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What’s the difference between a full moon and a new moon?

Enough crazy things have happened this week that I check the calendar to see if it was a full moon. Nope, only a last quarter moon phase.
Lunar libration with phase Oct 2007 450px
Each month Earth’s Moon passes through eight phases in about 29.5 days. These phases are named after how much of the moon we can see.
  1. New Moon or Dark Moon is when the side of the moon facing the Earth is not illuminated by the sun and you see no moon.
  2. Waxing Crescent is when part of the Moon is beginning to show. Each day the moon "waxes" a little bit more.
  3. First Quarter is when 1/2 of the moon is visible for the first half of the evening, and then goes down, leaving the sky very dark.
  4. Waxing Gibbous is when most of the Moon is visible. During this phase, the Moon remains in the sky most of the night.
  5. Full Moon is when you can observe the entire face of the moon from evening to early morning.
  6. Waning Gibbous is when you see less and less of the Moon each night.
  7. Last Quarter is when you can see exactly 1/2 of the Moon's lighted surface.
  8. Waning Crescent is when you see less and less of the moon until it’s a New Moon again.
Each month’s full moon has a descriptive name too. The following are from the Native Americans:
• Full Wolf Moon in January because the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages.
• Full Snow Moon in February since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month.
• Full Worm Moon in March as the temperatures warm and worms awaken.
• Full Pink Moon in April is when early pink wild ground phlox bloom.
• Full Flower Moon in May is when flowers are abundant everywhere.
• Full Strawberry Moon in June is the time for harvesting strawberries.
• The Full Buck Moon in July is the month when the deer bucks get new antlers.
• Full Sturgeon Moon in August is the month sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water were caught.
• Full Corn Moon or Full Harvest Moon in September is marked when corn was supposed to be harvested.
• Full Hunter’s Moon or Full Harvest Moon in October
• Full Beaver Moon in November because the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.
• The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon in December is the time when nights are at their longest and darkest.

Occasionally (about every 2.7 years) there are two Full Moons in the same month. This is referred to as a Blue Moon. The next blue moon will be in August 2012.

Sources:  
- Lunar libration with phase Oct 2007 450px.gif http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_libration_with_phase_Oct_2007_450px.gif
- Moon Calendar photo: Used by permission of The University of Texas McDonald Observatory http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon   
- Full Moon Names and Their Meanings http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/
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What to feed birds in the winter

Is there something special I'm supposed to feed the birds in the winter? ~ Adrian, Michigan

Feel Good about Eating Fatty Foods
As winter approaches, throw dietary caution to the wind.
We're not talking about some radical new nutritional plan. We're talking about feeding your wild birds high-calorie, high-fat foods to help them survive the winter.

Food is the most essential element to providing birds with the energy, stamina and nutrition they need during the winter months. To stay warm, birds will expend energy very quickly, some losing up to 10% of their body weight on a cold night.

An ample supply of a high-calorie food, such as suet, seed cylinders, or peanuts, is critical to a bird’s survival
Suet is a high-energy, pure-fat substance that is particularly helpful in winter when many birds have a difficult time finding the insects they would eat normally.

If you offer suet in addition to your seed, bird species, such as woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, titmice are even more likely to stop by your yard and become frequent visitors.

And if you aren't offering your birds peanuts, you're truly missing out.

Peanuts are also a high-fat food that a variety of birds will eat for an energy-filled treat. In their shell or out, your birds will go crazy for peanuts.

Come in to the Wild Birds Unlimited in East Lansing, Michigan and we'll help you prepare your birds for the upcoming winter.

Source: WBU Nature News

Related Articles:
Product Highlight: Solid Seed Cylinders http://goo.gl/HbISQR
What’s the best suet for Michigan wild birds? http://bit.ly/pHITS5
What birds like peanuts? http://bit.ly/nGkP1K
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Shortest and Longest Bird Migrations

The Shortest:
Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) live primarily in areas of dense cover in the wooded foothills and mountains along the West Coast of the United States. In the fall these birds congregate into family groups of up to 20 birds and make their way from their summer home in the mountains, into the sheltered valley below the snowline in the winter. This seasonal journey by the quail may cover distances of up to 20 miles by foot.

The Longest:
A Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) holds the record for the longest known non-stop migration. Using satellite tracking, birds in New Zealand were tagged and tracked all the way to the Yellow Sea in China. According to Dr. Clive Minton, "The distance between these two locations is 5950 miles, but the actual track flown by the bird was 7258 miles. This is the longest known non-stop flight of any bird. The flight took approximately nine days.” Researchers found that the Bar-tailed Godwits flights southward ranged in duration from 5.0 to 9.4 days and from 5950 to 7258 miles.
The routes of satellite tagged 
Bar-tailed Godwits migrating north 
from New Zealand to Korea and China

 Sources:

Related Articles:
How do Birds Migrate? http://bit.ly/nNCI6d  
Migration vs. Hibernation http://bit.ly/n0z040
What birds migrate from Michigan? http://bit.ly/qa0CVU
Solving the Mysteries of Migration with Wind Tunnels http://bit.ly/qg0F53
How many birds would you say die or get injured during migration? http://bit.ly/r5o3NQ
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What do American Robins eat in the winter?

