Deep Freeze Effects Wild Birds
With more than a week of severe winter weather under our belts, I am slowly and reluctantly becoming accustomed to it. The birds, however, seem to take it all in stride though it can’t be easy for them. I am continually amazed at how chickadees – tiny little 10-gram miracles – survive in this climate. Having written articles on the subject, I know how they do it, but I still find it mind boggling.
The peanut butter and suet recipe described in the Articles page of the website is such a big hit with the birds in our yard. I could probably make up two batches a day. We have an artificially high population of magpies here so they are a bit of a problem at the feeders but if I can keep them away, the small birds spend a lot of time on the suet log.
I watch the chickadees eating snow in tiny bits. It’s not safe to put open water baths out at this temperature but they obviously adapt to a lack of water by eating the white stuff. Since deer and moose also eat snow, I guess it makes sense, even though we are taught in winter survival class not to eat snow because it can advance hypothermia. (Not sure what the physiological differences are that make it okay for wildlife but not for humans. Interesting.)
When it’s this cold out and there is so much snow cover, birds need high fat foods. The best choices are black oil sunflower seeds and suet mixes. Make sure the latter are good quality as some of the store bought options are really crappy. I’d recommend the simple recipe on the Articles page of Northern Bird Houses. It’s inexpensive, always fresh, and so easy to make.
Bird Feeders in the Winter
The snow has fallen a few times now and though we know it won’t stay, there’s already a change in feeding habits of the resident birds and wildlife. We’ve got about a dozen feeders on the premises but even so, it’s not easy keeping them full. For the past few weeks, deer have been hanging around the yard and they love bird seed! Sometimes, we find feeders on the ground in the morning, completely empty! We’ve managed to capture a few photos. One pair of white tails has been here since June, when the younger of the two was born. It’s a young buck and his mother. I guess they feel it’s safe to hang out here. The birds don’t try to compete, instead waiting until the deer have cleared out, before they dig in.
White tail deer
The deer love the ground bird baths as well. We watched with humour the other day when the fawn tried to take a drink and the water was frozen. He licked and licked, seeming to get frustrated, then finally took a kick at it with his front hoof, breaking the ice crust. That made the water underneath available, much to his delight. Those deer are a whole lot smarter than humans give them credit for, much like all wildlife.
We’ve also been filling our suet feeders with homemade suet. We could easily go through a batch a day. The white breasted nuthatches, chickadees, and woodpeckers love it. If you want the recipe, it’s easy to make and very inexpensive. Visit the Articles page of the website for details. We’ve also added a description on how to make a suet feeder from a cut log or piece of firewood. It’s super easy and costs nothing to make.
It’s also the time of year when invasive house sparrows become a problem. We use several deterrents with mixed success. Luckily, they are the only non-native species around so it could be much worse.
We expect the red polls to show up any day. Whenever it snows, they are not far behind.
Update on Pelicans’ Status
For those of you keeping track of the tragic case of two pelicans shot near Calgary (see previous post), here is an update.
The adult died last week. He had been depressed and had no appetite. Though his external wounds were healing well, AIWC staff had no accurate way of detecting the extent of his internal injuries. Post mortem results showed internal hemorrhaging due to the bird’s initial trauma. This development is discouraging on several fronts. Obviously, his death is saddening and frustrating, particularly because he was killed illegally and cruelly, but his loss is doubly sad because the juvenile is now entirely alone and faces a winter in solitude.
As for the juvenile, she is eating well and gaining weight finally. The center (Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation) may try keeping her with other waterfowl for the winter though her large size and powerful beak could put others at risk. Too soon to tell.
In the meantime, AIWC is grateful for all the donations that have helped provide medical care and food for them. It costs about $10 a day to buy fish for one pelican. Then there are costs associated with housing, water, physio, and so on. The surviving pelican faces 6 to 7 months in captivity.
Staff are busy with several other key cases as well, including an eagle from the Northwest Territories and several ‘hit by car’ raptors. Stay tuned for other updates and case files as well as cool stuff available on the NorthernBirdHouses.com website.
Pelicans Rescued
Some of you may have heard about the pelicans that were shot near Calgary. One was observed alone on a slough for nearly two weeks before someone reported it to the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) who immediately sent out a rescue team. The next day, staff from AIWC sent out another team to rescue a second pelican from a pond several miles south.
Both had been shot and both suffered major wounds, infection, and respiratory complications due to air sac ruptures. Wildlife officials are investigating but there is not much evidence to go on at this point.
