Showing posts with label christine southwick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christine southwick. Show all posts

For the Birds: The Ubiquitous Song Sparrow

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

By Christine Southwick
A discussion of yard birds wouldn’t be complete without including Song Sparrows.

Song Sparrow. Photo by Christine Southwick.
If you have native plants or feeders, and dense shrubs, brush, or Himalayan blackberry, even if just along the edges of your yard, you undoubtedly have song sparrows. Considered habitat generalists, about the only place you won’t find them here is within forests.

Song Sparrows belong to the sparrow family, and because of similarities of first-glance-coloring are often called “Little Brown Jobs” [LBJ’s]. Song sparrows have one of the largest group of subspecies—29 sub-species are recognized. Here in the Puget Sound though, we have the well-known dark form which is a year-round resident below 4,000 ft. During the winter, a smaller, paler sub-species migrates down from interior British Columbia.


Song Sparrow feeding Cowbird. 
Photo by Christine Southwick.
Our Song Sparrows are large chunky dark sparrows, with a long tail that they pump both while eating, and while flying low from one shrub to the next cover. Their head is streaked with rich browns and grays between, with a distinct eye line running from the bill to its shoulders. The back and sides are also streaked.

Song Sparrows were named after their song, which they learn from listening to neighbor birds. Here in the Puget Sound area they often sing all year long. Males sing to proclaim their territory, and to attract a mate. Females have been known to occasionally sing.

Because they stay low to the ground, both for eating insects and seeds, and for nesting, cats are their main predators, followed by hawks, owls, coyotes, and dogs. 

Cowbirds are known to lay eggs in the nests of Song Sparrows, with the result that not all of the Song Sparrow’s 3-5 young will fledge. 

Song Sparrow on alert.
Photo by Christine Southwick.
Fortunately, Song Sparrows usually have two-three broods a year. If you have a breeding pair that bring their young to the feeders or bird baths, perhaps you will be treated to the hilarious sight of a fledgling Song Sparrow without tail feathers trying to fly , bottom heavy, from one shrub to another. It gives the expression “low rider” a new meaning.

Song Sparrows are often ignored in the same way as robins. Everyone sees them, and because they are so common, people just say, “Oh, it’s a robin.” or “Oh, it’s a song sparrow.” And then they continue to look for other birds.

Once you start watching and listening to Song Sparrows you’ll realize that they are a real treasure, especially when the male is up on a branch singing with all his heart.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards. 

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For the Birds: Northern Flicker

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Male Red-shafted Flicker. Photo by Christine Southwick.
by Christine Southwick

WOOKA, WOOKA, WOOKA! This loud call is paired with much head bobbing, and is often followed by a resounding KLEEER. Next comes the loud drumming on your metal chimney covers. Flicker mating season has begun.

The only brown woodpecker in North America, this largish bird is readily identified by its undulating roller-coaster flight, and its white rump as it flies up from the ground where it was eating its favorite meal of ants.

There are two forms of the Northern Flicker: the Red-shafted and the Yellow-shafted. Here in Western Washington is one of the few places where both sub-species can be found.

The Red-shafted males have red mustaches; the Yellow-shafted males have black mustaches. Both male and female Yellow-shafted have a red crescent on the back of their heads; the Red-shafted do not. Red-shafted have salmon colored under-sides of their wings and tail; the Yellow-shafted have yellow. Interbreeding creates some interesting looking birds that you won’t find in any bird guides, and that will drive you crazy until you realize that you are looking at an intergrade Northern Flicker.

Male and female Red-shafted Northern Flickers   
Photo by Diana Thompson
Flickers are cavity nesters, with both partners excavating, but the male doing most of the chiseling. Both parents incubate the eggs and feed the young. From the time the 5-8 eggs are laid until the young leave the nest is about 40 days. The flicker parents feed and teach their young the best foraging sites. It is fun to watch a flicker teach its young to use the suet feeders. Some fledglings catch on quickly, and others need several lessons. Sometimes you can almost hear the parent giving a heavy sigh.

