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

Bird Banding Here Today

Sunday, February 19, 2012


By Christine Southwick

Perhaps you have seen a sign in your neighborhood that says, “Bird Banding Here Today.” What does that mean? Why band birds, anyway?

With habitat loss being the number one cause of bird deaths, the habitat that each species depends upon for survival needs to be protected. The majority of the birds in question are migratory. The trees or specific vegetation needed for nesting, and the wintering locations bird use need to be identified and saved. Just as importantly, their resting stops that contain sustaining food and water along their flyways also need to be safe-guarded if they are to reach their breeding grounds at one end, and their warmer “wintering grounds” at the other end of their migration.

Tools of the trade: bird book, pliers
Photo by Christine Southwick

But, how do you know one bird from another? Is that robin, or that chickadee, that you saw yesterday the same bird that you saw today, or are these each different birds just passing through?

The best way to study individuals or a species is to put some sort of marker on them: for perching birds (Passerines) that’s usually silver numbered bird bands, sometimes combined with colored bands. Each banded bird has a metal numbered leg band stamped with a unique number recorded by the national Bird Banding Lab. These numbered bands are issued to Master Banders who have applied for, and received a permit for each specific study.

Mist nets gently catch the birds
Photo by Becky Uhler

Passerines are usually caught using mist nets, a very safe and easily watched method. A mist net is ten feet high and usually either six or ten meters long. Five horizontal pockets run the full length to gently catch any bird that flies into the almost invisible barrier.

Trained banders carefully extract birds from the net and take it to the banding table, where the correct-sized band is fitted, and the bird’s age, gender, and general health is determined and written down on a 36-column legal sized data sheet. All this information is sent to the Bird Banding Lab and entered into a national database available to researches.

A young visitor gets the chance to hold a bird
Photo by Christine Southwick

There is a really neat opportunity to watch birds being banded here in Shoreline. From October through April there is a site in Briarcrest, one at Shoreline Community College, and a third on Lyon Creek in Lake Forest Park. Visitors are welcome, and more information is available on the Puget Sound Bird Observatory website

So, next time you see a sign, Bird Banding here, you’ll know that neighbors are doing an important scientific study to help birds that use this area in the winter. If you have time, come spend an hour or so and watch the process. You may even be given the opportunity to hold a bird.


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 is sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.



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For the Birds: Birds need tree canopy; and so do we

Monday, January 23, 2012

Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Photo by Christine Southwick
By Christine Southwick

Our backyard birds evolved using the canopies of trees. Their feet are made for perching on tree limbs, landing and sleeping on branches, finding bugs on leaves, or for launching from tree perches. Indeed, these birds form the world’s largest group of birds, called Passerines, or perching birds.

Sure trees give birds places to rest, raise their young, and find food, but why do we need tree canopy in our neighborhoods? What exactly is tree canopy anyway?

Varied Thrush, female, February 2011
Photo by Christine Southwick

Tree canopy is the layers of leaves/needles, branches, and stems of trees that cover the ground when viewed from above. Tree canopy is not only pretty, it is functional. Tree canopy delays rainwater from reaching the ground during storms, thus slowing runoff. This allows sediments to settle and stay out of our creeks and lakes; and reduces, sometimes even prevents, flooding. Tree leaves/needles also filter our air, making the air cleaner and healthier for us to breath. In the summer tree canopy helps keep houses and roads from over-heating, and in the winter helps keep these areas warmer. Studies have even found that cities with more tree canopy are safer places to live.

Evergreens, like our Western Cedars, Douglas Firs, Yews, and all those pines and spruces provide year-round filtering protection for the birds and for us. A sentinel force, if you will. Evergreens are long-lived, grow tall, offer multi-layered canopy per tree, and increase the value of your property, and the neighborhood’s.

Band-tailed Pigeon
Photo by Christine Southwick

Dark-eyed Juncos, Varied Thrushes, and Townsend’s Warblers huddle under/in evergreen branches during snows, ice storms, and cold windy weather. Anna’s Hummingbirds often build their nests under an overhanging evergreen branch before deciduous trees leaf.

