Where are the Bluebirds?

I have a family of bluebirds that nest here (last two summers). I feed them daily. I ASSUME it’s the same family as last year since the male practically lets me feed him by hand. I can get with in 2 feet of him.

They had a successful nest this year, 4 babies made it! I saw all 6 birds up until 2 weeks ago. They seem to have just disappeared. I still put the meal worms out for them, but after 4 days, I stopped, there were like 20 worms just sitting in the feeder waiting to be eaten.

Do you know if they go somewhere in the late summer and fall? I believe this is when I stopped seeing them last year. Stephanie

Image via WikipediaThat’s a good question. It’s very normal for Eastern Bluebirds to gather together in large flocks starting in August until September in search of food. After nesting season has ended, they usually form large nomadic groups that roost at night in the woods.

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Their diet changes from mostly worms and insects to fruit, nuts and berries. They can eat crab apples, Mountain Ash tree berries, and sometimes look under feeders for nuts. They also appreciate open water in the winter. If you have a pond or heated birdbath they may show up in large numbers for afternoon drinks.

We often think of migration as birds travelling thousands of miles south to winter in a tropical climate. That’s true for some birds even some bluebirds. The bluebirds that nested in Canada may skip over Michigan to winter in the southern states, but in southern and mid-Michigan, many bluebirds are year-round residents. Scientists think it’s due to genetics whether they want to fly south or winter over. Some birds are compelled to move south and others are not. They all gather in huge family groups in the fall however to increase their survival through the winter.

For more information on Eastern Bluebirds flocking and everything else bluebird, visit http://www.sialis.org/flocks.htm. It’s a great website that can answer all your bluebird questions.

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We have a pond, but it freezes… I am getting a birdbath TODAY! Lol. I miss my birds….. Thank you so much.

Category › Bird of the week

Bizarre bird behavior: Why small birds attack a big bird

Territorial blackbirds peck at hawk’s neck
as they try to drive it away
(Picture by: Alan Stankewitz/Bizarre Archive)

It seems whenever I see a hawk overhead there are two or more small birds “attacking” it. Is this a territorial thing? Why do the hawks put up with it?

Actually the big bird will occasionally take a whack at tormentors, but normally the mid air maneuvers required to catch the little birds would cost them too much energy. Little birds are far more agile than the big one, and choose their attacks carefully. Small birds tend to fly above a larger bird and interrupt the big bird’s flight with a series of pecks to the neck and wings.

The behavior of small birds attacking a larger predator is called "mobbing." The smaller birds are trying to drive the bigger bird out of their territory. Blue Jays and American Crows mob birds of prey all year long; while other birds like mockingbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and common grackles primarily mob these big birds during the breeding season.

Photographer Rob Palmer

captured this incredible picture in Colorado.

For the big bird, fleeing is more reasonable than expending unnecessary energy thwarting a small pest that is simply more versatile in air. However, if your lucky you might witness a more experienced large bird using flight techniques such as barrel rolls to flash their talons at smaller birds or to get crows and ravens off their backs.

Related Articles:

• Birds freeze or fly at the approach of a predator http://goo.gl/lzKRL
• Can You Scare a Hawk Away? http://bit.ly/w3vz5B
• Frozen Woodpecker http://bit.ly/ubSCTR 
• Is it safe to feed the birds out in the open? http://bit.ly/rBErxI

Category › Quick fun Facts

When black birds fly south

I live in upstate NY, 14 miles from Lake Ontario, in the country. We have had numerous redwinged blackbirds since early spring and now, in one day...they are gone!

Red-winged Blackbird female

The majority of Red-winged Blackbirds winter in the central states, especially in agricultural areas and some populations of Red-wings can even migrate as far south as Central America. They flock with other blackbirds, grackles, cowbirds, and starlings, feeding in open fields and roosting in flocks of thousands or millions of birds.

