Please Help Us Identify This Bird!

Hi, I am a WBU customer and love watching our birds. Since August we have been delighted to see this wonderful bird I think is a female cardinal. Some friends have said it is a cedar wax wing. What do you think? It is in the company of cardinals, eats from a platform or perched on a feeder. Thanks! Haslett, MI

I love questions with good photos.

It is a female cardinal with leucism. Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals.
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Right now scientist describe two kinds of Leucistic birds, pale and pied. Pale leucistic birds will have the same markings, but extremely pale. Pied Leucistic birds, like the one in your photo, have patches of white. Leucistic birds are relatively unusual but much more common than albino birds which are completely white with pink eyes, legs and bill.

Unfortunately they usually don't have as long a life span. It doesn't effect their health but they are easier for prey to spot and have a harder time attracting mates. So consider yourself lucky!

Thanks for the great question.

Category › Question of the week

How Not to Kill a Mockingbird Guarding Your Feeders Too Aggressively

This question came to me via Twitter:

To me: @birdsunlimited Any suggestions for a territorial mockingbird that won't allow other birds near feeder in this freezing weather in Atlanta? Thks!

My reply: Can you describe the feeder? Is it a mealworm feeder? Are they eating their fill and moving on or guarding it all day?
..
To me again: @birdsunlimited It's a squirrel twirler and the mockingbird is guarding it all day long! Any bird that comes close is attacked...thks!

Northern Mockingbirds are a rare winter resident here in Michigan, but in the spring people do tell me about how they were dive bombed when they got too close to a nest. This aggressive behavior in defending their home is very common. They mark their borders twice a year; once in the spring for nesting season and then again in the fall to protect winter food sources.

Mockingbirds can be quite determined when defending what they view as their territory. And I think you have placed the feeder within his borders unknowingly. Now he sees it as his duty to guard the feeder as well as other food sources in this area against all other invading birds.

As frustrating as the situation is, we have to remember mockingbirds are natural pest controllers and seed dispersers. They eat lots of bugs like beetles, ants, wasps, and grasshoppers in the summer and a wide variety of fruits and berries during the winter.

Mockingbirds may visit our feeding stations for suet, raisins, fruit, mealworms or nuts. Make sure you’re not feeding anything that is attractive to the mockingbirds.

Is the feeder near a fruit tree or berry bush that he likes? If the food in the feeder isn’t attractive to the mockingbird it has to be the location. To stop the attack on other birds you’ll probably have to move the feeder you have to a new location or place a second feeder in a different location out of his sight.

For the best answers to questions about local birds you can always contact your closest Wild Birds Unlimited store for more help. Does anyone else have any better solutions?

Category › Bird of the week

Who is Jack Frost?

Jack Frost is an elf from Scandinavian legend that was named Jokul Frosti, meaning Icicle Frost by the Norse Vikings. The son of the Nordic wind god Kari, he became Jack Frost after his story arrived in England. He is renowned for his artistic talents of painting beautiful frost designs on windows and plants late at night.

Other cultures have their own folklore. Japanese legends name Frostman and brother Mistman as keepers of the frost and dew. In Finland Frostman and Frostwoman control the weather and must be placated with sacrifices. Then Russian legends identify frost as Father Frost, a blacksmith who binds the earth with his chains of ice. While German folklore tells of Old Mother Frost who shakes feathers from her bed that become frost as they float to earth.

Scientifically, frost can be defined as the ice crystals that form when water vapor adheres to freezing surfaces. The fancy frost that decorates our windows is called fern frost and forms when a glass pane is exposed to very cold air on the outside and moderately moist air on the inside. Water vapor condenses on the glass and as it freezes ice crystals grow forming feathery, lacy, patterns on our windows.

Hoar frost or white frost is the white ice crystals that loosely cover everything outside when temperatures dip below freezing and there is an ample source of water vapor.

Another less common form of frost is called rime frost. Rime frost appears as needles or spikes. It can develop more quickly than hoar frost, especially during windy conditions when liquid water droplets come into contact with freezing surfaces. Rime frost is the white extensions that you see on the crabapples pictured. It doesn't have a crystalline structure, and is more matte and less sparkling than hoar frost.

