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

Who's Boss?

There's a favorite perch near my front door. It happens to be the stump of an old apple tree, long since down, positioned, very handily, in front of a holly bush. And right in front of the holly stands the bird bath, a favorite place for birds to visit in the winter when they're looking for an unfrozen source of water. Most every bird eyeing the feeders or stopping by for a drink, will at some point take their turn on the old apple stump. Mockingbirds, jays, towhees, sparrows, titmice, chickadees and Downies, and most recently, a male Red-bellied Woodpecker. It's the taking turns part that has caught my attention recently, on more than one occasion.

Watching the birds interact at the feeders can sometimes be surprising. Mostly, they seem to come in waves, each bird, taking their turn, peacefully waiting for whoever is feeding to grab their seed and go. But I see other types of behavior, as well, like two titmice, a goldfinch, and a Downy, all feeding at the same time. Or when the seemingly peaceful White-breasted Nuthatch starts wing-flexing and warning everyone else away. And then there's the Bluejay who sometimes flies in like a thug and dethrones the Mockingbird from the holly perch.

I've seen many birds shy away from the Mockingbird, but this is clearly not always the case. On this occasion, a Red-bellied male landed on the perch. I slowly nudged the door open with my foot, hoping to get an image or two without disturbing him. With my eye to the camera, and my focus on the woodpecker, I heard a commotion but didn't pause to look until I had captured the two images below.

In the first, the woodpecker has flared his wings and tail and faces the intruder, a Mockingbird, with his beak high. If you enlarge the image and check the very top, you'll see a bird foot on the perch.

The Mockingbird tried one more time to claim his spot, but not only did the woodpecker not budge, he moved toward him. The Mockingbird settled for a nearby limb and the Red-belly reigned...this time.

Doesn't he look regal with his sunlit red head and fanned tail?

So regal, that I thought he deserved a place in my sketchbook.

And there was space for the mocker, too.

What can I say? They're all boss!

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #70 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

A Cup, A Bird, A Ritual is Born

I didn't realize until yesterday, I've developed a pattern, a kind of ritual that separates the office work week from the days I pursue art and writing. And birds are an integral part of that ritual. In fact, they created it. (click images to enlarge)

It begins with picking up my favorite coffee-filled mug and setting out the bird feeders--a single plate of suet and sunflower seeds, and two hanging feeders. These are positioned on the edge of the patio just outside my door, easy to see, easy to hear birds approaching, easy to pick up my camera and step out the door...even in the brrrrrr cold we're having now.

Yesterday was one of those days. I got lost in it. One minute I was working on something, writing, sketching, making notes...the next, I hear a sound that pulls me out the door, camera in hand. I didn't come back in until I had lost the feeling in my fingers and toes. All I can say is, “the birds did it.”Their behavior and attitudes, their personalities, totally fascinate me. The bobbing of the wren's movements, the rowdy boldness of the titmouse, the king-presence of the mockingbird, the timid, invisible foraging of the sparrows, all so specific to each bird’s lifestyle and habits. Add to that, the delight of having them come so close to me, and I'm captive.

Yes, I'll be getting a bit anthropomorphic here. But it doesn't matter what we call it, it happens. We feed them, they become familiar with us, they come closer. And when this happens, I feel like I've just stepped into a Walt Disney movie.

Deeply focused on photographing a bird, I seldom move anything but the camera shutter, which is true for most photographers. And maybe that’s the key. Birds fly all around me, so close, I feel the wind of their flight against my cheek. Others hop toward me, when I expect the reverse, like this beautiful Chipping Sparrow who presented me with a breath-stopping moment. I knew I was not looking at a familiar sparrow and here he was, hopping right up to the camera, giving me all those cute inquisitive expressions. Were it not for the rowdy titmice, I think he/she would have hopped right up on the suet plate.

I've long practiced being still, from watching a honey bee crawl on my arm as a child to long hours listening to heart-felt stories in my office. Stillness and observation come naturally for me. And maybe that is all that’s required--enduring, predictable, non-intrusive behavior, coupled with the primary attraction of food and water. Aside from a giggle or two and my compulsion to talk to them occasionally, I'm sure the birds think the clicking of my camera shutter is my native language.

Can you interact so closely with birds and not adore them, want to protect them, feel curious about every aspect of their lives and their survival? I can’t. And for those who don’t have time or the inclination, I am happy to show you what they show me—curious faces, distinct personalities, perfectly adapted beaks and feet, an intricate beauty unsurpassed.

And how does my favorite coffee mug fit into all of this? Special memories are grounded in this mug--bird memories. Of Beeman’s Coffee Bar in Port Aransas, Texas, of beautiful endangered Whooping cranes wintering in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, of a laughing gull that wanted a bite of my cinnamon roll!