Many birds depend on evergreens: Chestnut-backed Chickadees need, and are found in, yards and forests with evergreens. Downy, Hairy, and Pileated woodpeckers find their food in the bark of evergreens—their bills and tongues have evolved to access specific bugs, and excavate their nests. Red-breasted Sapsuckers drill sap-wells in evergreens for year-round feeding. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers are also evergreen aficionados. Merlins and Band-tailed Pigeons need tall evergreens for their roosts and their nests—lack of these large trees is one reason for the decline of our native Band-tailed Pigeon.

Deciduous tree canopy, especially from fruiting trees, is certainly valuable to birds, and our own sense of completeness; but it is the evergreens that work year-round protecting our environment and those who live here. Maybe that’s why Washington is, “The Evergreen State”.

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 is sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.



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SAN columnist speaks to packed house at Molbak's seminar

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Christine Southwick at Molbak's

Our 'For the Birds' columnist Christine Southwick presented a seminar on Saturday, January 14 at Molbak's Nursery in Woodinville.

53 people braved a windy, rainy day to hear her presentation.

"Many more who weren't brave enough to go out called to ask for notes," said Mary Berg, Molbak's Community and Events Coordinator.

Christine's topic was "Attracting Birds to your BackYard: How to make your garden a sanctuary for both you and our native birds."

She discussed the things that birds need - food, water, shelter, and places to raise their young. She showed many native shrubs, trees, and plants which are attractive to birds. She discussed different kinds of birdfeeders, gave some ideas about how to provide water, and urged gardeners not to manicure their yards.
Nature isn't perfect - your yard shouldn't be either
If it is, you are starving the wildlife.

There is a link to Christine's columns on our main page, in the first column. Click "For the Birds."




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For the Birds: Bushtit - puffs of active fluff

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Bushtit on winter seedpod
Photo by Maggie Bond
By Christine Southwick

One brave little bird flies across an open space between a shrub and nearby tree, and calls for the others to follow, which they do one or two at a time, accompanied by flock-wide encouragement.

You have just witnessed the typical movements of a foraging flock of Bushtits. 

These tiny gray birds with brownish foreheads have a tail almost as long as their body, and barely weigh more than a nickel.

They flit around the edges of western forests with open canopy, and in shrubby suburban areas. Their range has expanded as mature forests have become fragmented.

Bushtits travel in gregarious groups of about 40 birds, communicating all the time, searching twigs and leaves for spiders and other tiny insects. With their upside-down probing, they almost best the acrobatic chickadees, which sometimes tag along with the winter flock. 

Bushtit suetfeeder. Photo by Dow Lambert
It is a real treat to see your suet feeder covered in little puffs of fluff, chattering away, never quite still. If you see one or two with white irises, you have spotted the female(s).

Their nests are a marvel, looking like a foot-long wind-sock hanging vertically from a tree fork anywhere between 4-50 feet up. The outside of their nests are made out of spider webs, moss and lichen, with a fur, feather, and plant material lining. Both parents claim a loose territory and make the nest for 4-10 eggs, with two openings: one on the side near the top, and one at the bottom, a passageway to the nest chamber. Sometimes there may be a helper, which is usually a male. Bushtits can have up to two broods a year, but will abandon a nest if they are disturbed before eggs are laid.

Bushtit nest. 1915.
The Bird Book
An interesting fact is that an entire Bushtit family will all sleep in the nest until the young have fledged; after that they sleep on branches. During the winter, they will often huddle together for warmth.

Bushtits seem to have a regular feeding route, often arriving in specific bushes or feeders the same time in the summer; the schedule seems to shift in the winter, but they are still there.

So, when you hear the moving twittering of a flock of Bushtits, grab that cup of coffee, and stand where you can watch them as they cover a suet feeder, constantly moving about, seemingly in friendly agreement. We humans could learn sociability from the diminutive Bushtit.

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 is sharing her expertise with us about the birds in our backyards.


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For the Birds: Seminar at Molbak's

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Male Spotted Towhee
Photo by Christine Southwick

Shoreline Area News columnist Christine Southwick will be presenting a seminar at Molbak's Nursery in Woodinville on Saturday, January 14, 2012 from noon to 1pm.