Gunshot pelicans in recovery
Though the birds are recovering from their wounds, it is not known whether they will fly again. In the meantime, they must be housed and fed at considerable cost to the charitable organization charged with their care. Stressed by captivity, both have lost weight but are responding well to medical treatment.
It costs about $20 a day just to feed them. They require large quantities of fish such as trout, herring, and smelt. After examining their wounds, I was confident they would recover medically but not so sure about their eventual outcome. The soft tissue damage is internal and impossible to evaluate yet.
One of them has adapted fairly well to confinement but the older, mature bird is not eating well yet and has to be tube-fed three times a day.
People can help support the two pelicans by donating to AIWC (www.aiwc.ca). They can also purchase wild bird products from Northern Bird Houses (www.northernbirdhouses.com), a wild bird store that donates a portion of their profits directly to AIWC for wildlife rescue purposes.
Migrants Passing Through & Freaky Bird Happenings
Scores of wild birds are passing through, headed south to warmer climates. Some are long gone, others are just arriving. Of the latter, there are a lot of warblers and sparrows. Noted lots of yellow rumped warblers and white throated sparrows this morning. Heard juncos, phoebes, and kinglets yesterday.
It has been such a wacky year for birds in terms of late nesting. Some Swainson’s hawk fledglings are barely out of the nest! And this week, fledgling waxwings are squawking for their parents to feed them. They’ve only been out the nest a few days! We know Cedar waxwings are usually the last to fledge, in order to take advantage of the berry crops. but this seems downright risky! Some of the shrubs on the property leafed out really late so we’re trying to remember if the berries are late as well.
This fledgling Cedar waxwing is late, at September 9th!
You know the seasons are messed up when peonies come up in late August and early September. They are usually one of the first signs of spring but we saw no sign of them until a couple weeks ago.
What does all this mean for migrants? Day length is usually the major determinant in urging birds to move on, so most migrating systems should be ‘business as usual’. It’s been cold here for about a week so many of the migrants may be having a hard time finding food. Not many bugs out there.
Time to recharge your feeders! Make sure they are clean and use the best food. A lot of these small songbirds benefit by the extra availability of good quality food like sunflower seeds. Some need the seeds to be shelled already but many can get the seeds open by themselves. Don’t forget, you can visit www.northernbirdhouses.com for some great feeders.
We talked to some locals who have bluebird trails and most of them said the same thing we noticed all summer: bluebird numbers are down. Some said ‘Way down!’ That’s really discouraging news. We’re hoping to get some feedback on possible issues affecting bluebird populations this year. We’ll let you know if we hear anything.
If anyone out there has any weird and wacky bird occurrences to share, we’d love to hear from you. We’re particularly interested in strange behaviors – anything out of the ordinary that may pertain to migration, conservation, changing weather systems, etc.
Great time of year for bird watching! Hope you are all out there enjoying the scenery!
Summer Nesting Activities
This summer, the tree swallows have done very well, occupying 11 nest boxes on the property. Wrens used 3 boxes, plus we found another wren nest hidden in the woods, inside an old log. Though we saw and heard both cliff swallows and barn swallows all summer, they didn’t nest on our property but were likely next door. The cliff swallows are definitely dwindling in this area and no longer nest on the house. The neighbour’s stucco house was more attractive for attaching their mud tubes but the house sparrows took the nests over and drove the swallows away so they didn’t nest there either this year. Unfortunately, bluebirds were scarce this year. We are wondering how they fared across the rest of the province as some areas have reported normal numbers while others seem to have low numbers like us. We hear bluebirds from time to time and we think they nested in one box just down the road. It’s disappointing since we usually have at least one pair on the property and sometimes two.
One of our highlights was nesting downy woodpeckers. A pair seemed to become permanent over the winter so we were hopeful they would raise young here. They brought 4 fledglings to the yard a couple of weeks ago and we hear and see them regularly now. What a delight they are! They did not use one of the nest boxes but made a beautiful home in a large poplar.
This fledgling swallow is about a day away from its first flight!
The raptor platform was not occupied though our resident Great Horned owl is still with us and seems to be thriving. He is still alone and ‘mateless‘. Maybe next year??? There is a pair of Swainson’s hawks just across the road and every now and then we see merlins, sharp shins, or coopers hawks.
We’ve got lots of goldfinches, native sparrows, Eastern kingbirds, and much more, plus visiting hummingbirds and orioles. Our numerous feeders need filling almost every day! Yikes!
Next year, we’re going to add more bird houses. Of course. We get all our bird houses from www.northernbirdhouses.com because we know they only sell ecologically correct boxes that feature all the right stuff for successful fledglings. Join NBH’s Bird Junkies Club (www.northernbirdhouses.com/club.html) or visit the information page (www.northernbirdhouses.com/info.html) for some great articles on wild birds. It’s free and full of good references.
