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Ojai Naturalist

An Early Spring

20/04/09 at 8.30am   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

Spring was off to an early start in 2019. For the plants of Southern California, spring actually starts with the first rains of winter which begins their growing season that continues through the calendar spring. The birds can get a quick start as well. The California thrashers have a breeding season from December to June with March through May being peak times. The spring birds started arriving a few days before spring officially started, and the thrashers were feeding hatchlings by March 24th. They would have laid the eggs two weeks previous to their hatching. How do I know that they had nestlings? As soon as the chicks hatch the parent birds start stacking worms in their beaks to take back to the hatchlings rather than eating the worms on the spot (this is true of most birds gathering insects or other items for their youngsters).

California thrasher gathering for its nestlings. Now that is how a bird stacks worms! I count 12 in that beak.

One exception to stacking food that I have noticed is in the Bewick’s wren’s behavior. However, I was feeding them giant mealworms, thrown out to them, and that is a lot for a small wren to handle. I also put out dried mealworms in little dishes close by the table, along with small pieces of walnut that I tossed out, for all the birds. Once all the eggs hatch there can be lots of mouths to feed and then the real stacking starts!

Of course, California thrashers, shown above, have quite the advantage with their long, curved beaks. Their beak also enables them to quickly dig deep holes in the ground when searching for food. These holes can look a lot like very little, miniature bomb craters a couple of inches deep.

Another thing that heralds in spring, besides feeding young, is the arrival of our summer birds coming back to do their breeding. One of the earliest to arrive seems to be the orioles. They showed up at the hummer feeders on March 19, 2019 which prompted me to immediately put up my oriole feeders.

Bullock’s oriole
Hooded oriole

The thrasher’s first fledgelings showed up on April 6th. At this stage the parents were still feeding them. It actually takes awhile for a lot of young birds to learn how to use their beaks properly. They will eventually try to pick up a dried worm and try to adjust it in their mouth which results in the worm falling out. I have noticed bluebird fledgelings opening their mouths too wide, as when the parents are stuffing in food, when they are trying to position the worm for swallowing and the food drops out because of their lack of technique. It is quite humorous to see! Mom bluebird will then pick up another worm and give it to them. If they drop that one she picks up another and eats it herself to show how it’s done. One of the interesting things with the thrasher pair is that I got to know which sex my thrashers were. Male and female California thrashers look alike, however they have distinct mating habits. I knew who was who behaviorally because of how they feed with me; however I did not know their sexes.

Dasher feeding two fledglings.

Slasher would come and take a live mealworm from my hand and Dasher would not, although he came in close. When their first brood fledged both thrashers were feeding the brood. After a couple of days Slasher stopped coming around, and Dasher was feeding the fledgelings by himself. That is common behavior for thrashers. The male will feed the first fledglings while the female starts the next batch. That means that Slasher was now sitting on the eggs of the second brood. She was the female. Within a couple of weeks Slasher was back helping feed the second brood.

Tow-Tow II stacking live mealworms for her young.

We had lots of other birds that were feeding young this spring. The California towhee, Tow-Tow II, Buddy the Bewick’s wren and its mate, the House wrens and a pair of Spotted towhees were all catering to young. A few came and took food from my hand on the table and some I threw out food to. The Bewick’s wrens were coming in and hauling off single worms for their babies. The other birds would come in very close to receive their toss outs of nuts or worms.

Buddy the Bewick’s wren coming in for a worm.

The House wrens, the male of which had been singing away all spring, chose a nesting box under the eave of our kitchen door porch. It was a little strange that the House wrens did not notice the other birds feeding or the food that was put out. Never once did they partake. Lots of birds have discovered the food by watching the other birds eating from the dishes, just not them–how different.

House wren feeding young.

The first thrasher brood fledged on April 6th, the day before the White-crowned sparrows left to go north to do their breeding. A Pacific-slope flycatcher came back for the summer on the 12th of April. On the 16th of April, I had a House finch sitting on eggs underneath our carport. That did not last long, however, as a California scrub jay destroyed both eggs and nest on the 24th. Tow-Tow II started stacking worms on April 22nd. The fledgeling thrashers of the second brood showed up on April 16th. Both Dasher, the male, and Slasher, the female had been keeping very busy by this point.

Slasher on the table.

