Tag Archives: birds

Common Nighthawks: Aerial Marvels

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Common Nighthawk (Photo by Mark Hainen)

For me, the sounds of summer include the sounds of Common Nighthawks.

A pair of nighthawks has nested on top of Ferry Elementary School for as long as I can remember. First thing in the morning, and I mean before sunrise, I see him flying in his erratic pattern. I’m not sure of how to describe the call that accompanies the flight. I’ve seen it written as buzz BEEErzh and peent (click here to listen on Cornell’s All About Birds website).

Common Nighthawk perched (Photo by Don Chalfant)

It is sharp and loud, a call to look up to the sky and wait for the wonderful sound to follow. The male nighthawk climbs higher and higher, then dives toward the ground, flexing his wings downward as he peels out of his dive. This causes a sound reminiscent of a race car rounding the edge of the track. To me, it sure sounds like vroom! This wonderful display gets repeated in the evening, a second treat for the summer day. This display serves two purposes; first, to attract a female and bond with her. It also lets other males know the territory is taken.

Common Nighthawk (Photo by Don Chalfant)

Field Marks

To identify Common Nighthawks, look for a slim, long-winged bird with white patches on the wing. Their pointy wings and streamlined shape make them appear larger than their measurements would indicate. Each bird is typically 9.5” long with a wing span of 24” and a weight of only 2.2 ounces. The type of flight is key – erratic and bounding – look for the white patch which is quite distinct in flight.

Common Nighthawk in flight (Photo by Karen Wade)

Nesting

Common Nighthawks nest on open ground, gravel beaches, openings in the forest floor and in our area, on gravel roof tops. Nighthawks, including the eggs and the young, have excellent camouflage in their nesting habitats. These birds need to be hidden from view, so the trend from older style roofs with pebbles to rubber roofs without pebbles is not a good one. This shift leads to a decrease in prime nighthawk nesting habitat. If you can influence a roofing company to keep a corner of the roof covered in pebbles, we can maintain sufficient nesting habitat.

Common Nighthawk female, camouflaged on parking lot nest (Photo by Karen Wade)

The female lays just one or two eggs at a time, and the pair may have two broods in a season. Females are the primary incubators. At times she will stand over the young with open wings, creating a shade umbrella when needed.

Common Nighthawk with nestling (Photo by Karen Wade)

Common Nighthawk female with young (Photo by Karen Wade)

Diet & Distribution

Common Nighthawks eat flying insects exclusively. Once prey is sighted, the bird will fly toward it, open its beak, and maneuver to catch and swallow the insect. The young are fed these insects in regurgitated form – yummy!

As one would expect of a bird that is an insect-eater, Common Nighthawks migrate south with the change of the seasons. Often in late summertime, Bill Rapai, President of Grosse Pointe Audubon and my co-leader on bird walks, calls to inform me the migration is evident, with streams of nighthawks moving south over Lake St. Clair. Their journey may take them anywhere from 1,600 to 4,200 miles as they have been reported in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and as far south as Argentina.

I hope that you get a chance to listen for these unique birds, and then look to the sky and experience these seasonal marvels.

 

Enjoy your birds!

-Rosann Kovalcik

Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Grosse Pointe Woods

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Bird Spotlight: Green Heron

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Photo Courtesy: Valerie Gebert

“They look like a kindergartner that dressed for school, choosing bright pants that didn’t match the multiple colors they put on,” said my niece after observing a Green Heron at the shoreline of an inland lake. Technically, they aren’t truly green; they have more of a greenish-blue cast to their backs like velvet draperies in an English Manor; a deep chestnut body, a darker, capped head and bright yellow legs. They also have white underneath the tail, most evident when the tail is flicked in agitation.

Diet & Feeding Behavior

Green Herons wait patiently for prey to cross their paths as they sit perched in every imaginable yoga pose along the water’s edge. Small fish, crustaceans, frogs – all are on the menu. Watching these birds hunt is a lesson in patience and perseverance. They stand for many minutes with necks retracted, their stares fixated at the water in front of them. When prey comes within striking distance, they strike quickly, extending their necks to almost the full length of their bodies. Whatever the catch, the heron flips it down into the back of the beak, then down the hatch in one gulp!

