Personality Plus--The Hermit Thrush

Can you find the bird in the photo below?

I saw her land in the rocks, but when movement stopped, I could no longer see her.  I aimed the camera and snapped a few images anyway.  Within a few seconds, she hopped up the rocks and into the grassy area above to forage.

The camouflage function of feathers is fascinating.  I think the Hermit Thrush has a combination of several kinds of camouflage: cryptic coloration, disruptive coloration, and countershading.  In the first, the coloration of the feathers is similar to the environment in which the bird forages or nests causing her to blend with her surroundings.  That would be the soil, sticks, rocks and decaying matter covering the ground--all that gray and brownish neutral you see around the bird that she matches so well.

Disruptive coloration describes the broken blocks of color, such as the specks on her breast, that cause her to blend with the environment even more and not stand out as much as she would if solid brown.  "Countershading" is the dark on top and white underneath phenomenon that is nature's way of taking away the appearance of depth. Without motion to give her away, the thrush flattens and disappears.  Above you see her where I often find her first, hiding in the shrub or foraging underneath in its shadows.

And then, she runs out onto the lawn in pursuit of an insect.

Here's where you will notice something interesting.  Hermit thrushes often forage on the ground with a "quivering" foot , tapping the ground in a strategy that is believed to stir insects. In the image below, you can see one foot is lifted.

 And below, she appears to be listening....for insect movement?  Also notice her lifted right foot.

Hermit thrushes generally nest in higher elevations and more northern states. I am curious about this individual since migration is said to occur in March and early April. It is now mid April and she's still hanging around. I am more than happy for her to stay.  

Links and resources:
Cornell All About Birds on the Hermit Thrush.  Be sure to listen to its song.
More on the hermit thrush

Bird Gratitude

I'm speaking of bird behavior that clearly says our feathered friends appreciate water and food on these bone-chilling subfreezing winter days.
Today was the first leisurely day I've had at home in a while. I could add water frequently to the frozen bird bath until the sun and rising temps loosened up the block of ice that formed overnight. The combination of water, cold weather and plenty of sunflower seeds yielded a surprising list of birds for me today. Most surprisingly, this hermit thrush.
Though blurred by the double pane glass, I am thrilled with these images!
I am certainly not confident about my ability to distinquish the subtle differences between the brown thrushes and am prone to automatically think, "wood thrush". But closer inspection of photos with Peterson's guide in hand, leads me to believe this is a hermit thrush with his facial markings and reddish tail. He also cocked that tail while I was watching, making me think "wren" for an instant.I nearly stopped breathing while I grabbed my camera, afraid he would leave before I returned to snap some photos. Do you think I'm in love with this birdbath? It attracted the most amusing and surprising visitors today. So, so gratifying. Here's today's yard list:
Carolina wren
Northern cardinal
Carolina chickadee
Tufted titmouse
Pine siskin
American goldfinch
White-breasted nuthatch
Slate-colored junco
Northern mockingbird
White-throated sparrow
Downy woodpecker
Purple finch
House finch
Hermit thrush

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #20 at Birdfreak.com to celebrate the conservation of our world's birds.

Wood Thrush -- Singing Behavior

I am blessed with thrushes in my woodland yard.  Eastern Bluebirds have just fledged their first brood from one of my nest boxes.  Migrating Swainson's Thrushes were singing a week ago while I planted my hummingbird garden and I spotted one this morning, resting on a limb before dropping to the ground to forage.  Wood Thrushes are singing all around the yard daily, establishing breeding territories.

The habitat here is perfect for nesting Wood Thrushes--shade, shrubby understory, moist soil and leaf litter--all contributing to an attractive habitat for nesting and raising young.

The thick foliage often makes it very hard to find a Wood Thrush even when it is singing right in front of you. (It also offers poor light for early morning photography.) Luckily they often fly from perch to perch while singing and that's when you can sometimes locate them for a good look.

Yesterday morning, it was movement of a different kind that caught my eye and allowed me to locate my singing thrush.  He was flapping his wings vigorously, then stretched his neck, producing his beautiful flutey song.  This was followed by another series of wing-flapping while dropping down onto the limb on his stomach, straddling his legs on either side of the limb, remaining there for a few seconds, then bouncing back up again to sing another refrain of his song.  

He repeated this sequence numberous times--a phrase of his song, followed by wing-flapping, down to his stomach, up again and another phrase of his song,  This observation helped to explain the seemingly long pause between phrases.