The bluebirds finally got into the act the last week of April when I found two eggs in the bluebird box on the 28th! Last spring the Oak titmice had used the bluebird box as Bonnie and Clyde, the bluebird adults of that spring, stayed in the Silk oak that they had been using the previous two years (see essay “A Surprising Spring”). By May 4th the bluebirds had four hatchlings in the nest! I stopped checking for eggs at this point figuring that I would just count the fledglings when they came out.

Mom feeding the youngsters.
Three of the bluebird nestlings.

Having some hatchlings to feed forced the new male bluebird to quickly learn to come to my hand, as the female was already doing. It was really enjoyable watching the bluebirds at this point because the nest box is less than twenty feet from where we sit in the north yard. By the 21st of May the bluebirds fledged from the Ojai ReTweet up into the higher reaches of thick leaves in the Live oaks. Within less than two weeks the fledglings were feeding with the adults next to us, and I counted five new birds. While all this bluebird activity was going on, both towhee species, California and Spotted, had fledgelings as did the Titmice and both wrens, Bewick’s and House. Within a month the bluebirds had another brood going in the bluebird box. Last year the new male bluebird pushed off the first fledgelings when the second brood was started. This year he did not chase off any of the first brood. Last year the first eggs were Clyde’s and the second set were the new male’s. That could be the difference.

Fledgeling helping feed the second brood.

Not only did the first fledgelings get to stay around, they actually helped feed the second brood. I knew that Western bluebird 1st year adults would help their parents in the spring if they failed to nest or had a nesting failure. However, this was fledgelings helping parents and that is a lot different. Eventually the second group fledged as well, and when they finally came in with the parents I counted four more youngsters for a total of nine.

It was very educating to see the various stages of plumage that these birds go through, not to mention the way the fledgeling bluebirds had to learn to use their beaks, just as the thrashers did, as I mentioned previously.

Proud Pops and some of his offspring.

In the above photo Pops is on the left, second from left is a male from the first brood ( notice the rufus color on his sides ), and the other four to the right are from the second brood (no rufus on their sides yet).

This spring started early with the thrashers in March and ended with the bluebirds fledging their second brood on July 16th. It sure was a long and very busy time for both the birds and me. However, every spring brings a feeling of regeneration and growth that is always such a joy to behold each year. To see the earth replenish itself as it does is an awesome experience to watch! I am so grateful that I get observe these happenings around me and share them with you!

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

Winter Arrivals: An Old Friend Returns and New Friendships Made

19/05/13 at 11.48am   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   2 Comments

As fall was underway in 2018, my thoughts turned to the return of our hermit thrush Patience, who has been coming back here for the winter the last three years (see essays, “Theatrical Thrush”, “Winter Arrivals”, “Winter Arrivals; And Then Some”). Migratory birds will return to the same wintering or breeding spots if they have had success there previously. I guarantee you that Patience enjoyed her three winters here! We had already had our other winter arrivals, white-crowned sparrows, dark-eyed juncos and yellow-rumped warblers, and I was getting anxious.

Patience our Hermit thrush returns for her fourth winter, 2018.

Well, on October 23, she returned for her fourth winter! She showed up on her favorite rock by the jade trees, which I have dubbed Mount Precious, doing her little wing shake and waited there until I got back with the worms. She immediately flew to my hand for a worm. Patience is back!

I must note here that I had recently changed the way I feed the birds. I had started putting the dried mealworm dishes closer to where I sit when I feed the birds. The farthest is at ten or twelve feet and some are as close as on the patio table where I sit. This was to keep out the ground squirrels and scrub jays. I also started feeding them in the late afternoon only, well kind of. In the morning I would be at the table, doing whatever, and I would put a dish of dried mealworms opposite me and have walnut pieces for the seed eaters, who also eat the dried mealworms. I also have the live mealworms for the hand feeders. These feeding sessions last only an hour to an hour and a half and always under my supervision. This causes the birds to identify more with me as being a great source of food. This further breaks down their fear of me and lets them act in a more natural way when I am around them.

Putting a feeding dish up on the table really paid off. When birds see other birds eating or gathering food they will come in and check things out.

Immature white-crowned sparrow in the bottom left and a California towhee in the top right.

