Showing posts with label for the birds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label for the birds. Show all posts

For the Birds: Seasons Change - So Do the Birds…

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Red-breasted Sapsucker, resident, drumming territory
Photo by Elaine Chuang


By Christine Southwick

As the days grow shorter, our variety of birds grows smaller. Most migrating birds follow the daylight, and thefoods that are found where the weather is warmer.

Spotted-Towhee, male, surveying his territory
Photo by Christine Southwick
The long distance shorebirds are in full migration right now, and many will be at their “Snowbird” destination by the end of September.

Gone are the flycatchers and the majority of the Vaux’s Swifts—gone to places that will have bountiful winged bugs during our cold, wet season.

Swainson’s Thrushes and Western Tanagers are mostly gone, with an occasional late migrator being heard. You may even see a Black-headed Grosbeak heading south –juvenile birds leave later than the adults, so you can be pretty sure these late birds were born this year.

Even the American Robins that you see could be from Canada, and ours may have moved further south.

Bewick’s Wren eating in the winter
Photo by Christine Southwick
So what is left?

We live in such a mild climate compared to lots of other areas, that some birds winter here and then fly back North in the summer. Fox Sparrows are only found in our neighborhoods during the fall thru spring; likewise, Dark-eyed Juncos migrate from Canada and Montana to here and have been banded here during the winter.

And with this mild weather, it is to be expected that we have a large range of resident birds: Spotted Towhees, Bewick’s Wrens, Song Sparrows, all five of our woodpeckers, and our local owls. These birds eat bugs that live in our leaf covering (so keep those leaves under bushes, etc), or eat berries, especially blackberries. Our smaller owls eat moths, and our larger owls will eat shrew, voles, mice, rat

Townsend’s Warbler frequently seen in winter shrubs
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Many of our little birds, like Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Bushtits, Downy Woodpeckers, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets may be seen in mixed flocks flying through the shrubs and evergreen branches, with the practical effect that many eyes will find more food, and spot predators more readily.

The practical effect of fall and winter is that “our” birds become easier to see as the leaves fall. Flashes of color, and hearing their calls can brighten up one of our dreary Northwest winter days, and lighten our hearts as we dodge the frequent raindrops.

Suet will bring chickadees, bushtits and woodpeckers; hummingbird nectar will ensure that you see our year-round Anna’s Hummingbirds. Help the birds, and they will repay you with random acts of beauty.



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For the Birds: The Making of a Bird

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Scarlet ibis has specialized bill, legs for wading,
and brilliant coloring
Stock photo
By Christine Southwick

What is the definition of a bird?

A bird is a warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate with feathers, wings, a bill, and two legs.

All birds have feathers. There are just six basic feather types, whose complex combinations of types and colors can bedazzle even the most resistant-to-beauty humans. Swans have the most feathers; hummingbirds the least number.

All birds have wings — most can fly, some cannot; some can swim; some can both fly and swim.

Birds have two legs. Some are long and slender, others are short. 

Most birds have four toes, with three forward, and one to the rear which enables them to grasp branches. Raptors and owls have talons; some birds like Shrikes and Ravens wish that they had them. Woodpeckers, swifts and Osprey have specialized feet.

The beak of an eagle
Stock photo
One of the most weight-reducing evolutions is the bill (beak) instead of teeth. Bills have specialized into different uses: skin-tearing, seed-crushing, water-filtering, mud-stabbing, and the most common, insect catching.

Most bills are straight and short — like bluebirds and most songbirds; long like Virginia Rails; long and curved like Ibis; or short and strong like eagles. The most extreme water filtering types are the bills of pelicans.

Another weight-reducing evolution, going back to dinosaurs, is hollow, strutted strong bones, including the heads. All birds have a “wishbone” (furcular) which protects the chest cavity, and helps propel the upward movement of wings, and a keel (sternum) where the strong wing muscles are attached.

Typical songbird foot
Stock photo
Probably the most amazing adaptations are the heart and the lungs. These two organs allow birds to make those amazing long-distance migrations, often flying hundreds of miles without stopping.

Birds tend to have larger hearts than mammals (relative to body size). Bird hearts usually beat at lower rates than mammals of the same size but pump more blood per beat.

Birds’ lungs are unlike mammals, and are among the most efficient on this planet. Birds have smallish lungs, plus nine air sacs which rapidly distribute fresh oxygen throughout the body. Bird lungs do not expand or contract like the lungs of most mammals. The air flow is one directional, which allows then to fly rhythmically, and even sing while beating their wings. 

