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

For the Birds: Nestling crows leave home before they can fly

Thursday, June 22, 2023

Maaaaaaa!
Carl the Crow calls for his mother

By Christine Southwick
Photos by Peggy Bartleson

Do you have a crow on the ground, making a loud noise? Unless you see blood, or a hanging wing, it is probably not injured. It is most likely a nestling crow which has left its nest before it can fly. Most crows leave the nest early for safety reasons. Nests, with their “feed ME” sounds, are lures for predators — raccoons, hawks, owls, eagles. The sooner nestlings are strong enough to leave their nests and hide, the more likely that they will survive.

Feed me!
Carl the crow begging parent for food

And do not fear; the parents are watching, dive-bombing cats and other dangers, and feeding their youngsters on a regular basis. Sometimes a couple of youngsters will hang together, but more often they will go their separate ways, thus increasing their probability of survival. The parents know where each is, and are feeding them appropriately.

Don’t let the nestlings’ size fool you. When they leave the nest, they are 80% or more of their adult weight. Their legs are already adult size, and their wing feathers are nearly full grown. But they are still babies. They will often tip side to side as they walk, making them look a trifle drunken. Part of the problem is that they don’t have their tail feathers yet to act as their rudders.

Carl being fed by his parent

The pictures are of a neighborhood nestling. I first saw it five afternoons ago. The first neighbor didn’t know what to do, but had put out some tuna fish. Baby crows have to have the food stuffed down their throats—so putting out food won’t help nestlings.

The next morning that baby had moved across the street, near a house with a known hunter cat. The parents dive-bombed that cat until it started lying elsewhere. Now the little crow is staying at a house where the owner watches daily, but doesn’t crowd it. The parents feel comfortable in the yard, and Carl the crow (that’s what the neighbor calls it), struts around more steadily every day, and hides in the flowers at night.

Still no tail feathers - Carl is grounded

It still doesn’t have tail feathers yet, but will soon.

Remember, most birds found walking about on the ground are not abandoned, and don’t need human “help”. Keep your pet away from the area that the bird is staying, and wait about a week. It will fly away then.

More info about baby crows and what/what not to do, here.

Find more For the Birds columns HERE

Reprinted from 2014 and 2019


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For the Birds: Baby Bird Season

Monday, June 5, 2023

American Robin fledgling by Elaine Chuang
note stubby tail and gape at base of bill
By Christine Southwick

Do you have a young, helpless-looking bird hopping or flitting in your yard? 

Great! That means your yard is habitat-friendly enough that birds are nesting in your domain.

If the youngster is basically featherless, it probably fell out of a nest, and needs to be put back, if you can. 

It is probably not a ground nester, so look up. You could make a fake nest where a parent can find it if you can’t reach the nest.

Oregon Junco fledgling being feed by father
(mother is probably on second brood)
photo by Chris Southwick
Does a baby bird really need your help?

If it is already feathered, but can’t really fly, it is called a fledgling, and its parents are nearby. It doesn’t need human interference, unless it is bleeding, or has an obviously injured wing or foot.

Because nests can be a death trap from predators, ground nesting babies have evolved to leave the nest soon after they grow their feathers, and scatter in different directions. The parents bring food to each and every one of their offspring. No wonder the parents look so frazzled.

I was following a White-crowned Sparrow nest for an article and four days after they hatched – one day after they grew their feathers, they were out scurrying through the garden aisles to disappear into the adjacent empty lot, with the parents monitoring from above.

Bewick's Wren nestlings by Peggy Bartleson
They became fledglings later that day
Fledglings may have stubby tails that haven’t grown in yet which makes them flit rather than fly, and their mouths are still brightly colored, a temporary condition called gapes. Fledgling crows also fit this description.

Some of our most common ground nesters are Oregon Juncos, Song, White-crowned, and Orange-crowned Sparrows, and Spotted Towhees. Bewick’s Wrens, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped and Chestnut-backed chickadees, and American Robins, and American Crows are our other most common nesters.

Keep dogs and cats away from the areas. As much as I love my cat, once I found out that cats are the second leading cause of bird deaths in the US (habitat loss being number one), I started keeping mine from roaming. I even built a small indoor-outdoor area for them.

Oregon Junco nest hidden in raised
flower bed photo by Craig Kerns
Most local birds have two or more broods each year, so expect to see fledglings into late July/August. So, leave some tall ground-nesting areas when you are weeding.

