We get a little sunshine and people want to rush to put out the oriole feeders. That's good! Better to put the feeders out too early than too late. Orioles are on their way, but the usual arrival in mid-Michigan is end of April to the beginning of May. If you put it out now you might get finches, cardinals, and woodpeckers but no orioles.
Most
Baltimore Orioles winter in Central and South America and follow the bugs and blooms north in late winter and early spring. They prefer to nest in
open forests such as those along rivers, small woodlots, fruit
orchards, or even large yards with lots of flowering fruit and nut
trees.
Orioles eat a variety of fruits, nectar, bugs, and
nuts. The best way to attract orioles to your yard is with feeders that
offer suet, nuts, mealworms, nectar, grape jelly, or fruit (oranges, grapes, apples).
The door to the Wild Birds Unlimited store is open and the air is full of bird songs. I'm hearing chickadees calling for sweeties, cardinals sorting out territories, sparrows exchanging social chirps next to each other on the bird bath, and jays announcing that I've arrived and tossed a handful of no-mess birdseed in front of the door for the entertainment of Dolly (cat). Birds can also make different calls to alert others to danger, tell about a good food spot, ask
for food, or keep in contact with the group.
Like humans, most
birds are vocal learners. They inherit a basic unstructured song but
within six weeks of listening to parent birds, learn their own
distinctive song. While learning, they may try several variations and even pick up local dialects.
Most birds raised in captivity that never hear the songs of their parents learn a different song with some inherited components. Learn more in the video: https://youtu.be/r5_ZSnFDPRg
I went to see some fantastic performances that inspire me and make me want to practice so that I can be as good as them someday. The groups I saw were the East Lansing Middle and High School orchestras and bands. They were performing their pre-Festival concerts. What is amazing about watching the groups in this type of venue is that you can see them progress from early years of learning to the most advanced levels. Many of the 7th graders have only been playing for a little over a year but they are already quite accomplished. And the High School level students could easily pass as professional.
One of the things I was paying particular attention to as they were playing was their use of vibrato. I have been learning my instruments for a little while now and vibrato is one of the techniques that has continued to cause me difficulty. Searches on the internet attest to the difficulty of incorporating this technique into a performance. On the saxophone, I can produce a vibrato, but it is not always consistent or as warm as I would like it to be, but I can feel it is getting better as I use it more. On the violin, I have been trying to develop vibrato for a couple of years and I am nowhere near where I can use it consistently while playing. The main problem for me with the violin is developing my coordination to move my left hand fingers and wrist to vibrate while using my right hand to move the bow. As an adult learner, I think it takes a little longer to develop the wiring in the brain to make the motions needed to get a good vibrato sound. That and my stiff joints have been inhibiting my ability to develop my vibrato. At least those are the excuses I use to justify my inability to develop a good vibrato while my son has just started to use vibrato over the last couple of months and already has a rich and warm sound. I think the kids also advance so quickly because they play in an orchestra and have their friends to share tips on technique. I am hoping that the MSU Community Music School will soon start an Adult Beginner Orchestra where other adults like me can share experiences using vibrato.
While I love my winter birds, I can’t wait for some of
the spring and summer birds to arrive; Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo
Buntings, wrens, hummingbirds, orioles, Song and Chipping Sparrows to name just
a few. And soon the American Goldfinches will also be molting their drab winter
coat in exchange for a sunny yellow one.
Spring is the hardest time for birds to find food as many
prime food sources are depleted. Bird feeders provide an easy source for birds after
a long winter or arduous migration. Many birds migrating to their nesting
grounds may see yards with lots of bird activity a safe stop-over point. The
numbers and variety of birds appearing in your yard can actually change every
morning as species such as warblers, vireos, tanagers, gnatcatchers, kinglets,
and sparrows all migrate north.
In the spring, birds have a long “to-do” list and a short
time to accomplish it. They claim territory, seek out mates, build nests and
begin to raise their young. With so many birds arriving there’s a lot of competition.
Offering foods makes everything a little easier to accomplish.
Birds that have survived winter in good health are best
suited for getting reproduction going as soon as possible. A wide variety of
studies have shown that providing supplemental foods permits birds to begin
reproduction earlier with better success. The additional food helps them have
more eggs per nest, bigger eggs, better hatchability, faster nestling growth,
and lower nestling mortality. Feeding is especially helpful in years when storms
and other natural disasters happen.