Bluebird has a straight and short beak
Stock photo
These adaptations of feathers, wing muscles, strong hearts and special breathing modifications allow birds to soar long and high, often higher than airliners.

Talk about taking one’s breath away….






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For the Birds: Birds need bugs

Monday, May 28, 2018

Baby Barn Swallow
Photo by Joe Sweeney

By Christine Southwick

Baby birds are hatching. Parents are scrambling to keep feeding these hungry open mouths.

For bird parents this means finding bugs, caterpillars, spiders, etc. in the quickest, most efficient manner.

A yard with lots of native plants can help bird families grow, prosper and survive.

Birds need bugs that are familiar to them, which are found on native plants.

If you have a plant with no bug nibbles, then that plant isn’t helping wildlife, especially our resident and our migrating birds.

Black-capped Chickadee feeding young
Photo by Doug Parrott
A yard that has been sprayed with pesticides reduces the available food sources, and even if a bird does find bugs, the bugs may have enough poison to kill the baby bird, and maybe even the parent, which could result in the death of the whole family.

Herbicides are harmful to birds, especially robins, and sparrows, since these birds forage on the ground a lot. 
Herbicides will get on their feet, into their nests, and on worms, spiders, beetles, and other bugs found on/in the ground. 
Poisons kill blindly, and baby birds are very susceptible, since they are small, young and eating only food brought by the parents.

Purple Martin feeding young
Photo by Kim Stark
Pesticides, and herbicides are causing bees to die at alarming rates. Several pesticides have been banned in Europe, but still sold here.

February, 2018, a major report from the European Union’s scientific risk assessors (Efsa) concluded that the high risk to both honeybees and wild bees resulted from any outdoor use, because the pesticides contaminate soil and water.

This leads to the pesticides appearing in wildflowers or succeeding crops. A recent study of honey samples revealed global contamination by neonicotinoids.” The Guardian (April 27 2018)

Long-acting herbicides contaminate ground water before breaking up — the longer the advertised effect, the more likely it will get into our streams and into our lakes and the Sound and kill water plants. Local creeks, like Thornton and McAleer have measurable amounts of herbicides when tested.

Yellow Warbler with small caterpillar
Glyphosphate, usually sold as Roundup, is non-selective, and kills all plants it touches (including milkweeds needed by Monarch Butterflies).

On a windy day, drifting spray can kill plants nearby. Roses are especially vulnerable.

These two groups of poisons are this generation’s DDT.

Without bees and other pollinators there will be no crops.

Without bugs and their food plants there will be massive bird extinctions.

Mulch and pull weeds — don’t poison. Don't help cause a Silent Spring.


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For the Birds: Do you really have a Blue Jay in your yard?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Not a blue jay
It's a Steller's Jay
Photo by by Robin Barker
By Christine Southwick

Oops, Blue Jays live east of the Rockies, although there are a few that stray over the Rockies into Eastern Washington every winter.

If you are in Shoreline, that blue bird with the splendid black accents is a Steller’s Jay.

Our resident Steller’s Jay is quite the impressive bird, with its dark blue-black crest with a light blue vertical stripe (eyebrow?) above each eye.

Note: The juveniles have dark brown where the adults have black, and don’t have those startling eyebrows (You’ll start seeing these juvies in late summer-early fall.)

An actual Blue Jay
stock photo
Steller’s Jays have quite the loud voice (calling any Corvid a “songbird” is an anatomical definition only).

During breeding, in dense conifers, they become very inconspicuous and mostly quiet, especially when they are stealing other species eggs or nestlings to feed their own.

Steller's Jays have complex social hierarchies and dominance patterns, and like Black-capped Chickadees, can be seen flying single file across an opening with the dominant pair leading.

Steller's Jays love peanuts
Photo by Bev Bowe
These birds love peanuts, and will cache extra nuts, carefully hiding them. They have an excellent memory, and retrieve these nuts as needed.

Being omnivores, they quickly take advantage of any food source: seeds, nuts and berries, picnic scraps, bugs, reptiles, even carrion.

Once you start feeding them, they will come back like clock-work, loudly announcing their presence, and demanding attention, sometimes even knocking on a window.

Steller’s Jays have year round pair-bonds, and both help build the nest and feed their four-to-five young.

