Winter bird watching

November 23, 2022 / susanbulanda / 4 Comments

Winter bird watching is an activity that the whole family can enjoy. No matter how cold or snowy it is, birds will come to your bird feeder. It is a great activity to teach children to identify birds. Accompanied with a child’s version of a bird book, they can learn about the birds that they see. If you live in an area that is not cold and snowy, you will have the opportunity to see the birds that migrate south for the winter. This is often the only time you will be able to see some species of birds.

To be able to take great photos from indoors, simply hang your bird feeder close to a window. As I write this, birds are perching on my feeders about 18″ from my window. If you clean your windows carefully, you can take a photo without seeing the glass.

Researchers have found that bird watching is a calming pass time. For those who are inclined, you can photograph birds as they come to your feeders or perch nearby. The bottom photo is an Indigo Bunting that was eating the seeds that I spread under my Brome feeder. I took this photo through a window.

One of the problems that people have is that other animals, such as deer, squirrels, raccoons and even bears will rob a bird feeder. If you live in bear country it is important to bring your feeders in at night. If you have deer in your area you only need to hang your feeder high enough so that they cannot reach it. I have never had a problem with raccoons being able to rob my Brome feeders. I have lost one or two to black bears.

Fortunately Brome feeders are 100% squirrel proof. I have tried many brands of feeders and found this is the only one that is 100% squirrel proof. The benefit of having a squirrel proof feeder is that the money you save in bird seed will pay for the feeder in no time. Do check out their line of feeders and enjoy birdwatching. Brome also offers a free informative video every two weeks.

Surprising activity in Tufted Titmice and Chickadee’s

August 2, 2021 / susanbulanda / Leave a comment

Researcher Mark Hauber a professor of evolution, ecology and behavior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and other scientists have made an unusual discovery. They found that Tufted Titmice and Chickadees will use animal hair to line their nests. While this may not seem unusual, what he found by studying videos, was that the birds braved landing on sleeping mammals to pluck out their hair. It seems the mammals did not mind having the birds do this and some did not wake up. The fact that these birds use animal hair was not new to the researchers, but it was always assumed that the birds obtained the hair from carcasses, not from live animals.

The researchers have named this behavior “kleptotrichy” which is Greek for “theft” and “hair.” As the researchers further studied this behavior, they found that the birds plucked hair from 47 humans, 45 dogs, three cats, three raccoons and a porcupine. I wonder if the humans were aware of the plucking birds.

What came to mind for me was a parakeet (budgie) that I owned years ago. While I was working in my office, I would let the bird fly around. My small Havanese would sleep in her bed next to my desk. The keet would sit on my lamp and watch the dog. Then he would fly down, landing on the floor and tilt his head back and forth as birds do, watching her sleep. He would take a few hops toward her until he reached her tail and then he would grab one hair and pull it. The dog would wake up, half rise and growl at the bird, who would squawk bird laughter, as he flew back to the lamp. When the dog went back to sleep, he would do it all over again. I always felt that he did it for fun but who knows?

Wild parrots in the United States

August 26, 2020 / susanbulanda / Leave a comment

Although they are not native to the US, there are colonies of wild parrots living in the US. These birds were pets that either were released or escaped. Fifty-six different parrot species in 43 different states have been spotted and 25 species in 23 states have established breeding colonies.

The most common are the Monk parakeet, Red-crowned Amazon and the Nanday Parakeet.

A famous colony of Monk parakeets’ lives in Chicago. Since they do not migrate, they survive the winter by feeding at bird feeders. The largest colony is located at the Skyway bridge that connects Illinois to Indiana.If you are a birdwatcher, do not be surprised if you see an unusual bird at your bird feeder or in a tree or bush around your home.

Worldwide, birds eat up to 500 million metric tons of insects

March 2, 2019March 2, 2019 / susanbulanda / 2 Comments

It is rather amazing how many insects’ birds eat a year. To give you an idea of how much they eat, one metric ton equals 2204 lbs.

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Most of the energy that birds get from eating insects (and seeds for seed eating birds) goes to maintaining their energy. Little goes to their body weight, according to a study led by Martin Nyffeler of the University of Basel in Switzerland.

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This is one reason why it is important to offer a bird friendly habitat in your own backyard. Many birds eat both seeds and insects, depending on the time of the year and the weather. Woodpeckers that eat mostly insects will eat seeds in the winter when insects are scarce.

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A bird friendly habitat will offer shelter, food, water and nesting sites for all types of birds. Offering seeds and suet in the winter will keep insect eating birds in your area and that will benefit you and your garden in the warmer time of the year.