Backyard bird watchers can enjoy a variety of birds up
close and wait eagerly for the new babies to arrive at the feeders and baths. In
the summer, even if there is a lot of food available for birds, believe me, energy
requirements are high when you have many mouths to feed and sometimes they just
appreciate a night out at the feeders.
I've had several customers report the Red-winged Blackbirds have returned. When we opened the Wild Birds Unlimited store over a decade ago, sometime in March was the usual first sighting.
Studies have found
that spring migration times have advanced over time and as spring has
come earlier. Migratory songbirds, use weather and light changes as cues
to tell them when it's time to migrate, but with the earth now getting
hotter each year, birds can no longer rely on the once predictable
climate. Now if the weather is good and there is food to support the
journey north, we may see the birds early. Migrating birds follow the
blooms and bugs. Besides blackbirds, I’ve already had reports of robins, cranes
and other waterfowl arriving.
In North America, the continuous trend in higher temperatures could delay the birds’ migration south or stop it all together. Recent research
has found in fact that this very pattern is happening in the population
of American Robins, Northern Flickers, Eastern Bluebirds and Carolina
Wrens of Michigan, who are increasingly deciding not to leave.
The advantage of sticking around all year is that they get prime nesting
spots. On the flip side, birds that migrate much longer distances are
less affected by the temperature changes, the researchers found. That
means they now arrive behind everyone else and get crowded out of
nesting locations and breeding sites.
If you want to check the maps or report the sighting of a bird go to www.hummingbirds.net to check the status of hummingbirds and http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/Maps.html for a lot of other spring sightings. Research studies: Usui, T.,
Butchart, S. H. M. and Phillimore, A. B. (2017), Temporal shifts and
temperature sensitivity of avian spring migratory phenology: a
phylogenetic meta-analysis. J Anim Ecol, 86: 250–261. DOI:10.1111/1365-2656.12612 and Adrienne
Berchtold et al, Experimental temperature manipulations alter songbird
autumnal nocturnal migratory restlessness, Animal Migration (2017). DOI: 10.1515/ami-2017-0001
My car was the victim of a vicious pothole. Actually it wasn't so much a pothole as it was a place where the road buckled to create a solid ridge just enough to knock something loose. The good news is that it is now light enough in the morning that it is possible to walk safely to and from work.
All the way in I heard the cardinals staking out territories through song: "This is my yard, My yard, My yard" and a return of "No it's not, No it's not". Song plays are an important role as male cardinals establish territorial boundaries. Neighboring males often engage in countersinging (singing at the same time or alternately) to convey information. Sometimes one cardinal will match a song of a particular cardinal neighbor so that he knows the song was directed at him to “stay off my territory”. If that doesn’t work the intensity of the message can increase with longer songs and a greater number of syllables and ending with a harsh trill. These grrrrr trills are added to songs when other males approach too closely. If one or the other doesn’t back down, a chase may ensue. It is pretty early in the season yet so I didn't hear anything so intense. For me it was just a lovely serenade on my walk to the store.
When I made it to the front door of Wild Birds Unlimited I saw the bird bath had frozen over night, and someone left me a little surprise on top of the ice! We had a young Cooper's Hawk visit earlier in the week and I think this was his pellet. Dolly (cat) and I did a little paperclip dissection of the pellet and found some feathers, leg bones, and what looked like the gizzard and seeds from the remains of a House Sparrow.
A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts from some bird species' meals that are occasionally regurgitated. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth. Hawk and owl pellets are grey or brown, one to two inches long, and range in shape from spherical to oblong shaped. If you find a pellet it is recommended to microwave it first to sterilize it before study.
Millions of people like having birds in their yards for the beauty, song, and entertainment. But of course they are also beneficial to us in several ways. Observing birds raise a family is very educational, and the birds that live in bird houses devour pesky insects by the thousands each day. This is not only nice for us but very good for your garden too.
To attract a bird family to nest in your yard you can hang a bird house off a fence post or on a tree but depending on where you live, this may not provide enough protection from predators. The best way to put up small nest boxes is on free-standing metal poles. The advantages of Poles are that they can be moved to the perfect habitat, can be equipped with predator guards, and when installed they are the perfect height for easy monitoring of bird nests.