Photo Courtesy: Beth Miller, as seen on Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” site

If you are lucky enough to come across them in your outdoor adventures, sit and watch; you may see another behavior that is sure to blow your mind – a Green Heron using a tool to fish. Yes, Green Herons uses tools to lure fish, dropping insects, twigs and feathers onto the water’s surface. This is an amazing sight to see, and one that I have been fortunate enough to witness from the quiet of a kayak.

Photo Courtesy: Valerie Gebert

Habitat

Where can you find Green Herons? They prefer bodies of water with vegetation near the shoreline. Think of our inland lakes and all of the exploring you can do in early morning. Our Huron-Clinton Metroparks are great places for this type of birding. The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House is another likely spot. Use your binoculars to scan the water’s edges, as well as checking lily pads. Listen carefully for a loud “SKEOW!” – a likely sign of a Green Heron relocating. I have noticed they often verbalize while flying from one space to the next.

Photo Courtesy: Valerie Gebert

Nesting

Green Herons make nests from twigs which they situate in trees. Both parents tend to the young. To start, the female lays between 3-5 eggs, and both she and her mate incubate them for 19-21 days. The youngsters are then fed by both parents, who regurgitate food into their mouths. In another 21-23 days, they’re ready to fly. Finally, the young fledge at about 30-35 days of age, meaning they are no longer dependent upon their parents. Green Herons mate monogamously each breeding season, often changing mates from one season to the next.

Wintering & Other Fun Facts

After breeding in Michigan (as well as in other states), Green Herons spend their winters in Mexico and Central America. However, during the post-breeding season, they have been known to show up as far as England and France, which is as exciting for the people there as it is for us when we see a Snowy Owl – what a special treat!

Photo Courtesy: Valerie Gebert

The oldest Green Heron on record was 7 years and 11 months old. It was found in Mexico in 1979 and first banded in Oklahoma in 1971.

Did you know – a group of herons can be called a rookery, a battery, a pose, a scattering or a hedge?

Whatever you call them, I hope you see many Green Herons in your forays into the field this year!

 

Enjoy your birds,

-Rosann Kovalcik

Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Grosse Pointe Woods

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References

Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (2017). Green Heron Overview.

Retrieved from https://www.allaboutbirds.org/

guideGreen_Heron/overview

Virginia Rail – A Successful Rescue!

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Last weekend’s Bird Walk at the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House was rescheduled due to rain, but a few people showed up anyway, so we decided to slog around for a while to check for birds. During that short time, we saw Cormorants, Scaup and Horned Grebes in the lagoon. Soon, the winds and rain picked up to the point where we had to call it a day and head indoors.

An Urgent Call for Help

No sooner had my wet clothes been shed and breakfast finished, did the phone ring. On the other line, the person said, “We received a call from the Grosse Pointe Dog Wash. They have a bird with blue and red plumage and a long beak in front of their store. It’s just sitting and they wondered if we could help?”

So of course I said, “Sure, I’ll go check it out!” And I am so glad I did! There, huddled in the towel that had been placed around it, sat a Virginia Rail, a secretive, marshland bird who must have recently migrated.

Virginia Rail

Looking Back…

My first experience with a Virginia Rail was at Point Pelee, a place where I went birding often, beginning in my teen years. The East Beach Marsh was where I first saw this bird. There were other sightings throughout the years, including a notable one in my own yard in Grosse Pointe Woods. A Virginia Rail once spent the day in the yard, tucked next to the house, before it left that night. Sadly, the marshes where these birds stop and rejuvenate with food are now few and far between, especially for a travel-weary bird.

Back to Present-Day…

I gently scooped it up the bird and placed it into a box. My next move was to message Andrea Aiuto, Director of the Bird Center of Washtenaw County. Although I knew the center was not open to accepting birds at this time, Andrea was a very reliable source for me to help determine what to do with the grounded bird. There did not appear to be any obvious signs of damage to the bird (such as a drooping wing). We assumed the storm may have grounded the bird in a place that provided no suitable habitat. After all, a sidewalk in Grosse Pointe is the least likely place for this bird to be!

Andrea recommended feeding mealworms and millet in a shallow dish. Lucky for me, I knew we had both at Wild Birds Unlimited, so a quick stop to my store was in order! As instructed, I kept the bird in a quiet, dark place to minimize agitation. Each time I took a peek, its head was under its wing.  I felt good that it was safe from the pelting, cold rains.

At some point, the Virginia Rail began to strike against the tote. I knew the bird of course wanted to be released, and while I felt relief that the bird was active, the weather was not ideal. With assurances from Andrea that the bird would settle down, I tried to ignore the movement and the noise, which eventually abated. I resolved to get the bird to the Howell Nature Center (HNC) for professional care the next day.