Christine, whose column For the Birds appears regularly in the ShorelineAreaNews, will be presenting on the topic "Attracting birds to your backyard."

Learn how to make your garden a sanctuary for both you and our native feathered friends. Christine will discuss which plants attract birds, bird feeder options, birdbaths, and bird identification. Also learn how the Winter Urban Color-Banding Project is gathering much needed information on local wintering birds and their habitat needs.

Molbak's is located at 13625 NE 175th Street, Woodinville WA 98072, 425-483-5000.



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For the Birds: Short-eared Owls—common day-hunters

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Short-eared Owl
Photo by Bill Dewey
By Christine Southwick

If you are in the Skagit area in the winter, hunting for Snowy Owls and other wintering raptors, chances are you will see a medium-sized brown owl hunting during our grey winter days. It is probably a Short-eared Owl. Since they use open land, it is common to find them over fields, and even over freeway mediums.

Short-eared Owl landing on fence post
Photo by Bill Anderson

Although it can, at first glance, be confused with the Northern Harrier because it is flying low to the ground, and maybe even hovering before pouncing on its prey, the floppy moth-like wing beat, and brown rump are great clues that it is a Short-eared Owl. Both species hold their wings at a slight dihedral (“V” shape), but, at least to me, the wings of the Short-eared Owl look overly-long for the size of its body, even though the wings of the N. Harrier average slightly longer. You may well see a confrontation between a N. Harrier and a Short-eared Owl hunting the same area, since they eat the same prey. N Harriers may attempt to steal the Short-eared Owl’s meal.

These owls help keep the vermin population down, eating voles, shrews, mice, rabbits, pocket gophers, and along the coast, some shorebirds. They locate their prey by ear, usually while in flight, although sometimes you will see them perched on a fence post listening.

The nest is located in open areas and is simply a scrape on the ground lined with grasses with usually six to eight eggs. The male brings food for the brooding female. The nestlings usually leave the nest 12-18 days after hatching, but can’t fly for another two weeks. Fledglings can hunt on their own within one to two weeks after their first flight, but family groups often roost together for a while.

Short-eared Owl wings in dihedral
Photo by Hal Everett

Unlike many owls, the Short-eared Owl is usually a quiet owl, with visual cues being readily used in open fields and daylight hunting. When defending their nest, they will bark, hiss or squeal. The male mating call has a steam-engine tempo of “voo-hoo-hoo”.

Habitat loss has greatly impacted our local Short-eared Owls. These owls, while still common in the winter, no longer breed in Western Washington where once they commonly nested. These owls need open land with prey species, and human expansion continues to shrink their preferred habitat.

So next time you are driving in open farmland on one of our grey dreary winter days, look for a Short-eared Owl skimming the fields listening for a tasty morsel. They will make a winter day bright again.

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: Snowy Owl Facts and Precautions - Interview with Nature and Bird photographer Paul Bannick

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Phone interview with Paul Bannick, Author and Photographer of The Owl and The Woodpecker 11/17/2011, by Christine Southwick

With the reports of sighting along the Washington coast, this year appears to be an irruptive year for the Snowy Owl.

"Snowy Owl Singing in Fog"  Photo: paulbannick.com
Reprinted with permission


Paul, WHERE ARE THESE OWLS COMING FROM AND WHY ARE THEY HERE?

Snowy Owls breed on the Arctic Tundra, but the young disperse widely, so we don’t know if these owls are from Alaska, Canada, or Asia. We do know that they are here in search of food. The most common explanation is that the birds are responding to a fall in lemming populations to the north. The success of the prior year’s breeding owls likely plays a role as well, with many more birds putting pressure on whatever lemming populations remain.

These owls are hungry. The only reason that they fly this far south is to get enough food to survive. They need all the energy and fat that they can acquire. It is important that people, in their enthusiasm to see these magnificent owls, don’t crowd them and cause them to waste valuable calories. Expending energy unproductively can be the margin between surviving or starving.

IS THERE A SPECIFIC AGE OR SEX OF THE SNOWY OWLS THAT FLY SOUTHWARD TO FIND FOOD?

