SINGING BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER ADD TO THE PLEASURE OF MORNING WALKS

Apr5

       I try to walk around my large backyard every morning.  The walks provide me with a chance to get some exercise while keeping abreast of the plants and animals that inhabit my backyard.  For the past few weeks, the singing of up to three black-and-white warblers gave made these treks extra special.

       The black-and-white warbler’s distinctive black and white striped plumage  make it easy to identify.  Most folks, however, are not familiar with its song.  Some say the high-pitched call sounds much like a squeaky wheel—it goes something like this  weesy-weesy-weesy-weesy. 

       If you cannot identify this song, all you have to do to familiarize yourself with it is pull up the Merlin bird identification app on your cellphone.  There you find more than half a dozen examples of this unusual call.  Then the next time you hear it you will know the name of the feathered songster singing it.

       Lately I have heard up to three calling in my backyard at the same time.  When I hear them accompanied by song calls of ruby-crowned kinglets, white-throated and chipping sparrows, pileated woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees and others, I am reluctant to go back inside for a cup of coffee.

       Many of us only hear or see black-and-white warblers on migration  during their spring and fall migrations, some actually nest in Georgia.   Most of these birds breed in the northern half of the state, however, from time to time, some nest below the Fall Line.     

       The vast majority of these migrants spend the winter far south of Georgia.  It is interesting to note that some winter in the Peach State.  One place where I often see black-and-white warblers in winter is Georgia is  Veterans State Park near Cordele.

       I am hoping that birds I have been listening to decide to spend the summer in my backyard.  Probably this will not happen.  In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy there serenades as long as I can,

       Perhaps black-and-white warblers are singing in your backyard right now.  All it takes to see if that is the case, step outside your backdoor and listen.  You may be pleasantly surprised.

      

      

BACKYARD SECRET – PLANTING GROUPS OF PLANTS BENEFIT HUMMINGBIRDS AND OTHER POLLINATORS

Apr1

     

        If you are looking for a simple way to benefit hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators, plant nectar plants in groups of the kind.  You will find that mass plantings enhance the beauty of your yard and makes it easier for these valuable backyard neighbors to locate plants bearing nectar. 

       With that in mind, plant no less than 3-5 of the same variety together.  If have enough room for larger plantings, masses of plants measuring two to three are even better.

       I hope you will try this simple technique this year.  I suspect that, if you take this advice, the pollinators will love it and you will wonder why you have not adopted this gardening trip before.

BACKYARD SECRET – ROBINS FIND WORMS BY SOUND

Mar29

        If you have ever watched American robins hunt for worms on your lawn, you have probably wondered whether the worm hunters located juicy worms by sight or sound. 

       Well, researchers have cracked the mystery to this age-old mystery.  The birds locate the worms by sound. Once they find a worm, they often tilt the head to direct their strike at the hidden meal.

BACKYARD SECRET – TIME SPENT WITH NATURE CAN BENEFIT OUR MENTAL HEALTH

Mar25

       Jay Maddock, a professor of public health at Texas A&M University, reports that spending time with nature can have a positive effect on our mental health.  According to Maddock, “Spending even a short amount of time in nature has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress.”  He goes to say, “There are noticeable benefits in as little as 10 minutes at a time and some emerging evidence that two hours a week is beneficial to mental health.”

BACKYARD SECRET – BUTTERFLIES ARE SOMETIMES SMALLER IN THE SPRING

Mar23

       Recently my wife and I were walking about our backyard on a recent March after noon we noticed that one of our native azaleas was in full bloom.  When we stopped to admire the beautiful blossoms displayed by the large native azalea, an eastern tiger swallowtail flew in and began nectaring at the shrub’s stunning blooms.  As we watched the butterfly feed, we both noticed that it was much smaller than the tigers we normally encounter.  This begged the question, “Why is this individual so small?”

       One possible reason for this is eastern tiger swallowtails overwinter as pupae in a chrysalis.  If a butterfly emerges earlier than normal due to unseasonably warm weather, it may be smaller because it pupated before reaching its normal size.

BACKYARD SECRET – BLUE-GRAY GNATCATERS ARE NOT FEEDER BIRDS

Mar18

      Regardless how hard we try, we cannot entice all of the birds that visit our yards to dine at our bird feeders.  One such bird is the blue-gray gnatcatcher.

      This past week my wife spotted a blue-gray gnatcatcher feeding among the green leaves of a coral honeysuckle that grows beside our driveway. Today, while walking to the mailbox I spotted a blue-gray gnatcatcher in the same place.  The bird did not flush until I was about 10 feet away.

