Backyard Birding

Today is Constitution Day and what better way to celebrate than with a story from the only one of our founding fathers to have signed all five of the documents which declared our independence from Britain?

January 26, 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter in response to the adoption of the Great Seal with a poorly drawn Bald Eagle as its centerpiece. He thought it looked more like a turkey. After essentially describing the Bald Eagle as an ignominious coward, perhaps more descriptive of the British than the American, he goes on to say,

I am, on this account, not displeased that the figure is not known as a bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey. For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours; the first of the species seen in Europe, being brought to France by the Jesuits from Canada, and served up at the wedding table of Charles the Ninth. He is, besides, (though a little vain and silly, it is true, but not the worse emblem for that,) a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on. Franklin’s letter to his daughter, 1784

The wild turkey can be found throughout much of the United States, and even enticed into your yard if you live in a more rural area. Like many wild animals, they love corn. I have heard of them contentedly cleaning up dropped seed under feeders, but I have also heard of them becoming a nuisance. They are large birds and travel in small groups called “rafters.” If they discover there is food to be had in your feeders, they can make short work of them as this blogger describes.

We do have wild turkeys around where we live. It is a treat to see them in the brush along the roadside on our way into town, especially when they cross the street with their poults in a neat little line. The picture above was taken during our recent outing to the Nebraska Sandhills, East of where we live. They have never come into our yard, however. I think it might be better that way.

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To appease our squirrels, we have a homemade squirrel feeder consisting of a board with two large screws in it. This is nailed to the tree where they nest. Ears of corn slide neatly onto the screw and it is fun to watch the squirrels hang out on the feeder, defend it from one another and occasionally take time to actually eat from it. The blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers also love the corn.

To save a little on corn, we decided to try out a Squirrel Log, which promised to be the equivalent of 12-24 ears of corn. They slid onto the screws in the feeder nicely. It took a few days for the squirrels to sample it, but they seem to like it just as well as the regular corn cobs. The blue jays haven’t touched it, but the red-bellied woodpecker still frequents the squirrel feeder. And our white-breasted nuthatch has returned! I haven’t seen it since Spring began and now it visits the squirrel feeder daily.

The only difficulty we have had is that the squirrels tend to eat the center out of the log. The end then falls to the ground. We either need a different design for our feeder, or longer screws which go completely through the log. They definitely last a lot longer than the ears of corn, so I think it is worth looking for a solution. For the moment, we are just throwing the ends of the logs into the ground feeder for the squirrels to munch there. I may try putting them on the screw on the platform feeder as well.

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After it was becoming clear that our (four!) squirrels were eating the majority of the sunflower seed we were putting in our hopper feeder, we purchased an Opus Top Flight Fortress Bird Feeder. It holds five pounds of seeds and has a wire cage around the seed tube, allowing smaller birds to insert their heads, but blocking larger birds.

Our woodpeckers have no difficulties feeding from it, which is good, and one persistent jay seems to have worked out how to get to the seed. The grackles have not bothered trying, so far as I have seen.

But the squirrel, too, has figured it out. It hangs upside down from the top wire, inserts its little paw through the cage into the feeding tube and extracts a seed. He then munches it while hanging upside down and tries again. For the moment, we are thinking of rubbing Vaseline all over the pole to make it slippery. This is a young squirrel, and he seems to have a lot more trouble climbing the small pole than his mother did. Of course, that will mean some repositioning of feeders. I know it is only a short hop from the bird bath! Do you have any other ideas that do not involve purchasing anything? We will eventually, but right now we need a new kitchen floor.

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Raptors are making a come back in some urban environments. Such large birds of prey generally require large open spaces for their hunting, and are among the first birds affected by urban sprawl. Some seem to be adapting, however.

“It’s a very positive development for conservation and mankind,” said Daniel E. Varland, co-editor of the book Raptors in Human Landscapes. Varland lists peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, osprey and Cooper’s hawks as among those birds of prey that are surviving in cities. In some parts of the country, he said, small falcons called merlins have moved into urban areas. projo.com

I love these magnificent birds. In fact, I often pause in my night time blogging to step out on the porch and listen to the Great Horned owls. Watching the red-tailed hawks hunt in the field is always interesting And one of the most exhilarating moments of our birding hobby was when one swooped down low over our backyard, close enough to see those eyes as they surveyed every inch of our backyard.

Owls and red-tailed hawks do not generally cause much of a problem for feeders, however. There are several types of hawks which feed on songbirds, the most common of which are the Cooper’s hawk and the sharp-shinned hawk. These can be drawn in by the activity at your feeder, and may even make a kill. While it is exciting to get a close-up view of these amazing predators, providing them a cafeteria-style meal is probably not your first purpose in backyard birding.