You can help nourish birds by planting native fruiting plants, offering good quality food, keeping your yard pesticides free, and keeping pets away from these delightful bundles of fluff.

See previous For the Birds columns here



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For the Birds: We know we used your Mother’s Day fuchsia last year,

Friday, April 7, 2023

Photo by Christine Southwick

...but we needed to set up housekeeping now.

Oregon Juncos move in with For the Birds columnist Christine Southwick.




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For the Birds: Baby birds are emerging

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Bewick's Wren fledgling. Photo by Elaine Chuang
By Christine Southwick

Baby birds are hatching — Spotted Towhees and Anna’s Hummingbird young have been spotted in my yard, which means Dark-eyed Juncos and Bewick’s Wrens are close behind. 

These are the first breeders, others will follow; Song Sparrows, chickadees, Flickers, Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers, White-crowned Sparrows, finches, and American Robins to name a few.

Nestlings and fledglings need our help — don’t poison them with herbicides such as Round-up which get on their parents’ feet and get brought into the nests and cause them to die.

Bushtit looking for bugs to feed nestlings.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
American Robins are in sharp decline
, and one major cause is the poisoning of their lawns and the worms they eat.

Spraying bugs also kills birds. Parent birds feed their hatchlings a solid diet of bugs. 

Caterpillars, gnats, aphids, spiders, mosquitos, and bugs in leaf litter are the babies’ food. 

There aren’t any fruits to eat until later in the season, so if the bugs are poisoned, then birds perish.

Rufous Hummingbird on nest.
Photo by Doug Parrott
Native plants and trees help provide the bugs birds need and recognize
. More shrubs and less lawn provide cover for the safety of birds, especially fledglings. 

As you start cleaning up your yard, look for ground nests before whacking and mowing weedy areas.

If you find a baby bird on the ground, and it has feathers, it is a fledgling, and doesn’t need your help – its parents are nearby ready to nurture it. 

Keep dogs and cats away from it, and it will survive. 

Many ground birds leave the nest before they can fly — they scurry in different directions to enhance their chances of survival — nests can provide a quick and tasty meal for raccoons and other hungry creatures.

Dark-eyed Junco nest in fuschia.
Photo by Christine Southwick
Here is a yes/no link to determine if the baby bird you found needs your help.

https://www.pugetsoundbirds.org/baby-bird-advice 

Let our local birds take care of the bugs. Smile as a new generation of birds prospers with your help.

---
Note: I carefully watered around the nest in the fuschia. Three juncos. 

Locally if you see a bird flying into your hanging basket, a junco probably has a nest inside. They usually hatch in two weeks, and leave the nest two weeks later.


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For the Birds: Cold Is Here - Will You Help Our Birds?

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Black-capped Chickadee keeping warm by
creating an insulating air barrier. Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Cold and snow are hard on birds, especially since much of their native dense habitats have been destroyed by development, making it hard for them to find shelter, food, and water.

Trees, especially tall evergreens, give them places to hunker down during cold and windy weather. 

Trees are usually the first to feel the cut of progress, followed by diversion of water.

Over three billion birds have vanished in North America, mostly due to habitat loss. 

Habitat can mean the difference between life and death.

If you see a bird all fluffed up, it is trying to stay warm by creating warm air pockets around its body with its feathers.

We need to help birds (and other pollinators and wildlife) by providing food, shelter, and usable water, especially during cold weather.

Varied Thrush getting fast energy from suet.
Photo by Christine Southwick
Suet provides the fastest calories for needed warmth.

Suet and good quality seeds can provide that margin between survival and death.

Feeders offer quick, certain sources of calories, allowing birds to conserve their calories for warmth, not expending energy searching for their next meal.

Watch your feeders for clumping of seeds during damp weather.

If seeds clump, throw the seed out and wash the feeders with 10% bleach, rinse well, and dry before filling (a second feeder would be helpful); during times of fog and heavy moisture only filling feeders half full will help keep the seeds from molding. 

Yes, it’s more work, but the birds are worth it.

Spotted Towhee and Song Sparrow eating seed
below feeder. Photo by Christine Southwick
If you feed hummingbirds, winter is an important time to feed them. 

Anna’s Hummingbirds eat more bugs than any other North American hummingbird, but freezing temperatures kill the bugs, so nectar is very important. 