And check things out they did! It gets a little crowded at times, especially when the food first comes out. Everybody wants their share! It is also very interesting to observe them working out the pecking order, both within and across species. This first rush lasts about twenty minutes and then suddenly you notice that the birds are all gone. They then come back in about fifteen or twenty minutes and will usually get in three to four feeds during the feeding session.

Buddy the Bewick’s wren coming for a worm.

Of course, we still have our year round birds coming in, some of which are the hand feeders, however most are ones that I will throw food to, either on the ground or onto the table. It is quite hard for a bird as small as the Bewick’s wren to find a spot in the pecking order, they being the omegas here, not even close to an alpha. However they do find their chances to get in. We have two other Bewick’s wrens that come to feed; one is Buddy’s mate and the other is from the north side of the property. They do not come to hand so I will toss out a worm onto the table and they will fly down from their chair perches to get them.

Our oak titmouse, Tweeter, will take from my hand but it’s mate will not, so I toss the food onto the table for the mate. With this behavior I have come to realize that I can know which of the two birds I am feeding, even when they come by alone, otherwise I would not have a clue as to who’s who.

Northern mockingbird on Mount Patience.

Another bird that was here last winter and showed up again this year was a Northern mockingbird. I fully expected it to be around last spring since it is a year-round resident, however it never showed. Well, it came back this winter. It perches on Mount Patience, or other rocks, and I toss it live mealworms. We’ll see if it stays this spring.

Whitey coming for a worm.

Since I now have more birds coming up onto the table with me, I decided to see who else I could lure to my hand. It’s a lot like fishing–you use good bait, make a good presentation and reel ’em in. It worked on a White-crowned sparrow fairly quickly. I have to think that he is a bird who has been here during previous winters. It seemed very eager to come to come get a worm. It had been watching the other birds take from my hand, and I’m sure that helped. I named this bird Whitey

Considering that I only put one feeder dish of dried mealworms up on the table in the mornings, instead of the three of four that I put on the ground for the afternoon feed, the birds all get along fairly well. There is a pecking order as to who feeds when, however everyone seems to be able to get their chances. The California towhees used to be the top bird at the feeders, but they have been replaced by the California thrashers as top dog, I mean bird.

In the winter we usually get a small flock of Yellow-rumped warblers. Last winter and this winter we seemed to only get one. Last winter it would come to the worm dishes when the bluebirds came in. This year was the same, only one and it would show up with the bluebirds to feed. Since all the birds, well most anyway, were coming to the table the warbler did also.

Yellow-rumped warbler hovering over the feeding dish.
Yellow-rumped warbler.

The Yellow-rumped came in a little differently than the other birds. It would hover over the dish to snag a worm. That made it really tough to get a really good photo of it. Eventually it calmed down enough and started landing, and I managed a better photo that shows the species more clearly.

The Dark-eyed juncos that winter here do not come up on the table to feed. They do, however, approach close enough so that I can throw them little pieces of walnut. They have now associated me with being responsible for the food being provided. During the winter the juncos replace the Bewick’s wrens as bottom of the pecking order.

One of the California towhee pairs are coming up on the table to feed together. This pair contains the new Tow-Tow II.

Tow-Tow II, on the right, and it’s mate. Notice all the little pieces of walnut I put on the table.

Tow-Tow II and it’s mate are from the south and are the South Tows and the other pair are the East Tows. The East Tows come up on the table also but are more skittish at this point. Since towhees are territorial, as are most animals (us included), it will be interesting to watch the dynamics between them unfold over time.

The other really cool event this winter were the California thrashers. Since the feeders were brought in closer the thrashers followed. This enabled me to quite easily toss out live mealworms to them. They very quickly focused on me. The more aggressive one, Slasher, came to my hand in just a few days!

Slasher grabbing a worm.

The other thrasher, Dasher, would only come within a couple of feet of me and I would toss out its worms. I decided to keep this behavior unchanged so that I could recognize which bird was which. I have done this with other pairs of birds over the years and it really helps. I think that Slasher is the female of the pair based on its aggression. It was much the same with Tow-Tow and its mate. However I can not say that with any surety.

Hooded oriole.

Winter was coming to an end when on March 18th we had our first spring arrival and it was the Hooded orioles. All the wintering birds were still here. The first to leave was Patience, the Hermit thrush, on March 23rd. The Rufus hummingbirds had already arrived for the spring on March 20th. Not only that but spring really encroached when the California thrashers started stacking worms in their beak to take back to nestlings! That was on March 24th, the day after Patience left. The thrashers are very early nesters. Their nesting season is from December to June with March through May the peak times. I will have plenty more information on the thrashers in my next essay.

