Wild Birds Unlimited mid-Michigan blog anniversary

Three years ago today I started to blog. I just felt the need to answer some common questions people were asking over the phone or in person at the Wild Birds Unlimited stores. 

I'm still answering questions, now more than ever. When I started to Facebook and Twitter in January, the blog's readership grew like crazy!

According to Blogger's statistics page of the Wild Birds Unlimited Mid-Michigan blog:

-I've had more visits this year than the last two years combined.
-There have been over 200,000 visits to the blog

-82% of the readers live in the US, and the 18% live in other countries.
-32% of blog readers live in Michigan

My posts focus mainly on local nature and I was very surprised to look back and see what people were reading.

Top 5 most read posts from Sept 2010 to 2011 are:

1.What Should Be My Next Feeder?: http://bit.ly/nkaKJb

2. Where do you hang a bat house?: http://bit.ly/nAoNpQ

3. Squirrel proof bird feeder reviews: http://bit.ly/nuDZ86
4. Fun Facts About Bald Eagles: http://bit.ly/pMTSrQ
5. Close-up of Baltimore Oriole: http://bit.ly/pX4kwM

I appreciate all the questions and kind feedback. If you need information or would like to share a story or photo you can email me at bloubird@gmail.com. I answer emails as soon as I can and then post my responses in the blog eventually. I try to space the posts out evenly over the month. 

Or you can come in to the stores. I'm usually at the Wild Birds Unlimited stores in East Lansing, Michigan

It's never a bother to answer questions. At Wild Birds Unlimited, we strive to offer the best customer service, top quality seed, feeders, and information to make sure you have the best backyard bird feeding experience possible. 

Thank you for supporting our local business,
Sarah

Store location:
Wild Birds Unlimited
2200 Coolidge Rd. Ste.17
East Lansing, MI 48823

E-mail:    bloubird@gmail.com
Website: http://lansing.wbu.com/
Blog:       http://lansingwbu.blogspot.com/
Twitter:    http://twitter.com/birdsunlimited
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/lansingwbu

Category › Nature up close

Types of Bird feathers

Every time I go to fill the feeders in the fall I see that the birds are dropping feathers all around. Long stiff feathers, short fluffy feathers, gray, blue, yellow… There are several different kinds of feathers which serve several different functions and now that the birds are going through a molt you can take a closer look at the differences.

Generally five types of feathers cover the body of a bird: contour, semiplume, down, filoplume and bristle. Contour feathers are the feathers that cover and protect the bird. They are sort of staggered like scales on a snake. The most common contour feathers that people find on the ground are the tail and flight feathers. At first look they may seem the same, but tail feathers are usually more balanced with a stiff center shaft and flight feathers have a wider and narrower side to help cut through the air. In between the contour feathers are semiplumes that provide both support and insulation. Underneath the contour feathers are down feathers. The purpose of down feathers is to trap air between the feathers and the bird’s skin to insulate it. Some birds, such as baby chicks, are born covered in down.

Other feathers act as sensors. Filoplumes are bare except for a few barbs. They grow around contour feathers and may help birds sense the position of feathers in flight. Bristle feathers look like little stiff hairs and grow around some birds’ beaks or eyes. Bristles may help birds such as swallows catch prey by funneling insects toward the mouth. They may also protect the eyes. Woodpeckers have bristles over their nostrils that help keep wood chips out. Bristles may also act like a cat’s whiskers helping a bird feel what’s around it.

Because feathers are critical for flight and insulation, birds keep them well-maintained, especially in the winter. After a bath the birds obtain oil from the uropygial gland and reapply it with their bills to straighten and waterproof their feathers.

Some birds that don't have the preen gland like pigeons and herons also grow powder down feathers. These feathers grow continuously and never molt. Instead the barbs at their tips constantly disintegrate into a fine, talc-like, water-resistant powder.

Related articles:

Why Birds don't Freeze After They Take a Bath in the Winter: http://bit.ly/mPa0Y8

How small birds stay warm in the winter: http://bit.ly/q3dDqj 

Bald bird: http://bit.ly/nmAoXV

Why birds molt: http://bit.ly/ox5Hwi

Blue Jays aren't blue: http://bit.ly/pMN37k

Fossils of colored feathers: http://bit.ly/nc2UeA 

Sources:

Feather photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parts_of_feather.jpg