Do robins get and eat immature pecans from a pecan tree?  Thanks! ~ James

Robins do eat immature pecans as well as lots of other foods in the fall and winter. After nesting season has ended, Robins usually form large nomadic groups that roost at night in the woods. Their diet changes from mostly worms and insects to fruit, nuts and berries. I was watching a group last night devouring our crab apples, Mountain Ash tree berries, tiny flowering pear tree fruit and under my feeders looking for peanuts and pecans.

What robins eat can vary according to location too. But all Robins eat pecans, walnuts, acorns, apples, cherries, and dogwood fruit from trees and the berries of poison ivy, poison oak bayberries, blackberries, blueberries, greenbrier, honeysuckle, juneberries, juniper, madrone, mountain ash, mulberry, pokeberry, pyracantha, raspberry, sassafras, serviceberry, spiceberry, sumac, viburnum, and woodbine.

Related Articles:
Why are the Robins Attracted to Water? http://bit.ly/qP9aTs
Fledgling Robins Find Their Way http://bit.ly/pqrhSL
Fun Facts About The American Robin http://bit.ly/n9CSni
Bird of the Week: American Robin http://bit.ly/pnUKqk
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A New Species!

10-16 October



Our lack of yellowrumps in the nets continued during the five days of banding this week, but I think I've figured out  the problem. The fruit on our bayberry bushes,



a favorite food of Yellow-rumped Warblers, is practically non-existent.



I've scoured the island high and low and can barely find any fruits, normally very abundant in our area. So it bares the question- is this a bad year for bayberries or did the very early release (3 October) of a large number of Northern Bobwhite in our netting area cause the berries to be eaten up before the yellow-rumps migrated through?



We handled 69 birds on Monday, our busiest day and probably nicest weather-wise this week. The majority of HY robins look more like adults so we have to age them now by molt limits in their wing.



Young Northern Cardinals have also finished molting for the most part and look similar to their parents. Many retain some dark coloring on their bill well into fall and that helps us age them as well, as seen in this HY female below.



This was our last day for hearing and seeing Eastern Towhees. This adult male was loaded with fat and I'm sure he left for his wintering grounds on Monday night.


The highlight of the day, however was capturing a Cooper's Hawk, a first for our station!


The yellow eyes and vertical stripes identify this bird as a juvenile.


The upperparts are brown with rufous edging and white mottling. 


The measurements identified him as a male. What an awesome bird!


We had a good day on Tuesday with 64 birds of 23 species handled. We had another Blue-headed Vireo, Eastern White-crowned Sparrow, five more Nashville Warblers, two more Northern Parulas, four Myrtle Warblers, Hermit Thrush, Lincoln Sparrow, and a nice male Black-throated Blue Warbler (below). 


This young male had a molt limit in his wing easy to see between the replaced darker blue-edged greater coverts and the green-edged retained brownish juvenal feathers.


We also banded another Orange-crowned Warbler


and our first Savannah Sparrow of the year,


a hatch year bird with it's bright yellow lores.


Bird numbers and species continued to decline over the next three days. The winds were high on the 15th and 16th causing us to close our nets early. Our sixth Black-throated Green Warbler was captured on the 16th


along with a bright male Myrtle Warbler,


a HY with an easily seen molt limit in his wing between the alula covert and the lower alula feather.


On our last round we netted a Yellow Palm Warbler


This bird had quite a bit of yellow on it's underparts and larger wing and tail measurements than the Western Palm Warblers we tend to band more often, although we had more Yellows this week.


Many thanks to all who helped during this banding period- Jo-Anna Ghadban, Juliet Lamb, Gretchen Putonen, Carolyn Kennedy, Becca Miller, Judith Bruce, and Jessica Rempel.


The following is a list of birds seen, heard, or captured (with numbers) this week.