Time to Eat!

The next morning we were greeted by a covering of ice everywhere. Driving was not going to be a safe option. I called HNC to find out what else I could do for the Virginia Rail as it appeared not to be eating the live mealworms. The advice I was given made sense – this bird has a beak meant to probe the marsh for invertebrates. Get a shallow pan and fill it with dirt, mixing the mealworms in the dirt and placing some on top. The other bit of advice that I received was not to release the bird in the rain. Given the forecast, we were bound to be buddies for at least another 24 hours.

A custom-made food blend

The good news is that I could see the bird was eating. There were many mealworms gone and droppings on the towel. I eagerly supplied more of the wriggling morsels. The bad news was late in the afternoon, the Rail began to fling itself against the tote again. I begged it to calm down because of the rain. Unfortunately, there is no good way to explain this to a bird. That’s when the bird got the better of me – against advice I headed out to Lake St. Clair Metropark to release it. I felt that if it was strong enough to exert the energy needed to try to migrate, it was ready to get on its way. I also didn’t want it to injure itself in its attempts at freedom.

Release – Attempt One

When I got to the metropark, I found a spot very close to the marsh edge and carefully tipped the bird out of the tote. To my surprise, it just sat there.  For fifteen minutes – fifteen long minutes while I waited in the cold rain and tried to talk some sense into the Rail.

Feeling indecisive

“Why aren’t you looking for food?  Why aren’t you seeking shelter?”

The birds’ response was to sit tight.

“Okay… I am going to drive away and be back in fifteen minutes. If I come back and you are still here, it’s a sign that you want to come back and be warm.”

Of course, I remembered I was not supposed to release the bird while it was raining. What was I thinking? The bird continued to cajole me by thumping against its plastic prison.

Fifteen minutes later, the bird was in my gloved hands and taking a warm ride back to Grosse Pointe. When I arrived home, I provided more of the wriggling morsels and actually witnessed the Rail eating them. It looked healthy and active, with some flicks of the tail revealing the white undertail coverts, an action I had seen in the field. And so it was, back to that quiet and dark place as Andrea instructed.

Take Two – A Happy Ending

At 11:00 p.m. my bedtime reading of Audubon magazine was interrupted by the Rail again being insistent on escaping the plastic confines. I went to the back door. No rain. Grabbing the tote, I took it outside and took the top off. Ironically, this was very near the spot that the grounded rail spent in my yard. Alert, the rail began to look about with its neck outstretched. Then, in an instant, it flew straight up and then turned down the driveway, between the houses and out of sight – a strong and steady flight.

A successful release!

I breathed an audible sigh of relief. It’s amazing how much of your heart and soul goes into saving a bird! I have a renewed respect for bird rehabilitators, and I was so grateful for the advice from Andrea of Washtenaw Bird Center as well as the staff from the Howell Nature Center.

And I was really grateful that the Virginia Rail has a chance to make it to breeding territory and carry on the genes of such a determined little three ounce sprite.

Enjoy your birds!

-Rosann Kovalcik

Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Grosse Pointe Woods

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House Finches – A Beautiful Introduction

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House Finch male (Photo by John Graffius)

 

One of the most surprising facts about House Finches is that they are not native to the Eastern United States.  They were originally found only in the western U.S. and Mexico. In the 1940’s, humans intervened, capturing a small group of these birds to sell on Long Island as pets. After the sellers got caught, the finches were released, leading to their eventual expansion.

House Finches “Branch Out”

Taking advantage of the friendly habitat, House Finches bred and have since become one of our most populous birds, with an estimated 267 million to 1.4 billion individuals. Their presence is always a welcome addition. Their songs are cheery and melodious and their colors warm and beautiful.

House Finch male (Photo by Tim Lintz)

Fun Facts

The red coloration of the breast and eye-stripe in the males comes from pigments contained in their diet, which consists of nuts and seeds. House Finches dine enthusiastically on dandelion seeds, their bright red plumage contrasting against the yellow blooms – a cheery sight indeed! Females prefer to mate with the brightest, reddest males. Females are much less conspicuous, an overall gray-brown color with indistinct streaks. According to bird banding data, the oldest known living House Finch was a female, reaching 11 years and 7 months.

