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Jim Williams has been watching birds and writing about their antics since before "Gilligan's Island" went into reruns. Join him for his unique insights, his everyday adventures and an open conversation about the birds in your back yard and beyond.
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Posts about Birds in the backyard
A redpoll winter
Posted by: Jim Williams Updated: December 28, 2012 - 9:04 PM
Common Redpolls, one of the northern finch species making major appearance in Minnesota this winter, are being seen throughout the metro area. They've been seen north of us since late fall, but not this far south in the numbers people have been reporting in the past two or three days. They arrived in our yard Monday, and continued to flock to our feeders Tuesday. We probably had two dozen redpolls on and off from dawn to late afternoon. They were eating black oil sunflower seeds, sunflower chips, and niger thistle seed. Keep an eye on your feeders. Redpolls are cool little birds, emphasis on little. They're a bit smaller than American Goldfinches. The redpoll below was perched on our deck railing, waiting its turn at our new feeder.
We've setup a new feeder on our deck, a three-tube squirrel-proof (so they say) rig we bought at Ace Hardware in Maple Plain. Once the animal is in eating position, the squirrel's weight slides feeder ports closed. Stout wire mesh hopefully will prevent gnawing damage. We've not had a squirrel-proof feeder before because, frankly, I didn't want to pay as much as they cost. This one, however, was $19.95, a price that would be very good without the squirrel feature. In fact, it was a ridiculously low price. We bought two, one as a gift. We bought 50 pounds of black oil seed while we were there, also for $19.95, the lowest price we've paid in years. So, we bought two of those as well, one as a gift.
Water!
Posted by: Jim Williams Updated: December 5, 2012 - 12:37 PMAs long as the temp offered some above-freezing respite each day, birds could find melt water to drink. Not so today, with colder weather. Consequently, the bird bath on our deck has been busy all morning. It's as well-used today as I've ever seen it. Six and seven birds at a time are coming to drink. Water is an issue for birds as much as for all else touched by the drought. If you have water for the birds, keep the container filled, keep the water fresh and clean. If you want more birds in your yard, water is a good idea. The photo shows a Red-bellied Woodpecker drinking about noon today. The water is in a pan held by the wooden frame. There is a heating coil embedded in the pan bottom. Ours it set on a patio table on our deck. The photo was taken through a patio door.
Nesting habits, neat and messy
Posted by: Jim Williams Updated: December 2, 2012 - 12:38 PMJust finished cleaning the nest boxes I manage at a golf course near our home. There are 40 boxes on the trail. Use splits about 50/50 between Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds. House Wrens and Black-capped Chickadees use a handful of the boxes.
Bluebirds boxes are simple to clean: just pull the neat, unsullied grass nest from the box. Chickadee nests are made of moss, tightly fitted to the dimensions of the box base. They come out intact, and clean. Wrens weave sticks into hollow forms that fill boxes. Sometimes I can slide nest out of the box intact. I get to marvel at this piece of intricate engineering. Wren nests also are clean.
Clean means no feces in the nest. Bluebirds, chickadees, wrens, most songbirds keep a clean house by removal of chick feces in a most ingenious way. The chick packages its waste in a strong membrane that is produced upon the little bird being fed. This is called the fecal sac. The parent bird brings food and leaves with the sac.
Which brings us to Tree Swallows.
Tree Swallows remain in the nest for as much as a week longer than, say, bluebirds. Bluebirds fledge in 13 or 14 days, swallows in about 20. Swallows produce fecal sacs for all but the final five days or so. As they near fledging, the sac mechanism slows up and quits. The swallows then just relieve themselves where they sit.
A used Tree Swallow nest is a nasty thing. The grass and feathers used as construction material, when mixed with feces, become bricks. They stick to the box. I pry them out.
Violet-green Swallows, the western version of our Tree Swallow, have evolved to what I consider a more advanced state. When their fecal-sac mechanism gives out they point their tails to the corners of the nest (or box) when the need arises. The nest stays relatively clean.
So what is it about the evolution of these two closely related species that produces different approaches to the same problem?
Below, a fresh Tree Swallow nest. I have no photos of the post-nesting mess.
Tufted Titmouse and winter finches
Posted by: Jim Williams Updated: November 16, 2012 - 11:33 AMIn Bob Janssen's 1987 book "Birds of Minnesota" Tufted Titmouse is shown on a range map as a bird limited in Minnesota range to our far southeastern corner. Individuals occasionally were seen in other parts of the state, but the regular sightings of the species in the metro area lessened beginning in the mid 1970s for reasons unknown. The species has significantly expanded its Minnesota range since then, also for reasons unknown, although milder winter weather is most likely a factor. A friend in Watertown told me yesterday of a day-long visit to his feeder by a titmouse. That was a first for him.. Another friend reported a visit by a titmouse to her feeders near Siren, Wisconsin. That's thought to be a first record for Burnett County. The bird is regular in Hastings, in St. Paul Park, and across the river in the Hudson, Wisconsin, area. More metro sightings have been reported this year. This is a cool bird, chickadee in size and behavior, a chickadee with a headdress. The photo below was taken three weeks ago near Hudson. It's a bird to watch for at your feeders.