I have checked Birds of North America for this behavior and could find nothing that resembled it. I eliminated "brood patch" related behavior because the female is believed to incubate alone.  My thoughts were these possibilties:  scratching his belly, mating display, pre-coital practice (if there is such a thing), energy discharge.

I am interested in what others may know or speculate about this behavior or if you know of this behavior occurring in other species.  

There is always something new to discover while watching bird behavior.  May is an exciting month for bird activity.  Keep your eyes open and ears tuned in!

More about thrushes on this blog:

Wood Thrush
Eastern Bluebirds
Hermit Thrush

A Spring Head-dress and a Heart-stopping Thrush

This female northern cardinal visiting the bird bath for a drink gave me my first belly laugh of the day.     

Her plumes on her crest stood up like flames in the wind.  Despite the winter-y blast of heavy snow in the mid-western states, we're having mild temperatures and blustery pre-March winds in Tennessee.  And if that weren't enough to hint of spring, birds are showing signs of spring molting.  Just twelve days ago, I snapped the image below, of a female cardinal in the snow.  She was fluffed and warm in her thick winter plumage.   But in the days since, we've had more moderate weather with some days reaching as high as the 70's F.

My Atlas of the Breeding Bird of Tennessee says, "In late February and March, cardinals form stable, monogamous pair bonds. Both the male and female defend the territory with song, displays, and mild combat."   Females pick the nest site usually in April but as early as mid-March, meaning that the tolerance of communal winter foraging is about to end, replaced by freshened spring plumage and territorial attitudes.

Along with the tattered and comical appearance of her crest, feathers have molted around this cardinal's face. New feather sheaths will emerge quickly where old feathers have been shed and fresh ones will rapidly grow to replace the lost ones.  This female's colors are beautiful, nonetheless, even though she wears a wind-blown look.  I couldn't be sure if she was on the alert or if the wind was standing her remaining crest feathers up so tall.

The watering hole is definitely a fun place to hang out, a good place to watch the tall pines, oak and maples waving in the gusting wind, as well as, to see birds that may otherwise go unseen as they come for a drink.  Several times I've seen a yellow-rumped warbler both drink and forage near the feeders but, so far, not when I'm outside with the camera.

Today I enjoyed a better look at the beautiful streaking and contrast in an American robin's plumage as she braved the birdbath for a drink.  When she flew, my heart picked up a beat, as a hermit thrush popped in to replace her, its 7-inch stature seeming exceptionally petite next to that of a robin, ranging from 9 to 11 inches.

It was special to get lingering looks at this shy bird, standing tall on tiny legs.  More often I notice her hanging out in the shadows of the hemlock, impossible conditions for a good photo, and visits to the birdbath are usually glimpsed through the window.  This made today's surprise visit exceptionally appreciated and I fell in love with the wind-blown look below!

Hermit thrushes are best known in Tennessee as a migrant and wintering resident, generally arriving in October and departing by early April.  Breeding seasons have only been sparsely recorded in Tennessee in the higher elevations of Roan Mountain and the Great Smoky Mountains (Atlas of the Breeding Birds of TN, ed. Charles P Nicholson.)

When this thrush turned, giving me nice looks at her body proportions and rust tail, I thought she was leaving.      

But she lingered a few minutes longer and reached from the side to take several more drinks.  Sigh.  One of many special moments enjoyed in the backyard.  

Links and Resources:

Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Tennessee, edited by Charles P. Nicholson.  This book is out of print and pricey on the secondary market, but with patience, you may find lowered pricing on Amazon with time.  

More thrushes on this blog:  Bird Gratitude, Townsend's Solitaire, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin

And more about cardinals and molting in A Day-making Family of Cardinals

If you have not already signed the petition requesting a new management plan for the Eastern Population of Sandhill cranes, visit the petition site right now and voice your opinion on this important conservation issue.  Kentucky is battling a sandhill crane hunting proposal similar to the one deferred in Tennessee.  We have a lot of work left to do to protect this population that has only recently recovered from near extirpation.  To read more visit A New Plan for Eastern Sandhills.    

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #130 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

Ice and Bluebirds--a Special Matter

Eastern Bluebirds are one of the most popular and enjoyable birds to have around your home. They don't mind being near people and their activities, and, like many other birds, they recognize you when you're providing food. Bluebirds that are familiar with you will even fly toward you when you are filling their mealworm feeder.