House Finch female (Photo by Tim Lintz)

Nesting

According to the book, Birds of Michigan, the first House Finch nest was found in Southfield, MI in July of 1981. House Finches are very adaptable when it comes to nesting, building in trees and shrubs near human habitation and, to the delight of many homeowners, even on door wreaths! Their nests are constructed of grass, twigs, leaves, hair and feathers.  Leave plant material in the yard this spring instead of cleaning up, and place hair and feathers in suet baskets to help House Finches create their nests.

Nesting begins in late March and can continue through August. The females lay 4-5 eggs which they incubate for 12-14 days. House Finches breed 2-3 times per breeding season. The young fledge from the nest approximately 9-11 days after hatching. This is one of the few bird species that feeds their young only plant matter, as opposed to adding insects, a common food source for most fledglings.

Attracting House Finches

House Finches are frequent feeder birds; attract them by offering Sunflower Seed (either in or out of the shell).  These birds are adaptable enough to also eat Safflower or Nyjer Seed (thistle). For some reason, this species is more prone to conjunctivitis than other species of birds – a good reminder to keep those feeders clean! Sterilize feeders using either vinegar (my personal preference) or a diluted bleach solution. Rake areas under feeders (if offering seeds with shells) to prevent the spread of disease, especially since House Finches are known to feed from the ground. Better yet, use Sunflower Chips (sunflower out of the shell) and add a tray under your feeders so the area stays relatively mess-free.

House Finch on a Seed Cylinder (Photo by John Graffius)

 

As the days get longer and the sunlight prompts territorial song, listen for the cheery, long song of House Finches, a welcome addition to any yard (click here to listen)!

Enjoy your birds!

-Rosann Kovalcik

Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Grosse Pointe Woods

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Northern Cardinal – A Crimson Jewel in the Garden

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male Northern Cardinal by Kathi Hince

One of the moments I like most about late winter is hearing the Northern Cardinal beginning to sing. Prompted by the length of day, the Northern Cardinal sings to mark its territory.

If we’re lucky, we can hear two male Cardinals calling in tandem in a hormonal duel. Unlike many other songbirds, the females also sing. Often in response to the song the male initiates, the female will sing from the nest. Many times, her song is longer and more complex than the male’s! During nesting season, this is her way of asking her mate for food, as she is the sole incubator and does not leave the nest. Cardinals have an amazing physiology within their syrinx which allows for their complex song. Click here for a link to recordings and explanations.

Northern Cardinals appeared in Michigan in the late 1800’s, expanding their range due to deforestation. Cardinals prefer the opening of forest edges as well as low shrubs, so our yards make great habitat for these birds!

female Northern Cardinal by Kathi Hince

Nesting

The female Cardinal is responsible for nest building. She bends twigs around her body and uses her feet to push them into a cup shape. There are four layers to the nest including: coarse twigs, a mat of leaves, thin bark, and a soft top layer of grasses, rootlets and pine needles.

In Michigan, Northern Cardinals start to nest in mid-April, laying 2 to 4 eggs. Incubation takes up to two weeks. After hatching, the young stay in the nest another few weeks fledging. The young are fed protein in the form of caterpillars and other soft-bodied insects. Adults are omnivorous, adding seeds and fruits to their diet of insects.

male Northern Cardinal by Kathi Hince

More Fun Facts

These birds are named for their bright red plumage thought to be reminiscent of the cleric by that name. The have the distinctive honor of being the State Bird of no fewer than seven states, which is more than any other bird.

Another endearing aspect of Cardinals is how the male feeds the female as part of courtship display. This is a change from their behavior in the winter, when it is every bird for itself.

Juvenile Cardinals look like the females, a warm brown with golden overtones, and a lighter belly color, sporting red in their tail feathers,  wings and crest. The difference between female Cardinals and the young is the females have a bright red beak, whereas young birds have a gray/black beak.

The males have a prominent black facial mask larger and more striking than the females’. The beak is a distinctive characteristic in Northern Cardinals. It is very short and robust – a true seed cracking tool. The cardinal holds a seed in the beak, with a crunch down to crack the shell, then a roll of the tongue to rotate the seed until the shell falls away. This leaves the nut “meat” for the bird to consume. This method of eating allows the Cardinals to stay at feeders and eat. Other birds like Chickadees must instead fly off to a perch where they can hold the seed in their feet in order to extricate the edible portion of the seed.