There is a hierarchy in Snowy Owls, with the adult females initially retaining breeding territories, while males and juveniles move south with juvenile males traveling the furthest. Therefore, most of the Snowy Owls who travel down into Washington are juveniles, and the majorities of these are males.

WHAT KINDS OF FOOD ARE THESE OWLS EATING WHILE THEY ARE HERE IN WASHINGTON?

They are eating mostly rodents, and opportune birds. Rodents mostly move at night or dusk, so while the Snowy Owls are in Washington, most are hunting dusk through dawn. Having found an area that sustains it, a Snowy Owl may stay in the area for a while.

HOW WOULD I KNOW IF I AM TOO CLOSE AND CAUSING A SNOWY TO WASTE ENERGY?

These owls live on or near the ground. They need much more distance than other owls because of their exposure. If you are closer than 100 yards (length of a full football field), you may be too close! Half a mile is more ideal. If you see the owl opening its eyes during full daylight, defecating, climbing to a higher perch, or especially flying away from you, you are probably TOO CLOSE. You are causing an owl harm every time it has to launch itself for reasons other than feeding.

WHAT SUGGESTIONS WOULD YOU OFFER PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SEE THESE OWLS IN WAYS THAT ARE HEALTHY FOR THE OWLS AND SATISFYING FOR THE VIEWERS?

First and foremost, keep your distance. That means use a scope if at all possible. If you are taking pictures, take advantage of high-powered lenses and tripods and/or digi-scoping . Be prepared to stay in one place for a while.

It is recommended that people wait for a few weeks when they hear about a Snowy Owl in a new location. By late December or January, many of these owls will be in place and settled, and less likely to require that half mile. It may even be able to tolerate a closer approach, especially if you use your car as a blind. Watch for those signs of nervousness, and back away if you are bothering the owl.


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For the Birds: A year for Snowy Owls

Saturday, November 19, 2011


Snowy Owl at Ocean Shores, showing heavily feathered feet
Photo by Max Waugh
By Christine Southwick

If you see a large white owl with a black beak and yellow eyes sitting out in the open where it can see in all directions, be assured that is a Snowy Owl. The smaller males (23 inches long) are the signature white; the larger females (28 inches long), and the juvies are white with varying degrees of dark barring.

Their heavily feathered feet, and dense bodies (they average the heaviest North American owl species) plus their coloring make them highly suited for the cold arctic weather. Snowy Owls prefer to hunt in low light during the day, a great adaption for living where summers have no nights.

Snowy Owl.  Boundary Bay, BC 11/13/11. Photo by Nancy J Wagner Photography

Snowy Owls hunt and nest on the ground. They prefer open terrain year round, whether they are above the tree line in the tundra, or here in Washington . The female makes her nest on a snow-free high mound or boulder, with 360 degree visibility, and in May lays an egg every other day with a clutch size of five to eight eggs (14 eggs in high lemming seasons). The female incubates the eggs while the male hunts for both of them, and guards the nest. The eggs start hatching at 32 days, two days apart, making large size differences between the first and later hatchlings. 

Snowy Owls Boundary Bay, BC
 Nancy J Wagner Photography
The young leave the nest around 25 days after hatching, but can’t fly for about another month. Both parents are fiercely protective, and may drive arctic foxes and wolves away from their territory while intruders are still a half mile from the nest. And skuas (large arctic seabirds) and jaegers (smaller variety of skua) may take an egg or chick, but habitat loss is the greatest threat to Snowy Owls.

Since Snowy Owls keep the nearby area predator –free, and don’t hunt near their own nests, the Snow Goose will often nest near a Snowy Owl nest to improve the Snowy Goose’s clutch success.

Snowy Owls rely heavily on lemmings and voles, especially for feeding their young; each owl can eat more than 1,500 a year. They will also eat other rodents, including hares, marmots, and squirrels. They will eat birds, and actively hunt ptarmigan, ducks, shorebirds, and gulls, especially during low lemming years.