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER

      This provided with a great view of the bird’s clean blue-gray plumage that almost seemed to shine in the morning sunlight as it flew to the bare branches of a nearby tree. Once there, it did not remain motionless for long before it began flitting about in search in spiders and small insects.

    Since these birds do not visit feeders, if you want to attract them to your yard, you must offer the feathered sprites native trees and shrubs where they will be able to forage on caterpillars, spider and tiny insects.

BACKYARD SECRET – OFFER WHITE FEATHERS TO TREE SWALLOW

Mar15

          We are rapidly approaching the tree swallows nesting season for the tree swallow here in Georgia.  With that that in mind, if you find tree swallows attempting to build a nest in one of your nesting boxes, here is something that might considering doing to help tree swallows construct a nest.

          Tree swallows just love to incorporate white feathers in their nests.  Since such feathers can often be hard for the birds to locate, you can come to their aid by simply scattering some white feathers near their nesting box. Then sit back and wait.    Since the females do most of the nest building, there is a good chance you will see her fly down and gather some of the feathers to add to the nest.

          Even if tree swallows do not use the feathers, all is not lost.  A number of other birds will add them to their nests too.

BACKYARD SECRET – ADDING NESTING MATERIAL TO NEST BOXES CAN HELP ATTRACT BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES

Mar12

       If you have never been able to entice brown-headed nuthatches to nest in your nesting boxes, adding 1-3 inches of dry nesting material such as pine shavings, sawdust or wood chips to a nest box just might change your luck.

       I should note the only times brown-headed nuthatches have nested in my boxes is when I added nesting material.

       Who knows?  This simple technique might just work for you.

SAPSUCKERS AID HUMMINGBIRDS

Mar9

       Since spring has arrived, any day now ruby-throated hummingbirds will begin showing up in our backyards.  When they return it is easy to believe that the sugar water we offer them in our feeders will address all of nutritional needs of these tireless migrants. Unfortunately, this is not the case.  While our hummingbird food supplies the birds with much-needed energy, it does not contain the vitamins, and minerals that are important to their diet. 

       The nectar that furnishes them typically comes from nectar gleaned from flowering plants.  The problem is many of the flowers that bloom at this time of the year are not excellent sources of nectar. Plants such as Daffodils, Bradford pears, even most ornamental azaleas produce little nectar. Fortunately, hummingbirds have another source of the sugar, minerals and vitamins they desperately need.  This food is tree sap.  A bird named the yellow-bellied sapsucker unwittingly supplies this “liquid gold.”

       This woodpecker drills shallow holes in the trunks of trees and other plants.  The sap wells become shallow reservoirs that collect tree sap.  The yellow-bellied sapsucker uses its brush-tipped tongue to mop up the sap.  To ensure that it has plenty of food, it chisels out lots of holes in concentric circles around a number of trees.

       Other critters such as butterflies, squirrels, and birds like hummingbirds also avail themselves of this unusual food.  In fact, the only Rivoli’s hummingbird I have ever seen was feeding at sapsucker holes in a tree growing in a backyard near Winder, Georgia.

       Ruby-throated hummingbirds often follow yellow-bellied sapsuckers to these holes.  However, whenever one of these special woodpeckers spots a hummingbird or other interloper feeding at its sapsucker holes, it promptly runs it off.

       I should note that this source of food is so important to rubythroats; their spring migration follows closely behind that of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. This helps ensure that rubythroats will have readily available sources of food as they proceed on their own journey north.

       I guess it would not be a stretch to call sapsucker holes Mother Nature’s Hummingbird Feeders.

BACKYARD SECRET – THE HOUSE SPARROW POPULATION IS DECLINING

Mar4

       The North American Breeding Bird Survey has found that between 1966 and 2015 the house sparrow population has plummeted 84 percent in the United States and Canada.

       Cornell University’s FeederWatch Program corroborates the decline.  Data collected volunteers taking part in this survey reveal that since 1995 the proportion of FeederWatch sites reporting house sparrows dropped by 7.5 percent.  In addition, the size of house sparrow flocks decreased some 22 percent.

       This does not mean the house sparrow is not facing extinction. Surveys indicate that 82 million house sparrows are still flying about the United States and Canada.

       This is good news, however, for those folks that for decades have been building, erecting and maintaining nesting boxes for bluebirds, tree sparrows, and many other native cavity nesting birds.  As they all know, too often house sparrows will out compete these birds for nesting sites.