Category › Nature up close

Is there a bird without feathers?

No, the biggest difference between birds and other animals is that birds have feathers. Every bird has feathers and every animal that has feathers is a bird. A Whistling Swan, in winter has the most with about 20,000 individual feathers. And the what bird has the fewest feathers? That distinction goes to the Ruby-throated Hummingbird with about 940.

Category › Question of the week

How Can a Woodpecker Eat Frozen Suet?

I'd like to attract woodpeckers, but if I put out suet how are the birds supposed eat it when it freezes so hard in the winter? Williamston, MI

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I think your answer lies in the birds name. Woodpeckers, as their name suggests, peck on the wood of trees to look for or hide tasty treats, and to build nests. In addition to drilling holes, woodpeckers will knock their heads to send sound signals.

Their bill is composed of a number of separate horny plates called rhamphotheca which are made of a tough protein called keratin (the same protein that makes our fingernails).

It does wear down, but special cells on the end of the bill are constantly replacing the lost material. This keeps the chisel-pointed bill strong and resilient, while actually allowing it to be sharpened with every blow.

So you don't have to worry about frozen suet. Woodpeckers' many adaptations allow them to forage for bugs hidden under tree bark or suet or nuts offered from a feeder.

Category › Question of the week

The Chickadee: Nature’s Backyard Charmer

Chickadees may be the most beloved birds that visit our backyards, but their seemlessly neverending energy and inquisitive nature are only part of what makes these birds fun to watch.

Chickadees:
• are easily identified by their namesake call “chick-a-dee.”
• weigh less than half an ounce.
• are generally monogamous and stay with the same mate for life.
• are cavity nesters and will excavate their own nest site in a rotten tree or use an old woodpecker hole or birdhouse.
• are regular visitors to feeders, but over 75% of their winter food supply still comes from natural sources.
• cache foods and remember where its hidden.
• increase their survival rate almost twice as much when the temperature falls below 10º F if they have access to feeders.
• can gain as much as 10% of their body weight each day and lose it all again during a cold winter night.

For more information about chickadees, visit allaboutbird.com - our online bird guide.

Category › Bird of the week

Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary (Angul Side)

Mrs Iyer asks Raja Chauhary, an aspiring wildlife photographer about his next venture towards the end of the movie ,Mr and Mrs Iyer. Raja answers “Lobang , a forest in Orissa on the banks of a gorge full of Crocodiles on river Mahanadi ” .“My my where is this place” I asked myself.I never knew that this line would create a curiosity in me that will keep on flickering for last seven years. This incident happened way back in 2002 and in 2009 end I got a chance to see the beauty of Satkosia.


