Naturally
The yard’s starlings used mimicry to tell me of the other voices they’ve heard recently.
The first warbler I see each spring is the yellow-rumped warbler, nicknamed “butterbutt.” It’s first in line because it’s capable of eating berries and suet, plus it winters closer to us than do other warblers. The first flycatcher to return is the eastern phoebe. It says fee-bee and commonly nests on outbuildings. The first swallow I see is a tree swallow, which has a diet of insects, but may eat plant material during bad weather.
When the marshes are open, the goose migration has passed. I heard a ruby-crowned kinglet singing outside of church. A tiny bird with an enormous voice.
In February, peregrine falcons return to the nest box on top of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. From mid-March to mid-April, 1 to 5 eggs are laid, which hatch in mid-May after about a 35-day incubation period. The chicks are named by patients, staff and volunteers. They fledge in June and July. The Latin name for the peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus, means “wanderer.” A peregrine is a crow-sized bird and an adult has a blue-gray back with a light-colored horizontal striped underside and a dark-colored head. The male is about 1/3 smaller than the female. They can reach speeds over 240 mph in spectacular dives and live on every continent except Antarctica. Historically, the peregrine falcon preferred nests on high cliffs near water. Today, the birds are found on smokestacks, bridges and tall buildings such as those of the Mayo Clinic.
Male wood ducks call to females with a squeaky whistle of "jeeeee." The females call with a different, louder "whoo-eek" whistle, the most commonly heard wood duck sound.
Bluebirds
Keith Radel of Faribault said he’d fledged 140 black-capped chickadees last year. House wrens can be hard on chickadee eggs. He recommends closing vent holes on bluebird boxes and not worrying about the boxes being too hot.
Mike Jeresek of Rushford puts a vanilla-scented pine tree (car air freshener) in each bluebird box or sprays each with an undiluted vanilla spray. Gnats can be lethal to nestlings and the vanilla discourages them. Mike finds the gnats terrible from the last week of May through July 4 in his area. Bluebirders living where bears live, might not want to use the vanilla technique, as bears will destroy the boxes. He isn’t concerned with the direction his boxes face. His only recommendation is they should face toward a tree and not a road. A young bluebird can fly up to 300 feet when fledging and prefers landing in a tree.
Q&A
“What do brown thrashers eat?” Brown thrashers eat mostly insects and other arthropods along with some fruits, seeds and nuts. They typically feed on the ground, sweeping their bills through the leaf litter and soil with quick, sideways motions.
“How many broods do tree swallows have?” Tree swallows raise one brood per year.
Leigh Pomeroy of Mankato asked how to discourage a robin from fighting with a window. A window cleaning company might have hired the robin to drum up business by soiling the glass. Hey, a bird has to put food on the table. OK, the robin doesn’t have a table. All the more reason he needed a job. It’s doing what birds of many species do. When a pair decides on a nest site, the surrounding area becomes their territory and they aggressively defend it by driving away other birds of their species. When a male robin spots another male, a chasing fight ensues. The dominant male gets a mate, the nesting location, the territory and the area’s food. When a territorial bird sees its mirrored image in a window’s reflective surface, it perceives that image as a rival and tries to drive the other bird away. A real robin would leave, but the stubborn reflection remains. Being persistent, the robin continues to attack. To get a robin to stop, block the image. Put a piece of cardboard or plastic cling on the outside of the window where the bird is attacking. Soaping the window works. This may cause Martha Stewart to shudder, but in most cases, you’ll need to cover it only until the shadowboxing robin thinks its worthy adversary has departed. Putting something on the inside of the window generally enhances the mirrored image. Warning: a robin intent on finding a fight will move to another window and some are more determined than others. They fought with the mirror of my car and its baby moon hubcaps. I’ve heard of them battling with gazing balls. I have an angry chickadee providing a glass act here.
Thanks for stopping by
“The rain begins with a single drop.”—Manal al-Sharif.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”—Albert Einstein.
Do good.
©Al Batt 2022
A nuptial tubercle is a fibrous plate on the upper part of an American white pelican’s bill. It will fall off when the mating season is over. Pelicans often fish in groups as these birds are doing. Photos by Al Batt
A lovely book presenting an engaging tale of a Minnesotan’s adventurous search for a feathered treasure buried in Russia’s far east. It’s a quick read only because it’s difficult to put it down.—Al Batt