Wild Birds Unlimited has a selection of simple to install poles to hang or mount your bird feeders or houses. The exclusive, patented Advanced Pole System® (APS) offers a 6' Bluebird Pole with Flange that is perfect for larger houses. To install just twist the pole into the ground
using the convenient corkscrew auger. Tests show the pole stays straight in up to 35 MPH wind gusts. Then attach your mounting flange to the house and thumbsrew in place.
For smaller wren and chickadee houses Wild Birds Unlimited has 6' Spiral Pole that also has a flange that attaches to the house and is removable from the pole to make it easier for maintenance. This hand made heavy duty wrought iron is 1/2" square spiral pole with a black powder coat finish. It is erected effortless by stepping it into the ground.
In Michigan songbirds can begin looking for house as early as January and February. Make sure to put your houses as early as possible to have the best chance for a nesting family to move in this year.
Birds take shelter from rain in bushes, brush piles, tree hollows, and man made bird houses. But when the rain keeps coming and coming they eventually need to venture out to eat. This is when feeders help a lot. Having a known source of food available like a bird feeder or fruit bearing tree can help birds gain enough energy to survive the bad weather.
After the rain stops take a few minutes to clean your feeders and put in fresh seed with a little Feeder Fresh to keep the seed dry. The birds should be very hungry!
While wet birds can fly, at least short distances, it expends more
energy, they aren't as steady, and when they land it is harder
for them to keep warm. This morning I'm watching the birds flocking to the feeder.
Before they hit the feeders they were probably perched in the tops of trees or the ends of branches with their tail and wings spread out to take full advantage of the drying breezes and vigorously shaking themselves now and again to remove any
excess water. Most bird feathers are somewhat water resistant, but this recent downpour soaked them through. I just had a hawk swoop in and do a little twist and swish to remove water. I'm sure he's had a hard couple days too with all his food hiding.
As the weather warms and the days get longer birds get excited. Nesting season can vary depending on the species of bird, the
weather conditions, food availability, and many other variables. Some larger
birds like owls, hawks, and eagles may begin courting in December and nest in
January and February.
Other
birds that winter in Michigan may begin to sing and scout for good nesting
territories as early as late January. A reliable source of food like bird feeders may contribute to a bird deciding
to nest early in your yard.
Black-capped
Chickadees and Eastern Bluebirds are probably already scouting out bird houses for their first clutch. Starlings and sparrow have also been scouting. Northern
Cardinals and American Robins usually nest anytime from March to August. In some areas the Mourning
Doves nest almost year round because they feed their young “crop
milk”. And soon we'll get calls about birds making their nests in
holiday wreaths. Anyone who
places hanging plants on a covered porch in the spring or leaves a
holiday wreath hanging on the door may find that by April a female House Finch has begun to build a nest in it.
If a bird starts to nest and a cold front moves in, they may suspend their nest
building activities for a couple weeks and then continue when the weather is
more favorable. This may happen especially with inexperienced and excited first
year nesters. Research has found that the basics in nest construction are
primarily instinctive, but birds’ nesting skills improve through trial and
error.
Your post today (nesting material) reminded me of a photo I took back in 2016. I filled a suet block feeder with hair I combed out of my dog, Walter. The hair was very popular with the sparrows nesting in my birdhouse! Walter was happy to contribute!
What a wonderful photograph! I've found light colored hair is preferred the most by birds but it all eventually goes. Walter's looks especially fluffy. Just think how many baby heads were pillowed comfortably by Walter's kind donation. That's what I tell Dolly when I pluck her long white mane hair. Thanks for sharing, Sarah
Even though I live in Fargo, ND I'm a regular reader of your blog and have learned a lot from your posts. I enjoy the photo share offerings! Kerry
If anyone else would like to share a photograph of nature send it to bloubird@gmail.com with a description and permission to post it on the Friday Photo.
I want to put nesting material out to help with the nest building. How early should I start doing so? – Thanks
You should put materials out early in spring, when the first robin
starts to patrol your yard for worms. You can continue to offer
nesting materials as late as August, because some birds nest two or
three times over the course of the summer and the American Goldfinches
don't even begin to nest until late summer.
The birds that winter in our area, (chickadees, bluebirds,
titmice, house finches, sparrows, and cardinals) may begin collecting nesting
material as early as March. Other birds that migrate north to Michigan to nest (wrens,
hummingbirds, swallows, orioles, buntings, grosbeaks, and warblers) begin nesting in May.
