Remarkably, mourning dove nesting can take place in the Peach State throughout the entire year. The nesting season usually kicks off in south Georgia in February. Nesting is at its peak throughout the state from mid-May to July and normally winds down in mid-October.
On the average, a female mourning dove will nest three times during this long nesting season.
From now into autumn, untold millions of birds that nested throughout North America will be migrating southward to their wintering grounds. In fact, approximately 75 percent of the birds that nest across the length and breadth of the continent migrate.
Some of the migrants that nest in our backyards include the gray catbird, orchard oriole, Baltimore oriole, barn swallow, tree swallow, chimney swift, summer tanager, great crested flycatcher, wood thrush, and ruby-throated hummingbird.
Since the only honeybees most of us see are those that visit flowers foraging for pollen and nectar, it is natural to assume that this is the only task these tireless workers perform during their lives.
The truth of the matter is female workers begin their lives taking care of the tiny larvae in the hive. Then, when they reach the ripe old age of two to three weeks, they suddenly become for foragers and leave the confines of the hive to collect to food. Once they make this career change, they will perform this job throughout the rest of their lives.
The brown-headed cowbird does not build its own nest or raise its young. Instead, it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and leaves the arduous job of raising its young up to them.
The brown-headed cowbird lays its eggs in the nests of more than two hundred species of birds. The list of birds parasitized by this nest parasite includes backyard favorites such as northern cardinals, brown thrashers, and northern mockingbirds.
In many cases, although their eggs look very different from the eggs of the unsuspecting host birds, the hosts accept them as their own. As such, they end up raising cowbird hatchlings along with their own young.
Interestingly, gray catbirds are rarely parasitized by brown-head-headed cowbirds. Biologists believe this is because, unlike far too many birds, catbirds seem to be able to distinguish color and size differences between their own eggs and those of the cowbird. As such, when a nesting catbird discovers a brown-headed cowbird egg in its nest, it unceremoniously removes it.
Two species of moles inhabit Georgia. The eastern mole ranges across the entire state except northeast Georgia. In this corner of the state, it is replaced by the star-nosed mole.
The eastern mole prefers eating earthworms; however, it will also devour snails, centipedes, and both adult and larval insects including ants. In fact, this rarely seen backyard resident will even burrow into ant mounds in search of tangy ants.
The purple martin is a cavity nester. Historically it nested in such places as woodpecker holes, natural cavities in trees and even in the crevices of cliffs. Purple martins nesting in the western United States still utilize these traditional nesting sites. However, since sometime prior to 1900, such is not the case in the eastern United States. Here our largest swallow appears to have completely abandoned naturally occurring nesting sites.
In all of my years working as a wildlife biologist, I never encountered purple martins nesting in a natural cavity or woodpecker hole. However, years ago I found a pair of purple martins nesting in broken light fixture at a convenience store.
As I pumped gas into my vehicle, I watched a purple martin bringing food to its young housed beneath the plastic cover over a fluorescent light illuminating the fueling area.
If you have ever seen martins nesting in anything other than nest boxes or gourds, please let me know.
Measuring only 7 1/4″ in length, the orchard oriole is the smallest oriole found in North America.
Chances are, if you find an oriole is nesting in your yard, it is going to be an orchard oriole. Orchard orioles breed statewide from late April to mid-June.
Orchard orioles can be frequently seen using birdbaths for bathing and water.
Although this oriole rarely visits seed feeders, they will drink nectar from hummingbird feeders.
Also, look for them feeding on nectar contained in trumpet creeper blossoms.
If you want to catch a glimpse of one of the beautiful little orioles, don’t procrastinate; they leave Georgia for their winter home as early as July.