Feather Structure: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/feathers

Clipart courtesy FCIT http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

Category › Bird Basics

Chimney Swift fun facts

Chimney Swift Chaetura pelagica

• Chimney Swifts are small, all dark swifts with a reputation for flying fast.
• They are most conspicuous as they forage on warm summer evenings as huge flocks migrate mid-September.
• Swifts fly almost constantly. They bathe and drink by skimming water surfaces.
• They don’t perch but use their strong claws to hold on to vertical surfaces.
• Originally, these birds nested in large hollow trees, but now they mainly nest in man-made structures such as large open chimneys.
• Recent changes in chimney design, with covered, narrow flues, have decreased the available nest sites and may be a factor in declining population numbers.
• The birds lay 3 to 7 white eggs in a nest is made of twigs glued together with saliva. The incubation period is 19-20 days, and the fledglings leave the nest after a month.
• Chimney Swifts eat about 1/3 of their weight every day in bugs.
• They usually forage for insects in groups, flying together closely and making a high-pitched chipping noise.
• Chimney swifts winter in the Amazon Basin of Peru. They arrive in the continental United States in late March and are gone by early November.

Category › Bird of the week

Best beginner bird feeders at Wild Birds Unlimited

My niece and her new husband are moving in to their first house and I want to give them a bird feeder. What would you recommend for a family just starting the bird feeding hobby. I want a good quality feeder that won't fall apart in 3 months but nothing big. ~ Holt, MI

The Wild Birds Unlimited (WBU) East Lansing, Michigan store actually just developed a budget-friendly Green Solutions line of feeders. I have been test marketing them since April and the feedback has been fabulous!

Even though the Green Solutions line isn't as high-end as our other WBU line, it's still high quality and may meet the needs of some cost conscience shoppers. The feeders are smaller and all hang but they are still made in the USA from recycled plastic containers and have a lifetime guarantee like most of our feeders. 

They are an attractive light green in varying sizes and styles. There are 3 different hoppers, 2 tray feeders, and a fly-thru feeder. All are excellent for the beginning or experienced bird feeding hobbyists.

The Green Solutions feeders are all easy to clean with a unique expanded rust-resistant mesh screen bottom that provides excellent drainage to keep seed dry and fresh and promote healthy bird feeding. The feeders recycled plastic will last forever, and most important, the design will attract a wide variety of birds.

Wonderful! I gave my son Ben the WBU window feeder you recommended 3 years ago when he moved into his first apartment. He's moved a couple times since then but he told me after each move, when he watches the birds, it feels like home. See you soon. Jennifer

Related articles:

Best bird feeders?: http://bit.ly/q69iq8

Best foods for birds in winter http://bit.ly/6fkng 

Best Binoculars: How to Choose Optics: http://bit.ly/pHJfXE

Best bird feeding poles?: http://bit.ly/nawdCo

Category › Product Highlight

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope" ~ Lady Bird Johnson

Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor 3yrs

Anniversary of the Highway Beautification Act
Claudia Alta Taylor, later known as Lady Bird Johnson was nicknamed in childhood by a nurse that declared she was as "purty as a ladybird". The reference was actually to the black and red ladybird beetles we call commonly "ladybug" in Michigan.

But the reference to beauty in nature was very apt. Mrs. Johnson was an active worker on innumerable projects to protect the environment. Throughout her time as First Lady at the White House, she fought to make American cities more beautiful and played a big part in passing the Highway Beautification Act, in the Senate on September 16, 1965.


Image via Wikipedia

"Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson
(12/22/12 – 7/11/07)

The act called for control of outdoor advertising along the nation's growing Interstate Highway System. It also encouraged scenic enhancement and roadside development. Patches of wildflowers were seeded in interstate medians. Green spaces were created. Her beliefs regarding the importance of national beautification can best be summarized in her statement that "where flowers bloom, so does hope."

In 1982, Mrs. Johnson founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation and re-establishment of native plants in natural and planned landscapes.

For more information go to: http://www.wildflower.org/

Category › Quick fun Facts

Should I fill my hummingbird feeder up all the way?

I know you wrote you leave your hummingbird feeder up until you haven’t seen a hummer for two weeks. I’m leaving my feeders up later than I usually would and I’m pleased that I’m getting these occasional fat hummingbirds like you said. I bought the saucer style feeder that you recommended as the best, but I don’t fill it all the way now. Can they still reach food or should I fill it to the top every time?

At the end of September in mid-Michigan, you’re not going to see the regular hummers that you enjoyed all summer. So it’s alright to fill your saucer feeder only half full. Hummingbirds actually have a long flexible tongue that is good for reaching into long flowers or the bottom of your feeder. The tongue itself isn't just muscle but includes a series of small bones folded accordion-like. When a Ruby-throated Hummingbird flexes its tongue muscles, these bones unfold and allow the hummer to extend its tongue almost an inch past the tip of the nearly inch-long bill. And believe it or not, a hummingbird's tongue can lap at the rate of 13 times per second.

