What Bird Are You?
I used to think that if I came back to this world as a bird, I would be a great blue heron because I am tall, patient, and often quiet. However, I have since learned that great blue herons in captivity are not so nice. They like to strike at your eyes. One keeper
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Red-Tailed Hawk
©Kevin Rutherford
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briefly took
his attention away from a great blue and the bird proceeded to jab him through the eye and into his brain killing him almost instantly. So I guess I'm still looking for a representative bird. The following link said I would be a red-tailed hawk. I'm not sure if that is true, but I'll consider it. What bird are You?
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We get a lot of calls these days asking us to identify flocks of little gray birds--birds that people have never seen in their yards before. The following is an article by Jeff Mitton recently featured in the Daily Camera about these little birds.
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Bushtit ©Neal Zaun
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As I learn more about birds, certain old phrases don't make any sense, like when someone reportedly eats like a bird. You mean they eat continuously? Or have you ever been called a birdbrain? I think that is a compliment now. Here is a great article from Scientific American by Leyre Castro and Ed Wasserman about avian intelligence.
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Common Raven
©Juanita Dufour
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Wild Bird Company
Quick Links
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Xcel Energy
Bird Cams
Osprey Cam
from Earth Cam
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| Osprey ©Wendy Marie Stuart |
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Wild Bird Company Saturday Bird Walk
(Every Saturday morning for our Colorado Birders)
Bird Watchers (that's us)
From 7:30 am (promptly)
to 10:00 am (approximately)
Every Saturday year-round. No reservations required. Every last Saturday of the month we travel further afield than normal and return a little later. Bird Walk locations are determined on the morning of the walk. All ages and birding abilities are welcome!
Meet at Wild Bird Company
1641 - 28th St., Boulder, CO 80301
Call for more info: 303-442-1322
Weekly Bird Walk Slide Shows
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I know many of you really love receiving the Facebook postings, weekly bird list and slide show emails and/or the monthly newsletter emails. Please consider sharing or forwarding these emails and postings to your friends interested in nature. I would really appreciate getting these educational postings to a wider audience.
Thanks for the help.
--Steve
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Some of you may have seen our new sign and logo or noticed our new name. After many years as a franchise store, we have gone independent and changed our name to Wild Bird Company. We look forward to a continued relationship with our customers, increasing our brick-and-mortar and electronic inventories, greater educational resources, and so many other plans. Thank you all for making the last 27.5 years so memorable. I look forward to more good times. --Steve
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by Steve Frye
The bird that wears the sky on its back is how the Native Americans referred to bluebirds. That electric blue coloration and a reputation for being "friendly" has endeared bluebirds to many. People are always looking to attract bluebirds and help them out, especially the Eastern Bluebird which underwent a
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Mountain Bluebird
©Kevin Rutherford
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population decline due to pesticides and competition from non-native birds like house sparrows. There are three bluebird species across North America; the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) of the plains and eastern US, the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) of the mountain west, and the Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) from the mountain west to the west coast. Bluebirds are in the thrush family and are related to American Robins.
Bird Food and Feeders for
Attracting Bluebirds
Bluebirds are not bird seed eaters, but they will occasionally eat sunflower chips that have fallen on the ground. Their main foods are insects like various ground beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, worms etc., and fruit.
Many people present mealworms in a dish for bluebirds. If you put out live mealworms, it's best to put them in a smooth dish with vertical sides of an inch or more tall. That way, the mealworms will not be able to crawl out. Dried mealworms will also be
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Mountain Bluebird
©Kevin Rutherford
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taken by bluebirds and they can be presented on a dish or platform feeder by themselves or mixed in with dried fruits and sunflower chips. Special feeders are available for bluebirds which have 1 ½" entrance holes the birds must pass through to get to the mealworms. This design is meant to keep large birds from getting to the mealworms.
Attracting bluebirds with fruit is another way to help them out. Here are some fruits to try: chopped apples, applesauce, raisins, raisins soaking in water, any berries, cherries, chopped dried fruits, sliced grapes, and currents.
You should also experiment with suet to attract bluebirds. Try using insect or fruit suets. A peanut butter and honey mixture smeared on a corn cob can also bring the bluebirds to your yard.
Bird Houses for Attracting Bluebirds
By far, the easiest way to attract bluebirds is with a bird house (nest box). Bluebirds live in open habitats with nearby edges like hedgerows or woodlots. A very open forest is also an appropriate setting for them to nest in. Bluebirds are secondary cavity
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Eastern Bluebirds ©Steve Frye
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nesters meaning they use holes that other birds like woodpeckers have created. Competition for nest holes is keen and this is one of the issues in the decline of the Eastern Bluebird population. Concerned citizens responded to this need by putting up bird houses which has helped the Eastern Bluebird population recover.
A proper bluebird box has a floor about 5" square and a 1 ½" diameter entrance hole which is placed about 7" off the floor. All good bird houses also have a way to clean them out and drainage and ventilation holes or gaps. Mountain bluebirds are a little broader in the shoulders and prefer a 1 9/16" entrance hole.