Snowy Owl Whidbey Island. Photo by Steve Mlodinow
Lemmings have a crash cycle every five to ten years. And indications are that this year may be a crash year, when Snowy Owls may be seen on coastal areas in B.C., Skagit, Vancouver Island, Grays Harbor. Since most males have prime Arctic territory, it is usually the females and juveniles who are forced to travel South in years of hunger from lack of lemmings.   If you go to see a Snowy Owl, take a scope, as they are usually far out on driftwood where they have unobstructed views.


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: The Snow Geese are Coming - 70,000 strong

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Snow Geese coming in for a landing.  Photo by Ray Hamlyn.

By Christine Southwick

The Snow Geese are Coming! The Snow Geese are Coming!

Snow Geese have begun returning to their wintering grounds in the Skagit Valley, mostly near Fir Island, after having completed their summer breeding on the Russian island of Wrangel. Snow Geese are a North American species, with both lesser (western), and Greater (eastern) subspecies, all of which breed in various parts of the Arctic Tundra. They will continue to arrive for a couple of months, and stay until about March,

The rich farmlands of Skagit County support the winter flocks.
Photo by Steven Mlodinow

The rich farmland in Skagit County supports approximately 70,000 to 90,000 Snow Geese in their large wintering and migration flocks. It’s a treat to see these white geese with black under-wing tips land in nearby farm fields.

A Snow Goose usually forms a life-long pair bond in its second year, and starts raising its annual three to five goslings in its third year. The females are highly philopatric, meaning that they return to their hatching grounds to breed their young. The babies leave the nest and start feeding themselves within hours of hatching, but stay under their parents’ protection for the next two to three years.

Snow Geese, being herbivores, forage by using their sharp beaks to pick up seeds and rip vegetation from the ground. They are very vocal and can be heard more than a mile away from where they are foraging.

A Blue Goose.  Photo by Doug Parrott.

Occasionally you will see what is called a Blue Goose, which is the dark morph of the Snow Goose (both names come from their plumage). Both phases of Snow Geese have a black edge along their bills-it almost looks like someone ran a black crayon between the upper and lower bills. Their legs and feet are rose-colored, but their legs and heads are often stained a rusty-brown from the minerals in the soil. Juveniles have duller legs and bill. Snow Geese often feed with other species of wintering geese, like the Greater White-fronted Goose.

Now that their numbers appear to be stable, Snow Geese, including the Blues, may be hunted between October 15 and January 29 in Washington State, so be aware of your surroundings if you go viewing where hunting is permitted.

The Skagit Valley is a major wintering site for Snow Geese, Trumpeter Swans, and Tundra Swans. It is well worth the trip to go see and hear the flocks. Just remember to pull off the much used rural roads, and respect property rights. Who knows, you might see another white bird—the Snowy Owl.

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: Birders: Be Pro-Active, Good-will Builders

Monday, October 24, 2011

Snow Geese in Skagit harvested field.
Photo by Barbara Deihl
By Christine Southwick

Fall has definitely arrived here in the Puget Sound area. This is a time when backyard bird watching is often augmented by birding trips to nearby “hot spots”, like the Skagit Valley, to see flocks of Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swans. Prairie Falcon, Gyrfalcon, and Snowy Owls, often winter there too.

Because birds are seen landing in nearby fields while you’re driving much-used rural roads, it is important to review regional-friendly birder rules and etiquette.

1. Don’t block roads. Pull off the road, or drive until you can, and then walk quietly back. Think how irritated you get when drivers all of a sudden throw on their brakes at a garage sale, and leave their cars sticking out in the road or your driveway. Multiply that by every weekend, plus some weekdays, for a four month period.

Geese feeding in field near Bow, Washington.
Photo by Barbara Deihl.
2. Don’t crowd or disturb the birds. Snow Geese are sheltering here from islands in Russia, and most of the other large birds wintering here have flown down from upper northern Alaska. They may be exhausted and hungry. Every time someone causes a flock to go airborne, that puts the newest arrivals, with the least margin of endurance, at risk.

3. If you see a wing-tagged bird, report it. Geese, swans, even some of the raptors may have a colored tag on their wing to help ID them for important scientific studies. Also, if you see an obviously ill swan or goose report that—lots of these large birds get poisoned swallowing lead shot used by hunters, and there are rescue teams waiting.