The invasion south into Minnesota by winter finches continues. Evening and Pine Grosbeaks are being reported almost daily from one state location or another, places where they have rarely been seen in winters past. Bohemian Waxwings are another northern species being seen south and west of its usual winter haunts along the North Shore. The waxwings are being found in Mountain Ash and crab apple trees; they eat the fruit of both. I'm checking a nearby crab apple orchard three or four times a week these days. I've seen trees there with dozens of Cedar Waxwings feeding. I'm waiting for its look-alike cousin, the Bohemian. I'd post a photo if I had one. That blank on my photo list is main reason for my search. We'll be in Aitkin County in a few days. Behemians have been reported in several places there.
No special bird, just special place
Posted by: Jim Williams Updated: November 3, 2012 - 9:06 PMWednesday I spent a couple of hours in a yard near Hudson, Wis., just across the river. An unidentified hummingbird had/has been coming to a feeder there. It's possible the bird was a stray from the west, possibly a Wisconsin first record for the species. Photos were wanted for study. I'm lousy when it comes to ID on female and juvenile hummers, which this bird probably was. That’s a science of its own. But, I do enjoy taking photos. So, I drove over, a simple 40-mile drive, simple considering the clotted traffic we have come to regard as normal.
I found a beautiful yard setup for birds, one of the best, maybe THE best I've seen. Many feeders of different types offering a variety of seeds, peanuts, and suet. Best and most important was the water feature -- a self-circulating stream of about 20 feet, with a five-foot drop, the water gurgling done the rocky streambed, flashing in the sun. The contours of the yard made this possible. It's not something all of us could do, although with a few yards of dirt dumped in the middle of our backyard I could give it a try. Unlikely.
There was a constant steam of birds coming to streamside. I was to watch the hummingbird feeder for what I was told were very short visits by the mystery bird. Hard to do, though, with the constant activity of the other birds as seen from the corner of my eye. There was a flock of Cedar Waxwings, two Tufted Titmice, a dozen robins, Purple and House finches, chickadees, nuthatches, three woodpecker species, Blue Jays, and a Mourning Dove. This was ample evidence of the impact water can have on bird attraction. Moving water is best, but any source of water is good, particularly in a dry season.
My hostess provided a very comfortable cushioned patio chair for me to sit in while keeping vigil. For the last hour of my visit I had the company of a pretty and charming fellow-birder. She also was looking for the hummer. We visited quietly in the afternoon sun, pillows behind our backs, birds everywhere, all the while doing something of substance, with a goal. You even could call it an important goal, first-state record on the line. I recommend birding, acknowledging that my lack of an honest job (retired) makes much of my inactive activity possible. Fishing comes close to birding if you want quiet contemplative pleasure. Bobber fishing only, though, no casting or trolling. Sitting and watching, I'm very good at that.
We never did see the hummingbird. It moved on, most likely, doomed to death very soon because it needs a constant source of food. Plus, it doesn't know where it is pertaining to where it should be at this time of year. If it did know it will/would not find enough food between here and there to survive the trip. It came here because of faulty wiring, so will be removed from the gene pool, a positive for its species. Bad wiring should not be passed along to following generations.
The titmice were interesting. Here they were, two miles from Minnesota, a place where they are rarely reported. Perhaps there are feeders east of St. Paul graced with these charming birds but not mentioned in birding-circle communications. Whatever, I wish titmice would spread widely at least in the metro area, as far west as our yard. They’re a treat to see. Here is my non-hummer photo of the day -- a titmouse.
And the drive home, west on 94 and 394 around 5 p.m.? My sympathy to all who do it daily.
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recent posts
- Our Christmas star
- Adding insult to injury
- Eagle attacks child -- not!
- A redpoll winter
- On becoming a better birder
- Bird Watcher's Bible -- a complete treasure
- Pelicans on the Gulf
- Early birds
- Birds look better in snow
- Water!
- Nesting habits, neat and messy
- Greenland's melting ice
- Finally, Bohemian Waxwings
- Pelicans arriving at Gulf
- Grosbeaks and redpolls
- Tufted Titmouse and winter finches
- Watch the wind
- Winter birds
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