Our nesting Eastern Bluebirds in Tennessee are non-migratory and remain here year-around. They are joined by birds from neighboring states and young bluebirds from neighboring territories to form small wintering flocks that aid winter survival. These flock members help each other find food, spot predators and provide warmth when they roost together in a sheltered cavity, such as a nest box, when the temperature drops below 20 F degrees.

Bluebirds are not your typical feeder birds, however. Their natural winter diet consists of spiders, berries and fruits. If these foods are available they can maintain fat reserves that sustain them during the extreme cold. T. David Pitts, in his book, Studying Eastern Bluebirds, A Biologist's Report and Reflections,  also says the following:  "As a result of their high rate of metabolism, bluebirds can quickly use the fat they store.  If extremely cold temperatures linger for several days, many bluebirds may die since they normally store only enough fat to protect themelves for a day or so, and they may not be able to find enough food to replace the fat that has been used."

A male Eastern Bluebird feeding on the berries of the burning bush.

Pitts also conducted extensive studies in northwest Tennessee that revealed that bluebirds do not digest the seeds that are in the fruits they eat.   These seeds pass through their system undigested and provide no nutritional benefit.  Herein lies the challenge.  A non-seed eating bird that primarily recognizes insects, spiders and berries as food.  How do you feed them when winter gets rough?

And even more challenging, how do your feed them when larger, territorial birds are chasing them away from the berry sources?

Female Eastern Bluebird, above and below.

I had this challenge over the past week, when freezing rain and sleet coated everything with ice and temperatures plummeted to single digits with windchills below zero.  Suet crumbs froze, mealworms froze and larger birds, such as American Robins and Mockingbirds became aggressive, chasing smaller birds, like bluebirds and Hermit Thrushes away from the berry bushes. In fact, one robin was so territorial he chased bluebirds away from both the holly and the neighboring burning bush.

One male bluebird was familiar with the mealworm feeder guard and could navigate through it and eat suet and mealworms offered there, protected from larger birds.  The other bluebirds that came with him did not know how to navigate the guard.  With feathers fluffed against the cold and mealworms frozen motionless, there was little hope they would learn about the guard in sub-freezing conditions.

After consulting friends, Billie Cantwell and Liz Cutrone at Knoxville's Wildbirds Unlimited, I adjusted a Dinner Bell feeder to exclude larger birds by lowering the dome cover to a few inches above the tray, filled the tray with smooth "butter bark" suet pellets, small home-made suet crumbs and freeze-dried mealworms and hung it near the bluebird feeder.  When the male bluebird came to the feeder, his companions soon discovered the added food source and were also able to eat from it. In their absence, I noticed the Hermit Thrush landing on the dinner bell also to eat suet.

Additional good advice-- spread your suet feeders out so if a larger bird claims one feeder, there is an alternate area for the smaller birds to visit.
In the spring you can also consider planting Sumac near the borders of your yard.  In Pitts' studies in northwest Tennessee, two native species, smooth sumac and winged sumac, were the most favored fruit of bluebirds, composing 50-90% of their winter diet even when a variety of other fruits were available.

Pitts advises to plant more than one sumac spaced apart in different areas of the yard to prevent mockingbird dominance.  If a group of robins or cedar waxwings flies in and takes over the holly berry supply, a protective mockingbird will likely take over the sumac next.  Planting shrubs spaced far apart in different areas will give the bluebirds an alternative choice for feeding.

Northern Mockingbird in holly

More on wintering bluebirds
Previous post--Robin eating holly berries
More on feeding bluebirds
Bluebirds family videos

Wintering Hummingbirds Fairing Well Through Snow and Cold

Seeing a hummingbird drinking from a feeder with a layer of snow on the surface is not exactly what we've been accustomed to expecting in Tennessee, but we could be seeing this more frequently as more hummingbirds migrate to the east and remain in our state for a portion of the winter.       
Photo credit:  Wally Manspeaker

We generally think of hummingbirds as fragile to cold and as migrating to warmer climates in Mexico or Central America, where they can find nectar-producing flowers and insects.  In actuality, the migration patterns and the reason for these varied patterns are not clearly understood, except that they follow food sources.  Some species, such as the Allen's and Anna's on the west coast, show a northward movement in winter and not all members of the species follow the same migration routes.

Mark Armstrong, our hummingbird Master Bander in east Tennessee, reports that the Rufous hummingbirds that he captures and bands in Tennessee in the winter are healthy birds with a good supply of fat, many of them molting and replacing their molted feathers with healthy new ones.  Molting and feather replacement during the winter months is an indicator that the hummingbirds are getting the nutrients they need for healthy feather production.

