Category Archives: Birds

Behavior and facts

An hour at a local pond

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There is a pond in the county where I live that used to be a real hot spot for birds and other wildlife. The dairy farm fields around it had lots of native vegetation, which was very welcoming to avian wildlife.

A couple years ago, the farmers retired, and the property was purchased by a vineyard owner to expand his holdings. He cut down most of the vegetation around the pond and along the road bordering the fields. He has turned most of the fields into vineyards, keeping only small portions untouched where birds can still find some refuge.

I used to see a yellow-billed cuckoo return from migration to a small patch of trees there every spring. This now is a thing of the past. However, some pond-edge vegetation had been regenerated, and a little bit was planted, so some birds are hanging in there. They still make for some interesting birding. Here is what I saw on a recent visit.

The largest birds that keep returning to the pond are the great blue herons. Sometimes there is one; other times there are two or three. Occasionally a green heron flies in or over but none stopped by on this occasion.

The heron often has good days fishing there. I often see him/her snag at least one fish and often more than one.

The heron stalks along the pond and frequently flies across to the other side for a change of venue. Perhaps the fish manage to hide well once they realize s/he is stalking them.

It’s wonderful to see the heron’s wings spread as the bird alights and then begins stalking again.

Eastern bluebirds had taken advantage of an electrical installation next to the pond (which also serves as a resource for the local fire department as needed). They not only used it as a perch for bug seeking but also built a nest inside it. I wondered what the new owner would do.

 

   

To my great surprise, his problem was solved by the local electricity company. They removed the birds’ original nest and put it into a temporary nest box!

    

Mom and Dad bluebird were guarding the nest space, but it looked like they were still getting used to the new digs.

While watching the bluebirds, I suddenly heard a commotion in front of me, but I couldn’t see what was happening behind the bushes at the pond’s edge (I’m short!). However, I could tell that a bird was in distress. I wondered if one of the huge snapping turtles had caught a duckling. I walked further along and saw one of the two resident female wood ducks (above) swimming away from the area.

No ducklings followed and I feared the worst. One mother had five ducklings (above) while the one swimming away had lost one a few weeks before. Now I wondered if she had lost others, too. Luckily, I later saw her return to the area and shepherd four ducklings across the water to the other side.

 

In the small bit of meadow immediately adjacent to the pond, red-winged blackbirds are now nesting. One pair has a nest close to the road and they are warning visitors away with constant flights along the pond’s edge, while the male calls repeatedly.

 

The female was taking breaks from warning-off flights to enjoy an occasional meal, at this time consisting of one of the remaining periodical cicadas that emerged recently.

She wasn’t the only one seeking these insect delicacies. Two Northern mockingbirds were also intently examining the area under a tree for them. One finally had success in snagging a cicada. (For more about the cicadas, see my previous two blogs!)

  

The male red-winged blackbird was very busy keeping “intruders” as far as away as possible from their nest. He warned off the great blue heron, who was actually pretty far away. (He is flying away from the heron on the left side of the photo.)

He also went after a red-tailed hawk, who appeared soaring overhead.

Common grackles, often present at this pond, will also chase away these hawks. There weren’t any around to join in the foray this time, but the photos below taken at another pond show how they go after the red-tails.

I looked at a small patch of chicory across the road to see if any bobolinks, grosbeaks or meadowlarks were around. I love this plant and planted some seeds in my own yard, hoping to attract more pollinators and birds. So far, they have not sprouted.

 

Below you see a young blue grosbeak and a pair of Eastern meadowlarks who were in the patchy field spots another time.

 

Usually, several types of swallows frequent the pond, including purple martins, tree swallows, barn swallows and Northern rough-winged swallows. I only saw a couple of the latter this day and only got poor flight photos as my camera began acting up, refusing to focus.

Staring hard across the pond, I did manage to spot three killdeer, four least sandpipers and a couple other sandpipers that I couldn’t immediately identify. I later learned that they were semipalmated sandpipers, which I hadn’t seen there yet. (If you click on the photo, you see it larger; then go back to the blog.)

That hour at the pond didn’t turn out to be a super one for capturing stellar photos, but it was definitely a great one for relaxing, observing the action and appreciating nature again!