Entrypoint at Pampasar

We had booked one of the tents in the eco tourism complex in Tikarpada and after having wonderful experience at the Nayagarh side of Satkosia it was time for capturing the gorgeous Satkosia from Angul side. Let me honestly accept that me and Bubun were not that much excited to come to this side after experiencing Nayagarh side. Reason was that its much crowded this side and so chances of sinking completely in the beauty of Mahanadi was less. I collected the forms from the Ecotourism office in Angul and reached Badkera on the Sambalpur Highway. After having an Okay type lunch in the Dhaba, we moved quickly towards the Entrypoint of Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. It was already getting dark and we were late by 4 hours. Time for reporting at the eco tourism complex at Tikarpada is 12 in the afternoon(I was not informed about the same). We collected our entry permits at Pampasar Check gate and proceeded towards Tikarpada. Road inside the sanctuary was superb.We reached the complex around 6 in the evening. The whole place was setup on the banks of river and is surrounded by the tall hills of Satkosia. On the front side we could see the forests where we had been the previous night. I tried to sink in the environment but the small Raja Chaudhary inside me didn’t allow that to happen as i went on imagining and imagining the dawn at that place. How it would look like in the morning...which shots will be the best...whether there will be mist in the morning....these are some of the questions that i was asking my self. I and Bubun sat over there in the banks till 8 in the evening and were discussing the tiger stories. We decided to take a stroll on the banks and then come back for dinner. sometimes you need to take a call on whether to be an admirer of nature or lover of hot steamy fish curry. We choose the former and hence suffered. We were told that dining hall had been invaded by a group of fish loving Bengalis and hence we had been left with some chilled, half broken Meerkalis. Never trust Bengalis when hot steamy fish curry is prepared in kitchens(on a lighter side).
Our tent was a small cozy one with 2 beds and to our surprise there was a toilet behind the tent with a commode. With outside temperature dipping to somewhere around 10deg, the blankets were like gifts of heaven. Time for us to retire to bed after another hectic day. The silence inside the forests are sometimes quite frightening but at the same time if you listen carefully, sound of dew drops falling from the woody trees of Sal and Mahogany on the dry leaves will revitalize your senses. The fragrance of wild flowers mixed with the chill of the winter air will make you ask questions like “Is it worth staying in Cities and running after the “A” ratings in the PMS exercises of organizations which hardly care about you. There may not be Tigers roaring always, but you can sense its presence around. Now that’s what I call a Leader. The leadership competency can’t be taught in the most expensive Programmes that Corporates are blindly spending on and making the Trainers their “Apple of the Eyes”. I am sorry to state this being in the HR function. The black striped, yellow furred beauty may be kilometers away but the King of the Jungle will have it’s rules clearly written on every nook and corner of the Forest. The rules set by the King of the jungle are imprinted in your mind even though there are no so called “Vision, Mission and Values” printed on glossy cardboard cuttings and fixed on false walls of security. The corporates are the most insecure and so are the employees. And here is a king who actually lives like a king with a pride unlike the CEOs of organizations who are busy calculating the pay perks, attending High Teas and travelling in Business Classes. “What am I doing?” was the question I kept on asking before falling asleep amidst the beauty of Satkosia in a setting flanked by gorgeous bottle green waters of Mahanadi, surrounded by the wooded hills engulfed by the setting mist and lighted by the twinkling fireflies. It was one of the wonderful nights that I have experienced in recent years. I thanked the “Raja Chaudhary” in me.


Inside our Cozy Tent

As the alarm bell rang at 5 in the morning, we were on the banks in a flash. The setting was perfect and I was unable to control my excitement. The mist rising from the frozen waters of Mahanadi was unbelievable. This setting was what I had exactly expected last evening and had told Bubun. I was able to sense what the place was going to turn in to coming few minutes. We both waited and my long term enemy, impatience had completely overpowered me. I was unable to wait for the Sun to rise and so was my friend who in decades had got out of the bed so early to see the beautiful sunrise at Satkosia Gorge. Camera was ready, shutter was rearing to open up, cells were heating up to pump in energy and more importantly fingers were readily placed on the button sensing the smoothness of the alloy. From behind the Garhjat range of hills, came out the sun lightening the mists. The way candle flickers, sun had set the water flickering. One of the most amazing sites that one can come across. In matter of 10 minutes i captured something like 100 photographs and from every possible angle and point. In the morning winter, mist on the river was rising as if somebody had put the whole area on fire. I felt so overwhelmed and rich. It was my state...my Orissa. So beautiful and so much treasure hidden from the rest of the world and perhaps from Oriyas living in Orissa itself.


Amazing Satkosia at the dawn


For your desktop


Gorgeous Gorge


Colours of Satkosia


Enjoying the Sunrise and Cofee in one splendind Winter Morning....
a dream come true


Fireworks on water...unbelievable


Baisipali Side standing tall


Sellable


I am blessed to be here

After having breakfast , it was time for us to leave the eco tourism complex at Tikarpada and move towards exploring the rest of Satkosia. Some of the places on the itinerary were Kandhaida Game tank,Bhimdhara,Purunakot and of course who can forget Labangi Forest Rest House.Reason....Rahul Bose had described its beauty in the movie Mr and Mrs Iyer.

Coming Up....
Day 2 at Satkosia in detail with photographs.

Category ›