Winter flock coming in.
Photo by Ray Hamlyn.
4. Assume all land, unless it is a National Wildlife Refuge, or a registered Park, is private land, with no trespassing. No one wants strangers walking on their property, without permission. Always ask before entering; no owner found equals a “No”. View with binoculars, or use a scope if you have one.

5. If you have a scope, offer to let people see what you have found. This is one of the most pro-active, good-will building acts that birders can do. By sharing your enthusiasm with others, you may start people on the path to being birders too. At least they will have an idea why you drive all the way up to their neighborhood, and stand around in the cold with your eyes glued to some far-off object.

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: Red-breasted Sapsucker- The fifth local woodpecker

Friday, October 14, 2011

Red-breasted Sapsucker.  Photo by Christine Southwick.
By Christine Southwick

There’s a bird with a bright red head high up in your cottonwood tree that acts like some kind of woodpecker. It is too small to be a Pileated Woodpecker. What is it?

In our area it is a Red-breasted Sapsucker. One diagnostic field mark is the vertical white stripe running up its side. Only sapsuckers have this white stripe.

There are two other sapsuckers in Washington: the Red-naped, mostly in eastern WA; and the Yellow-bellied sapsucker, further north; before 1985 they were considered one species. Being mostly non-migratory, only the Red-breasted Sapsucker is regularly seen here in the winter.

Rows of neat holes show the presence of a sapsucker.  Photo by Suzanne Tomassi.

Sapsuckers drill neat horizontal rows of holes in large healthy trees, and return repeatedly to feed on the running sap and the insects that get caught in the sap. They also eat some berries and seeds.

Red-breasted Sapsuckers are considered a keystone species, because so many other species take advantage of their sap wells. Both Anna’s and Rufus hummingbirds eat the bugs, and a little of the sugary sap. Rufus Hummingbirds commonly build nests near a Sapsucker tree—like living near a neighborhood deli.

Whereas Red-breasted Sapsuckers prefer dense old growth forests with large dead trees, they will use second growth forests that have large nesting trees. They can use large cottonwoods in riparian habitats, if necessary.

...their drumming sounds like someone learning to use a hammer...
two Red-breasted Sapsuckers compared to a Northern Flicker.
Photo by Christine Southwick

Because their nests are high, 50-60 feet above ground, not much is known about Red-breasted Sapsuckers nesting behavior. Single-season nest cavities are started about April, usually in deciduous trees like Aspen or Cottonwood, with both members of the year-round monogamous pair excavating the nest hole. Both male and female incubate the 4-7 eggs , feed their nestlings insects, and teach the fledglings to drill holes and survive.

Except while establishing territory, or excavating a nest, these are relatively quiet woodpeckers. They have a squeal-like call, and their drumming sounds like someone learning to use a hammer, maybe because they have to move make the next sap well.

A juvenile sapsucker.  Photo by Doug Parrott.
Males and females look alike. The juveniles have a brown head, and an over-all brownish color, as compared to the bright black of the adults.

So, if you hear an irregular tapping, look at tree trunks, or maybe old telephone poles, and if you see a red-headed bird smaller than a flicker, but larger than a downy, it is our native Red-breasted Sapsucker. Their sap tree could be near by…


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: Hairy Woodpecker—Watch the Bill

Friday, September 23, 2011

Hairy Woodpecker, male. Photo by Doug Parrott
By Christine Southwick

There’s a black and coffee-stained-white woodpecker hitching up a nearby tree, and you wonder, “Is it a Hairy Woodpecker, or is it a Downy Woodpecker? How can I tell the difference?”

If the woodpecker is close, size is a good key. The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium sized woodpecker, while the Downy Woodpecker is barely larger than the Red-breasted Nuthatches and Black-capped Chickadees it joins in the wintertime mixed flock. Size can be hard to gauge when the bird is high in a large tree.

Hairy female, note stiff tail.  Photo by Craig Kerns
Sound is one of the best clues. The loud whinny is a level tone, not descending at the end like the Downy’s whinny (remember Downy=whinny going down). The Hairy’s call is a loud, almost explosive PEEK.