At Wild Birds Unlimited East Lansing, MI store we have
cotton nesting balls, bison down bags, alpaca wool, and Birdie bells full of
grasses, cotton, animal hair and feathers.
Or you can collect: twigs, cotton or
wool yarn cut less than 3 inches, human hair or animal fur (cat or dog), feathers or dried decorative
grasses. We DO NOT recommend dryer lint. Lint hardens after getting wet providing a poor nest
for baby birds. Thread, plastic material and lint are the 3 big no, nos for nesting material.
Offering birds construction material to build a nest is just one more
way for you to attract a wider variety of bird activity to your yard!
Music is meant to be performed. But what do you do when you have stage fright. I like to play music for myself but sometimes have an urge to share, but I have terrible stage fright. So what to do. One of the easiest ways to share the music is to play in a band. The New Horizons Band at the MSU community music school allows me to practice music for myself and also to perform in a group with support from all of my fellow musicians. But I like to play some music that is different from the band. Some music just wouldn’t work for a band or orchestra. I still play for myself. I even sometimes record myself (see an example here) to see how I sound from in front of the instrument – it is recorded in an old timey format to match the old timey music. It can be quite different when you hear yourself perform for yourself. But it is different than sharing music with an audience. What I have found to be the best cure to stage fright is to simply practice to overcome stage fright like you would practice an instrument. That means going out and playing music. It doesn’t have to be on a stage in front of a large audience. In the summer, I like to play on my front porch for the neighbors as they walk around the neighborhood. During the winter, I occasionally play in the Wild Birds Unlimited store. I am going to try to practice overcoming my stage fright for the next few weeks on Saturday mornings around 10am at the East Lansing store on my tiny stage. In the band I play saxophone but for these tiny stage performances, I’ll bring my travel banjo. I hope to see you there. Wildwood Flower: https://youtu.be/VwibHSyWhlE
The thing I miss the most during the winter months is waking up to birdsong. This morning a cardinal was outside my window chipping and warbling good morning. And the goldfinches were tweet, tweeting hello. You can hear the birds' excitement about the days getting longer with the increase in singing. A key part of a bird’s brain is affected by seasonal change. When birds are exposed to longer days, hormones stimulate the pituitary gland indirectly to prepare birds’ bodies for the upcoming breeding season and results in increased singing.
Goldfinches are getting ready to put on their yellow feathers!
Birds can sing at any time of day, but during the dawn chorus their
songs are often louder, livelier, and more frequent. Early morning,
light levels are too dim for birds to do much foraging but it’s a great
opportunity to sing.
Also singing loud and proud first thing in the morning tells everyone
within hearing distance that you were strong and healthy enough to
survive the night. This is attractive to potential mates, and lets your
competitors know you’re still around and in charge of your territory.
This weekend, February 16 to 19, 2018, you can help scientists learn more about birds to better protect them. How? By counting birds for as little as 15 minutes! Join the Great Backyard Bird Count wherever you see birds—whether that’s in your backyard, at the local park, or even just looking out the window at your feeder. Enter your sightings online or on the mobile app. It’s that easy and can make a big difference for birds. To learn more about what scientists discovered the past 21 years and how to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, visit birdcount.org. The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society with partner Bird Studies Canada and is made possible in part by founding sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited.
The 21st GBBC is additionally notable because it is the February call-to-action for the Year of the Bird, a 12-month celebration of birds to raise awareness of how people can help birds by taking simple actions each month. The Year of the Bird is led by National Geographic, the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife International, and more than 100 participating organizations. Learn more about Year of the Bird at www.birdyourworld.org.
A lot of people wonder what Dolly (cat) does in the back room most of the day. Well morning duty entails watching birds in the burning bush on the side of the Wild Birds Unlimited store. As the sun shifts she switches to the back window to watch the birds in the crab apple tree.
Natural foods, such as fruits, nuts and seeds provided by
trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers will attract a variety of songbirds! Cardinals, House Finches, Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings and woodpeckers are just a few of the regular visitors we've watched in the crab apple tree all winter. The tree this year was especially full of fruit. Right now the top and middle of the tree has been picked clean and so they are working on the edges.
These birds have survived a long hard winter and they know an apple (or more) a day keeps sickness away. Apples contain vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that help improve their health. Crab apples also help Northern Cardinals develop brighter plumage because they contain carotenoids.