Starting in March, flickers drum to attract a mate and proclaim their territory. If a flicker is drumming on your house, it will cease soon—often as soon as the nest is built.

If you have trouble with a flicker trying to make a nest hole in your house, the solution is pretty easy; put up a nest box made for flickers. The only other reason a flicker would make holes in your siding is to get to bugs—in which case you should have an expert come out and apply an avian-friendly bug-killer.

Female Red Shafted Flicker. Photo by Christine Southwick.
Northern flickers are the primary predators of woodland ants, and are vitally important for the health of northern forests. Northern Flickers are considered a keystone species since the holes they excavate are used by many cavity dwelling birds.

So enjoy the Wooka, Wooka Wooka and the head bobbing of two to five flickers trying to win the “Pick Me” contest. Who says you have to travel to see an enchanting mating ritual?

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

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For the Birds: Dark-eyed Juncos

Monday, March 21, 2011

Male Oregon Junco. Photo by Christine Southwick.
By Christine Southwick

Did you ever startle a bird as you’re walking along a tree-lined path, and all you saw was a flash of white as it flew away? Or maybe you just heard a chipping sound in the woods, and couldn’t find it? Stand still, and look for movement and flashes of white down near the ground.

That flashing white of its outer tail feathers tells you that it was a junco. Its pink bill is also a diagnostic clue.

Here in Western Washington, we have Oregon Juncos with an occasional Slate-colored Junco in the winter flock. These are both sub-species of Dark-eyed Juncos, a type of sparrow.

Dark-eyed Juncos are often called “Snowbirds” because so many spend their winters throughout the US, and move further north or to higher elevations to breed.

Slate-backed Junco.  Photo by Christine Southwick
Some yards in our area, usually near healthy greenbelts, may have juncos year round. But are these the same birds? Like robins and flickers, many Juncos you see may be migrating birds that have learned that your yard is a good resting and re-fueling stop.

Some yards with sufficient food sources, and plenty of evergreen trees, may even have resident juncos. My yard has two color-banded males that have been breeding here every year, and may even be resident. My previous yard only had juncos from October thru March.

Juncos feed on the ground eating seeds all year long, and insects, arthropods, and berries when available. In the winter, they form small flocks and often forage in more open areas than during the rest of the year. 

Family portrait l-r female, male,  juvenile. 5th year that male orange over orange has raised young in this yard.  Photo by Christine Southwick.

The female builds her nest for 3-5 eggs, on the ground, hidden under grass, behind a log, rock or tree root. Both parents feed their young, and they often raise a second brood here.

Because juncos are ground feeders and nesters, cats are a great danger to juncos, and should be shoo’d away.

If you want juncos in your yard, plant flowers like zinnias and cosmos and let them go to seed. Provide water and shrubs, and evergreen trees for shade. Juncos like escape routes using multi –stemmed shrubs. Besides, it’s fun to watch them plummet from a small branch, and brake with their wings just before certain destruction.

In August, don’t deadhead your flowers. Leave the seed for the juncos and other birds, and you may have your own Snowbirds with their flashing white bellies and startling white outer tail feathers.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

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For the Birds: Bewick's Wren

Monday, February 28, 2011

In the backyard. Photo by Christine Southwick.
by Christine Southwick

When first heard, the Bewick’s Wren’s song can be mistaken for that of a Song Sparrow. But it is a little too bubbly and liquid. There is no mistaking the harsh scolding warning when you come too close to one, or a pair, of these little wrens as they forage in amongst the leaves and branches of shrubs and trunks of trees. They are insectivores incarnate, with 97% of their diet coming from the insects, larvae, and spiders they glean from vegetation in a two-to-ten acre territory. They use their long thin bills to probe far into crevices.

The male sings his song to defend his territory, and attract a female. Once mated, he builds two to four starter nests for the female’s approval. She selects and finishes one, and lays 5-6 eggs. The male stays attentive and feeds her while she is on the nest, and both parents continue to feed their young for a couple of weeks after they have fledged (left the nest).