They’re baaaack!!! — and so am I! Part 2

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But the Great Southern Brood of periodical cicadas is getting ready to leave…!

Having heralded their appearance in my previous blog, I’d like to share a bit here about what these insects are now facing as they expend their remaining energy on ensuring the survival of their species.

Some of our community members (both animal and human) are as appreciative as I am that these creatures are here. In listserv postings, a few people have commented, for example:

  • Sounds great.
  • I guess I am rare in thinking they are cool. It feels other worldly….
  • And it’s all about SEX. Just think about all those teenage hot-rodders gunning their engines to attract attention. They’re all saying “Come and get me baby. I’m HOT.” After years underground, you would be, too.

It’s almost impossible to miss the cicada phenomenon where I live unless you have hearing or vision problems or can’t get outside. Their calls for gathering and hooking up can reach a level of 100 decibels and this continues for hours on end.

The sounds can vary a bit because the Great Southern Brood comprises several species of periodical cicadas with somewhat different songs.

However, it seems that quite a few people don’t pay attention to the broadcast or print news. Despite the considerable coverage given to the cicadas’ appearance, inquiries about the ongoing noise continue in listservs, irritating some community members:

  • Please stop asking about the sound cicadas make! Please! And if someone answers, why do 50 people feel the need to respond? I feel that so much of the posts are so religious. Does anyone else feel this way?… I didn’t mean religious! I meant repetitive!
  • Cicadas are a plague sent from God signaling the End Of Time. The purple glow in the sky last night [Northern Lights] was the Rapture, and, since we’re still here … well, there’s that…
  • If you don’t like it, stop looking at the posts.

The numbers of cicadas we’re seeing really is amazing. They need an enormous population because that is how they ensure some will live long enough to reproduce. These insects have no physical or chemical defense mechanisms at all. Many will succumb to diseases and predators.

One particularly strange phenomenon is a fungus that attacks the cicadas. Massospora cicadina has evolved to target periodical cicadas. The cicada nymphs can become infected when they dig their way out of the soil.

The fungus is a chalky white substance that destroys their reproductive organs but does not kill the insect. As the infection progresses, the male cicada continues to move around and tries to mate. Eventually, the back part of its abdomen drops off and we can see the white fungal growth. But the cicada doesn’t die from this and continues trying to find a mate!

Image by Katja Schulz, CC BY 4.0. Reproduced with permission from  <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

The cicadas also have no means to fend off predators and they are a highly desired food source for other creatures. Those who eat them include snakes, spiders, beetles, wasps, opossums, squirrels, raccoons, frogs, dogs and even people.

This unfortunate individual died early on during the cicada emergence and the local ants found it on my driveway.

These cicadas are especially vulnerable to avian predation. I’ve now seen different species of birds chowing down on them, including grackles (below) and robins.

The red-bellied woodpeckers seem to have a particular fondness for them. A young woodpecker was hoping that its parents would provide them as a meal, but the parents were eating the insects themselves.

A Northern cardinal stopped by for a meal.

The resident male Eastern bluebird in my yard was supervising his three rapidly maturing fledglings in their efforts to catch and consume the large insects.

His mate was already tending another nest of 5 eggs, so he was occasionally feeding her as well, including cicada tidbits.

Given the enormous numbers of cicadas that have arrived, some are managing to stay alive and healthy so they can mate. The females may lay as many as 600 eggs in nests dug into plant stems.

After 6-10 weeks, the eggs hatch and the nymphs crawl down to the earth to go underground for their 13-year “hibernation” period.  There they will eat sap from tree roots, undergo their molting and live out their lives with the people walking above or near them having no idea that they are there.

My chances of seeing the members of Brood XIX again are likely not so great, but perhaps some of you readers who live in the northeastern USA may get to see them emerge again then. If so, I hope you will find them fascinating, too!

 

 

My welcome American crow friends

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On numerous occasions over the past months, I’ve had ideas for new blogs and set aside photos for posting. But then other things crop up that need to be handled (health, car/house issues and a monthly newspaper column) and I put off blogging. So when fellow blogger Denzil asked his followers to post some photos of corvids, it was a great opportunity to share with you some of my latest photos of favorite visitors to my yard.