Window Strikes

Northern Cardinals are one of the species of birds that are known to attack their reflection in a window or car mirror, repeatedly striking the surface, much to our frustration and dismay. This behavior takes place because the bird believes it is attacking another bird, an intruder in the nesting territory. In order to stop this behavior, block the birds’ reflection on the outside of the window. A product aptly named Stop Bird Attack is sprayed on the outside of the window, easily removed when no longer needed (this product sold at Wild Birds Unlimited in Grosse Pointe Woods).

male Northern Cardinal by Kathi Hince

Attracting Northern Cardinals

To attract Northern Cardinals, offer black oil sunflower either in or out of the shell, safflower and shelled peanuts. All of these seeds can be place in a hopper feeder with a larger ledge or a tube feeder with an added tray, essential for their body size if they are to reach the feeding ports.

Take a listen for this beautiful songster, filling the days with sound that will lift your spirit.

Enjoy your birds!

-Rosann Kovalcik

Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited, Grosse Pointe Woods

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Red-headed or Red-bellied Woodpecker

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In the last few years, I’ve had an increase in the number of customers at Wild Birds Unlimited here in Grosse Pointe Woods who come in and report that they have a Red-headed Woodpecker at their feeders. Knowing the status of that bird is unusual in Michigan, I show them a picture of both Red-headed and Red-bellied woodpeckers.

Red-headed Woodpecker by Andrea Rose

IMG_2355

Red-bellied Woodpecker

After seeing both, most people realize they in fact saw a Red-bellied and not a Red-headed Woodpecker. It s far less common to have the latter bird in this area (though certainly not impossible!). In the case of the Red-bellied, it does in fact also have a red cap, which makes the nomenclature slightly confusing. Perhaps at the time of the Red-bellied’s discovery, the name “Red-headed Woodpecker” was already taken. This type of discovery would have been made after the bird was shot to be studied. Luckily, these days, binoculars have replaced guns in the study of birds, and through them we can see the red blush of the Red-bellied woodpeckers’ belly.

More facts …

Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is 9.25 inches in length, has a wing span of 16 inches and weighs 2.2 oz. With a white belly, distinctive black and white stripes on the back and a bright red cap, this bird is a welcome addition to the sightings in your yard. The red on the male covers both the crown and the nape of the bird, whereas in the female it is restricted to the nape. In flight, the wings move in a deep undulating flight. One of the most interesting facts that I have read about this bird is that it has 36,000 to 37,000 feathers to insulate it. (Just how do they come up with those statistics?) The male Red-bellied Woodpecker has a longer bill and a longer, wider tongue tip than the female. These adaptations may allow the male to reach deeper into furrows to extract prey and may allow the sexes to divide up the resources in one area.

One of the best attributes of the Red-bellied Woodpecker is its voice. As Sibley describes it the “contact call is a loud, harsh, but rich quirrr slightly rising; in flight a single, low chug. Also a harsh chig-chig, a series of chig notes delivered slowly, or a rapid, chuckling series chig chigh-chchchchchchch descending.”
The Red-bellied is a nut eater, frequenting deciduous and mixed woodlands forests and usually ranging south of boreal forests. It eats three times more vegetable matter than insect matter and is known for its propensity to store food, using its long tongue to push food deeper than chickadees, titmice and blue jays can reach. It is known to eat arthropods, seeds, fruit, sap, and occasionally lizards, tree frogs, small fish, nestlings, birds, and eggs. The manner in which it feeds is to glean for insects from bark; probe and excavate into dead wood; hawk for flying insects; and hang upside down for berries.

Red-bellied Woodpecker by Andrea Rose

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a primary cavity nesting bird, laying white eggs as most cavity nesters do. They don’t re-use cavities, which is important because the nest holes are then used by a large number of other birds, including flycatchers, wood ducks, screech owls, and bluebirds, to name a few. Nesting begins in late April and early May with the young fledging the cavity by June or July. European Starlings have an intense impact on the Red-bellied Woodpeckers’ nesting success, as the aggressive, non-native species runs the woodpeckers out of their cavities.