But the real cincher is the difference in bill size. The Hairy has a bill that is about as long as its head profile ; the Downy’s bill is less than half its head profile. Once you see the bill, most doubts will be squelched.

Hairy’s need large conifers where they can find their favorite meals of bark and wood-boring beetle larvae. Due to their larger size, Hairy’s forage on bigger branches and trunks than their diminutive Downy cousins, so each has their own niche for food gathering. Hairy’s will often extract sap from sapsucker holes in the wintertime, and they will readily come to suet feeders all year long.

Because of their need for large, old, often dead or burned conifers, the population of Hairy Woodpeckers seems to be declining, although they are still the most commonly seen woodpecker in the Cascades. Here in the northwest, Hairy’s commonly use large cottonwoods or alders for their nest cavities. They will readily use large snags, and leaving a dead, or partially dead, tree will attract them into your yard.

Hairy juvenile. Photo by Craig Kerns
Most Hairy’s are seasonally-monogamous residents, and will often pair with a previous partner. Both parents make the cavity hole, incubate the four eggs, and feed and teach their young for a couple of months after that. No wonder they only have one brood a year…

Males have a red spot on the back of their heads, females do not. Most juveniles have a reddish wash on the top of their heads—it is thought that this may help the parents locate the current nestlings, since a nest tree usually has several old nest holes.

So, leave those ugly (to you) dead limbs and hang a suet feeder, then sit back and watch. You will be rewarded with one of our woodpecker species, maybe even a Hairy Woodpecker.

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: What Birds Need

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Spotted Towhee taking grub to nestling
Photo by Christine Southwick
By Christine Southwick

Birds have four basic needs to survive:
  • Food;
  • Water;
  • Safe spaces to hang out; and
  • Places to successfully raise their young.

Food is fairly easy to provide. Plant, or keep, native trees, especially evergreens—the bigger the better. Plant native fruiting trees and bushes. Dogwood, Crabapple, Hawthorne, Serviceberry, Snowberry, Twinberry, Elderberry, Nine Bark, Quince, berry crops, and even many of the maples are good sources of food. 

Many birds eat the bugs that come to the flowers, some even nibble the flower buds; eat the fruit once it is ripe; and find bugs in the leaf litter in the winter. 

Juvenile Hairy Woodpecker on dripper
Photo by Christine Southwick
Don’t use pesticides: you will kill or starve the bug-eating wildlife. Bird feeders with black-oil sunflower seeds, and suet feeders will make your yard even more inviting.

Water can be hard for birds to find during our dry August’s and our cold spells. Free running water is a great magnet, and can be as simple as a dripper into a garbage can lid, or as complex as a recycling stream. As long as standing water is changed once a week, there is no danger from mosquitoes. In the winter, invest in a birdbath heater to keep the water liquid and drinkable during freezing spells

Safe spaces to hang out can be provided by trees, bushes and shrubs of varying sizes and densities, and minimum amounts of grass. Birds have evolved by being able to locate food: some find it on branches, others on trunks. Some find it using trees and shrubs as launching posts-others find their food in the leaves and bark beneath trees and bushes.

Dead snag in park
Photo by Christine Southwick
Places to successfully raise their young can require a little more planning. 

Dead trees can provide more places for birds to raise their young than live trees. If you have a dead or dying tree, make it into a snag. Leaving logs and branches on the ground will provide hiding places for ground nesters. 

Placing nest boxes, with the correct sized holes for native species will benefit local birds, and bring you the wonder of watching babies grow and thrive. Leave a small, controlled area of blackberries, or add a brush pile in a back corner. Leave some tall grass or weeds from March until Labor Day.

And build an indoor-outdoor run for your cats — belling them isn’t enough — they hunt by stealth.

Give birds what they need, and they will come.


Christine Southwick will be a speaker at the upcoming Puget Sound Bird Fest in Edmonds on September 10, 2011. Her topic is "20 Birds You Wish Were in Your Yard," The entire event covers September 9-11, with more speakers, guided walks and field trips, exhibits, and kids activities. See the detailed schedule on the website.



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Downy Woodpecker- the little feisty woodpecker

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Female Downy
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

The smallest woodpecker in North America is alive and doing well.

