I suspect a titmouse was the slow one of the group. Poor little titmouse.
               But the hawk feeds, and life goes on ... in the wild kingdom.

Here are the survivors I saw today:

(AM, sunny, 78 degrees, 20 minutes)

American Goldfinch
House Finch
Northern Cardinal
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Chipping Sparrow
Brown Thrasher

Jewels of summer

Male (left) and female American Goldfinches.

               Goldfinches are fairly regular visitors to my feeders. They come in groups and dress up my tube feeders like jewels of summer.
               In the summer the male American Goldfinch is about the prettiest bird that visits our yards. Their bright yellow and black coloring makes them obvious. They are less evident in the winter, when their colors fade to a yellowish-gray and black.
               Since American Goldfinches are year-round residents in most of the continental U.S., you have a good chance of attracting them most anywhere. If you live in the Southwest, you may confuse the American Goldfinch with the Lesser Goldfinch, which has a more black on its back and head.
               Like most birds, goldfinches like sunflower seeds. But if you want to bring them in numbers, try thistle or nyger seed. You can present the food in a number of ways. Some people even plant thistle in their gardens. And there are goldfinch-specific feeding methods. One is a tube thistle feeder, which looks like a normal tube feeder, only with tiny slits in the ports. A thistle sock works too. This is a seed-filled net that you can hang from a limb or another feeder. Finches cling to these like chickadees.
               If you're not sure you have any goldfinches around, try buying one of those socks to put out. The reward is well worth the expense.

               Here's what I saw at my feeders today:

(AM, partly cloudy, 85 degrees, 30 minutes)

House Finch
American Goldfinch
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
Red-winged Blackbird           

Woodpeckers

  This young Red-headed Woopecker takes to a

 light post near my home.

 

   Downy Woodpeckers like suet.

   But they'll come after sunflower seed

   as well.

 

 

 

          A Red-headed Woodpecker came to my suet cage the other day. Among the prettiest visitors to my station, these birds show up here about once a month. I hear them more often, but they like to stay in the trees where the crawling insects reside.

      That's the story with most woodpeckers; they like to hang out in older and dying trees because of the bugs. It's their main source of food, and the reason why we see fewer of them at our feeders during the summer.

       In the winter, I'll put out extra suet and rub peanut butter (crunchy – yum!) on a tree to supplement their diets. Some woodpeckers like acorns and nuts, too, so don't be surprised to see one grab up a peanut you leave out. Fruit, sunflower seeds and even hummingbird nectar are other things woodpeckers like.

       I have had six species of them come to my feeders. The little Downy Woodpecker is the most frequent; the big, beautiful Pileated Woodpecker is the least-frequent visitor.

Here are the others:

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (yes, they suck sap)

Northern Flicker

Red-headed Woodpecker

          Most people in the eastern U.S. get the same set of woodpeckers. Up North and out West, folks have a chance at seeing even more species of woodpeckers.     

If you have a dying tree still standing in your yard, think twice before cutting it down. You may have a good chance of providing a home - as well as a food source - for these interesting, hard-headed birds. You can also buy or make a woodpecker house.

Here's what I saw at my station today:

(AM, partly cloudy, 83 degrees, 15 minutes)

Brown Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Carolina Chickadee

Common Grackle

Northern Cardinal



Squirrel proof - I think

Clever, huh? The platform on the clothesline post in the background is one of the stands where the squirrels feed.

 It has taken me much of the summer, but I think I have come up with a squirrel-proof feeding station. Let me repeat, I THINK. Nothing is completely squirrel proof, the experts say. But I am testing that theory.

 My new setup: the ol' line-and-baffle system.

 I waited for a couple of weeks for a scavenger buddy of mine to find some wire long enough. But he couldn't, at least wire that he didn't want to sell to the salvage yard.

  So I went to Lowe's and bought 50 feet of nylon cord. At $2.50, it was cheap enough. I had some PCV pipe, so I took that and a few plastic soda bottles for baffles.

               I stretched all of this over about 30 feet, between a light post and a pine, 8 feet up - no low-hanging limbs. I hung the feeders between the baffles and waited.

 

               After about a week of trying, one brave squirrel, studied, calculated, and went back to his nest to do a detailed engineering diagram no doubt. Then he gave it his best effort. He swiftly and acrobatically covered about 10 feet of cord, recoiled and actually hurdled about 4 feet of the baffling, grabbing the cord on the other side with his little front feet. Then he shimmied up and was on the tube feeder.

 

               Wow! I've got a Flying Wallenda here.

  But I wasn't finished, no I wasn't. I had heard of using old record albums as baffles, so I dug up a couple of old 78s - Stokowski, Wagner. (That's Vaagner, if you're saying it. And no, I couldn't sell them on eBay. I tried.)

               I strung the albums on the outside of each set of baffles.

               It has been two weeks and no squirrel has dared. Oh, they will. They're planning and plotting this very moment.

    And yes, I'm feeding them. They have their own little stands for eating. It's just that they're on a diet now; they're not going through 20 pounds of sunflower seed in a week.

               The birds have more undisturbed time at the feeders. That should continue for a while, at least. I think.

Here's what I saw at the feeders today:

(PM, 82 degrees, partly cloudy, 15 minutes)

House Finch

Brown Thrasher

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Northern Cardinal

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Nuthatch

 

Our constant companion

 A crow occasionally comes to the platform feeder farthest from my house, taking advantage of the bread and peanut offerings. It really ticks off the mockingbirds who persistently divebomb the invader.

             In the mockingbird world, a crow is a predator.  In our world, a crow is just a bad guy. Well, that's his reputation, anyway. He's a scavenger and a wily opportunist. And he shows up in all of those horror movies, starring as a harbinger of doom. No, Hitchcock didn't start this. Hitchcock just made him a film star. Cave dwellers drew crows on their walls. Noah relied on a crow to find land. Later, crows picked up a literary agent and everybody from Shakespeare to Stephen King got in on the action.
               So crows have been prominent in our lore down through the years. And there's a reason: They follow us around; and they follow us around because we leave stuff behind. That's right. Crows like to eat things we offer. From the stray French fry in the parking lot, to the newly planted corn in the field, crows are there to forage.
               This is not to say that crows rely totally on humans for food; they eat almost anything they can get their big black beaks on. The mockingbird knows that the crow may raid its nest. And crows have been observed eating anything from large insects to small reptiles.
               But crows have expanded their range and population with humans.
               I like crows. I admire their intelligence, playfulness and beauty. And they have never raided my feeding station in such numbers that I would consider them pests.
               Most of the crows around my place are Fish Crows. I know this because of their calls. The Fish Crow and the American Crow look so much alike, it is hard to tell the difference any other way. But the American Crow has a vast range in North America. They can be seen in almost every state in the continental U.S.
               If you hear the familiar "caw" around your place, there's a chance you can get a crow to your feeding station. Try leaving out chunks of bread or a few peanuts. Corn works too. But not too much - you might get more crows than you want.
               Then judge for yourself. Good guys or bad guys; like 'em or not, crows will always be our constant companions.
      No crows today, but here’s what I did see in the feeding area:

AM, Cloudy, 79 degrees, 20 minutes
 House Finch
Carolina Wren
Northern Cardinal
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Brown Thrasher
Common Grackle
Blue Jay
Red-winged Blackbird
Mourning Dove