The range of the Red-bellied is widespread throughout the southeast. The Birds of Michigan by McPeek and Adams classifies the range of this bird as becoming considerably more common in Michigan in recent decades. In the early to mid-1900s, the range of the Red-bellied Woodpecker ended around the middle of the state, but now it occurs throughout the Lower Peninsula, though still uncommon in most of the northern counties. The increase of this bird’s range northward is due to a number of factors. As Red-bellied populations grow in the south, there is a greater need for ranges to expand in order for birds to establish sufficiently sized territories. Increases in people who feed the birds, as well as above average winter temperatures for several decades, and forest regeneration in parts of the Lower Peninsula all add to the increase of this species. The Christmas Bird Counts confirm a steady rise in the population. Sightings of this bird in the winter are more regular as birds wander in search of food. Red-bellieds will cache food in a cavity, stocking it with acorns, nuts or sunflower seeds, which adds to their survival rate.

Since Red-bellied Woodpeckers are not as numerous here as in the southern states, I asked my Wild Birds Unlimited fellow store owners for some advice on what to recommend at feeders in order to bring in these newcomers. The responses were diverse –

“They like everything other woodpeckers like and can drill through whole peanuts in a peanut feeder to get at the nut meat.”

“They eat Black Oil Sunflower out of the tray feeder on the ground all the time”. .

“They love pure sunflower chips best of all, with peanuts second, and suet also”.

“They prefer peanuts, suet and striped Sunflower”.

“Red-bellied woodpeckers like peanuts, striped sunflower, and suet”.

Judging by these responses, a well stocked feeding station should increase the odds that you will be host to the sight and sounds of this handsome woodpecker.

Enjoy your birds.

Rosann

Wild Birds Unlimited of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

Feeding Techniques of our Wild Feeder Birds

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“Chickadees don’t stay very long at the feeder.”

This is a common observation of our customers that sit and watch the various feeding habits of the birds that visit their yards. Chickadees and Tufted Titmice do flit to the feeder, grab a seed and then disappear into the closest shrub or tree in order to eat. Sometimes, they may stay at the feeder for a few moments, picking up a seed and evaluating its’ weight in order to ensure that the energy they expend will be worth the prize inside. Once a seed is selected, these members of the Paridae family cannot open the seed while sitting on the small perch of a feeder. The seed needs to be held between their feet while the bird uses its’ small beak as a chisel, excavating the outer shell to reach the nut meat inside.

Tufted Titmouse by Andrea Rose

Blue Jays feed in the same manner, as their beak is not built for cracking a seed between the upper and lower mandible. Instead, they place the sunflower seed from your feeder under their feet and use only their lower bill to hit the seed. Blue Jays are equipped with a special flange on the lower jaw that braces it against the skull, creating a more effective chisel.

One of the most famous “chiselers” of the backyard is our Downy Woodpecker. Once he locates insects by hearing them inside of a tree, the Downy’s beak chisels the wood in order to reach the insects inside. At a suet feeder, these tame year-round residents have a more relaxed meal. Using their long tongue with its’ sticky saliva and barbs, the Downy Woodpecker can easily extract pieces of suet from the cake that you offer to them.

Downy Woodpecker by Andrea Rose

On the opposite end of the spectrum, doves and pigeons have a small bill that does not allow them to chisel or crack seeds. Their soft-based bills are more adept at picking seeds from the ground or eating small seeds that they find in your feeders. Once ingested, they store food in their crop where it is ground with the aid of the muscular part of the stomach called the gizzard. This accounts for their frenzied bouts of eating large quantities of food and then later roosting for long periods as the food is processed.

Cardinals, Goldfinches and House Finches have conical shaped beaks that allow them to shell seeds and eat them one after the other. To our benefit, these birds sit at your feeders for longer periods of time, without the need to take seeds away from the feeding station. The action of their bill is the same as a nutcracker in that the grooved upper mandible holds the seed while the lower mandible moves the seed forward and cracks it open, thereby removing the shell.

Some of the birds that frequent your feeding station will take a number of seeds away from the feeder and hide them for consumption at a later time. This technique is known as caching and is used by both the Black-capped Chickadee as well as the Blue Jay. The hippocampus in the brain of these birds is disproportionately larger than in other birds. In studies that have been done in these species, when the hippocampus is removed, the birds are still capable of caching food but can no longer relocate it from memory. Many times, the chickadees will cache food from the feeder into nearby crevices in trees in order to get a quick “full plate”, settling in at that spot to eat all of the cached food away from the feeding station. Blue Jays will cache acorns and other mast from trees into the ground, assuring the continuation of that tree species, as the seeds that are not retrieved become next year’s seedlings.

Watching the eating habits of the wild feeder birds at your feeding station can be an enjoyable and educational experience as you learn about each bird’s particular method of obtaining it’s “daily bread”.