Like crows, the young may leave their nest before they can fly, but the parents are watching and feeding them. So if you see a Steller’s Jay, or any Corvid for that matter, on the ground and it isn’t obviously injured, it does NOT need rescuing. Let the parents take care of their offspring in the manner that works for them. Usually a moving youngster on the ground is safer than one confined to a tight nest.

Just make sure your cat can’t get to them, day or night.


California Scrub Jay
Photo by Blair Bernson
Note: Due to global warming, the other “Robin-sized” blue bird you might see is a California Scrub Jay adventuring into western Washington during the summer, from their drier oak woodlands in California and mid-Oregon. 

There is even the possibility that a couple of pairs of Scrub Jays are breeding in West Seattle.



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For the Birds: The mating call of the red-breasted sapsucker

Friday, April 20, 2018

Male Red-breasted Sapsucker pounds out his matting call
Photo by Elaine Chuang
This Red-breasted Sapsucker is pounding out his territory and calling all the “ladies” in his area.

Note the bare “white” space on the green road sign.

He pounds in the same place, year after year.

Presumably he, or perhaps another male sapsucker, has another calling/ pounding sign, with also a small bare space, one block down and two blocks east -- about a block as the sapsucker flies.

He first started sending out his telegraphed message Monday, April 16th.

Christine Southwick
For the Birds Columnist



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For the Birds: Spring Really Is Coming….

Friday, March 2, 2018

Bewick’s Wren with ant by Elaine Chuang
By Christine Southwick

Snow, hail, and freezing weather may still be around, but our resident birds have started their breeding processes in response to increased sunlight hours.

Local Anna's Hummingbirds have been starting to build nests for the last two months. I have two females collecting cotton fibers from the nesting material I hang out for that reason.

The males are still fending off other males, but are now feeding at the same time as the females.

The Bewick’s Wrens are now doing pairing rituals. Their lively buzzes and bubbly songs bring such joy to my ears. Plus, these happy notes and little contact sounds help me find the two or three brown little birds with the bright white eyeliner.

Bewick’s Wren singing by Elaine Chuang
Since they are usually climbing low among the bushes and trees, they can be hard to find unless they are making their presence known by their bubbly happy songs, or their scolding “You-are–too-close-to-me” sounds.

The male Bewick’s Wren sings to protect his territory, and to attract a mate. This a full-time effort that he must endeavor to win by excelling melodiously.

And once he has won the affection of this year’s mate, then he has to fashion three to four foundation nests for the female’s approval. Once the female has selected the preferred nest, she will finish it with feathers, hair, leaves and mosses.

Who Me? Bewick’s Wren at successful nestbox
Photo by Elaine Chuang
While the female sits on her 4-6 eggs the male brings food to her, and then stays and helps feed their offspring. Often the female has a second brood, usually with the same male.

These spunky little birds, usually with their tails cocked over their backs, can be found climbing on branches and in the leaves on the ground, looking for their buggy delicacies, especially those tasty spiders and ants.

Anna’s Hummingbird nesting locally
Photo by Doug Parrott
Offering water, and keeping it liquid during freezing weather, is the best way to bring in Bewick’s Wrens and other birds.

Suet is a fast energy boost, and will bring even more birds such as Northern Flickers, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, maybe even a Pileated Woodpecker. Bushtits will flock to a suet feeder, since finding bugs during freezes becomes quite hard.

The nickname Jenny Wren was used in older English nursery rhymes and was even mentioned in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. (FYI: Bewick’s is pronounced like the car - Buick.)




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For the Birds: Whose woods are these...

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Hairy Woodpecker extracting bug out of branch stub
Photo by Elaine Chuang
By Christine Southwick

I think I know…

Most birds locally, plus many other creatures, use trees for safe roosting spaces, especially during winter’s colder temperatures and wet weather.

Pileated Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Chestnut and Black-capped Chickadees all use holes in bigger trees here to nest, raise their young, and to sleep warmly and stay out of the damp cold

In return, they help keep the forests healthy by eating harmful bugs.

Pileated Woodpecker (male) on root snag
Photo by Elaine Chuang
If there is dense cover of native trees and shrubby habitat, a few Townsend’s Warblers and Yellow -rumped Warblers will stay in the area, especially if you supply non-frozen water, and suet.