If anyone else would like to share a photograph of nature send it to bloubird@gmail.com with a description and permission to post it on the Friday Photo.
1.Eat pests: Birds are technologically advanced, highly motivated,
extremely efficient, and cost-effective, insect-pest controllers. 2. Pollinate:Animals provide pollination services for over three-quarters of the
staple crop plants that feed human kind and for 90% of all flowering plants in
the world. 3. Disperse seeds:Someplantstake
advantage of birds pooping all over the place to disperse their seeds. 4.Unite a nation: The United States
started the trend for national birds when it made the Bald Eagle its avian
representative over 200 years ago. 5. Help win wars:Birds taught the military about camouflage, flight,
sentry systems, and during World War I and World War II, the U.S. military enlisted more than
200,000 pigeons to conduct surveillance and relay messages.
6. Save people:Birds act as
"sentinels" for environmental health hazards by providing early
warning of human health hazards in the environment.During the 1960s, when birds of prey began dying, people were alerted to the
dangers of agricultural chemicals such as DDT. 7.Promote conservation and environmentalism:
The Passenger Pigeon, once the most common bird in North
America, went extinct by 1914 due to over hunting which aroused public interest in the conservation movement and
resulted in new laws and practices to prevent many other species from
going extinct. 8.Feed people: Eggs and meat from birds have sustained people for centuries. 9. Clothe and comfort: Feathers provide fashion, warmth, and comfortable cushion.
10.Entertain: The antics of our garden birds keep us amused and may inspire
future scientists to make further discoveries about these ancient creatures that might
one day save the world.
The Great Backyard Bird Count gives you the opportunity to make them count even more than ever by participating in this annual event which links citizens with scientists in an effort to collect important data about backyard birds.
The GBBC is a joint project of Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society and is sponsored by Wild Birds Unlimited. It takes place each February. Count the birds in your backyard, and then simply report the information online. Your information becomes part of an extensive data base that is analyzed by scientists to better understand important trends in bird populations, range expansions, habitat changes and shifts in migration patterns.
Make your backyard count even more for the birds when you participate in this year's GBBC. And to ensure the birds all show up to be counted, visit our store for the widest variety of great bird food products!
With the 2018 Great Backyard Bird Count coming up this Friday,
it's time for a last-minute check that you've got everything you need
and that you can get into your existing account or create one if you've
never participated in the GBBC before.
A bird's ability to have many healthy offspring may depend on choosing the right mate. In North America most birds form bonds for at least a single nesting.
These pairings allow birds to split domestic duties for protecting eggs
and caring for hatchlings.
Other pair bonds include mating for life, either by pairing up again
each breeding season or remaining with each other year-round. Cardinals,
jays, doves, and robins are some of the common backyard birds that
spend several seasons together with the same partner.
Even cowbirds which lay their eggs in other birds nests are largely monogamous.
One exception to the social pattern of monogamy with backyard birds that
comes to mind is the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. After a brief
courtship and mating, the female builds a nest and raises her family
alone. Male hummingbirds do not help raise the young. Related Articles: Can birds predict your Valentine? http://bit.ly/ztZyzK Love and the Birds: The Origin of St. Valentine's Day http://bit.ly/zJnkV2 What are Lovebirds? http://bit.ly/xnq0Hz Do Birds Mate For Life? http://bit.ly/ysg81B How Birds Mate http://bit.ly/zRvpJ1
Tufted titmice are about 6 inches long and have wingspans of about 10
inches. Both males and females have white undersides, gray backs,
rusty-brown sides, pointed crests on their heads, and large dark eyes.
They do not migrate extensively and are common year-round in Michigan’s
Lower Peninsula.
Tufted titmice are active birds often seen flitting about in trees and
searching beneath twigs for insects or bug larvae. They travel and roost
during the winter in small mixed flocks of titmice, chickadees,
nuthatches, Brown Creepers, and woodpeckers.
At the feeders they are attracted to striped and oil sunflower seeds,
nuts, suet, seed cylinders and mealworms. Tufted Titmice typically
select one seed from a feeder at a time. They shell it and hide the
kernel within 130 feet of the feeder from which they obtained it under
bark or under objects on the ground.
Males are dominant over females and they form pairs that persist until
the death of one of the mates. The titmouse family bond is so strong
that the young from one breeding season will often stay with their
parents long enough to help them with nesting and feeding duties the
following year.