Most of the White-crowned sparrows left on April 7th, except for two who left on April 18th. Last fall we had two Hooded orioles that stayed three weeks after the others had gone south. Some birds seem to miss the text messages I guess. We had a fun winter with our winter friends, however I must say that Patience will always be the star in winter, as long as she shows up.

Patience the Hermit thrush.

Absolutely nothing is permanent in nature. The only constant is change. My relationships with the birds and other animals are always changing. One thing that does stay the same is my enjoyment of these relationships. Last year I lost three birds that fed by hand; the bluebird pair Bonnie and Clyde, after three springs, and Tow-Tow, which was a five year relationship. This year I gained another winter bird, besides Patience, that takes from my hand– that would be Whitey. With the resident birds, I picked up Slasher and Tow-Tow II as hand feeders. In the end I haven’t lost anything. What I have really gained is more wonderful experiences with my friends!

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

A Bad Hair Month

19/02/17 at 4.25pm   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

We, being the animals that we are, shed hair. Dogs shed. Cats shed. You notice all the hair that builds up in your hair brush don’t you? How about a white, long haired cat that likes to get up in your lap, good luck with that. It is one of the criteria of being a mammal: having hair. Yup, animals shed. Birds also shed and this is called a molt or molting. While feathers are actually very durable, they do wear out, as with all things in life, and must be replaced. However, because feathers are necessary for flight, there are certain periods of molting, and also sequences, that are followed.

Buddy the Bewick’s wren during a prebasic (formerly called postnuptual) molt, 2015.
This is how Buddy would normally look. This photo from 2018.

All adult birds molt at least once a year. Many birds will molt twice a year. Few birds molt three times a year and it is very rare to have four molts in a species. The prebasic (formerly postnuptual) period of molting generally occurs after breeding. This is when food is still plentiful and the demands of breeding are over. Feathers make up 4% to 12% of a bird’s body weight, and this requires the bird to use a lot of energy to replace the lost feathers.

Tow-Tow starting her prebasic molt, 2015.

Within the same species the sequence or progression of the molt tends to be relatively the same; in many birds the body feathers are molted progressively in “waves,” beginning on the head, face, and throat, extending backwards toward the tail. There is usually a symmetrical loss of feathers from both sides of the body, which balances feather loss, so that the bird still functions.

California thrasher during a prebasic molt, 2018.

A good many species have a prealternate (formerly called prenuptual) molt during late winter or spring, usually it is a partial one. The prealternate molt tends to make the males have more prominent plumage than the females.

In most male ducks the full adult plumage at the end of the breeding season is replaced by a dull basic plumage (formerly called eclipse plumage), in which the males resemble the females. This period lasts for about two months.

How a California thrasher looks when not molting.

Most birds molt wing and tail feathers, so critical for flight, symmetrically and one or two pairs at a time. As a result of the gradual, balanced loss of feathers, most birds are able to fly at all times. Before I ever started bird watching, I would see a raptor soaring and notice that a wing or tail feather was missing. I used to think that some yahoo was shooting at them. It is nice to know that I was wrong on that. One last fact; any single full feather lost between molts is replaced immediately.

Tow-Tow in a prebasic molt, 2015.

These molts that birds do take some time. I don’t know if the molt lasts a full month, but it is close to that. I have been watching some of the birds here molt every summer for several years now. They look so disheveled, and I find that I really feel for them. I do have one question in my mind about being in a molt; besides looking really bad, do they feel bad? Like, is it itchy?

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

A Towhee Tribute

18/12/13 at 11.09am   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   3 Comments

Having had so long a relationship with our beloved California towhee, Tow-Tow, who we lost last spring of 2018, I feel a need to pay her homage, so here it is.

We have had California towhees since we moved here in 2004. They are a very common bird in our area. They are basically a big, fat, brown ground sparrows. They will scratch in the leaf duff, making a lot of noise, very much like a chicken. I had started to feed the towhees in 2013 and was enjoying their company. I don’t remember the exact time that I started calling Tow-Tow, Tow-Tow but I do recall why. I was always calling out ” Tow-Tow, Tow-Tow” to her when I wanted to feed her. It was plain and simple. Calling Tow-Tow a “her” came about because over the years we noticed that she would get very plump in the spring, and then she would show up all svelte after she laid her eggs, so I presumed it was a female.