Red-winged Blackbird male

Now that breeding season is over for red-wings, they will begin to gather in flocks of all male or all female birds. The Red-winged Blackbird male is unmistakable for most people. The pure black bird with bright red shoulder patches edged in yellow is hard to miss. The female and juvenile are less obvious. They have heavily streaked under parts and mottled brown upperparts and can look like large sparrows.

Map from

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/rwbb/About.html

Beginning as early as August, many birds are feeling a sudden restlessness as they prepare to move south. By mid-October to December the birds have settled into their winter territories. Red-winged Blackbirds eat mainly insects in the summer but switch to mainly seeds found in fields or feeders, in the winter.

Related articles:

- Fun Facts on Red-winged Blackbirds: http://bit.ly/q05Bos

- All about the Red-Winged Blackbird: http://bit.ly/qAeiyj

- Red-winged Blackbird info http://bit.ly/yQPs61 

- Blackbird Battle http://bit.ly/xFsHIN

- Red-winged blackbirds attack hawk http://bit.ly/yaudwu 
- Singing Birds Herald The Arrival of Spring http://bit.ly/xibvfI

Category › Bird of the week

Tips to help birds survive summer and maximize your birdwatching enjoyment

Although August marks the beginning of the end of summer, there are still plenty of opportunities to help birds and maximize your backyard enjoyment.

Hummingbird Migration
Millions of hummingbirds are preparing to fly back to their winter ranges. Hummingbirds have been migrating between North and Central America for hundreds of years, some traveling thousands of miles each way.
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A high-calorie diet is important to build fat reserves for their trip, so make sure your hummingbird feeders are clean with fresh nectar every few days.

Studies show that most of the hummingbirds you see at your feeders in the fall, are replaced by a new wave of migrants within 24 hours.

Nectar Feeding Tips
Easy to clean and fill, the saucer style hummingbird feeders at Wild Birds Unlimited are the most popular. They have a lifetime guarantee, built in ant moat and don't leak. Bees usually leave these feeders alone but bee guards can be added to the ports to prevent bees, wasps and ants from becoming a nuisance.
Aggressive male hummingbirds can bully others from visiting a feeder. By hanging multiple hummingbird feeders around your yard, you make it difficult for a territorial male to defend the area, allowing other birds to visit the feeders.

Offering Water

Whether they are feeder visitors or not, birds need water for drinking, bathing and preening. Offering a dependable source of water is the simplest and most important step you can take to increase the variety of birds in your yard.

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Birds must be ready to fly at all times, especially during migration. Bathing is a critical part of keeping their feathers in top-flight condition.

Deter Unwanted Visitors 
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water, so open sources of water can cause a potential mosquito problem. Change your water at least every 3 days to prevent the larvae from hatching. Wild Birds Unlimited also has stiff, bristle scrub brushes and professional cleaners like Scoot to clean all of your feeders and baths. Or use one part vinegar to nine parts water solution to disinfect.
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Starling and Grackle Solution

Use safflower seed to keep starlings and grackles from eating all your bird food and crowding your feeders. Safflower is a small, white seed that is high in protein and fat. Most song birds eat safflower, however, starlings, grackles and squirrels typically do not.

Squirrel Solutions

There are many ways to keep squirrels away from your existing set up. Using squirrel proof feeders, safflower seed and baffles can prevent squirrels from eating your bird food.

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Visit Wild Birds Unlimited soon because we have everything you and your birds need to make the most of late summer.

Related Articles:
- What is the nectar recipe for hummingbirds? http://goo.gl/MK3AU
- What seeds do wild birds eat? http://goo.gl/MjUCA
- You get more birds if you feed year-round http://goo.gl/IsJKJ
- What kind of bird bath is the best? http://goo.gl/tXz65

Category › Product Highlight

Birds of Summer

June- July



For those of you interested in the answer to my questions regarding age of the crossbills I banded, I posted a response from Peter Pyle below for both the White-winged Crossbills and the Red Crossbill, which you can view if you go to http://www.capecodbander.blogspot.com/2013/07/crossbills.html.



Our spring migration season ended on 13 June with almost twice as many birds banded as last year. I attribute this to having more help this year enabling us to have all our nets open for the majority of days. We captured our first Cedar Waxing on 4 June, a SY (second year) female.

