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IS IT POSSIBLE TO ATTRACT HERMIT THRUSHES TO YOUR YARD IN WINTER
One of the most difficult birds to attract to Georgia bird feeders during the winter is the hermit thrush. I have been trying to do so for years. In comparison, I have a good friend that hosts this handsome thrush most winters. Let’s explore some of the reasons why hermit thrushes avoid most of our yards.
Limited information suggests that hermit thrushes wintering in residential areas inhabit yards that have an abundance of vegetation and are adjacent to wooded areas. Berries are the hermit thrush’s primary winter food, consequently yards and nearby woodlands that have trees and shrubs that bear fruits and berries that persist in the winter, are more likely to be used by hermit thrushes than those without them.
Some the best sources of the thrush’s winter food include cedars, junipers, pokeberry, native hollies, hackberries, grapes, and mistletoe. While fruits and berries are the hermit thrush’s favorite foods, they will eat insects found in leaf litter. Consequently, leave dried leaves beneath your trees and shrubs.
Blog follower, Ron Lee attracts Hermit Thrush
Hermit thrushes will feed at elevated feeders. However, they prefer to eat food found on the ground. The birds will dine on dried fruits, mixed seeds, suet, and bird puddings.
Ron Lee has attracted more hermit thrushes than anybody I know. He is convinced that his success attracting these secretive birds is his wife Jennie’s cornbread. The birds love it so much they will appear out of nowhere whenever he goes outside to feed them. Some hermit thrushes like it so much, they will feed at his feed while he is scattering food.
Hermit thrushes will often visit bird baths and avoid food.
Hermit thrushes will join roaming flock’s kinglets, chickadees, and other birds. With that in mind, closely study any of these flocks that pass through your yard.
With a little good fortune, perhaps a hermit thrush will find its way to your backyard this winter.
ODD MOCKINGBIRD BEHAVIOR
It is easy to believe that researchers fully understand the behavior of birds. Such is not the case, however. Last week my daughter, Angela Dupree, watched a mockingbird doing something she had never seen before.
It seems that, as she walked to her car parked in the large parking lot adjacent to her workplace, she noticed a mockingbird placing small sticks atop the left rear tire on the passenger side of her car. When she looked around, she found the bird had apparently done the same thing atop 4-5 cars parked nearby.
The next day the bird did the same thing. In fact, it acted perturbed when she watched it at worked. She also noted small piles of sticks on the ground near the tires on several cars parked nearby. It appeared these sticks had fallen off the tires when the drivers had moved their vehicles the previous afternoon.
When she asked me if I had any idea what was going on, I told her that perhaps the bird was attempting to build nests. I based this interpretation on the fact that mockingbirds sometimes build several nests in an area before selecting the one they use as their nesting site. However, that does not explain why a mockingbird was choosing the tops of tires as potential paces to build nests.
I have done a little research on the subject and found that, while the behavior has been seen before, nobody seems to know exactly what is happening. Some suggest the birds are just marking their territory. Who know!
If you have seen have witnessed this behavior or can explain it, please let me know.
My daughter’s experience demonstrates we have a lot more to learn about the behavior of even common birds such as the northern mockingbird.
SUET SUCCESS STORY
Recently Becky sent the following that describes the fantastic success she is having attracting birds to her yard with suet. Wow! I wish I could attract as many different species as possible to my yard.
I use Wild Birds Unlimited cylinder suet—Hot Pepper No Mess. It’s kind of expensive, but it brings birds to my feeders year-round and the squirrels have never bothered it. This year I had a Hermit Thrush visit, which was a first. I also have an occasional Catbird visit. Regulars are White-breasted and Brown-headed Nuthatches. Several years ago when there was an eruption of Red-breasted Nuthatches, they also visited my suet. Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Downy, Hairy, Carolina and House Wrens and sometimes the Eastern Bluebirds. Love my suet feeder.
MORE ON JORO SPIDERS
Joro spiders continue to spread across Georgia. Wherever they establish themselves, hosts of homeowners find themselves on the front line of battle against this foreign invader. Recently, two of our fellow bloggers shared their experiences with these large predators. Below you will find what they have to say.
Susan says:
I just freed a baby boy hummingbird from a Joro spider web. I did not take a picture, he was screaming and fighting to get loose, poor baby, it took a while to pick off all the webbing and smooth out his feathers-after being a little frantic in my hand he settled down and let me turn him every which way to free him. Luckily, when I was done, he flew away. I sweep the webs down daily that are around the house and in the flower beds but I missed this one. I live in Toccoa, Ga. I hate Joro spiders and kill as many as I can. They are not supposed to live here and are harmful to our natives.
Penny says:
Perhaps I can provide some information about how Joro spiders adversely affect hummers: the first point is these huge spiders weave very large webs, and their “silk” is much stronger than the average spider. If you ever ran into one, you would know because you can literally hear snapping as they break.