It is also interesting to note that spiders consume as much and more insect than birds. They eat between 400 and 800 insects a year.

New discovery about how birds migrate

April 9, 2018 / susanbulanda / 1 Comment

Many birds migrate thousands of miles each spring and fall. Often these birds return to the same area and even the same bird houses or nesting sites. When you consider that being off even a half of a degree could cause birds to be hundreds of miles away from their destination, it is an amazing feat of navigation.

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Researchers have long believed that birds follow the magnetic field of the Earth to navigate but were not sure how they accomplished this with such accuracy. Recently Researchers at Lund University in Sweden believe they have discovered the secret. It is a unique protein found in bird’s eyes.

Atticus Pinzón-Rodríguez, one of the researchers involved in the study explained that the cryptochromes protein, Cry4, is the only one that remains constant both day and night. According to the study all birds have this protein which is sensitive to the magnetic fields of the Earth. They found that even birds that do not migrate have the Cry4 protein.

The researchers feel that more studies are needed to fully understand how Cry4 works, but that it is a step in the right direction. Eventually they feel it may help develop new navigation systems for people.

New research shows how birds learn new songs

November 2, 2017November 2, 2017 / susanbulanda / Leave a comment

Richard Hahnloser a researcher from the Institute of Neuroinformatics run by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich has made an interesting discovery. He found that Zebra finches divide the complex task of learning a new song into manageable parts. When the song was changed, the birds adapted the syllables or notes of the song that they knew to the new song. After a short period of time they were able to master the new song.

The researchers found that the method that the birds used is similar to the method that computer linguists use to compare documents. It is also the same method that children use to learn a primary and secondary language.

The real implication of the study is not only the technique that the birds use, but the intelligence and thought process that they have to use this technique. It requires awareness and the ability to analyze. The more we learn about animals, the more we realize they are much more intelligent than previously thought. How exciting it is to think of what discoveries await us.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171101092010.htm

Backyard Bird Watching

February 17, 2017February 17, 2017 / susanbulanda / Leave a comment

You don’t have to hike through the fields and woods to enjoy bird-watching. Most of my bird-watching is through my home office window. I have taken a variety of photos of many different kinds of birds through my window. The secret is to provide an inviting habitat for the birds.

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Bird feeders are a must. I use tube and platform feeders. Some birds like to ground feed and they will go to the platform feeders. It is not hard to make your own platform feeder. Nail wooden sides together and put a fine screen mesh for the bottom. This will allow drainage if it rains or snows. Attach four wires near each corner and use a hook such as a carabiner to hang the feeder. I hang my feeder from a garden shepherds hook. It does not have to be fancy, the birds don’t care.

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The tube feeders that I use are the only truly squirrel proof ones that I have found. They are made by Brome, last forever and the birds love them. What is neat about Brome is that you can subscribe to their site for free. They offer contests and random drawings for a bird feeder as well as a lot of information. I have three Brome feeders for my birds. https://bromebirdnews.com/ I use Black Oil sunflower seeds in the tube feeders and a mix for the platform feeder.

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Next provide a heated bird bath in the winter and a non-heated one for the summer. Water is just as important for birds as food, especially in the winter when it can be hard for them to find water to drink. I have found that a heated bird bath with the heating element built into it is best. The ones that you place at the bottom of a bird bath short out if the water level drops. Even though the kind I use cost more, my birdbath is over 10 years old and still works well. http://www.hayneedle.com

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I also provide a suet feeder for the Woodpeckers. I buy suet from the local butcher in the winter. You can cut the suet into pieces and freeze them. In the summer and also in the winter I use pre-made suet cakes. A variety of birds like to eat the suet.

What is also very important is to place your feeders in an environment where the birds feel safe. Feeders placed under or near trees and bushes will attract more birds then ones placed in the open. If you have the room, plant flowers and trees that provide food for the birds as well. I have a collection of butterfly and hummingbird plants. In the summer to late fall I also put out a hummingbird feeder.

Another way to keep birds coming back generation after generation is to provide nesting areas for them. Bird houses are great and the lint from your dryer placed in bushes or a suet feeder gives the birds plenty of nesting material. It is fun in the early spring when it is time to clean out the bird houses to see how much of your nesting material they have used. Some people put short pieces of yarn out for the birds.

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With a little effort you can enjoy the wide variety of birds that migrate through your area in the spring and fall as well as those who stay all year around.

A Blog by Susan Bulanda

Certified Animal Behavior Consultant

bird watching

Winter bird watching

Worldwide, birds eat up to 500 million metric tons of insects

New discovery about how birds migrate

Backyard Bird Watching