Because Downy Woodpeckers are barely larger than Black-capped Chickadees and Red-Breasted Nuthatches, they can access bugs on branches too small for other woodpeckers, and can make their nesting cavities in smaller trees found in second growth forests, and most urban yards. The daring males, with a red spot on the back of their heads, will go out on branch tips and treetops, but the females stay on larger branches and the trunks.

Woodpeckers are neat to watch using their stiff tail feathers to prop their body up while they tap away on trees to get at their tasty insect meals. Downys use their sticky tongues to extract those elusive bugs that they can hear moving around.

Male Downy
Photo by Craig Kerns
Their strong, specially-adapted feet, with two forward pointing toes each, and two backward pointing toes each gripping the bark, allow Downys to quickly move up, down, or laterally, or even hang up-side down on a branch. They use this ability to foil most hawk attacks by quickly darting behind a shielding branch. They then freeze and count on their black, and tan (in the Pacific Northwest) coloration to visually blend into the trunk.

Nest trees are often deciduous. The male does most excavating of the nest hole, with the female becoming more active near completion. Usually, the nest hole is located on the underside of a leaning small stub or branch. The female lays 4-5 eggs and broods the eggs during the day; the male has night duty. Downys use old holes for separate sleeping arrangements.

Juvenile Downy
Photo by Doug Parrott
Downys here are mostly residents, and have the same feeding territory all year long. Downys don’t cache food, so in the wintertime they will often forage in mixed flocks, for safety from predators and for ease of finding food. Since Downy Woodpeckers seem to readily adapt to human habitation, suet is especially well received.

Hang a suet feeder where you can see it from a window. Listen for a sharp “Pik”, and/or the diagnostic downward-sounding whinny. Look for a feisty little woodpecker with a dark bill that is shorter than the length of its head.

Grab a cup of coffee and take the time to watch a Downy eat and fly over to hitch along nearby tree branches. See if you agree that it is a REALLY cute woodpecker.

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: Pileated Woodpeckers — the Large, Impressive Ones

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Male Pileated with juvie female.
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Which local woodpecker makes large rectangular or oval holes in dead trees that later are used by other birds, small mammals and other wild creatures?

If you said the Pileated Woodpecker, you would be correct.

The first impression of this woodpecker is that it is as large as a crow, and makes a really loud drumming sound. It also has a loud “laughing” call, similar to the Northern Flicker, only a little more evenly modulated.

One of these long-term monogamous pair may claim your neighborhood as home; if so, consider yourself lucky. These impressive birds will catch your attention with their calls, drumming on trees or poles, undulating flight, and willingness to come to your suet, or an old telephone pole along your street.

Pileated eat lots of carpenter ants, and other wood-boring insects, and prefer habitats with larger trees. They will also eat fruit. Pileated will often glean apples during winter, and I have seen them eat service berries right off the branches.

Female Pileated excavating  nest cavity. Photo by Doug Parrott
Males and females look similar with bright red crests; but the male has a red moustachial stripe, the females a black stripe.

Pileated are dedicated parents with both taking turns excavating the nest, brooding the eggs, and feeding their young. For another two or three months after they fledge, the parents continually teach them how to forage. In fact it is really a delight to watch a parent teaching its pinkish-orange punk-headed youngster how to maneuver its large body onto a suet feeder in such a way that its long tongue can extract tasty suet tidbits .

Male Pileated using tongue to extract bugs from tree.
Photo by John Riegsecker
Pileated need large rotten trees in which to create their nesting cavities. It can take as long as six weeks for the pair to excavate a nest large enough for four young woodpeckers. They have large strong feet; are strong flyers; and will often eat bugs low on both live and dead trees.

Even as adaptable as these woodpeckers are, habitat loss of old-growth trees and other forests with large trees has caused the Pileated Woodpecker to be listed as a “species-at-risk” and a probable candidate for the endangered species listing in Washington state.

If you have a large dead tree on your property, don’t cut down the last ten or twenty feet. Make a snag, and I promise you will attract cavity nesters, maybe even a pair of these impressive Pileated Woodpeckers.

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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