Tow-Tow stacking worms for her nestlings, 2014.

It got to the point that when she would come around the corner of the house and I would call to her, she would run the thirty feet over to me to be fed. She was the first bird that I had the opportunity to establish a true relationship with. We were well aware of each other.

Tow-Tow with a Sphinx moth caterpillar.

With the towhees being so close to me, I often was shown little insights into behaviors of all sorts. In some years there would be a hatch of green caterpillars that, while they were mostly up in the trees, also fell to the ground in good numbers. Two different caterpillars could be noticed. One was a green larva that was slightly smaller than the mealworms I use, the other was considerably larger and was a sphinx moth caterpillar.

Most birds mate and rear young in the spring because of one fact: more food. There are a whole lot of larval insects around to keep young fledgelings healthy. The larva can also be an indicator of when a bird is feeding hatchlings because the birds will be stacking the worms in their beaks to take back to their nests rather than just eating them immediately. This stacking of worms in their beaks helped me to find Tow-Tow’s nest in 2014. After I would fill up Tow-Tow’s beak with worms, she would fly off to the south yard. I decided to try and follow her. When I followed her around the corner to the south yard, I lost sight of her. I waited there patiently until she returned to me for more worms, and I filled up her beak again. Off she flew to her nest, ten feet away from where I was standing! I could see her nest! Well, that worked pretty well.

Tow-Tow feeding her nestlings, 2014.

Tow-Tow’s nesting effort of 2014 ended in failure (see essay “Nest Watching Wonders”). Towhees make their nests very low to the ground, usually within a couple of feet of it. This particular nest was also a little bit open to view and therefore a prime candidate for predation. Birds are pretty much forced to mate in spring because of chemical changes in their bodies, so Tow-Tow would attempt to have more broods over the years and we would see lots of them.

When one has a relationship with a wild bird, or any animal, over the course of a few years it can open up insights into that animal’s behavior. One distinct behavior of the towhees was shown to us one spring while they were doing a bonding ritual that they do. We had seen it before, however we were inside at the time and did not hear the calls that they apparently make. This time we were at the table in the north yard and the towhees were eight feet away from us. One towhee, I would presume the male, would pick up a small twig and bring it as an offering to its mate. What we got to hear this time was the low, soft chip notes that they were making while they did this bonding ritual. It was fascinating!

Tow-Tow cleaning up her act.

Towhees are stoical birds. Nothing much seems to bother them, that is, other than another towhee in their territory, then they will fight. Not too much though, usually it is just a quick squabble. Besides showing up for the food I offer, towhees and all the other birds also show up for the water here in my yard. Not only to drink but to bathe. Where I live the habitat provides most of the bird’s needs. Where I live is also in Southern California, which means: not much water. To combat this I have eight bird baths. On the south side of the house I have three birdbaths, one on the ground and two off it. On the north side I have five, two on the ground and three off. What’s that saying, “Build it and they will come.” It works!

Tow-Tow bringing worms to her babies, 2016.

Mostly though, the birds come to eat. I have the best and easiest to find food around these parts. They also bring their fledgelings in from time to time. Sometimes they would be quite close to us. It was always enjoyable to see the youngsters. After all, we did feel like grandparents pretty much.

Tow-Tow on the right and one of her fledgelings on left, 2017.

Some years Tow-Tow would have a second brood, some years not. I don’t really know why. The food resources that I would make available to them were kept constant. I feed them every day, however I only feed the birds when I am able to be out there with them. That is so I can keep the undesirables out, like the ground squirrels. Animals can get very pushy over food. The bluebirds, Bonnie and Clyde, would fly right in front of our faces when flying in to let us know that they are here. Patience, the Hermit thrush, would fly to our faces and back from its perch on the chair next to us when we were not paying attention to it. And all the birds we hand feed would come on top of the table and check us out very closely whenever they would come through.

Tow-Tow stacking worms for her young, 2017.