Put all together, this makes for a compelling ritual that I am likely to keep. Any favorite birding rituals in your life?

Bird images, top to bottom: 1) Carolina wren, 2) Blue Jay (enlarge image and check out the tuft of feathers covering his/her nare), 3) Tufted Titmouse, 4) Carolina wren, 5 & 6) Chipping Sparrow (new sparrow and yard bird for me), 7 & 8) Northern Mockingbird, 9) White-breasted Nuthatch.

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #68 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

A Crowd of Robins and A Dogwood Tree

A cold front welcomed in our first day of November, so I set feeders out for the birds. Titmice, chickadees and cardinals gathered but it soon became apparent there were many more birds in the yard than usual.

When I walked over to the Dogwood to investigate, I found a crowd of American Robins in the tree eating the ripened dogwood berries.

Not a bit shy about their new surroundings, the robins, mixed with a few Cedar Waxwings, were hungrily picking berries in as many different ways as you and I might invent. Some hung upside down, others grabbed berries in a fly-by fashion, still others found a convenient spot and picked and swallowed them one by one. Sometimes as many as half-a-dozen gathered on a branch at a time. And all around, on nearby limbs, more birds waited their turn.

It was heavenly. They were so close, so busy, so accessible. As you might guess, I took a ton of photographs. And while I enjoyed the party, others came to dine--a male Red-bellied woodpecker (I will show you more about how he uses his tongue in a later post), two male Yellow-bellied sapsuckers, a Hermit thrush, an Eastern Phoebe, a White-throated sparrow, three Northern Flickers and a Northern Mockingbird.

Need I say what a fine party this was for me? (Last image, Northern Mockingbird).

A Juve Mockingbird Receives His Band

Everyone who commits to volunteering with a bird banding station loves birds. As a new observer, I count those who untangle birds at the mist net high on my list of volunteers who possess perseverence and patience.

Several times as I watched this process, I thought, by now I would have felt something ken to panic and asked someone to rescue both me and the bird. Steady nerves and focus are among the attributes of these workers. It also helps to know a few handy tips like making sure you are on the bird's entry side of the net. Not so easy as it sounds, but a belly free of netting is one of the clues that helps orient workers.

Once the bird is free from the netting, in this case two juvenile Northern mockingbirds, it is placed in a cloth bag that is marked with a clothes pin containing the number of the net in which it was captured. Each net, twelve in all, is documented with location and habitat type.

Below, the examiner is measuring the juvenile mockingbird's leg for band size.

A special plier is used to close the band around the juvenile's leg leaving room for movement.

To help with aging the examiner checks the wing feathers for molting, wear and color.
Even the skull is checked for aging. Ossification or the development of bone tissue helps the examiner determine age by both color and feel. Immature bird skulls have a soft spot similar to that of human infants which closes and hardens with maturity. The skin appears more pinkish in younger birds, whiter as they mature.

Banding station examiners are bird sleuths in every respect of the word, looking for clues, examining details, checking references and using their best judgement to determine the age, sex and health of each bird. So why all this effort?

The data collected at this banding station goes to two places, the USGS Patuxent Banding Lab in Maryland, the repository for banding data in the USA, and The Institute for Bird Populations' MAPS Program (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) in Point Reyes Station, CA. The data is then used to understand how bird populations are changing over time.

Our environment is changing. Habitat is being lost and degraded. The Institute for Bird Populations says it best: "Information is the key to solving many of our environmental problems. Information empowers scientists to determine the causes and effects of environmental changes. It empowers governments and businesses to understand how economic and ecological factors together cause environmental problems. Finally, information helps people act responsibily to promote a healthy environment."

I, for one, am grateful for these bird lovers we call "banders" and their contribution to the future of our planet.

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #48 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

A Suet-Loving Mockingbird

Sometimes looking through the window at the feeders has a dream-like quality. The light reflections soften the edges and create a glowing quality.
The first time I saw this mockingbird fly from his perch to the suet feeder not more than six feet from my door, my mouth dropped and I truely was in disbelief. I froze in place for fear any movement from inside would spook him.

But that didn't happen. He sampled the homemade suet, then helped himself to more. A day later, I spotted him on the holly again...thinking. Yes, I could see that. In his posture and body movements. He was giving it some thought, checking out the territory. So this time I was ready, in place with camera in hand.

Truthfully, I didn't think anyone would believe me otherwise! Fun stuff, these backyard birds.

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly #27 at Birdfreak.com to promote the conservation of our world's birds.

Next--Red Shouldered Hawks in Love...or is that, In Love with Red-shouldered Hawks? That would be me!