They need lots of quick energy early in the morning, and late into the evening. 

A feeder heater or an incandescent light near a feeder will allow them to come whenever they want to, especially for a much-needed early visit.

Fox Sparrow using much needed liquid water
maintained by bird bath heater.
 Photo by Christine Southwick
Water is hard to find since so many creeks and rivulets have been buried or diverted into drainpipes.

For liquid water, invest in a birdbath warmer.

Give our birds a fighting chance. 

Create shelter, with evergreen shrubs and trees, and safe places for them to nestle down (Don’t poison their habitat with pesticides).

Provide liquid water and food especially during the winter, and they will reward you with bubbly songs and bug elimination the rest of the year.

Bonus article: A simple 7 ways to help birds www.3billionbirds.org 


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For the Birds: A Winter Warbler, if you plant for them

Saturday, February 4, 2023

Yellow-rumped Warbler in winter plumage.
Photo by Peggy Bartleson
By Christine Southwick

Hearing an unfamiliar “chip” from several birds, I stopped what I was doing and looked around. 

Imagine my surprise and delight to spot several Yellow-rumped Warblers flying out for bugs and using my suet feeders. 

Hocking for bugs, these little somewhat winter-drab warblers were moving around from tree branch to bush branch, and back, occasionally catching a bug on the wing. 

What a show, after I finally focused my binoculars on a couple. 

I also used the Merlin app to ID their chipping calls to confirm my identification.

Our area has two forms of the Yellow-rumped Warbler: the mostly year-round Audubon Yellow-rumped Warbler, and the mostly passing-through in the winter-time Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler. 

Photo by Yukari Yoshioka at Grace Cole Park
in Lake Forest Park
The Audubon form has a yellow throat, and the Myrtle form has a white throat (easiest distinguisher)

Warblers have two distinct plumages, called “alternate plumage”. 

This adaptation provides them with bright breeding plumage in the spring, and a duller easier-to-hide winter plumage when there is less foliage in which to conceal their yellow markings.

In the spring these brownish warblers with their colored throats and some white on their wings (Audubons usually have more than Myrtles), turn into smart-looking black, charcoal gray with white patches, and bright yellow rumps (which are often hard to see in the winter plumage).

Photo by Yukari Yoshioka at Grace Cole Park
 in Lake Forest Park
Because of their ability to feast on a wide variety of food, these yellow-rumped seem to be holding their own, population-wise, if we humans don’t poison all the bugs they eat.

They eat spruce budworm, bark beetles, weevils, aphids, caterpillars and other larvae. 

In the winter they eat bugs, fruits and berries like juniper and dogwood berries, including being the only birds that can digest wax myrtle berries. 

This is one of the reasons these warblers can stay so much farther north than most other warblers.

Bird baths during the summer
Photo by Chris Southwick
During winter times they also eat weed seeds, and come to feeders that have sunflower seeds, small fruits like raisins and blueberries, peanut butter, and suet.

Pesticides and herbicides are bad for the earth, our own breathing, and for all the birds and amphibians that rely on bugs to survive. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird Trends has found a sharp decline in American Robins, which rely on ground bugs and worms.
 
Plant native shrubs for the birds, especially warblers like these yellow-rumped, and put out suet and seeds. Add some liquid water, and your yard will be a welcome oasis year round.



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For the Birds: Hummers need winter nectar

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Feeder under eave with trouble light keeping it
 and the area warm Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

When the winter cold temperatures start making the hummingbird feeders freeze up, it is time for extra attention. 

Because of their high metabolism hummingbirds always have a thin margin between adequate nutrition and starvation, especially when insects are scarce.

“Anna's hummingbirds eat more insects than any other North American hummingbird, and this may help them in bad weather. 
"It is thought that Anna's hummingbirds are able to spend the winter so far north because they eat more insects and spiders than most hummingbirds.”  kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/annas-hummingbird 

As long as there are no cats, putting a feeder
under shelter can keep nectar warmer.
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Anna’s are able to eat spiders and bugs wedged in crevices to supplement their instant nectar shots. These little smarties know where to look, but ice makes it hard to get to them.

To help conserve their energy, Anna’s Hummingbirds are able to down-shift their metabolism by entering “torpor” where heart rate and body temperature are reduced to a bare minimum of about 40 beats per minute (down from 400) and body temp about 48F (down from 107F).