Total birds: 231                            Total species: 60

Total banded species: 32              Birds/100 net-hrs: 35



Common Loon

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Brant (first appeared 11 Oct)

Canada Goose

Mallard

Common Eider

Turkey Vulture

Cooper's Hawk- 1

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Bobwhite

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker- 2

Yellow-shafted Flicker

Eastern Phoebe- 1

Tree Swallow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 28

Tufted Titmouse- 5

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper- 5

Carolina Wren- 4

Golden-crowned Kinglet- 3

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 3

Hermit Thrush- 2

American Robin- 8

Gray Catbird- 7

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Blue-headed Vireo- 2

Red-eyed Vireo- 4

Orange-crowned Warbler- 1

Nashville Warbler- 7

Northern Parula- 2

Black-throated Blue Warbler- 1

Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler- 44

Black-throated Green Warbler- 1

Western Palm Warbler- 2

Yellow Palm Warbler- 5

Blackpoll Warbler- 11

Common Yellowthroat- 6

Northern Cardinal- 8

Eastern Towhee- 2

Savannah Sparrow- 1

Song Sparrow- 40

Lincoln's Sparrow- 2

Swamp Sparrow- 9

White-throated Sparrow- 13

Eastern White-crowned Sparrow- 1

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow









 



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Dirt baths help birds stay clean

I see a lot of birds taking dust baths in the fall. I have a pond nearby that is always open. Why do the birds roll around in the dirt? ~ Ovid, Michigan

I like questions that explore bird behavior. There is not always a clear answer but casual observations can lead to fascinating insights in the bird world. I’m glad you noticed this curious bird behavior.

Dust bathing is not as common as water bathing but it can reduce moisture and oil, align feather barbs and remove external parasites. In the fall birds might prefer a dust bath to help sooth itchy skin due to molting.

New pin feathers grow within a covering called a sheath. You can see this easily on baby birds when they grow their first adult feathers all at once. When the feather is done growing the sheath falls off with preening or sometimes a little extra help with a roll in the dust.

Some common species that you’ll see dust bathing are sparrows, flickers and thrashers. Thanks for contributing you observation to the blog.
 
Related articles: 
Types of Bird feathers http://bit.ly/oGHxtQ
Why birds molt http://bit.ly/nf49Sm
Why Don't Birds Freeze After They Take a Bath in the Winter? http://bit.ly/n1uJU2
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Fun Facts About Evening Grosbeaks

Growing up I used to watch the Evening Grosbeak all the time in the trees and on the feeders. Now they are hit or miss. Is their population shrinking? ~ Gladstone, MI

According to Project FeederWatch: “The Evening Grosbeak is a yellow, black, and white finch with a bill that appears too big for its body. Its winter range typically covers the entire northern half the United States and it is found year-round in many western states and southern Canada.

Evening Grosbeaksare an irruptive species, meaning their migration is irregular, linked to the availability of food. They may be abundant in an area one year and nearly nonexistent the next. However, the long-term trend shows that these irruptions have almost ceased in many areas of the East, and declines have been documented in their core western range as well.

The reasons for the decline are unclear—are the birds dying, are they failing to reproduce, or are they simply moving elsewhere? Scientists are not sure.”

Project FeederWatch is a program to count the birds at the feeders from November through early April. The data is used to alert scientists to particular species or questions that may require more detailed follow-up studies.

Wild Birds Unlimited is also a major sponsor of the GreatBackyard Bird Count (GBBC), a joint project between the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Studies Canada and the National Audubon Society. GBBC is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. I urge everyone to participate in the next GBBC on Feb. 17-20, 2012 to gather additional information.

Fun Facts about Evening Grosbeaks
• Other birds like to eat wild cherries, but only Evening Grosbeaks target the pits. The slippery seeds are held firmly with special pads on the “gross beak” and are simply crushed. So favored are cherry pits that Evening Grosbeaks sometimes seek out the pits voided by American Robins.

• Evening Grosbeaks manipulate cherries in their beak to remove the outer skin and flesh, the remaining seed is then swallowed after it is cracked open with their beak.

• Evening Grosbeaks can break open food items that require up to 125 pounds of force to fracture apart in testing devices.

• As with many finches whose diet is primarily vegetarian, Evening Grosbeaks are attracted to natural salt and mineral sources.

• The Evening Grosbeak is an irruptive migrant that makes irregular appearances at winter feeding stations throughout much of United States.

• The Evening Grosbeak was not commonly found east of the Rocky Mountains before the 1850’s. Winter irruptions now occur in all of the 48 contiguous states. This expansion may be attributed to widespread planting of box elder trees in landscapes across the east. Its seeds persist on the tree throughout the winter and provided flocks with a reliable source of food.

• The Evening Grosbeak was named in 1825 based on erroneous accounts that they became vocal and active only “at the approach of night.” This erroneous belief persisted for years, and the name is still a misnomer.

• Evening Grosbeaks seem to delight in snipping off the twigs of Sugar Maple trees and sipping the sweet sap.

Related Articles:
Probability of seeing Evening Grosbeaks: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/News/EvegrosProbability02.htm
How to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count: http://bit.ly/pQYMON
Winter Finch Forecast: http://bit.ly/pXR2Qz
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