A pair of crows have been coming to visit my yard for many years now. I’ve had numerous opportunities to see them courting and looking for treats at bird feeders (and occasional pieces of apple that I put out when they come by). Above, one of them was addressing me and then gave him/herself a kind of creepy look when s/he covered her/his eyes with the nictitating membrane.

Each year, mom and dad return with their newest brood in tow. Sometimes I think offspring from previous years also join the group as this year I’ve had 6 or 7 of them come by at a time.

They are fond of several kinds of bird food that I put out for other birds, including dried mealworms and my homemade suet.

They hang their big bodies off the feeders and then usually fly down to consume whatever morsels they have gotten.

They are a loquacious lot, communicating loudly among themselves much of the time.

They are loudest, however, when they gather together to chase off the red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks who also live in the neighborhood. The crow family does not like them at all and make it known to all their neighbors, avians and humans alike. The other birds are likely happy with their alarm calls as they disappear when warned of hawks in the vicinity.

And then the corvids can also relax, enjoying drinks and bathing in the yard birdbaths. When they appear to have enjoyed a treat, I sometimes find “gifts” left behind in the  brightest birdbath. One day, when I apparently had not given them something special for some time, they took off with a small ceramic turtle that they often would leave in the birdbath after a visit. I now wonder if they gifted another neighbor with that trinket.

Their visits are always welcome to me, perhaps because I haven’t seen them harassing any of the smaller birds. Denzil’s suggestion to post about corvids was a nice reminder of the birding pleasure “my” family of crows brings along.

Learning to love an over-protective bird

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When house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) first began visiting my yard some years ago, I was not aware that they are extremely protective parents. I didn’t see them as often as birds of other species since they don’t come to my feeders and were not using nest boxes.

 

The past couple years, however, they have become more comfortable in my yard and began building their nests in boxes after all. This became problematic for me and especially the other species who use the boxes — Eastern bluebirds, Carolina chickadees and brown-headed nuthatches. The reason?

House wrens do their utmost to drive other birds out of their territory so that there is no competition for food needed by their nestlings and fledglings. This protectiveness makes them go so far as to peck other birds’ eggs, which they have done with chickadees and bluebirds in my yard.

Very unfortunately (and upsetting to me), they even killed two nestling nuthatches one year. The other two nuthatch babies managed to fledge. This behavior led a birder, Althea Sherman, to launch a crusade against house wrens in scientific journals in the early 1900s. Now, there are instructions online on how the wrens can be discouraged, for example, on a website devoted to bluebirds.

This year, Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) were tending four eggs in one box and a house wren tried to invade. The parents were very protective and successfully drove the wren away (photo below). Another pair of bluebirds had nested early and managed to guide their young to fledging. They then abandoned my backyard for nesting and the house wrens had no rivals for nest boxes in that area for the rest of breeding season.

House wrens are one of the bird species banded in my yard each year for the Smithsonian Institution’s Neighborhood Nestwatch program. This year the bird bander noticed their nest with babies in a backyard nest box, so she upped the chances of catching one by counting on their extremely protective nature.

A net was put up not far from the box and the bird bander played the call of another house wren. This resulted in both mama and papa wren getting inadvertently caught up in the net while trying to drive away the intruder. They were both banded and then immediately let go so they could resume feeding their babies.

The four woodpiles in my backyard were like a larder for them because they host a plethora of insects.

 

 

And the house wrens are obviously not that choosy about which insects they eat. Mama and Papa brought a large variety to their ever-hungry nestlings.

   

   

 

The parents were also very good at keeping the nest clean.

The three nestlings appeared to be producing numerous fecal sacs so that mom and dad were constantly checking the nest for them and flying them away.

   

At one point, it was interesting that when the male wren brought a large insect to the nest, he handed it over to the female, who was waiting a bit after having just given the babies food.

 

Eventually, the large meal was delivered to the nestlings.

 

As the days went by, the nestlings became louder and more insistent on being fed and the parents scarcely paused in their efforts to keep the meals coming and the nest clean. It must have been a relief for the parents when the babies finally left the nest box because they could now take a breather now and then.

 

Right after fledging, the parents were still busy. The fledglings had not yet flown far so I could see the first post-fledging feeding session for one young wren.

