Archives
BACKYARD SECRET – CANADA GEESE EAT BRADFORD PEARS
Canada geese have demonstrated that they are extremely adaptable. For example, they are able to live in urban and suburban areas. In fact, in some parts of the state and country, they are more common living close the humans than they are in the wild. For example, in Columbia County, my daughter and granddaughter often see them walking around Kroger parking lots, yards and swimming in small neighborhood ponds.
In order to survive just outside our backdoors, the geese often have to alter their feeding habits. In the subdivision where they live, Canada geese annually nest around the edge of a small pond located near the entrance to their subdivision. As such, they often see adult geese leading their goslings across roads and even feeding on the lush grass blanketing yards.
In typical “wild” habitats, the birds graze on such foods as lush grasses, aquatic plants, seeds, corn and other grains left on the ground after crops have been harvested. Never once had I ever heard of Canada geese eating the small fruit produced in Bradford pear trees. Several weeks ago, that changed when granddaughter and daughter found Canada geese feeding on fallen fruit beneath Bradford pear trees located in their subdivision.
It seems that late in the day, a small flock of Canada geese leave the small lake and walk across the entrance road to their subdivision. Typically, the birds begin feeding on the fallen fruit littering the ground beneath a Bradford pear growing in a side yard on one side of the road. Once they have eaten all they want at that location, the slowly cross the road and dine on the Bradford pears found in the yard across the street. This has been going for several weeks. Interestingly, this is the first year they have witnessed the odd feeding behavior. That begs the question, “Why now?”
I suspect that the birds’ traditional foods are in short supply this year. Consequently, they needed to locate other sources of foods. I doubt that the geese would have fed on the small fruit earlier. The fruits are more palatable since they have gone through several freezes and frosts that softened the fruit.
It seems that other wildlife species such as American robins and cedar waxwings will also dine on the pears during the winter. It is obvious that Bradford pear fruit is not a preferred food. Instead, it is an emergency food. This is a food that wild critters rarely eat unless they have little else to eat to ward off starvation. Even so, I would not have thought they would have turned to Bradford pears.
If you have witnessed Canada goose eating Bradford pears or other unusual foods, please let me know.
WHAT ARE THE 10 BIRDS THAT MOST OFTEN VISIT GEORGIA BIRD FEEDERS?
According to a conservation group named Avian Report the bird most often seen at Georgia bird feeders is the northern cardinal (95.6%). Rounding out the top 10 list are the tufted titmouse (94.67%), Carolina chickadee (93.78%), Carolina wren (90.22%), house finch (89.76%), mourning dove (85.78%), American goldfinch (85.78%), downy woodpecker (85.33%), red-bellied woodpecker (82.22%), and eastern bluebird (80.89%).
How does this list stack up with the birds that visit your feeders?
HAVE YOUR NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRDS DISAPPEARED?
Mockingbirds are common permanent residents across the Peach State. In spite of this, many mockingbirds do not inhabit some backyards during the winter. Did they migrate? No. Well, if they did not migrate, why did they leave and where they go?
Look around your yard; if you do not see any berries or fruits on the plants in your yard right now, chances are birds have set up winter-feeding territories that do include plants that produce fruits and berries that persist into the winter.
It seems that during the warm months of the year invertebrates make up the bulk of the mocker’s diet. As soon as the days and nights get colder and insects are difficult to find the birds’ diet primarily consists of fruits and berries. Consequently, if your yard does not contain plants that display berries and fruit, mockingbirds will set up a feeding territory that has plenty for them to eat.
While both a male and female, will often defend the same winter-feeding territory, sometimes a single male or female will defend its own territory.
If you want to retain mockingbirds throughout the winter, the best thing you can do is to plant a variety of shrubs, vines and trees that produce an abundance of winter foods. Here are just a few examples of some of these valuable winter food plants: American holly, native hawthorns, Virginia creeper, Callaway crabapple, smooth sumac, American beautyberry and hackberry.
If you successfully establish a variety of these winter fruit and berry-producing plants, chances are you will be able to enjoy the handsome beauty and songs of this popular bird throughout the entire year.
BACKYARD SECRET – WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS ARE BIG EATERS
White-throated sparrows are welcomed winter visitors to backyards throughout Georgia. They serenade us even the coldest days, and display an attractive plumage. While most folks that feed birds are excited when they appear each year, the people that have the best chance of attracting them are those that offer them plenty of food and nearby cover. In backyard settings, the birds prefer shrubs.
While the birds feed on the ground, they also dine at elevated feeders. They eat a variety of foods. The whitethroats that visit my yard seem to prefer white proso millet to all other food offerings. Other foods eaten by these beautiful sparrows include, nyger, cracked corn, mixed seed, and sunflower seeds, to name just a few.
White-throated sparrows have huge appetites. Studies have shown that a white-throated sparrow consumes anywhere from 85 to thousands of seeds per hour. The number of seeds they devour is linked to the weather; they eat more food in freezing weather.
BACKYARD SECRET – BIRDS PREFER AMERICAN HOLLY BERRIES
Nowadays, homeowners are including hybrid and exotic hollies in their home landscapes more often than American holly (Ilex opaca). However, if you are interested in adding an attractive evergreen tree that bears shiny red fruit that is relished by 29 species of birds, you would be better off, planting America holly than an exotic or hybrid holly.
In addition, American holly berries typically have more nutritive value than the berries of nonnative hollies. This can be critical for birds that birds that forage for food throughout the winter.
While some hybrid cultivars may be an exception to that rule, based on my experience the berries found on other hollies are often ignored or only eaten when American berries have all been eaten.
Another reason why the berries found exotic and hybrid hollies are not consumed as often as American hollies – they are too large for some birds to swallow.
Finally, American holly is an important addition to backyards because it serves as the primary host plant for the Henry’s elfin butterfly and is often used a host plant for the holly sallow moth.
MALE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES WILL STEAL FOOD FROM THEIR MATES
We have a lot to learn about the habits of backyard birds. One behavior I find fascinating is the fact the male white-breasted nuthatches will rob foods cached by their mates.
Male and female white-breasted nuthatches travel together throughout the winter. For that reason, if a white-breasted nuthatch appears are you feeder this winter, you will likely also spot its mate.
In the world of the white-breasted nuthatch, males dominate females. As a result, they will often steal food recently cached by females. Some suggest this is a display of dominance. Often, however, females thwart this larceny by hiding seeds and other foods in the opposite direction from the cache sites males are using.
BACKYARD SECRET – BLACK OIL SUNFLOWER SEEDS ARE PREFERRED BY MORE BIRDS THAN AN OTHER TYPES OF SEEDS
There are more than 20 different types of seeds found in birdseed. The seed that is by far the seed that is most favored by backyard birds in Georgia are black oil sunflower seeds. The list of birds that prefer this nutritious seed includes the Carolina chickadee, tufted titmouse, pine siskins, woodpeckers, evening grosbeak, northern cardinal, rose-breasted grosbeak, as well as purple and house finches.
BACKYARD SECRET – GLYCERIN SHOULD NOT BE ADDED TO BIRDBATH WATER TO KEEP IT FROM FREEEZING
Over the years, people have tried a number of ways to keep the water in birdbaths from freezing. One the such technique is to use glycerin as an antifreeze; this practice should be avoided. If a bird drinks water treated with glycerin, the chemical can raise the amount of blood sugar in its body to dangerous levels. In addition, glycerin can mat the birds’ feathers together. This can be harmful as the matting can adversely reduce a bird’s feathers ability to insulate its body against the cold.