Here is a riddle to start your Monday. What can you sit on, sleep on, and brush your teeth with? A lot of people like to be challenged but are embarrassed to admit when they don't know the answer. Learning to play an instrument as an adult or relearning after a break is the same thing. The idea of the challenge to learn the instrument is intriguing. It puts a goal in front of you. But you are afraid to fail. To a young person learning, it is an everyday occurrence, a challenge that must be met head-on whether they want to or not. Learning new things all the time in school is their life. To an adult, a professional who has been out of school for a while, it is a forgotten feeling. Many of us wish to be young again but we don't want to go through the challenge or embarrassment of having to learn new things again.
Back to the riddle. The answer to this one is very simple but you have to change the way you think about the question and break it down to its parts. Playing music is not a simple endeavor either, there are many small steps to become accomplished. Each note you learn is an advance. Each piece of music you play moves you forward. Each solved riddle keeps you learning, keeps your mind young and you feel good about accomplishing your goal and overcoming the challenge. Michigan State University Community Music School’s New Horizons Band is still recruiting new members. If you’ve never played before, there is someone in NHB to teach you what you need to know to solve the riddle. If you’ve ever wanted to have fun making music, now is the time to learn. You can look for me when you get to class and I’ll make sure you get the answers to your riddle. The answer to today’s riddle, by the way, is a chair, a bed and a toothbrush. Simple.
Coralee LOVES watching the birds on the window feeder!
Thank you for sharing! If anyone else would like to share a photograph of nature send it to bloubird@gmail.com with a description and permission to post it on the Friday Photo.
The Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
is a large common songbird at most mid-Michigan bird feeders. With
their perky crest, blue, white, and black plumage and noisy calls, jays
seem to polarize people into either hating or loving them. Their name
“Jay” has its origins from the Latin “gaius” meaning “gay or merry.” The
species name cristata originates from the Latin word crista, meaning
“crested.”
I am a lover of the jays. After I fill the feeders I whistle to the
jays. They give a return call and by the time I’m settled back on the
couch with my tea and cat, a family of Blue Jays has appeared at the
feeders for me to watch. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and
complex social systems, and have tight family bonds. They often mate for
life, remaining with their social mate throughout the year.
Blue Jays make a large variety of calls. The most often heard is a loud jay jay.
They also make clear whistled notes and gurgling sounds. The whistle I
give in the morning is probably heard by a scout bird looking for
breakfast possibilities. He reports back to the family with his whistle
of what is available in my yard. I fill my many different feeders
regularly with the best Wild Birds Unlimited Seed Blends along with nuts, sunflower seeds, seed cylinders, and suet.
The jay family isn’t the only one listening either. Their discovery of
good feeding sight is announced loudly enough that a whole community of
birds eventually shows up to take their turn at the feeders. Jays also
are very good at giving early warnings of hawk, cats, or other predators
in the area.
Information gathered and reported online at birdcount.org will help
scientists track changes in bird distribution, some of which may be
traced unusual weather patterns.
In a
side-by-side comparison it's not as hard to tell the difference between the
smaller Downy
Woodpecker and larger Hairy Woodpecker.
The Downy is about half the size of a Hairy and the Downy’s bill is shorter
than its head, whereas the Hairy’s bill is as long its head.
1. Downy Woodpecker
- At about 6 inches, it’s smallest woodpecker in North America and the
most frequent visitor to backyard feeders year-round. They have a white
belly and back and their black wings have white bars. The males have a
red patch on the back of the head. The Downy’s name
refers to the soft white feathers of the white strip on the lower back, which
differ from the more hairlike feathers on the Hairy Woodpecker.
2. Hairy Woodpecker
– At about 9 inches, these medium woodpeckers look like their smaller
downy woodpecker cousins. They aren’t as common at suburban birdfeeders.
Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers have a similar silhouette.
Red-bellies have more red on their head while the flickers only have a
"V" of red on the back of their head and polka dots on their chest. 3. Red-bellied Woodpecker
- They are common throughout most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula
year-round. People often call the Red-bellied woodpecker by a list of
common misnomers like red-headed or ladder-back woodpecker because of
their gleaming red caps and striking black and white barred backs. Since
virtually all woodpeckers are black and white with patches of bright
colors on various parts of their bodies, the Red-bellied was named for
the unique pinkish tinge on the belly, common to both genders. 4. Northern Flicker
– Unlike most woodpeckers, this species spends much of its time on the
ground, feeding mostly on ants. They are more commonly sighted at suet
feeders in the winter. Both the male and females have a red
chevron on the back of their heads, black bibs, speckled chest, and a
brown, barred back and wings. The males have a black “mustache”. 5.Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
– Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are mostly black and white with boldly
patterned faces. Both sexes have red foreheads, and males also have red
throats. Sapsuckers are seen more and more often in mid-Michigan during
the winters, but most head farther south, going as far south as Panama.