 

She only had one red waxy tip to her secondaries and her primary coverts were somewhat abraded. 

 

On the June 5th we had a rather late migrating SY female Wilson's Warbler,

 

and Keenan finally got a male Pine Warbler, a bird he was hoping to band this spring. Now if only we could get a Belted Kingfisher for Ron!

 

On the 9th we recaptured a 5 year old Prairie Warbler, she's been captured numerous times since 2010, who has occasionally fooled the bander processing her into thinking she was male. She has a darker than normal face pattern, fairly bold black streaks on her flanks,

 

and quite a bit of chestnut to her back, more like what I would see in a male. 

But she definitely had a brood patch and must just be a female with bolder colored feathers.

 

We also had our 2nd AHY (after hatching year) Traill's Flycatcher on the 9th

 

with a molt limit in the tertials (s8 retained)

 

and had replaced the first 2 inner primary coverts possibly during a pre-alternate molt. 

 

We had the pleasure of  banding a beautiful ASY (after second year) male Baltimore Oriole on 13 June, our last day of spring monitoring. I can't seem to help myself taking pictures of these guys!

 

Thus ended our spring migration monitoring with 431 new birds processed and 780 birds handled. The rest of June and July we only band once/week to monitor our breeding birds.

 

Our first baby bird was captured on 20 June, a Carolina Wren,

followed by a Black-capped Chickadee with a yellow gape and very short bill

 

 and a young Song Sparrow with buffy coloration and yellowish lores on the 22nd.

 

On the 26th our first HY cardinals  and robins were banded. Young cardinals have very brown bills and we can't sex them until they start molting their body plumage. They don't bite quite as hard as the adults either thankfully!

 

Wing Island is a great place to raise young robins, so many berries and bugs.

 

Other birds on 26 June were a beautiful male Tree Swallow

 

but the best bird of the day had to be this Red-tailed Hawk brought to us by Alex Mueller who works at Wild Care, a wildlife rehab facility. They have been caring for this bird when it was having trouble flying but is all better now and ready for release. We agreed to band it to see if it is ever recovered.  They make a cute pair don't they?

 

 

A big thank-you to all who helped out this month (in order of volunteer hours)- Ronald Kielb ,Jo-Anna Ghadban, Keenan Yakola, Gretchen Putonen, Carolyn Kennedy, and Alex Mueller.

The following is a list of birds seen, heard, or banded during the month of June.

 

Total birds: 244                                        Total species: 62

Total species of banded birds: 25             Birds/100 net-hours: 22

 

 

Double-crested Cormorant
Snowy Egret
Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk	1 NEW
Northern Bobwhite
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Ruddy Turnstone
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1 NEW
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker	1 NEW
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Traill's Flycatcher	2 NEW
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher	1 NEW
Eastern Kingbird
Tree Swallow	1 NEW
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee	5 NEW; 10 RECAPS
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren	4 NEW; 1 RECAP
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin	4 NEW; 1 RECAP
Gray Catbird	37 NEW; 30 RECAPS; 1 UNBANDED
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing	3 NEW
European Starling
Red-eyed Vireo	2 NEW
Yellow Warbler	3 NEW; 3 RECAPS
Pine Warbler	1 NEW; 1 RECAP; 1 UNBANDED
Prairie Warbler	7 RECAPS
Blackpoll Warbler
American Redstart	1 NEW
Common Yellowthroat	15 NEW; 48 RECAPS; 1 UNBANDED
Wilson's Warbler	1 NEW
Northern Cardinal	5 NEW; 1 RECAP; 1 UNBANDED
Eastern Towhee	1 NEW
Field Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow	6 NEW; 9 RECAPS
Red-winged Blackbird	1 NEW
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird	2 NEW; 1 RECAP
Baltimore Oriole	3 NEW
American Goldfinch	15 NEW; 12 RECAPS
House Sparrow

 

We banded 5 days in July. We start very early and have our nets open by 5:20 am typically only banding about 4 hours due to heat. We were delighted to capture a young female Red-bellied Woodpecker, our first since 2009.