I’m glad you’re still enjoying the hummingbirds. Keep the questions coming.

Category › Question of the week

Effects of Hurricanes & Storms

8/30/11- 9/5/11





Tropical Storm Irene hit Cape Cod on Sunday 28 August. I was hoping to band the next day possibly capturing a species not typically found in our area, but instead spent four hours alone that morning resetting nets and cleaning up debris. We set our nets low the day before the storm hoping they wouldn’t get blown around too much. Luckily the nets were in good shape but it took forever to clean out the small bits of debris out of them and pick up branches cluttering the net lanes.



The week produced few migrants for September. I imagine the 3 storms- Irene, Katia, and Lee had some influence keeping them away from our little spot on the cape. Our first Pine Warbler for the fall season, most likely born on the island, came in on the 30th. I didn’t have my camera that day so Jo-Anna graciously forwarded her picture of the Pine to me, a HY female.

We handled 73 birds that day, including another Yellow-breasted Chat , Red-eyed Vireos, and Yellow Warblers, plus our usual suspects,  more than half being Gray Catbirds.



Our fourth Northern Waterthrush was banded on 1 September.

 This bird had a nice example of rusty tertial edges (those three feathers closest to the body) evident on juveniles.

Our first Warbling Vireo for the year arrived too. They have a less distinct facial pattern compared to Philadelphia Vireos

 and the contrast of color between the head and back is duller.

For good measure we checked the outermost primary feather (p10) and sure enough it was approximately the same length as the primary coverts, which is barely visible in the Philadelphia Vireo.

Three Baltimore Orioles were banded on the 2nd, a beautiful adult male

 and 2 juvenile males. After their first prebasic molts, young males have orange-edged lesser and median coverts seen in the photo below.

This male had also molted its inner greater coverts, retaining the outer four along with molting the uppermost tertial feather (s9).

This young male was trying his darnedest to pry open my fingers holding his legs.

An Eastern Phoebes was captured this week, still in full juvenal plumage with none of the buff-edged greater coverts replaced.

We picked up a young male Hairy Woodpecker going through his first prebasic molt. Red feathers were still present on top of his head, but a few new red body feathers were emerging on the back of his head.

 He was busy replacing his primaries, but like other woodpeckers during their first prebasic molt, his primary coverts were retained with the outermost primary (p10) extending well beyond the primary coverts.

A Downy Woodpecker was also captured, this time a SY (second year) male going through his molt. He was replacing his primaries and his outer primary coverts,

 plus his secondaries (with a browner middle secondary retained).

 His inner primary coverts will be replaced during his molt the following year, with an occasional primary covert or two possibly retained then.



This unfortunate Gray Catbird was born with a deformed bill.

The upper mandible was askew making it difficult for the young bird to eat although the weight was within normal limits.

Many of the primaries were also either broken off or malformed while growing.

3 September brought in our first Blackpoll Warbler, an adult female.

 A first year House Wren, still in full juvenal plumage was almost as wriggly in the hand as it’s cousin the Carolina Wren.

The barring on the wing lining up in neat rows is an easy indicator that it had yet to begin it’s molt.

Another Traill’s Flycatcher was captured on the 5th

 and we are starting to get numerous HY American Goldfinch with the first one banded on 30 Aug.

Thanks to Judith Bruce, Jo-Anna Ghadban, Gretchen Putonen, and Jessica Rempel for helping this week. We were also lucky enough to have visiting banders James Junta and Mike help us out on the 5th.



The following birds were captured (with numbers), seen, or heard during this past week.



Total Birds: 250                               Total Species: 51

Total Banded Species: 23                Birds/100 net-hrs: 37



Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Canada Goose

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Cooper's Hawk

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Laughing Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Common Tern

Mourning Dove

Great Horned Owl

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker- 2

Hairy Woodpecker- 1

Yellow-shafted Flicker

Traill's Flycatcher- 1

Eastern Phoebe- 4

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 22

Tufted Titmouse- 1

White-breasted Nuthatch

Carolina Wren- 11

House Wren- 1

American Robin- 1

Gray Catbird- 123

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Warbling Vireo- 1

Red-eyed Vireo- 6

Yellow Warbler- 3

Pine Warbler- 1

Prairie Warbler- 2

Blackpoll Warbler- 1

Northern Waterthrush- 2

Common Yellowthroat- 25

Yellow-breasted Chat- 4

Northern Cardinal

Eastern Towhee- 10

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Song Sparrow- 20

Baltimore Oriole- 3

American Goldfinch- 5

House Sparrow

Category ›