Bird Identification Tips
I am frequently asked to identify wild birds, in the field and in the hand. A good ‘birder’ can identify many species by the silhouette alone but that takes a lot of practice! Whether you’re looking through binoculars or watching a feeder, there may be very little time to make your observations. There are a few simple things you should look for to increase the likelihood of making an accurate identification in a hurry.
First of all, don’t stress about always having your field guide handy. By the time you’ve looked up a potential candidate, your living subject may be long gone. It’s better to have a paper and pencil to jot down a few key points that will be useful when you consult the guide book later on.
There are several physical characteristics to watch for to help in the identification process.
- Beak size and shape. The beak tells you a lot about what kind of life style a bird lives: meat eater, insectivore, fish spearer, mud prober, seed eater, etc. Is the bill curved, and if so, which way does it curve, up or down? Is it hooked, abnormally thick, long and slender, or perfectly triangular?
Note the seed-crushing bill of this Pine grosbeak.
- Tail length and shape. Is the tail long? Is it rounded at the end or square? Is it notched in the middle? Are there any unusual markings such as outer patches of white or a black band across the end? A good case in point is the Mourning Dove, whose tail is diamond-shaped and has outer white flashes when in flight. While resting, these features are not visible. Conversely, in other species, the shape may be more easily determined while perching.
- Wing shape and markings: This may only be visible in flight but watch for the relative length and shape of the outstretched wing. Furthermore, are there distinctive markings on the leading edge of the wing or spots underneath? What about colour patterns?
- Eye ring: If you could see the colour of the eyes, that would be helpful but it’s not easy to do. On the other hand, the presence or absence of an eye ring can be a great clue and is much easier to observe.
- Distinctive plumage: Watch for stripes on the head, neck, tail, and wings. If there are bright, obvious colours, the species will probably be simple to identify and you’re not likely to forget it. However, there may be subtle wing bar patterns or a bold stripe above the eye. If so, count the number of stripes and try to note where they start and stop as well as their colour. This will be important later when you get your field guide open.
- Legs: Some birds are feathered all the way down to their toes while others have bare legs. The presence of feathers and how far they extend can be key. However, if legs are bare, what colour are they?
- Geography: Though birds can occasionally be ‘off course’, it may be helpful to know which species live in which areas at certain times of the year. For example, if you see a waxwing in Alberta in January, it is almost certainly a Bohemian waxwing, simply because that fits with their migratory patterns. The other waxwing found in Alberta is the cedar waxwing, but it is only found in Alberta in the summer breeding season. Be careful, however, as there is a brief migratory period when one species is coming while the other is going and they may overlap for a short time.
- Tiny owl of the forest, a Northern Saw Whet.
For more information on wild birds, visit www.northernbirdhouses.com
Features of a good bird house for wild birds
Bird watching is one of North America’s favorite pastimes. Like all wildlife, birds provide valuable benefits to humans but they also have their own intrinsic value that one cannot put a name to nor place a price tag on. Wild birds thrill us with their aerial acrobatics, bring smiles with their incredible song, and account for immeasurable insect control.
Due to loss of habitat, invasive species, pesticides, and other environmental hazards humans have created, many wild bird populations have decreased significantly. To counter this, some of us erect bird houses and bird platforms for them to build their nests in or on. Such artificial nest boxes may be critical in providing opportunities where existing habitat has been altered or diminished. Did you know the nest box you choose can determine the likelihood of their young surviving? Not only is the location important, so are the shape, dimensions, hole size and many other features. In fact, erecting the wrong box may result in some birds simply refusing to use it or, worse, can lead to the death of nestlings!
A good bird house cannot usually be purchased in the average department store. Visit a credible website such as NorthernBirdHouses.com for the species-specific products and detailed information on housing and feeding wild birds successfully. Here are a few examples of things to look for in a good bird house:
- untreated wood, with walls at least 3/4″ thick
- extended, sloped roof
- front interior wall is grooved or textured to provide footing for emerging fledglings
- hole size is appropriate for targeted species and has smooth edges to prevent feather damage
- easy access for cleaning
- drainage holes in the floor and aeration holes near the top of two sides
- construction design prevents rain and snow from leaking in
These and other features not only improve nesting success but will also enhance your birding experiences. Other important things you can do include providing water, planting appropriate trees, shrubs, and flowers, and preventing or reducing the application of pesticides. Stay tuned for continued updates on the joy of living with wild birds.