In the night roost. Photo by Christine Southwick.
Bewick’s Wrens, pronounced Buick’s, are named after Audubon’s naturalist friend, Thomas Bewick. Here in the Puget Sound area most Bewick’s Wrens are year-round residents. Seasonally monogamous, they are solitary the rest of the year, although some pairs do stay together all year. Wrens are known for nesting in unusual places, and it is fairly common to find one wedged in a corner or small opening on your front porch where it has decided to roost on a cold wet night.

Brush piles, rhododendrons, red-twig dogwoods, twinberry, snowberry, quince, really almost any many-twigged native bush will bring them into your yard. Don’t use insecticides. It will make them sick, and you won’t need insecticides anyway, once they make your yard their home.

Because Bewick’s Wrens forage and nest usually less than ten feet from the ground, cats can be a real danger to these birds.

Banding a Bewick's wren. Photo by Christine Southwick.
When it finally gets warmer outside, and you’re surveying your yard for spring gardening, with a cup of your favorite beverage in hand, stop when you hear a harsh buzzy scolding sound. Look low into nearby bushes, and see if you can spot a dark brown bird with a white eyebrow and white throat, with its tail cocked up over its back, moving along the branches. If so, you have just found a Bewick’s Wren. Maybe it will stay, and help you take care of your garden.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

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For the Birds: Anna’s Hummingbird

Monday, February 21, 2011

Male Anna's Hummingbird. Photo by Christine Southwick.
By Christine Southwick

While out in your yard, you hear a sound like your house fire-alarm battery-warning. Where is that coming from?

Look up. Watch for a moving object (bigger than a bumble bee, smaller than a chickadee) about 10-20 feet up that dives rapidly down (up to 40 MPH), and then flies back up, repeatedly. That funny sound happens at the bottom.

You have just discovered a male Anna’s Hummingbird,  He makes that display dive, with the loud dive-noise, to attract a mate, or to warn off an intruder—if you’re wearing red, maybe you’re the intruder. Anna’s have readily adapted to urban settings, and their buzzes, chatters, and chips will often guide you to their exposed perch.

A medium-sized hummingbird, with a straight bill, the Anna’s Hummingbird has become a year-round resident of the Puget Sound area, since the late 1970’s. All Anna’s are bronze-green above, and gray below. The male Anna’s has the only iridescent rose-red head and throat in North America. Juveniles, which can be present as early as March, look very much like the females with a gray throat, and won’t get their lovely throat color until the following year. Color can be deceptive. Sunlight needs to shine on the throat (gorget) to show that glorious color, otherwise it can look black. That is why the male always make sure he positions his dive with the sun behind the female, so that she gets the full dazzling display.

The male defends his food sources, rather than a specific territory. After all, his only duty is to mate. The female makes the tiny nest, lays two small jellybean-sized eggs, fends for herself, and feeds her young for 20 days until they become independent. The mother feeds her young only regurgitated insects, sticking her bill down their throats in what looks like a sword-swallowing act.

Anna’s eat more insects than any other hummer in North America, often catching small flying insects in the air. They eat nectar from native and urban plantings, and hummingbird feeders, often visiting a series of neighborhood feeders and flowers on a daily schedule.

Because they hover, fly up, down, and sideways, , 30% of a hummingbird’s weight is flight muscle. The Anna’s weighs just a little less than a nickel.

Anna’s Hummingbirds birds were named after an Italian duchess, Anna De Belle Massena, in the 19th century. But don’t get confused, hummingbirds are only found in the Americas, not the European continent.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager. She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

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For the Birds: Spotted Towhee

Monday, February 14, 2011

Male Spotted Towhee. Photo by Christine Southwick.
by Christine Southwick

Rustle, rustle, scratch, and scratch. What is making that noise? Deep under a bush, behind thick twigs is movement—is it a bird, a squirrel, a giant _ _ _ _?

Could it be Spotted Towhee?