I had learned that house wrens sometimes incorporate spider egg sacs into the nests they build because the hatched spiders eat nest parasites and thereby help protect the developing nestlings! The parents also fed mother spiders and egg sacs to their young. Just after fledging I caught a circle-of-life moment when a parental wren fed a mother spider with her attached egg sac to a fledgling – the death of the poor insect furthered the life of the new bird.

I could see and hear the parent house wrens continuing to feed the fledglings that afternoon. But after a while they appear to have moved to another yard, where they likely weren’t dealing with humans closely watching.

   

The Eastern bluebirds have a new nest in my front yard now with four eggs, so my nest watching can continue for a while. And the juvenile birds of other species coming to the feeders are entertaining, too.

Our largest North American woodpecker — a real delight!

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During nesting season, we have a good chance of seeing many birds whom we might not notice otherwise because they’re out in the open, collecting nesting material and scrounging for as much food as possible because they have hungry mouths to feed. I was very grateful to my friend Carol when she told me about a pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) nest where the babies might be fledging soon. Pileated woodpeckers are also nesting somewhere near my home, but I rarely see them.

When we arrived at the nesting site, one baby was poking its head out of the oblong nest hole about two-thirds the way up a very tall snag.

 

Above it, a red-headed woodpecker (see right) was maintaining a nest. A red-bellied woodpecker was also visiting higher up.

While we watched, the young one continued scanning the skies while calling out to its parents. The baby persisted in watching from the nest, which was only lined with wood chips. Unlike other birds, pileated parents do not line their nests with nesting material such as soft grasses.

 

 

Occasionally, the parents answered and, after about 15-20 minutes, one flew over to check us out. It was the father, who could be identified by his red crest that extended down to his bill and the red cheek or moustache stripe (right photo). The left photo shows a female who was foraging in a tree on another occasion. Her red crest is only on top of her head and her cheek stripe is black.

  

The young one looked back into the nest; I wondered whether another nestling might be there. No one else peered out at that moment and we speculated as to whether one might already have fledged as two had been seen the previous day. When the father visited the nest, still only one baby showed itself, so we didn’t know whether there might be another one around (nests usually have 1-3 babies).

 

The father fed his offspring by regurgitating whatever he had been eating. The pileated woodpeckers’ diet comprises mostly carpenter ants (40-97% of their diet in various studies), supplemented by other insects including worms, caterpillars, roaches, flies, and grasshoppers.

   

They also eat nuts and wild fruit. If you have a garden and want to attract them, they like persimmons and many berries, including those of poison ivy, sumacs, dogwoods, elderberries, greenbriers and sassafrass.  

Many landowners tend to clear their yards and gardens of fallen logs and dead standing trees. I keep several woodpiles in various spots as the decomposing wood is home to many of the insects that the pileated woodpeckers and other birds need for their diet.

Papa took off again, leaving a satisfied young one behind (at least for the time being).

These woodpeckers are the largest in North America (15.8-19.3 in/40-49 cm), since the ivory-billed woodpeckers have been declared extinct. They are monogamous and luckily have plenty of opportunities to find mates. Pileated woodpeckers had been in serious decline in the 18th-19th centuries as forests were logged for the timber industry and to clear land for ranches and farms. Since then, they have rebounded to just over 2.5 million individuals.

I realized when I looked at my photos later that I had not been paying enough attention to the coloring of the parents and offspring. When I went away for a short time and then returned, mama pileated was visiting the nest. In addition, whereas I had been watching a female nestling first, now a male baby was calling out for food. A view of the two looking up, shows the male’s red cheek stripes were obvious, but I had been oblivious at the time. The female is on the left and the male is on the right.

 

The next time that papa returned, the male offspring stuck his head out for a feeding.

 

Papa didn’t want to play favorites, so he stuck his head in the nest to apparently call them both to come out.

They opened their beaks wide, begging for food.

 

Papa let them ask for a while, sticking his tongue out at them as they begged.

 

He also decided to take out some fecal matter. I don’t know how long the nestlings had been in there (they usually grow in the nest for a month), but a clean nest is desirable.

     

After the babies fledge, they may stay with their parents for up to three months.

   

I’m so glad that Carol and her sister Donna, near whose home the nest is located, invited me to come see the family. It was time well spent as it got my mind completely off an ongoing series of problems complicating my life lately. Hope seeing these photos was also a bright moment for you!