Enjoy your birds!

Rosann

Wild Birds Unlimited of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

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Tips for a Pest-free, Clean Bird Feeding Station

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When we get our first blast of cooler air and a cloudy sky, I’m reminded by the heavy influx of customers at our Wild Birds Unlimited in Grosse Pointe Woods that they are getting ready for their fall and winter bird feeding. With that fuel for thought, I’ve come up with some ideas to share with you for pest free and clean feeding stations.

Good, quality seeds are the staple of any feeding station in the colder months. Once natural seeds have been depleted, birds will look to supplement their diet with your offerings. The most favored seed is the black oil sunflower, favored by more birds than any other seed. Using sunflower as the main seed in a blend and adding other favored seeds such as safflower and white proso millet will bring in the local birds as well as the migrants. Birds that perch while they eat prefer the sunflower and safflower, whereas the ground feeding birds prefer the millet that falls to the ground from the feeder. Choosing a quality seed is the most important factor in your feeding station. Seeds that birds don’t prefer will be tossed aside by them, ending up on the ground where they are a great food source for rodents. Check the ingredients and make sure they are what the birds want.

Keeping a tidy feeding station is good for the birds and good for you. Utilize a tray that allows you to catch any seeds that are scattered by the doves and sparrows – we are convinced they are trying to give to their brethren below! Make sure that you provide a way to clean up the area underneath the feeders. Seeds and shells that sit for prolonged periods of time will mold and harbor germs that may affect your birds. The birds themselves will cause droppings to go into the shells and seed spillage. A hardware cloth or screen placed under the feeder will allow you to pull it away, roll up and toss the mess, and wash it off before placing it back under the feeder.

Store seeds in galvanized cans inside of the garage or a shed. Keeping seed in the house may cause cereal moths to hatch, the eggs having been laid in the seed shells while the sunflower was growing in the field. Temperature is what causes this to happen, so a cool out-building is a better choice. We recommend galvanized cans as rodents are able to chew through plastic. Whether it’s the little teeth of mice or the larger teeth of squirrels, plastic is ineffective at keeping them out.

Before you fill the feeder, make sure that it has been cleaned and sterilized. A good soak in some warm water will loosen all of the dirt that builds up in most tube feeders. The soft bristles of feeder brushes allow you to scrub without scratching the feeders. To sterilize, add one part of vinegar to ten parts water. Always rinse thoroughly before letting the feeder dry completely and filling. With a wooden feeder, follow the same steps without a prolonged soak. A good alternative to wood is the recycled plastic feeders that are now being made. The plastic does not allow organic material to grow as readily as wood does.

Feeder Fresh is an organic additive that is sprinkled into feeders that offer nyger or sunflower chips. Keeping the feeders free of mold is an obvious benefit to the birds you are feeding. It is added to the feeder when you fill it with seed.

A tidy and clean feeding station is better for the birds that visit your yard. Thanks for being responsible.

Enjoy your birds !
Rosann
Wild Birds Unlimited of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

How to Feed the Birds but not the Squirrels

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On a daily basis at Wild Birds Unlimited in Grosse Pointe Woods, we hear about the abilities of squirrels to successfully turn bird feeders into squirrel feeders. Even though we advise customers as to the capabilities of squirrels, some insist that the squirrels won’t be able to climb the feeder pole they are purchasing. We smile knowingly when they are back within days to admit that the little rascals easily shimmied up the pole and are monopolizing the seed.

Squirrels are members of the rodent family. The Latin word rodere means “to gnaw”, as we can see in the damage these critters cause to our new feeders. Did you know that squirrels gnaw in order to keep their teeth sharp and short? If they didn’t, their teeth would be an unruly length since they grow six inches per year. While squirrels can cause frustrating damage to feeders, this does not have to be the case. There are many strategies that you can employ to keep squirrels away from feeders.

The acrobatic abilities of squirrels are legendary; at least here in Michigan. Pound for pound, Olympic gymnasts can’t compare. Since squirrels can jump up from the ground almost six feet and sideways a distance of eight feet, the location of a feeder within your yard is crucial to the success of feeding birds, not squirrels. A feeder hung from a branch would need to be placed eight feet from the trunk, forcing the squirrel to approach from above since the sideways approach would not work. The baffle that is placed above a feeder should be substantially wider than the feeder itself which is why it is difficult to keep squirrels out of wooden feeders hung from trees. At Wild Birds Unlimited in GPW, we find that the most successful baffle is one that was designed by an engineer who was fed up with the furry critters eating the seed he was offering the birds in his yard. The shape of the baffle forces the squirrel down and away from the feeder.