Bluebirds will nest from a couple of feet off the ground to fifty feet up. However, most people mount their bluebird boxes from four to eight feet off the ground for easier mounting, monitoring, and cleaning. Bluebird boxes should be mounted so the entrance hole does not face prevailing winds or hot afternoon sun. You can mount your box on a fence post, tree, or building. Bluebird houses are usually spaced at least 300' away from each other to give enough spacing for adjacent pairs. Some people put up paired bluebird boxes just a few feet away from each other. This is a strategy to reduce competition with tree swallows and others. Instead of the swallows and bluebirds battling for one box, the pairs will set up next to each other and only defend the adjacent box from members of their own species.
Nest predators like snakes, raccoons, opossums, weasels, other birds, and bears may cause problems with your bluebird box. It may be necessary to
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Western Bluebird ©Neal Zaun
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mount your bluebird box on a post with an appropriate baffle to thwart these predators. Also, entrance hole extensions can be used to keep raccoons from reaching inside the nest box.
Bluebirds are so accepting of bird houses that I have had customers mount their boxes to a post and then while digging the hole for the post, the bluebirds are already exploring the new house just feet away.
As with all bird houses, we suggest you clean them out every year. Late summer or early fall is when we would recommend cleaning your bird houses.
Water Features and Bird Baths for Attracting Bluebirds
Like all good thrushes, bluebirds like to bathe and they seem especially thirsty when their diet contains a lot of fruit. In winter months, a heated bird bath would be appreciated if you have bluebirds over-wintering in a colder climate.
Gardening for Bluebirds
Bluebirds forage in meadows and grasslands, but they also are attracted to hedgerows, forest edges, and secondary growth. Mountain bluebirds prefer a more open habitat compared to Eastern and Western Bluebirds.
Plants that provide summer fruits for the bluebirds include chokecherry, serviceberry, cherry, mulberries, viburnum, currants, and dogwood. Plants that provide good winter fruits for the bluebirds
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Mountain Bluebird ©Steve Frye
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include junipers, mountain ash, pyracantha, Virginia Creeper, cotoneaster, crabapple, hackberry, and mahonia.
Because bluebirds eat many ground insects and insect pests, they are susceptible to being poisoned by garden and agricultural chemicals. Please consider the bluebirds when treating your grass, trees, and flowers. If you feel the need to use a harsh chemical please use it sparingly and according to directions.
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Q: How will the warm spring affect migration?
A: If the spring proceeds as it has for the last month or so, it will certainly change migration patterns. Also, the lack of moisture will also have an effect on our local summer bird populations.
We have already seen some early arrivals from pelicans, mountain bluebirds, and turkey vultures.
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American White Pelicans
©Kevin Rutherford
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I suspect that birds that are partial migrants or short-distance migrants will show up early. Partial migrants are those birds whose breeding and winter ranges overlap. For example, American Goldfinches are partial migrants, they are here year-round, but it may not be the same individuals that are here year-round. Often the entire population shifts so more northernly breeders move to the northern part of the winter range and birds we have in summer
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Turkey Vulture
©Kevin Rutherford
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move further south in winter. Some birds like American Robins are partial migrants, but the largest portion of their numbers are known to advance with the 37°F isotherm. In a warm spring, greater numbers of American Robins will pass through early. Broad-tailed hummingbirds are not necessarily short-distance migrants, but they are known to advance north in small steps with the bloom of flowers. I remember when I lived in the mountains, the very day the currents bloomed was
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American Goldfinch ©Neal Zaun
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the day broad-tails showed up. This is not because they could sense the bloom from hundreds of miles away, because they were advancing with the bloom.
Long-distance migrants, on the other hand, will probably not show up early. These birds are signaled to migrate more by influences like day length. They store up fat and take large leaps north when the winds are favorable. They are unaware of our weather conditions or food resources. Many
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American Robin ©Steve Frye
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neotropical migrants like western tanag
ers, Bullock's Orioles, and yellow warblers are long-distance migrants.
As for the lack of water, some birds, like water birds, will immediately seek out a different region if we are experiencing a drought. Others will make the best of it and attempt nesting. If their attempt fails, they will abandon the region. If the drought persists, the migrants that come here for nesting often leave early to find better conditions.
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Real Birders Drink Shade Grown!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15% Off All Shade-Grown Coffee!
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[Note: When purchasing online, discount
will be applied during checkout]
Shade-grown coffee plantaions help our neotropical migrants over-winter by preserving habitat. Drink fantastic coffee and help the birds, the tropics, and the workers all at the same time!
Shop Online
, Call (303) 442-1322 and mention this Coupon or visit our Store to redeem.
Code:
WBCO0315
Not to be combined with other offers.
Expires 4/30/17.
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Don't forget to pro-actively attract your favorite birds. Stop by the Wild Bird Company today or
Sincerely,
Stephen Frye
1.844.442.1322 (toll free)
Wild Bird Company Headquarters
1641- 28th Street, Boulder, CO 80301
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