They drill lines of shallow wells that fill up with sap that the
sapsucker laps up with their brush-like tongue (not sucks). He also eats
any
bugs that happen to get trapped in the sticky stuff.
6. Red-headed Woodpecker
– These woodpeckers have an unmistakable bright red head, black wings
and white belly. They spend the summers in all of Michigan but are the least common at mid-Michigan feeders
7. Pileated Woodpecker
– Hard to mistake this bird if it drops down on to your suet feeder.
They are Michigan's largest woodpecker at sixteen and a half inches in
length and a
wingspan up to 30 inches. The males have a characteristic red
"mustache," which is actually a stripe near the beak. The female's
stripe is black. There is no real consensus on
whether this bird’s name is pronounced “pie-lee-ated” or “pill-ee-ated”.
Carolina wrens can be year-round residents of mid-Michigan. Both males
and females are a bright, reddish-brown above and warm buffy-orange
below, with a long white eyebrow stripe, dark curved bill, and white
chin and throat.
The “Carolina" refers to the Carolinian Zone,
an area which includes much of Eastern United States and extends south
to the Carolinas. The climate of this area is also moderated by our
Great Lakes, so it is able to support animal and plant species usually
not found in other northern parts.
Our Carolina Wrens do not migrate but are very sensitive to cold
weather. Severe winters result in a marked decline in their numbers.
Having a known source of food is essential for providing wrens with the
energy, stamina, and nutrition they need to survive. For this reason, it
is a good idea to put out a feeder to help these birds (and other bird
species as well) survive the winter.
Carolina Wrens are primarily insect eaters, but suet, peanuts, seed cylinders and mealworms
are good substitutes for scarce insects during winter. They can be
attracted to your feeders by providing a brush pile close to your
feeding area. I have a pine tree and a bushy viburnum to give the birds
cover. They feel more secure with a place to seek refuge nearby.
I also have a wren house that it can sleep in at night. A good idea to
encourage Carolina wrens to stay and feed in or near your yard is to
provide houses or roosting pockets
near the bird feeders. Roosting pockets are little shelters, much like
birdhouses (but smaller and not meant to be used as a nesting site),
where the birds can roost and hide from the wind chill. The combination
of roosting pockets and bird feeders during winter is one sure way to
attract Carolina wrens in your area.
I think I want to try this bird count you keep talking about. Is it okay to count at the birds on my feeder?
How to do the Great Backyard Bird Count
Yes, this wonderful news! Anyone can count birds in any location. People that have bird feeders and share the numbers and species that are showing up contribute immensely to the study of bird populations.
Some stories I am hearing at the Wild Birds Unlimited store are that the woodpeckers aren't eating as much suet this year. The annual WINTER FINCH FORECAST 2017 - 2018 by Ron Pittaway reported that besides the warm weather we also had the best cone crop in a decade or more along with abundant seed, nut, and fruit crops. This means more woodpeckers have a lot of food available and a perhaps a better chance of surviving the winter. It will be interesting to compare this year to last year to see if woodpeckers visit our feeders as much.
The 21stGreat Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)
will take place February 16 to 19, 2018. To participate, bird watchers count the birds they see
for at least 15 minutes on one or more days of the count, then enter
their checklists at birdcount.org.
WATCH:
Count birds at any location for atleast 15 minutes—or more
if you wish. You can be at home, in a park, or looking out your office window.
TALLY:
Write down only the highest number of each species you see at any one time
to avoid counting the same birds more than once. For example, if you see 8
cardinals as you start your count period, then later you see 12, and later
still you see 3, you’ll only report 12--the highest number you saw
together at once. Please do not add the numbers
together.
Bird watchers worldwide can take
part this year. Make sure to pass this information out to all your
friends and family. Thank you for joining the Great Backyard Bird Count
sponsored in part by Wild Birds Unlimited.