Many other hummingbird species do this, like the ones in the Andes.

When temperatures get below 30 degrees people with hummingbird feeders need to keep them from freezing. 

One way is to bring them in at night, but Anna’s feed very early in the morning, often before sunrise, because our long northern nights make it too long to wait any longer, so you need to put them out early, early. 

Rotating a couple of feeders throughout the day works but requires diligence.

Anna's Hummer on covered
heated feeder. Photo by Mary
Another way to keep the feeders from freezing is to put the feeder under an eave and shine an incandescent light near it to keep the feeder area warm, or one can buy a hummingbird feeder heater.

Adding a baffle over a feeder will keep the snow and ice off the feeder ports, protect the hummers, and keep the feeder a little warmer during the cold. 

Hand warmers and incandescent Christmas light work marginally, but not down into the teens.

It is important to clean your feeders about once a week during cold weather.

Keep the nectar solution at four-parts water to one-part cane sugar. Don’t believe the myth that the ratio should be changed in cold weather.

These little bundles of energy bring us delight as we watch them zipping around. Help keep them alive by keeping their nectar liquid during cold spells.



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For the Birds: Tiny Bug-eating Birds

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Female bushtit
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Have you seen a group of small birds darting from one bush to the next toward your suet feeder?

Consider yourself lucky (and also a good steward of a healthy yard). You have Bushtits!

Bushtits are tiny, weighing only 0.18-0.21 ounces (about 2 pennies) making them one of the smallest passerines (perching birds) in North America.

These little guys only live in the west where there are shrubs, bushes, and open tree canopy.

Male Bushtit fluffed up to stay warm
Photo by Craig Kerns
This makes sense when you realize that they eat insects found on shrubs, flowers, tree leaves and needles, really anywhere that bugs like to hide, including blackberries. 

Their acrobatic positions while finding their food are fun to watch as they often cling upside-down like chickadees do.

These diminutive balls of fluff fly in small flocks, usually darting one or two at a time from one bush to another with members on both sides making contact chatter, almost as if the wide-open spaces between branches are too daunting without flock support.

Small bushtit flock eating suet
Photo by Elaine Chuang
Bushtits eat those tiny scale insects that like flowering currants and other plants, plus aphids and leafhoppers, even spiders - a bug-eating reason to protect these gregarious spritely birds.

Their tail is almost half the length of their body, and this proportion results in a high rate of body heat loss, so in cold weather they must eat about 80% of their weight a day. 

Freezing weather kills the bugs they need, so offering them suet is vitally important.

Bushtits sleep together for warmth, and in the summer they will sleep in their unusual foot-long pendant-hanging nests made of lichen and held together by spider webbing lined with feathers, hanging from a branch.

Flock eating much needed suet during cold spell
Photo by L. Topinka
I have not yet found one of their nests in my yard, but I know a nest has to be nearby because every summer I have a nesting pair eating in my yard, the only time that Bushtits don’t fly in a flock.

Bushtits often come to a favorite feeding area about the same each day. I usually miss “my” flock since it usually eats about noon in my yard, and I don’t hear their soft calls unless I am outside. 

In the winter they may also fly with chickadees, probably because more eyes find more food.

Hang a suet feeder where you can see it—the ones with a cage around it will let more Bushtits eat at the same time. 

You and the Bushtits will be glad you did.



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For the Birds: Tipsy Birds?

Monday, November 7, 2022

American Robin eating old berries Fermented? maybe....
Photo by Craig Kerns
By Christine Southwick

Have you ever seen a drunken robin or two, or perhaps a flock of impaired Cedar Waxwings? Quite comical. They wobble, they weave, they lay down, sometimes they hang upside down. And they sing off-key. As long as no loose cats find them, and said birds don’t fly into windows, the birds recover well.

A result of our wet spring was the loss of many early fruits. I had lots of serviceberry and crabapple fruits set, only to die from all the wet. And then the long hot dry spell caused the blackberries (which many people try to eliminate, but which local and migrating birds depend upon) to shrivel up and dry out. Fruits that robins, juncos, song sparrows, towhees, chickadees, wrens, and nuthatches depend upon are hard to find now. 

Band-tailed Pigeons eating berries while upside down--who knew?
Photo by Craig Kerns

The birds may eat any fruit they find. Mountain Ash, which bloomed a little later here, seem to have had successful crops. What fruits are still hanging could become fermented, especially after the first frost, so watch for drunken birds. Apples may also be suspect.