To protect your birds in the event a hawk discovers your feeders, it is important to have shelter near your feeders. If you place your feeders approximately ten feet from a shrub or tree (especially a pine tree), your birds will have quick cover. At these times, it is especially important to have something in place to prevent window collisions because the birds will be making a quick, thoughtless dive.

If the hawk is persistent and begins to “camp out” in your yard, you may have to consider taking down your feeders for a little while. Within a few days, they will begin to disperse and the hawk should move on.

To learn to identify the two most common hawks which are likely to prey on your feeder birds, this page from Cornell is very helpful. I have seen sharp-shinned hawks in our neighborhood, but never in our yard. Our feeders are nestled near our house, surrounded on two sides by walls and on one side by a large bush. I do not think there is an easy way for hawks to approach the feeders without crashing into the house, and the birds have a quick escape route. Or maybe there are simply enough people feeding birds in our area that the concentration of birds in our yard has not attracted any particular interest from predators.

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Last week, I wrote about an elusive pest which was responsible for the loss of over ten pounds of sunflower seed in a single night. “Bandit,” however, is not a he, but a she. And she has quadruplets.

She may be adorable, but we cannot afford to feed her growing family. For the moment, we have brought the seed inside.

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A problem has developed with our feeding station which we have to address. Many of the birds which visit our feeders are considered by many to be pests, but we decided early on that our general philosophy would be “the more the merrier” so long as the house sparrows and grackles did not actually begin driving other species away. Then the red squirrel found our feeder. But we like squirrels so we came up with a compromise.

This problem is a little more expensive, however, and goes by the name of bandit. So named for those adorable little stripes on his face and tail. Yes, a raccoon has discovered our bird seed. The seed has been sitting outside in plastic containers for months. But two days ago, a raccoon discovered that if it knocked one over, the lid would pop off.

Smart varmint. And expensive. It is now responsible for the loss of half a container of black oil sunflower seed which would be about 10 pounds. I’m not sure how to deal with raccoons, but for the moment, we have put the dog out by the seed. I don’t want to leave him tied out overnight indefinitely, however.

I’m thinking maybe we could build some sort of crate to hold the bins upright so the raccoon cannot knock them over?

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Late last fall, a little squirrel we named “Raggedy” discovered our feeders. He was an adorable little rascal, full of energy, quite tame, and with a noticeable chunk missing from his tail (hence the name). We fell in love with little Raggedy, and spent some time learning about the habits of squirrels for his sake. He was a little red squirrel, a somewhat aggressive species which drives away other squirrels. We could afford to feed one squirrel we decided. We made a little squirrel feeder and attached it to a tree near the feeders. We keep it stocked with dry corn. While it did not keep him entirely away from our feeders, it did lessen the amount he ate. A little before Christmas, another squirrel discovered our feeders. We watched them chase each other about the yard, jumping, climbing and almost seeming to fly with their endless game of tag. We pondered when either actually had time to eat. But finally, the strange squirrel emerged victorious and Raggedy faded out of our lives. We would occasionally see him at the edge of the yard, watching and waiting. Sometimes he would dart in for a bite, but was always chased away. Here is the victor, staking out the squirrel feeder.

Late winter, another squirrel appeared. There was some chasing. Some fighting. And then we had two squirrels eating peacefully at our feeders. Now we have four, mom and three babies who only recently began accompanying mom on her forays for food. We had a wind advisory out yesterday, and this little one appears to be clinging to the concrete for dear life.

They are going through decidedly more seed than Raggedy ever did, but who can turn out a mother with three children?

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After sharing a little about house sparrows last week, blog friend and fellow homeschooler Judy Aron sent me the link to a letter to the editor about these birds.

House sparrows damage crops, gardens and maturing fruit. They consume and spoil livestock food and water. Their waste creates hazardous and unsanitary situations under roosting areas. They deface buildings with their nests and acidic droppings, which can also damage the finish on automobiles, block gutters and create fire hazards.

To top of it off, house sparrows have been observed threatening and attacking 70 species of native birds. Some people may think they’re cute, but house sparrows will destroy the eggs of birds such as chickadees, bluebirds and swallows. They toss nestlings out of birdhouses and kill adult birds, sometimes decapitating them and then building their own nest over the corpse.

How can you control them? As the letter points out at the end, sparrows are not protected by law, unlike most of our birds. When you find a sparrow nest, you can remove it (just be sure it is a house sparrow nest! It is illegal to disturb the nests of native birds.) You can also legally destroy the bird, which some say is necessary since the sparrow will likely only reconstruct his nest once you have left.

They can also take over your feeders. Sialis, a website devoted to bluebirds, shares some techniques to deter sparrows. It shares a good deal of information and is an excellent resource for anyone dealing with house sparrows. Just be absolutely sure you are dealing with house sparrows. Our other native sparrows look very similar, and particularly the females can be difficult to identify if you are not used to them.

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