I have a pair of Townsend’s Warblers that I often see in January-March— maybe they have migrated from Alaska, since our winters are milder and have more food than where they nest.

Coopers Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks also nest in our woods, and their successes depend on finding enough prey to feed their offspring-- voles, mice, and yes, birds. Most treed neighborhoods have resident Barred Owls which will eat mice and rats.

And those tall trees with denuded branches at their tops— those branches are the perches from which Merlins and Olive-sided Woodpeckers launch during their food forays. Save them, and you will be rewarded with great sightings.

Red-breasted Sapsucker using its sap holes.
Hummingbirds use them too. It doesn’t hurt live trees.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Fox Sparrows and Varied Thrushes come to our wooded neighborhoods in the winter-time and then leave in the spring.

If you want them in your yard, you need lots of leaves (corners and under shrubs work well), and if you have a small clump of Himalayan Blackberries Fox Sparrows may stay even longer.

Actually all local sparrows like leaves, as do salamanders, and beneficial bugs.

Native Douglas Squirrels are only found in woods and forests— the more wild and mature, the better.

Townsend’s Warbler in woody brush.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Some migrators, such a Willow Flycatchers, and many warblers depend on tree-top resting stops during their northern migration, so large tall trees in our own yards and in our parks and green spaces are vital all year round.

Then, we have many warblers that come to our woods in the spring for nesting and go back south for the winter.

Help create places for birds— keep trees, tall and short, evergreen and deciduous, live, partially alive, and even dead (habitat trees—you can create tall or short snags, or save logs.)

Let’s hear it for the BIRDS


12-17-17 corrected captions on first two photos


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For the Birds: Scary Halloween Birds

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

WHOOOOOOOOOO
Barn Owl by Kervin Keatley

By Christine Southwick

You’re walking in the dark in your Halloween costume, the wind is slightly blowing, making the trees groan, when you suddenly hear a loud scream and hiss! What was that??? And is that floating white thing coming toward you???

Coming to get you! - not really
Barred owl by Sandra Rothenberg

For centuries, the innocent, farmer-friendly, Barn Owl has been scaring people out of their wits with their “ungodly” screams and other sounds. Almost any unidentified night sound can be frightening, especially if it seems to come out of nowhere, and then disappear into thin air!

Floating eyes moving in the night—is that a ghost, or one of our local Barred Owls silently moving through the forest? And beware! During breeding and brood dispersal seasons, owls will hurry intruders out of their territories by strafing them with their talons, their only weapon. So leave quickly. Once they stop chasing you, you can turn around and watch as they return to their favorite roost. They have definite boundaries which they inforce, and don’t seem to mind trespassers once they have been expelled.

Leucistic Fox Sparrow (Discovery Park)
by Kathy Slettebak
Owls and Northern Harriers often hunt at dusk or early dawn, and their ethereal ups and downs can either awe you, or run chills down your spine. Add wisps of fog, and night winging-creatures can become downright creepy.

What about common birds that seem to be ghostly tinted instead of the normal coloring? Are this cursed birds, or just look like they are possessed?

Some birds are leucistic, meaning that some of the species-normal pigments are missing, creating white feathers, often in patches. If this leucism is caused by genetics, then that bird will stay that way for life.

If the colors are strange due to nutrition, then after the bird’s next molt, the feathers may come in the commonly accepted colors. (Albino birds lack melanin, creating permanently white birds with pink eyes.)

leucistic chickadee
And why are Common Ravens often associated with witches? Could it be that people fear birds that will feast on exposed bodies—animal or human, perhaps even vampire bodies?

Really, for most humans, any unusual noise at night sets our nerves on edge. Peoples have created all types of stories and myths about night-travelers, scary sounds, and unexplained happenings that can cause people to start running, fall down and even hurt themselves. At least they thought they were alone…

WHO WILL YOU MEET TONIGHT?





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For the Birds: Keeping Winter Habitat for Birds

Friday, October 27, 2017

Lincoln Sparrow on blackberry cane
Photo by Scott Ramos
By Christine Southwick

When you are cleaning up your yard for winter, keep some leaves, shrubs, and even blackberries for our wintering birds. 

Blow those leaves off your lawns, but leave some in your flower beds, or at least in a corner of your yard. 

Spotted Towhees, Song Sparrows, and maybe even a Fox Sparrow will entertain you as they dig through those leaves to find their insect delicacies.