The main reason that our local birds delayed nesting this last spring was that the wet cold weather resulted in few bugs, especially very few caterpillars.

Fox Sparrows come to our milder winter area, and find
delectables in the leaves. Photo by Craig Kerns
This had a snowball effect-late babies, combined with the dry heat and smoke meant that parent birds were still tending some of their young into September, which meant they were catching bugs for their young and not coming to the feeders as often, which also caused the adults to change (molt) their feathers later, traditionally a time when they don’t come to the feeders much. 

People kept asking why their birds weren’t coming to their feeders and suet; now that the rains have arrived, they are back.

Female Anna's hummingbird drinking much needed
 nectar during cold weather. Photo by Craig Kerns
Backyard birds depend upon bugs all year long to survive. Baby birds are fed instant-energy caterpillars, spiders, mosquitoes, and other available bugs. Without these bugs many birds, especially the young ones, would die. 

With winter coming, spiders and other delectables are found under leaves, so keep some leaves on the ground for hungry birds. 

Bugs are best but suet can help fill in the void.

Sudden cold weather (for this area) means that you should put out suet now, for instant warming energy, keep the seed in your feeders dry, and keep your hummingbird feeders clean and liquid.

And watch for those tipsy birds…



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For the Birds: Fall Is a Time of Change for Birds

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

American Robin eating mountain ash berries
(easy yard tree) Photo by Craig Kerns
By Chris Southwick

Gone are the Osprey and the warblers; incoming are the Snow Geese and other wintering birds.

Early last week our neighborhood was filled with the sounds of several different species arriving from the north to stay for their winter season. 

Incoming Dark-eyed Juncos and American Robins were both heard in numbers. 

Resident chickadees, Spotted Towhees, and Song Sparrows, even Red-breasted Nuthatches and Northern Flickers greeted these seasonal residents with a mix of contact calls.

Fox Sparrow use leaves to uncover bugs.
Preferred winter shelter is a blackberry thicket.
Photo by Craig Kerns
The robins we see in the summer have mostly flown further south, replaced by these northern birds. 

Many of the juncos we see in the winter also flew from the boreal forests in Canada to enjoy our milder winters, adding to our resident junco population. 

In eastern parts of the US, juncos are called “Snow Birds” because they are only present in the wintertime there.

There’s a noticeable change in bird sounds; our year-round birds have switched from territorial songs to mostly contact, “Here I am” calls. 

 Our resident Bewick’s Wrens are still 

You can help our wintering birds by providing food, water, and shelter.

Save leaves and seed heads. Keep a thickness of leaves somewhere in your yard. These can still be neat (or not), but they do make a difference.

Dark-eyed Junco drinking water, a vital
commodity. Photo by Craig Kerns
Leave a patch of flower heads for the juncos and sparrows which prefer seeds and keep some of your leaves on the ground where bug-eaters like towhees, Fox Sparrows, and wrens can find the bug meals they need.

Fresh water is always needed and will draw many birds. 

Shelter, like varying heights of shrubs, bushes, and trees help protect from inclement weather, and offer escape routes from predators. 

A small brush pile is a welcome retreat, and even a small patch of blackberries offers perfect winter protection.

Red-shafted Northern Flicker, male, using much
needed tree for shelter and nesting.
Photo by Craig Kerns
Another helpful action that you can do to save birds—dim outside lights. 

Birds mostly migrate at night for safety from predators, and bright lights often confuse them, causing them to fly into windows, circle large towers of lights, and generally get exhausted and die. 

Smaller wattage, non-bright white, and lighting pointing downward helps.

And something else to look forward to: 

Snow Geese should arrive from Wrangel Island, Russia, to the Skagit farm area in late October. Add some Tundra Swans. 




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For the Birds: Water the Birds, not your lawn

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Chestnut-backed Chickadee cooling off. Photo by Craig Kerns

By Christine Southwick

Your dormant lawn will recover this fall — dehydrated birds may not!

It’s easy to provide water for birds, ranging from ponds, fountains and bird baths down to a plastic plant pot liner placed where you can watch it.

Wilson's Warbler bathing. Photo by Chris Southwick
All you have to do is keep the water reasonably clean, and make sure that the water doesn’t get too hot if you use a shallow bowl that sits in the sun.