Both wooden feeders and tube shaped feeders can be mounted or hung from poles. Many people report that they have greased the pole with a variety of substances including cooking oil, WD40, or Vaseline. While it can be entertaining to watch the squirrels slip down the pole, there are two problems with this approach. The first is that the substance needs to be reapplied as it wears off onto the squirrel. The second problem is that the matted fur of the squirrel causes its belly to be exposed to the elements, which can lead to hypothermia.

On a pole-mounted system, the baffle needs to be placed five feet above the ground on the pole and preferably made of metal. Plastic baffles will end up becoming a way for squirrels to keep their teeth filed down, as previously mentioned. The pole system that the feeder is placed on should have eight feet of distance from any surface that the squirrel can leap from vertically, such as a deck rail, shrub, tree or another feeder system! If the pole system is under a tree or near a structure such as a garage, their jump from above will give them a further advantage. I’ve watched as a squirrel leveraged itself from the handle of a shovel that I had left upright in the ground, giving him the edge in making a successful leap.

One of the strategies is to use a seed that squirrels do not prefer, which is safflower. The seed has a bitter taste and is not preferred by mammals, while songbirds enjoy its flavor. Cardinals, chickadees, house finches, Carolina wrens, and mourning doves all come to safflower. When you have a feeder that can be accessed by squirrels, such as a window feeder, safflower would be the perfect solution. Safflower is grown primarily for human consumption, as we use the oil from the seed for cooking. Therefore, the cost can be prohibitive for some budgets. However, when you aren’t feeding the squirrels, your seed last much longer and can be more economical.

By far the best way to keep squirrels away from the bird seed is to use the feeder that has a counter weight, causing the seed ports to close off when a squirrel lands on the perch. The feeders of this type are made of metal so they are impervious to the gnawing efforts of squirrels. There are many excellently designed feeders that incorporate the counter weight system including the Eliminator, appropriately named.

Whether you decide to baffle against them, buy feeders that exclude them, use Safflower seed or feed them their own feast, you have to admit that squirrels can be entertaining and their persistence is to be admired! Good Luck with making your bird feeders squirrel proof!

Enjoy your birds !
Rosann
Wild Birds Unlimited of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI

Feed Birds Suet During Winter

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With the winter approaching, birds need a higher fat diet in order to endure the colder temperatures. Here in Michigan at Wild Birds Unlimited of GPW, we are ready with a stockpile of suet to help. This is the time of year to beef up your wild bird feeding station – literally!

Beef fat, or suet, has been a favorite winter-feeding strategy for those who love to watch the birds. Pure rendered beef fat is great to use when you can’t keep the squirrels out of the suet feeder. Without added nuts or seeds, the pure suet isn’t high on the list of a squirrel’s priorities for food.

If you can place a suet feeder out of the reach of squirrels, you can offer suet with peanuts or seed added to the formed cake of fat. Squirrel-proof can be obtained if the feeder is placed on a pole system with a baffle top at five feet above ground and the set-up eight feet away from any leaping opportunity. You’ll find that the woodpeckers. Chickadees and nuthatches in your yard will visit both pure and enhanced suet, with an emphasis on eating the high fat nuts when the weather is colder. Some suet will have fruit, which is attractive to red-bellied woodpeckers.

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There is also a hot pepper version of suet, meant as a squirrel deterrent, since mammals have more taste buds than birds and find the hot pepper distasteful. The birds don’t detect the hot flavoring, allowing you to place the suet feeder in any location for viewing.

If European Starlings become a persistent problem, try hanging your feeders so that they are oriented with access only from the bottom. There are a number of feeders that are made specifically for this purpose. The Starling Stumper, when added to your current suet cage feeder, accomplishes this goal as well.

When birds eat suet, they stay at the feeder for a longer period of time, allowing you to appreciate their crisp colors in the bright sun of winter. Gone are the old feathers that were worn from the rigors of rearing a family or two. The fall molt has provided them with a new set of feathers, including an extra amount for warmth.

Feeding suet in the fall and winter is one of the most enjoyable ways to watch birds in your yard.

Enjoy your birds!

Rosann
Wild Birds Unlimited of Grosse Pointe Woods, MI