Photo credit:  Wally Manspeaker

Wally Manspeaker lives in northeast Tennessee, in Russellville, an area of the state that is reporting many wintering hummingbirds. Tennessee's winter hummingbirds seem to be migrating through areas of higher elevation near mountain ridges and plateaus. The female Rufous Hummingbird, above, was banded by Armstrong on November 25th and has been in the area since early November.

Wally Manspeaker has been visited by wintering hummingbirds in the past.  In 2011, he had the fifth recorded Allen's Hummingbird  in Tennessee, and when the same male returned the next November as a mature bird, it became the second Allen's to return in successive years.   The article above appeared in the November 2013 issue of Birds and Blooms Extra magazine.  Wally is still hoping the male Allen's will return in the next few weeks.  In the meantime, he has a lovely female Rufous to observe.

Photo credit:  Billie Cantwell

Though northeast Tennessee seems to be a popular location, hummers are showing up throughout the state. The pretty male Rufous above is spending his third winter in west Knoxville at the home of Billie Cantwell and Colin Leonard.  Billie is president of the Knoxville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society and the organizer of KTOS's annual Wonder of Hummingbirds Festival.

Photo credit:  Billie Cantwell

Above and below, you see the same Rufous male as a juvenile who first arrived for the winter in December of 2011.

If you think people become attached to their summer hummingbirds, imagine being host to a wintering individual that returns each year, or if you are one of the lucky ones to have successive visitors, the excitement of wondering what wintering species will visit your home next!  Biologists believe that as generations of hummingbirds migrate in an easterly direction, the clumping of wintering birds will change, and wintering hummingbirds will spread out into broader territories.

Imagine being as comfortable seeing a hummingbird during winter months as we are seeing  a White-throated Sparrow or a Hermit Thrush.

Photo credit:  Kathy Sellars   A probable female Rufous in northwest Tennessee, in Dyersburg, that arrived around the first of November.

And here is a treat for you from my artist friend, Elva Paulson, in Oregon, who enjoys investigating and sketching nature. She clearly is also an excellent photographer!  Her curiousity led her to a willow grove where she settled into a spot to photograph and sketch the wildlife that visited sapsucker wells drilled in the willow bark.

Photo credit:  Dale and Elva Paulson    

She caught these beautiful images, above and below, of female Rufous hummingbirds visiting sapsucker wells drilled in the willows.  On this occasion, she encountered at least three hummingbirds visiting the sap wells, though they were intolerant of each other's presence, and chased each other.  Hummers are as aggressive about protecting sap sources as they are flower nectar.

Photo credit:  Dale and Elva Paulson

In the Birds of North America's Online account of the Rufous Hummingbird's feeding habits, the Rufous species is said to feed on sap and insects attracted to sap from wells excavated by Red-naped Sapsuckers. The Rufous species breeds in the northwestestern states up into Canada, including Oregon. In the spring, when arrival on breeding grounds precedes the blooming of flowers, the Rufous feeds on sap wells released from the bark of willows and alders.

Though observations of wintering hummingbirds foraging in the southeast are still rare, this feeding behavior also makes sense in Tennessee, as wintering Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers arrive, excavating sap wells that also provide a nectar source for wintering hummingbirds.

Visit Elva's Field Notes--Look Who Came to Dinner to read the story of her encounter with hummingbirds in the willows and see her beautiful field sketches.  She also describes another earlier encounter in Sweet and Sour Dinner:  More About Sapsuckers.

Links and Resources:

Western Hummingbirds Wintering in Tennessee
Allen's Hummingbird in Tennessee
Rufous Hummer in Knoxville 
In recent years, fourteen species of hummingbirds have been documented in the east during fall and winter months.  In east Tennessee, report sightings to Mark Armstrong at Woodthrush@bellsouth.net or 865-748-2224.  For a list of contact information for other eastern areas, visit winter reporting on the Hummingbird Study Group website or report sightings to Bob and Martha Sargent, Rubythroat@aol.com or 205-681-2888.
Other blog posts on Wintering hummingbirds in Tennessee
Visit Bob Sargent's information on wintering hummingbirds
Bob Sargent describes the Rufous Hummingbird as very cold-hardy.
Sargent on wintering Calliopes and the Allen's Hummingbird
Hummingbird banding
Hummingbirds in watercolor
Hummingbird art on Vickie's Sketchbook blog
Cornell's All About Birds:  Rufous Hummingbirds