A larger member of the sparrow family, the Spotted Towhee searches the ground for seeds, beetles, weevils, and such, using their famous two-footed-backward-hop to turn over leaves and debris where these savories are hidden. Towhees can be found low in trees and bushes when acorns, berries and fruit are ripe. The male towhees perch in trees to sing their territorial love songs, until they are mated, then they return to ground foraging.

Thicket and edge-of-forest skulkers, Spotted Towhees, once rare west of the Cascades, have taken advantage of clear cutting openings to expand their range. Our mild winters allow Spotted Towhees here to survive comfortably without migrating.

They are ground nesters, with the female making a nest for her 2-5 eggs in a ground depression or against a stump. From late March until late August the nests are active, so it is very important to keep dogs on leashes when in parks and in wild areas. Interestingly, when a nesting female is disturbed, she will scurry away like a wren or a mouse, rather than fly.

Juvenile Spotted Towhee. Photo by Christine Southwick.
Young towhees look like large streaked sparrows. The white on the underside of their tail feathers is often your best clue, at least until their body feathers start molting into the rufus sides worn by the adults. The young are fed for about 30 days by both parents, unless there’s a second brood—then all the feeding is done by the male.

Want towhees in your yard? Make a wild space in a corner or yard edge. Start with a brush pile behind other bushes, and rake your leaves there in the winter. Plant native shrubs with fruit, like twinberry or evergreen huckleberry. Scatter some shelled sunflower bits, not millet, on the ground in front of that area, early in the day, so birds will eat it all before darkness. Towhees will use feeders and suet, if there is a route of good cover leading to the feeders. Once they find your yard wild enough they will become residents.

If you hear a rustle, rustle, sometimes followed by a distinctive cat-squawk, look for a Spotted Towhee.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager.  She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards. 

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For the Birds: Do Bird Feeders Really Cause Dependency?

Monday, February 7, 2011

Evening Grosbeak. Photo by Christine Southwick
by Christine Southwick

There’s an urban myth that feeding birds will cause them to become dependent and keep them from migrating when they should. This is only a myth!

Bird migration is driven by the amount and degree of sunlight. Food does not change this drive. In fact, good food will help increase the odds that the bird’s migration will be successful.

Successful bird species have evolved by continuously searching for and sampling new and different food varieties in diverse locations. Proof of their programmed vigilance and continued search for new food sources is the fact that birds find new feeders in places where there were none before.

Studies have found that feeding wild birds improves their survival rate, and increases breeding success and clutch sizes. Feeders are treated like a mother lode of fast food—what scientists term a “resource patch,” meaning food is plentiful and easily accessible, like a ripe berry patch or a fruit tree laden with fruit.

Birds need up to 10,000 calories a day—they must find good food for nourishment, and eat it quickly for safety from predation. Feeders can provide both, if they are set up correctly and offer quality seed.

MacGillivray's Warbler. Photo by Christine Southwick
Here in the Puget Sound area, unshelled black-oil sunflowers are a much appreciated food. Mess-free shelled mixes are good too, as long as they don’t have any red millet, and very little white. Saffron seeds are not well received here either. Watch the birds at your feeders. Do they throw a lot of the seed on the ground? If so, change what you are offering. Uneaten seed on the ground will invite guests you would rather not have. Suet, water, and native plantings will draw birds to your feeders. Remember to keep them clean.

One study found that feeders only provide 25% of a bird’s daily intake. With wild habitats shrinking by the day, that 25% of high-energy food, especially during harsh weather, helps even the score, and will often make the difference between their surviving or perishing.

So, enjoy feeding the birds. Besides, it is so fun to watch your regular birds darting back and forth, their bright colors and cute antics bringing cheer to a dreary winter day.

And don’t be surprised when an unexpected avian explorer lands at your feeder to see if your seed should become a part of its food route.

Christine Southwick is on the Board of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory and is their Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager.  She is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat Steward, having completed their forty hour class. We're happy that she's sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.

Read more...