Joros are very observant and intelligent creatures, and they weave their webs where their food of interest frequents. There have been numerous reports of hummers flying into Joro webs that are merely inches from nectar feeders. Hummers also encounter webs in large flowering bushes such as lantanas. Joro web silk is incredibly strong, and hummers fly right into the webs and cannot free themselves.
It pays to visit your feeders and bushes and remove the webs periodically. I hope this helps!
A GREAT PILEATED WOODPECKER STORY!
A while back, I wrote a blog entitled Attracting Pileated Woodpeckers To A Feeder Is A Challenge. The column generated a number of responses from bloggers throughout the country and Canada. One of the responses came from an anonymous blogger that hails from Ontario. It describes more pileated woodpecker activity on and near a house than I would have thought possible. While most of us are hoping for even an occasional visit by a pileated woodpecker or two, this tale reminds us that if our wishes come true, it is possible the result might far exceed our expectations. Some people might say that what Anonymous from Ontario experienced.
Here is what this blogger wrote:
“A Pileated Woodpecker has been tapping at my windows, window frames, brick and back door for over an hour this morning. I went outside and got within 10 feet. He hopped onto the ground! Two of them have been around for two weeks, and have taken the bark off of some pine logs I used to border a garden. There’s a pine stump that’s 4 feet high I plan to carve. They’ve already removed bark from that, to help me out, I guess. I took photos and loads of video of him from the other side of the window. Either he couldn’t see me or he wasn’t bothered about it. Eventually bits were flying off the window frame so it was time for him to move. Once I assume he’s left, he returns and starts knocking on the windows again. I put two pine logs from a pile that have been bored into by something – wood-borer beetles or ants – on the ground so he can explore those next time he comes back.” (East Gwillimbury area, Ontario)
BLOGGER REPORTS MONARCHS NECTARING AT ENCORE AZALEAS
Native azaleas are nectar plants used by butterflies and other pollinators. However, such is not the case with ornamental azaleas. While these showy exotic spring bloomers are beautiful, they are not known for their production of nectar. However, a few years ago I was surprised to find that a hybrid known as Encore Azalea does indeed attract butterflies.
Since that discovery, I have witnessed eastern tiger swallowtails, cloudless sulphurs, painted ladies, ocolas, common buckeyes, and long-tailed skippers nectaring at Encore Azalea blossoms.
An April 13, 2024, post by an anonymous blogger stated that monarchs also nectar on the shrub.
If you have noticed other butterflies nectaring on Encore Azaleas, please let me know.
FUNNEL WEAVER SPIDERS ARE ODD BACKYARD NEIGHBORS
I think it is safe to say, we went talk about our backyard wildlife neighbors butterflies, moths, bees, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians come to mind. One reason for this is these are the wildlife we most commonly see. However, in truth, they are but a small portion of the animals that inhabit our yards. Once we begin noticing our “other” backyard neighbors, it quickly becomes clear that they are fascinating creatures and play a key role in the health of backyard environment. One group of these critters is the funnel weaver spiders.
One of the ways in which you can often tell a funnel weaver spider is close by is to take a look at their webs. The webs of many of these spiders are horizontal instead of vertical. Some of these spiders also place their webs above ground in shrubs and elsewhere.
Regardless of where you find them, they all feature a funnel along the edge of the web. These webs are often fairly large. If you closely examine the web of a funnel weaver spider, you are likely to see a spider lurking at the entrance of its funnel (sometimes call a retreat). When an insect lands on its web, the spider darts out and capture it.
My wife found the web of a funnel weaver spider in a camellia bush outside our garage. The funnel was directly below an outside light. If I was a funnel weaver spider, I would weaver my web there too. I am sure insects drawn the light routinely fall or land in the web and thus provide this predator was a great source of food.
If you look around your yard, I am sure you will find one or more funnel weaver spiders in your yard too.
BLOGGER HAS BEEN HOSTING A CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD ALL WINTER
Each winter, dedicated hummingbird enthusiasts maintain hummingbird feeders throughout the winter in hopes they will attract a wintering hummingbird. Very few of us are successful in this pursuit. However, since November a blogger that lives in the Atlanta area has been hosting one of the rarest hummingbirds ever seen in Georgia. This bird is a female calliope.
Here is what hummingbird’s host has to say about this experience, “I have been hosting a calliope in my backyard since November 11 although she may have arrived earlier. At the time, I had an abundance of late blooming nectar sources but immediately fired up my sugar water and put out a feeder for her. During the artic blast we had a few weeks ago, I was able to keep the sugar water from freezing with rotations and hand warmers but have now purchased a heated hummingbird feeder should she somehow come back next year.”
As late as a couple of days ago, the bird was still patrolling her backyard.
The calliope is the smallest breeding bird in the United States and Canada. In addition, it is also one of the smallest birds in the entire world. It weighs about as much as a ping-pong ball (1/10 of an ounce) and is only three inches long.
