The USGS Longevity Records of North American Birds determined through bird banding that the average lifespan of a Red-bellied Woodpecker is 12.10 years in the wild. That’s pretty substantial in the bird world.
Bluebirds are primarily insect eaters in the spring and summer. When their babies hatch bluebirds know instinctively that mealworms are too big for newly hatched babies. They start them out with tiny bugs for their young. While the parent bird may appreciate your easy mealworm breakfast during a stressful time, they will not feed regular sized mealworms to their chicks until the babies are about six days old. 
s Friday and 6 set-ups Saturday! Click HERE if you don't know what I'm talking about.
He looked right at me and then flew up, up, up trying to get free, but the window was in the way. He panicked. And I felt sick to my stomach.
Then I heard this loud squawk. I looked outside and saw two sparrows trying to grab the goldfinch by its neck. Feathers were flying. They finally got a good grip and tossed him down toward the ground. The goldfinch thought about flying toward the window again but the dirty look the sparrows gave him convinced him to fly down and finally OUT! Hurray for the Super Sparrows! 
For seed eating birds in Michigan studies indicate that Black-Oil Sunflower, Fine and Medium Sunflower Chips, Peanuts, White Proso Millet, Safflower, and Nyjer® Thistle are among the most preferred seed types. At the East Lansing Wild Birds Unlimited store, customers’ and birds’ preference by far is WBU No-Mess Blend.
Besides upper and lower eyelids, birds also have a third eyelid called a nictitating membrane which sweeps sideways across the eye. Birds can blink repeatedly with the nictitating membrane to clean the eye’s surface and spread moisture across the eye.
The Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina is a very tiny, clean, crisp, energetic, sparrow about five inches long and weighing only a half ounce. It has a chestnut cap and a white stripe above the eye, and a black stripe through the eye. The female is the same but slightly duller. 
I’m not sure if you’re very familiar with types of ducks, but since a duck is a type of bird I thought I would check with you. I saw this duck at the golf course the other day and am unable to find it on the internet. I thought at first it was a young duckling since it had down on its head, but it was bigger than all the babies and so I think it was the mother. Do you have any idea what kind of duck this is?
Since it’s getting warm in NC now, I don’t have as many birds at my feeders out back. Right now I’m having a high number of goldfinches. Is that normal for this time of year in the south? I occasionally see a cardinal or titmouse at the feeder, but for the most part they have stopped coming up.
Males perform an extensive courtship display which includes head pumping and serenading the female with a song described as a croaking frog. Once mated the female nests in tree cavities like the Wood Duck or in man made nest boxes.
The second baby arrived sometime before 1:48 p.m. I’m not sure how I missed it but when I looked at the webcam there it was with the shell removed. No more babies were born but a whole lot of action with momma moving things around and feeding the chicks.
Harris Nature Center, 3998 Van Atta Road, urges youngsters to "Make the Nature Connection" this summer through a variety of camps for toddlers through fifth graders beginning June 15 and running through Aug. 6. Students going into eighth grade and above are invited to volunteer as assistant camp counselors. This year, there will be one-day camps and four-day camps. For general information about programs offered at the Harris Nature Center, call Kit Rich at (517) 349-3866
If you know of any other nature programs e-mail me at bloubird@gmail.com,
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We started to have an early spring and then wham! a cold front comes through mid-Michigan to remind us not to take Mother Nature for granted.
Birds seem to understand this. The one pair of bluebirds that nested early was probably an experienced, older pair that knows the area well and knows where all the food sources are located. The others were probably newly mated and trying out different nesting sites.
If they started building a nest they’ll probably be back when the weather turns nicer. New pairs might start later because they want to be sure that when the babies are born there’ll be lots of food available to feed the many mouths.
Once the weather is right and the best nest is chosen, songbirds like chickadees will lay one egg a day. They don't start sitting on the nest immediately. The bird will begin to incubate the eggs after her clutch is complete. That way the babies are born on the same day and there isn’t competition between older and younger babies. So you may not see your chickadee because she is out foraging and taking advantage of her last moments of freedom before her confinement to the nest.
It’s better to be safe than sorry and leave all the bird nests alone. I’m happy so many people are involved in their birds' nesting. Keep us updated.
What’s in a Name
Legend says the elves and gnomes could hide behind rocks and mushrooms to get out of the way of the human feet but the sun fairies decided to turn themselves into bright yellow dandelion flowers. And now even if we step on a dandelion unknowingly they are able to spring back up. This old legend accounts for the dandelion’s almost supernatural survival powers. The story also says that when we blow their seeds we are transporting the fairies and in return they may grant us a wish.
The fanning of the wings and swaying by the nuthatches is thought to act as deterrent to anyone moving too close to their nest. Nuthatches compete with squirrels to nest in tree cavities so I’m glad your squirrel moved on and took the hint that there was no vacancy.
Don't forget to check out the Harris Nature Center's page on ww.twp.meridian.mi.us for a complete list of programs offered!
12:30pm – Aquatic Sampling: Join an MSU Fish and Wildlife student investigating Fenner’s 3 ponds.
Here are the pictures of the male House Finch coming to feed the female. 
I'm glad he came back. I'm sure momma-to-be was glad too.
As some of you know, we have a new house guest that I’m really excited about! I happened upon a nest and four eggs in the wreath on our front door on Sunday, April 4. On Monday, momma laid another egg bringing the total to five. Everyday I would go home and sit in my car with binoculars watching our front door hoping to see what type of bird had made our home their home. On Tuesday, I saw both the papa and momma. After looking through my bird books and talking with Sarah, Wild Birds Unlimited, I’m confident that we have a House Finch as our guest.