For the Birds: Those acrobatic chickadees

Monday, January 24, 2011

Black-capped Chickadee. Photo by Christine Southwick.
by Christine Southwick

That cheery “Chickadee-dee-dee at your feeders means it is time to grab a cup of tea, sit down, and watch those bold little acrobats with the black caps and white cheeks take turns snatching a black-oil sunflower seed and darting back to a branch to open it.

Black-capped chickadees have the most complex social order of any local feeder birds. The most dominant bird feeds first, carefully choosing the heaviest seed before flying off to eat it in the safety of cover. You’ll often see them hanging upside down to reach delectable bugs and spiders, or a tasty morsel from the suet.

Inquisitive and friendly, chickadees will be the first to find your new feeder, and announce their find to the neighborhood birds. In the winter, nuthatches, kinglets, and downy woodpeckers tag along with chickadees because they know these non-migrating bundles of energy know how to find all the winter specials.

Chickadees are the local watchbirds. They are the first to sound the alarm "Predator!" The more loud "dee-dee-dees" there are at the end of their call, the more danger. Humans rate a "one" extra dee-dee when out in the yard. A Sharp-shinned Hawk gets about a "five", and every bird hits the bushes, with no delays.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Photo by Christine Southwick.
Chickadees, both the Black-capped, and the Northwest’s Chestnut-backed chickadees, will readily use nest boxes. Buy boxes with a 1 1/8” hole, place in or near a tree with a clear flight path to the opening, put some wood shavings in the bottom, and you will probably have a chickadee pair taking up housekeeping. The male brings food to his mate while she sits on the four to five eggs. He helps feed the young, and after the young move away, the bonded pair will stay coming to your feeders.

Want chickadees regularly?
  • Feed them:
  • black-oiled sunflower seeds for energy - and it's fun to watch them crack open the shells;
  • suet for winter, and while on the nest;
  • water all year round.
  • Add woody scrubs and tall evergreens to your yard - you won't need pesticides because the birds will eat the bugs;
  • Shoo away roaming cats.
You’ll have your darling visitors, and break-time entertainment.

Christine Southwick is the Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager and Board member of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory.

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Why feed birds in the winter?

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Shoreline Snow.  Photo by Jan Hansen.

This article introduces Shoreline resident and birder Christine Southwick who will be providing the ShorelineAreaNews with articles on wild birds.  In this first article, she talks about why and how to feed birds in cold weather.  Note the snow-covered bird house in the beautiful snow picture from Jan Hansen.

by Christine Southwick

Winter can be difficult for birds. The days are short, nights long and often cold. The wild food has been mostly consumed, and insects scarce. Usable water can be a hard-to-find element. Shelter from wind, rain, snow or ice, may be sparse.

Sudden drops in temperature or windy winter storms can challenge the survival of a bird without a good fat layer. At times like these, it is especially needful to have feeders filled so that birds can find food quickly and easily.

See a bird all fluffed up? It’s trying to stay warm by creating air pockets with its feathers. It needs extra calories to keep warm.  You can help by providing feeders with high energy black-oil seeds, suet, and maybe a mix of smaller seeds. Freezing temperatures make bird baths with a heater a must in this area.

Chris's bird feeder. Photo by Christine Southwick.
Feeders should be filled throughout the winter. Watch to make sure that the seeds don’t get wet and start clumping. If they do, throw that seed in the garbage; moldy seed can make birds sick. When the feeder becomes dirty, wash with a 10% solution of bleach, rinse well, and dry. Don’t want to wash feeders? Buy cheap plastic tube feeders, and replace feeders when dirty. If you do use plastic feeders, you’ll need squirrel baffles.

In cold weather, full hummingbird feeders won’t freeze above 28°F. Colder than 28F, bring feeders in after dark, and put out again at first light . If it stays cold during the day, tape a hand-warmer against the bottom of the feeder, or use non-LED Christmas lights. Anna’s hummingbirds feed well into dusk, and come back at early dawn. They need to fill up to survive winter over-night, and tank up in the morning to replenish their energy levels.

Feeder/bird questions? email Chris.

Christine Southwick is the Winter Urban Color-banding Project Manager and Board member of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory.

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