Moving water, especially falling water, will attract migrants as they fly near your property and hear the welcome sound of often hard to find water.

They will veer toward your yard, stop, and fill up with much needed water, often saving their lives, especially now that many of their migration drinking stops have become dry. 

Some may even take a quick bath, allowing them to cool down, refresh and take a much-desired rest before continuing on. 

And if your yard offers food by having native plants with bird-enticing bugs or fruits, or bird feeders, many birds will add your yard to their migration rest stops both going and returning.

Evening Grosbeak drinking water. Photo by Craig Kerns
A birdbath can be as small as a plate, as long as it is in a safe location from cats and isn’t too deep. 

Birds don’t swim, so a couple of large rocks will allow them to stand, splash and drink. 

My dripper/mister drips down into two ground bird baths, around which I have a decorative metal fence on three sides to discourage wandering cats, and on the back side of this waterfall I planted salmonberries for the same reason.

Migrants like MacGillivray’s Warblers, Western Tanagers, and Swainson’s Thrushes have stopped at my water setups during many of their migrations. Resident birds use my fountains daily, year-round.

Red-breasted Nuthatch drinking at a fountain.
Photo by Craig Kerns
Fountains will attract birds because they can hear and see moving water. 

Fountains recirculate the water, which is good conservation, and offers a pleasant babbling sound. 

They are easy to set up, can be moved if you so desire, and offer beneficial and enjoyable decoration.

A small pond will often attract different birds than a bird bath, especially if there is a small moving element. 

A waterfall or pond is a major investment in work, but oh, the birds it will bring in!

Make your yard a bird magnet. Both you and the birds will be glad you did.

See previous For the Birds articles here



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For the Birds: Baby Birds are still a Happen’ Thing

Friday, July 1, 2022

American Robin. by Elaine Chuang --
notice the gape (colored area at base of bill)
newly fledged - still begging for food
By Christine Southwick

Three Dark-eyed Juncos just hatched in my hanging fuchsia plant just a week ago. Oh, Happy Day!

Many local birds have second broods. This year because of the cool wet spring which made bugs and caterpillars scarce, many of our birds are trying again if their first brood didn’t make it, or not all the nestlings survived.

Chestnut-backed Chickadee by Craig Kerns
gape still showing--first bath?
Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees routinely have second broods. 

So do our local birds like juncos, Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, and Red-breasted Nuthatches. 

Our native woodpeckers, and raptors do not.

When birds leave their nest, they are the full size of their parents, unlike ducks and waterfowl. 

Indeed, most fledglings appear a little larger because their fresh feathers are fluffy, whereas their harried, overworked parents are somewhat bedraggled.

Now is the time to be watching for nests in tall weeds, young birds with extra color at the base of their beaks, and fledglings that have awkward flying, especially after taking their first couple of baths.

Dark-eyed Junco feeding fledgling
photo by Christine Southwick
It is so fun to watch the newly fledged babies following their parent, fluttering their wings, and loudly begging for food.

That only happens for the first few days. Then the parents start teaching their young how to feed themselves, often bringing their young to feeders, and suet.

Northern Flickers, Downy, and Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers will bring their offspring to my suet feeders. 

The parents start out hanging on the suet, getting a bill-full and flying over to the waiting youngsters, sticking the suet into their mouths. 

This is repeated until the parent thinks that they have had enough instruction, where upon they wait for the youngsters to come get their own suet. As with most youngsters, some “get it” sooner than others.

What are these birds? Juvenile junco on left,
juvie Spotted Towhee on right
Photo by Christine Southwick
The three leading causes of bird demises are:
  1. Loss of Habitat; Keep tall trees, plant native shrubs, trees and flowers-native plants support the bus that our birds need.
  2. Death by cats; Keep your cats inside, or build/buy them an indoor-outdoor run. Ground nesters, like Juncos, Towhees and Song Sparrows nest in tall grass, bases of ferns, or weeds until early August.
  3. Window collisions and other objects; Position your feeders either within three feet of your windows, or more than ten feet away. If you have a window that gets hit, put up window cling-designs, visual distractors, anything to break up the reflection of an inviting habitat.
See previous For the Birds columns here



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For the Birds: Tree-huggers Supreme - the Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Chestnut-backed eating seeds from a cup
Story by Christine Southwick
Photos by Craig Kerns

Most everyone in this area knows our endearing Black-capped Chickadees, but not everyone has the tree-lover Chestnut-backed Chickadees. 