Wild areas, often having Himalayan Blackberry, protect wildlife, including birds, from predators and from the elements, (just ask Brer Rabbit). Blackberry thorns, and the overhanging canes, provide escape routes, perches, shelter from most snow and frosts, small delicious bugs, and fruits for much of the year.

Golden Crowned Sparrows beside blackberries
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Local birders know that resident ground birds like our sparrows, Spotted Towhees, and Bewick’s Wrens can be found in blackberry patches.

One special ground bird that comes to the Puget Sound area to benefit from our milder winters is the Fox Sparrow. Fox Sparrows here will always be found in, or adjacent to, blackberry brambles.

Take away Himalayan Blackberries, and those wintering Fox Sparrows will leave to seek the protections of another patch.

So when removing invasives in your yard, parks, or wetlands, it is healthier for birds and other wildlife to leave some blackberries and remove all NON-BENEFICIAL invasives first:

Local invasives listed below displace native and beneficial plants, causing loss of grassland and native forest habitat. They aggressively spread to form monocultures, replacing desirable native plants and young trees. They are on the Washington State Noxious Weed list, class B:
  • Ivy (all types here), 
  • Knotweed, 
  • Scotch Broom, 
  • Butterfly Bush (fast reproducing, even out-competes blackberries here), 
  • English Holly (King County noxious weed control list) “Invades native forest habitats where dense thickets suppress germination and growth of native trees and shrubs. A glutton for water, holly can prevent surrounding plants from obtaining sufficient moisture.”

Bewick's Wren in sheltering brambles
Photo by JR
Humans don’t like thorns. Cats, raccoons, coyotes and other predators don’t like them either. This is why many ground birds value these sheltering brambles.

Himalayan Blackberries can be cut back easily, and a person can get a visceral reward for reclaiming a “dangerous space”. 

So keep small patches of blackberry (five foot is better than none) to provide much needed habitat. 
Trim as needed. In the fall-winter blackberries are valued by birds, and small patches make it easy to pick summertime berries for delicious blackberry pies.



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For the Birds: What’s Your Name, Little Bird?

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Juvenile Junco - How could you not love this face?
Text and photos 
by Christine Southwick

Are you seeing strange birds, mostly brown stripy things that don’t look like birds in your bird books?

You could perhaps have a rare bird for this area, but more likely you are seeing juvenile birds that have been born nearby.

Congratulations! You are doing something right for the environment with your yard.

Spotted Towhee juvie
just starting to change coloring
Perhaps you have plants with berries, flowers that attract hummingbirds plus other birds, and water for bird baths.

Majorly important, you have made space for them — either with bird boxes, or trees and bushes for them to rest and to hide in.

And you are not using pesticides which kill the bugs that parent birds feed their young!

How do you learn to identify these young rascals?

Watch — do you see an adult that you do recognize feeding this mystery bird? 

Song Sparrow juvie with gape
 (colored area around mouth for parental feeding)
Dark-eyed Junco’s, especially the black-headed males, will often be seen feeding their young (the females are most likely on a second brood).

Watch for a flash of white in the outer tail feathers as they fly away — this is what is call a “diagnostic” clue for all local juncos.

Or maybe you see a gorgeous Spotted Towhee around some gawky-looking brownish-rust colored birds.

These birds are larger, and have darker wings and tails than the other funny looking Song Sparrows juvenile(juvie).

Young Red-breasted Nuthatch
How do I get to the food?
These are our year-round resident birds, so they are the ones that you will most likely see and can learn to identify.

There may be other juveniles stopping at your feeders and water spots.

Black-headed Grosbeaks (BHGR) are starting to head South. I saw a female BHGR at one of my feeders yesterday evening, at least I believe it was a female.

Purple Finches will be hard to determine gender — young males don’t show color for a year. 

Some warblers may look funny right now through August, if you do get a good look at one. Probably it is another juvie.

Another way to ID a juvie is to watch how it moves and interacts with its environment.

Male Junco feeding juvie
A chickadee on the ground, looking confused? Probably a juvie.

A red-breasted Nuthatch being mystified to the access to a seed feeder? Probably a juvie.

A Pileated Woodpecker with an orange punk head not knowing how to hammer? Probably a juvie.

You are making a difference -- you have living proof in the form of juvenile birds visiting!



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For the Birds: Which Red Bird is at Your Feeder?