When Mark arrived home from Florida, I asked him if there was some way to setup a webcam so we could view the nest. I was becoming a little paranoid that one of our neighbors or someone passing by might call the police on the strange woman sitting in her car with binoculars watching the house! As you can see, my wonderful husband humored me by setting up a webcam. Actually, the one that we had was very blurry so he surprised me by purchasing an updated one. Now we can go home and watch her anytime we want from the comfort of our office!!
It truly is amazing to watch. Frequently, momma will move the eggs around with her beak and then she does this little wiggle to move them around just right. She sits there for hours! When she leaves the nest, it’s not for long (maybe a few minutes). When I was watching from the car, I saw the papa once. I’m pretty sure he was bringing her food. He kept dipping his head down. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen him since setting up the webcam but I’m hoping to capture him at some point.
Most Baltimore orioles winter in Central and South America and begin the journey north to their breeding grounds in April. 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. 
I also recommend two other feeders made by Bird's Choice. My favorite oriole feeder and the one we sell the most of in our mid-Michigan Wild Birds Unlimited stores offers three ways in to attract orioles: nectar, oranges, and jelly. The sugar water is in the saucer (orioles like the same 4 parts water to one part sugar recipe as the hummingbirds), the jelly goes into little jelly troughs built into the cover and the orange goes down the middle hook of the feeder. It's easy to clean, easy to fill and attracts lots of orioles. The weather guard that is pictured with this feeder on the right is sold separately.
The second feeder I recommend is the Poly-lumber feeder made from recycled milk jugs. It has lifetime guarantee to never crack, split or fade, stainless steel screws, thick, heavy-duty acrylic roof to allow Orioles to see the food and protects it from rain, and two removable cups to dispense grape jelly (Orioles’ favorite jelly flavor) and two pegs for orange halves. Cups also may be used to feed mealworms, peanuts, chopped fruit, suet nuggets, and a variety of other foods.
If you haven't used mealworms before, they are the larvae of a beetle with a high protein level. Many birders believe the mealworms are used solely for attracting Bluebirds. This is definitely not the case as many other species enjoy these little treats. Some birds attracted to mealworms include: wrens, robins, bluebirds, jays, sparrows, cardinals, woodpeckers, nuthatches, titmice, chickadees, and even Purple Martins.
Treated lumber is not recommended to build bird houses. The toxic chemicals used to prevent wood rot or insect problems are harmful to baby birds. Wild Birds Unlimited sells bird house kits or you can purchase decay-resistant wood like cedar to build nest boxes. It's okay to use lead free paint or stain on the outside but leave the inside untouched.
I recently saw a series of mysterious divots appearing in my garden evenly spaced, two inches deep, and in a row near the house. I couldn't figure out what was happening until I saw a House Sparrow dusting himself. Why are they doing this? DZ ~ East Lansing, MI
What your describing sounds like a Northern Flicker which unlike other woodpeckers, spends about 75% of his time foraging on the ground in search of ants. Flickers in mid-Michigan are grayish brown with black polka dots on the belly and black bars on the wings. There is a black bib under their long bill and the males also have a black “mustache.” As you observed the birds have a gray crown with a red chevron on the back of the head (or red handkerchief) and have yellow underwings and undertail.
Walk the trails of Fenner Nature Center Saturday mornings to observe the spring migration through Lansing.
Some of the scheduled 2010 walks are:
Bats are finally being given their proper recognition as valuable to mankind in the ecological system. Their immediate appeal to people is their enormous capacity for consuming insects. One bat can consume half its weight in a night or as many as 600 or more insects an hour. 
Bat houses are often placed on the side of a house, garage, or barn. Dead trees can also work, but live trees are usually too shaded. If the bats don't seem to like the placement of your box within a couple full summers, it's time to try a different spot. Sometimes we feel that we have the perfect place, but the critters just don't respond. Experimenting is the hallmark of wildlife attracting. Just remember, think like a bat.
Bats comprise one-fourth of the world's 4,000 species of mammals. Fruit-eating bats are nature's most important seed-dispersing animals. Nectar bats pollinate many rain-forest trees, shrubs, and flowers and without their help the forest would be less diverse. The ability of insect-eating bats is phenomenal--one little brown bat can eat 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. Over-sized ears and nostrils help bats to use a sonar system that experts believe is a thousand times more sophisticated than the best airport radar invented to date.Concerns: Scientific surveys of wild bats typically report rabies in less than 0.5% for most North American bat species. In addition, bats are not “carriers” of rabies; when a bat gets the disease it will die. Bats also tend to become paralyzed with the disease, often avoiding the aggressive form of rabies.
Bats prefer to live in dead trees during the summer. Without natural habitat, brown bats will take up residence in human-made buildings. Rather than killing these beneficial mammals, prevent entry into your home by locating and plugging potential entrance holes after sunset when they leave. Putting up a bat house nearby may discourage them from entering your home while keeping them in the area.
Original article: michigandnr.com Sargent, M.S and Carter, K.S., ed. 1999. Managing Michigan Wildlife: A Landowners Guide. Michigan United Conservation Clubs, East Lansing, MI. 297pp.
Yikes, did I blink? I checked hummingbirds.net this morning to discover people are reporting that the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is now in mid-Michigan!
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius drills parallel "wells" in the bark of trees and laps up the sap that oozes out from the tree. Hummingbirds, waxwings, and warblers take advantage of these predrilled sweet sap sources for a quick bite while traveling.
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