These noisy ambitious and acrobatic chickadees prefer the wet darker forests but will readily come to nearby feeders.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees have chestnut coloring on their backs and under their wings. 

Their heads are dark brown, not black like the Blacked-capped Chickadees. 

Their song is a little buzzier than black-capped. Some locals say they have a Scottish burr to their calls.

Did you know these handsome chickadees only live in the Pacific Northwest (northern California into lower Alaska)? 

I didn’t. Maybe their coloration evolved to enhance their survivorship in their treeland habitats.

Chestnut-backed finding larvae in flowers
They thrive in the thicker and usually wetter coastal forests, which used to cover all of our area (Ivar’s Acres of Clams song is a great reminder of our timbered past). 

People with tall evergreens in their yards will have these delightful denizens.

These chickadees are cavity nesters meaning they need dead trees, or trees with dead limbs where they make their own holes in these softer spots. 

The male makes the hole, or uses an old woodpecker nest hole, and if the female approves, she accepts vegetation offered by the male.

Chestnut-backed using fur for its nest
She will line the nest with moss, weave together grass, feathers and found fur, and will even use a thin layer of fur to cover the eggs when exiting the nest. 

Nesting period is generally 18-21 day, and egg count can vary from 1 to usually about 6. 

Both parents feed their young.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees will often arrive at a feeder in groups, unlike Black-capped Chickadees which have a hierarchical rule of one-at-a-time at a feeder.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees eat suet all year long
Chestnut-backs usually are found high up in local evergreens, gleaning all those tasty bugs, often hanging upside down, but being opportunists, they can also be found in yards with native shrubs of varying heights. 

Currently they are de-bugging my crabapple tree.

Being cavity nesters, they will often use a nesting box. 

They like seasoned wood, so put the box up by early January. They will find it while travelling in their mixed-species winter groups.

Chestnut-backed Chickadees eat lots of bugs, especially larva, and will come to suet. 

In the fall they also eat blackberries and other small fruits. They like seeds and will eat shelled peanuts.

Logging is reducing their numbers, so keep as many of your trees as you can.



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For the Birds: Osprey - Our Great Fishing Hawk

Monday, May 2, 2022

Osprey flying. Photo by Rick Brauer
By Christine Southwick

Have you heard a large bird loudly calling while flying? Does it have long wings reminiscent of a gull, but flies a little bouncier? As you watch more closely - is it white underneath and has a distinct brown eye stripe? If you are lucky enough, it might even be carrying a fish headfirst. Congratulations, you have just spotted one of “our” nesting Osprey!

Bass for breakfast. Photo by Doug Parrott
Ospreys that nest here usually winter in South America and begin arriving here in late March to early April. 

The male arrives first and selects the nest site (or starts adding branches to their old nest). They usually mate for life.

Osprey are found on every continent, except Antarctica, wherever there is good fishing and high open places for nests. 

Unlike other hawks, Osprey readily use artificial nesting platforms, light towers or cell towers on which to build their nests, which can become massive over years of repeated use.

Osprey feeding young. Photo by Doug Parrott
They need that open space since their flying is perfected for successful diving and catching fish, often from high up, talons extended, which reduces some maneuverability.

Ospreys will fish in fresh or salt water and can carry fish as far as twelve miles to their nests. 

Studies have found that Ospreys have very high fishing success rates. 

Ospreys can fish down to about three feet deep, giving them a distinct advantage over Bald Eagles which fish near the surface.

Ospreys live almost exclusively on fish, and to carry their fish they have a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp slippery fish with two toes in front and two behind. This also allows them to hold the fish headfirst, thus reducing wind drag.

Osprey, juvie lesson landing in tree.
Photo by Peggy Bartleson
Osprey eggs hatch serially, which gives the first born a survival advantage in times of bad fishing, which can happen when bad weather makes fishing unsuccessful. 

They usually have two or three young each season.

It takes up to 42 days for the eggs to hatch, and another 50 some days before the nestlings leave the nest. 

Unlike most fledglings, these youngsters keep returning to their nest often until they migrate. 

Both parents feed them, teach them how to fish, and carry their catch.

The parents migrate, separately, leaving the youngsters to find their own way southward. The juveniles usually stay south for their next year.

The name “Osprey” has been around since at least 1460 and means “bird of prey” (avis prede).



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