Monday, July 10, 2017

Male Purple Finch note: red wing color
Text and Photos by Christine Southwick

We have two red-toned birds that live in our area year-round, the House Finch and the Purple Finch.

The House Finch has a wider range and is common throughout the state, the Purple Finch is more selective, and is only found this side of the Cascades.

How can you tell which finch is which?

If you are lucky, “your” male Purple Finch will be that glorious raspberry that led to its naming.

Male House Finch note: non-red wing color
But what if you have really reddish finches, that look different, but you don’t know which is which?

Here are some clues that could help you.

First, male Purple Finches have red on their wings (edges and wing-bars) and their back; male House Finches do not.

House Finches have white wing bars, with no red on their shoulders or wing edges. Both finches have red tones on their rumps.

The females are usually even harder to distinguish. 

One of the easiest way to identify a female Purple Finch from a female House Finch is to look for a clear belly on the former, rather than streaking extending from the grayish breast down to the tail on House Finches. 

Female Purple Finches have a bold head pattern (think long white-eyebrow), whereas female House Finches have indistinct facial markings.

Two Female Purple Finches note: white eyebrow, clear bell
The tails of Purple Finches are shorter than House Finches, and the bills are straighter, but honestly, these two details don’t really help me most of the time.

The buffy chevron-marked breast and clear belly, plus the head markings are what I use for a positive ID of Purple Finch females.

Another clue, House Finches are gregarious and often come to feeders here in groups, while Purple Finches tend to come singly or in pairs.

The Purple Finch’s song is a series of rich musical warbles, whereas House Finches have less-full (hoarse) warbling notes ending with a zeee. The House Finch’s song is sweet, but the Purple Finch’s rich tones always bring a smile to my face.

Female and male House Finches
note: heavy streaking on belly
Actually, it is when I first hear a male Purple Finch’s melodious notes that I look for this delightful songster. 

Imagine my delight when this year’s Purple Finch male (both male and female Purple Finches sing) was singing low in my willow tree, instead of up at the top of the evergreen trees where it commonly belts out its territorial song.

Both House and Purple finches prefer Black-oil Sunflower Seeds.



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For the Birds: Little Brown Jobs

Monday, May 29, 2017

Savannah Sparrow
Photo by John Riegsecker

Little Brown Jobs                                 
by Christine Southwick

In the bird world, there are lots of brown-colored birds. These birds are usually briefly seen on or near the ground, making it hard to identify them without longer observation. Consequently many people in the birding community call these birds, “little brown job-ies”, or LJB’s.

Why so many brown, either striped or spotted brown birds do you ask?

Lincoln's Sparrow Photo by Barry Ulman
Camouflage! Most of our brown birds skulk in grasses or under bushes — where they blend right into the background.

Song Sparrows are the quintessential local, year-round brown bird, and if your yard has bushes, you probably have some.

Shoreline has many others:
Savannah Sparrows, Lincoln Sparrows, House Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Swainson’s Thrushes, and Hermit Thrushes.

Most of these either just pass through during migration, or are commonly seen only in the summer. Our wintry-local Fox Sparrows are the darker Sooty Fox Sparrows which helps them blend into the darker brushy understory that they prefer.

Chipping Sparrow Photo by Jane Hadley

Most fledgling ground birds start out stripy-brown to help their survival odds: Spotted Towhees, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows can all be hard to distinguish one species from another until they start getting their first-winter body feathers.

They all have stripy breasts, are smaller than robins, and don’t look like their adults.

So how does a person learn to identify one from another?

First thing to do is look at bird books. There are lots of good bird-ID books. For beginners, I recommend local regional books.

Juvie Dark-eyed Junco
Photo by Christine Southwick
It is too confusing to look for a bird that you thought you saw, and then look at the map for that bird, and find that it is usually east of the Mississippi River.


That being said, I still recommend Kaufman’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America for beginners — lots of great beginner tips.

Sibley Guide to Western Birds may be all you need for the western United States, but if you become like most birders, you will keep looking for that next book, that potentially favorite one.

There are several books about local birds, and the best place to find that book that suits you is either the Seattle Audubon store on 35th NE, or Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park.

The best lure for birds is dripping water. To keep them healthy, make sure you are not using pesticides or herbicides — poisoned bugs and plants will kill yard birds and their babies too.


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For the Birds: Who has black birds? Shoreline has black birds!

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Common Raven Photo by Alexandra MacKenzie

By Christine Southwick

When you think of black-colored birds, do you think of Crows and Ravens? Shoreline has both.