 

The bills of  young cardinals are starting to turn orange.

 

On July 13th we had our first young male Baltimore Oriole. We differentiate the males from females by their long wings and orange-edged lesser and median coverts.

 

We hadn't heard or seen many Tufted Titmice, they must have been busy with tending young, but we did band our first HY on the 13th too. This young bird still had a yellow gape and lime-colored eye ring.

 

We also had our first Ovenbirds on this day, capturing both a male and female in breeding condition. I imagine they had just finished raising their young, probably in the Punkhorn Parklands, which is only a few miles away. The Punkhorn is approximately 869 acres of wooded town-owned land making it a perfect place for Ovenbirds to breed since they need at least 50 acres of contiguous land. The berries are mostly gone in the Punkhorn by mid summer so many of those birds breeding there come to Wing Island to enjoy the fall berries. 

 

On the 17th we encountered this Brown-headed Cowbird and wondered what Song Sparrow or warbler raised it as its own since the females of this species lay their eggs in the nests of other species.

 

The body plumage was a dull black so we sexed it as male and the under wing coverts were darker.

 

We had a robin on the 25th that at first glance appeared male with her dark head contrasting greatly with her gray back, but she did have a brood patch although she had finished brooding her young.

 

Our first HY Eastern Phoebes also showed up on the 25th, the cinnamon-tipped coverts will be whitish when replaced. They are so cute!

 

We haven't seen or heard too many mockingbirds this summer but did have an adult female with a brood patch on the 31st. We could tell by the condition of her brood patch (whitish and dry) that she had finished brooding her young.

 

We've encountered a great deal of avian pox this summer, mostly in young birds as seen on the upper mandible of this young Common Yellowthroat. Most birds will clear the virus if they have a healthy immune system but if not they can succumb to this disease.

 

Our fall migration monitoring starts on 3 August. Many thanks to the following people who helped out with banding during the month of July- Keenan Yakola, Ron Kielb, Jo-Anna Ghadban, Karli Rogers, Gretchen Putonen, Jen Mook, Yianni Laskaris, Corey Accardo, and Judith Bruce.

 

The following is a list of birds seen, heard, or banded during the month of July.

 

Total birds: 384                                        Total species: 56

Total species of banded birds: 27             Birds/100 net-hours: 65

 

Canada Goose
Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Black-bellied Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
American Woodcock	1 UNBANDED
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker	9 NEW; 3 RECAP
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker
Eastern Phoebe	6 NEW
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Black-capped Chickadee	19 NEW; 9 RECAP
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren	10 NEW; 1 RECAP
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin	37 NEW; 1 UNBANDED
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing	1 NEW
European Starling
Yellow Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat	34 NEW; 26 RECAP
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird	1 NEW
Baltimore Oriole	5 NEW; 1 RECAP
House Finch
American Goldfinch	2 NEW; 1 UNBANDED
House Sparrow	1 NEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



Category ›

Let nature nurture: Fun kid and family activities

Experience the Great Outdoors

Birds vs. Humans Challenge
Birds have many special adaptations to help them live their lives. Some birds can fly long distances; some can dive deep into the ocean while others can run really fast. How would you match up with birds in a challenge? Compare your best to the best that birds have to offer.

Whooping Crane Oragami (PDF)
Download this guide so that you can turn an ordinary piece of paper into a beautiful piece of Japanese art that resembles an endangered species of bird.

BrainTrain
Download this free set of puzzles, including word search, solve-the-blank, and a bird-friendly maze.

Draw A Bird 

To try some color-by-number birds from Wild Birds Unlimited

Window Warning
Though birds are excellent at darting through the air, windows can be confusing and dangerous for them. Here's a way you can help your birds steer clear of crashing into your windows.

Edible bird feeders
One of my favorite crafts is a pinecone dipped in birdseed.

Category › Family Fun , Friday Photo