Most everyone knows the “I’d rather-hop-than-fly” antics of the road-cleaning American Crow. These black birds “Caw”, have a smooth-looking throat, and squar-ish tail. They are usually seen with several other crows, and roost by the thousands every night at the Community College in Bothell. In the mornings they fly from the roost to their apparently designated foraging locations for that day, before returning each evening for their nightly social exchanges.

American Crow
Photo by Christine Southwick
I have only heard Common Ravens here in Shoreline during spring and fall, but they can be found year round throughout the state. Ravens can weigh four times as much as crows.

They have extra feathers on their throats making their throats look shaggy; have a wedge-shaped tail, and are usually seen with their mate, or solitarily, but not in flocks.

They avoid congested urban areas since they prefer quieter places — coastlines, high cliffs, and tall trees are good places to look/listen for ravens. They can be found eating large road-kill. The most reliable ID for most people is hearing their loud, usually resounding “Gronk”. Crows can’t make that sound. Ravens in flight will soar, whereas crows don’t.

Red-winged Blackbird, male Photo by John Riegsecker
Shoreline does have real Blackbirds —Brewer’s Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds.

Red-winged Blackbirds are seen in wetlands in the spring. Look/listen for them at Cromwell Park and Echo Lake, our two biggest cattail wetlands.

Paramount Open Space and Ronald Bog, or any other wild damp area could have Red-winged Blackbirds. The males puff up their red and yellow epaulets to impress the dark brown-streaked females and warn away other male Red-winged Blackbirds.

Brewer's Blackbird, male by Stephanie Colony
Brewer’s Blackbirds are here all year long. I usually notice them in the winter gleaning who-knows-what from the asphalt of local parking lots. They eat insects, grains and seeds.

Our local population increases in the winter with Canadian populations flying westward to enjoy our milder winter climate. The males are the handsome ones with glossy feathers reflecting black, midnight-blue, purple, and greens.

They have bright yellow eyes and often have a pugnacious attitude. Being comfortable around humans, they will turn and stare at you, but they are not aggressive. The females are gray-brown with a dark tint, have dark eyes, and are often under-appreciated next to those handsome males.



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For the Birds: Spring is in the Air - Can you hear it?

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Black-capped Chickadee
Text and Photos
by Christine Southwick

Early morning walks are being invigorated by the cheerful sounds of American Robins singing their Cheery-up Cheery O songs, with lots of other birds adding their melodies.

How Happy are these sounds?

Have you noticed that the song that Black-capped Chickadees are singing has changed? No longer just the “Dee dee dee dees” contact call of the winter time, now there is what I call a “Fee bee” song.

As one of my friends said, it’s the “I’m looking for a wife song”-- I’ve claimed a space, now all I need is a female to make the nest, and we can raise a family song….

Pugnacious Song Sparrow

Our resident Song Sparrow and Spotted Towhee males are no longer singing their more sedate winter songs which keep their territories marked during the winter months. They have now started singing their “I’m looking for a wife song”

Both males and females can sing, but it is the males, driven by their rising testosterone that belt out those awe-inspiring melodious songs.

Female Spotted Towhee calling

In our area, Pacific Wrens seem to go on forever before stopping, then repeating again and again. Spotted Towhees have started singing their trilling song, usually from a leafless branch about 4-6 feet from the ground. Here in Shoreline, you may have breeding Dark-eyed Juncos. Their trilling song can be hard to tell from the Spotted Towhee’s, but right now the Spotted Towhees are singing, and the Dark-eyed Juncos seem to just be chasing each other.

The majority of bird sounds we hear in the winter are call notes to stay connected to individuals and the flock. For example, in the winter we hear juncos making their clicking sounds (almost like a clock ticking), but in the summer, the male juncos sings almost as loudly as Spotted Towhees.

Male Spotted Towhee
Some studies have suggested that successful females have learned not to sing or call as much as males since singing near a nest can cause predation.

I have observed chickadees making a soft call note just before arriving at their nest with food.  
Their nestling come to the cavity opening loudly demanding to be fed, and as soon as the parent(s) leave, drop away from the opening, becoming quiet until the next feeding.

That makes it hard to know where chickadees are nesting and if the nestlings have hatched. This is great survival adaptation by chickadees, but frustrating for predators and human observers.

For those who thought only male birds sing



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