When Tow-Tow would fly up onto the table, she is a ground bird remember, you would hear a loud thump. One always knew when it was Tow-Tow. The last month before Tow-Tow disappeared she added something to her checking us out for food routine. If our hand was on the table she would come right up to it to see if it held any food. First she would look around the area of the little finger and then move to the index finger and thumb. She would then inspect inside the hole that the finger and thumb make when resting on a table. Having found no worms she would then peck our index finger! That’s right, peck our finger! She did it twice to me and twice to my wife. Talk about a brazen bird! But hey, we did, after all, have a long standing relationship going on. She should be allowed that discretion. Not only was it allowed, we loved it! Tow-Tow was always a calm and peaceful presence in our yard and we enjoyed her immensely, to say the least. I am already grooming a replacement for Tow-Tow. This California towhee is already coming up onto the table to eat, so it is only a matter of time before she is taking food from my hand. I even have a name for it already, Tow-Tow II. In memoriam to Tow-Tow.

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

A Shocking Spring

18/10/13 at 11.04am   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

As spring arrives there is an abundance of activity from our avian friends. Bonnie and Clyde, the bluebirds, are nesting in the same hole in a tree that they had used the previous two years. The Oak titmice actually used the bluebird box that we had put up close to us at the table in the north yard. However, the first shock of the spring was that we had another pair of bluebirds nesting on the south side of the house!

Bluebirds in the pepper tree on the south side of the house. The male with a mouthful of dried mealworms.

One of this pair was probably an offspring of Bonnie and Clyde. While I can see Bonnie and Clyde’s nest opening in a silk oak from where I sit in the north yard, this other bluebird nest was in a pepper tree that was situated so I could see the opening from where I sit in the living room, way cool! The bluebird nesting box that was being used by the titmice was even closer to me than the nests of the bluebirds were when I was in the north yard at the table.

Of course, there were other bird species that were also nesting. My Bewick’s wren, Buddy and its mate, were feeding nestlings and a second Bewick’s wren was also feeding young, although it appeared to be a single parent. I say that because it never came in to feed with another of its species. The White-breasted nuthatches and two California towhee pairs were also feeding hatchlings.

Buddy taking a worm from the table.

While Buddy the Bewick’s wren would come to hand, its mate would not. This resulted in my just throwing live mealworms onto the table for them to pick up. I also would throw the worms onto the ground when the birds would be foraging there. The single wren also would come to the table to get worms, though not from the hand.

East towhee going back with a mouthful of worms for her young.

Our dear Tow-tow, the California towhee, and its mate, would come to the top of the table to get worms for their brood. The other towhee pair only came by and fed on the ground. Tow-Tow and its mate nested south of us and the other towhee pair nested east. The Oak titmice were nesting twenty feet away from our table in the bluebird box. One of the titmice, Tweeter, was a hand feeder. Both these parents would feed at the table for nuts and dried mealworms. Tweeter had been with us for a few years already while its mate was new.

Shorty the nuthatch.

And then we had our nuthatches on top of that! They were mostly nut feeders, not that they wouldn’t scarf up a worm in a New York second, let alone a minute. The nuthatches both came to the table to feed on pieces of walnut that I would throw out to them and would also eat the bird kibble, which is my name for the dried mealworms that were placed in ground feeders. They also received a live mealworm from me on occasion. Wow, that has us helping out two Western bluebird families, two California towhee families, two Bewick’s wren families, one family of Oak titmice and the White-breasted nuthatch brood. That makes eight bird families that we are helping feed!

Tow-Tow and her mate with the three fledgelings.

The California towhees, Tow-Tow, and its mate, were the first to have fledgelings thts spring. They showed up at the feeders with three fine looking youngsters.

Buddy and its mate seemed to have fledged three. The other single Bewick’s wren’s fledgelings I never really got a count on, as the mother never brought them in close enough. The same held true for the towhees on the east side of us. It was a very busy area here at the time so maybe they weren’t comfortable enough to bring them in like Tow-Tow did with hers.

Oak titmouse nest in bluebird box.

The Oak titmice, using the bluebird box, did their thing so quietly and quickly that they had their hatchlings fledged before I realized that I had never took a photo of them at the nesting box! How shameful of me! I did, however, get a photo of their nest. Just as an excuse, the bluebird box is behind me, back to my left, and when I’m sitting at the table and there is so much going on here at all times, I failed to notice their activity. At least I had a count on their fledgelings, which was three. The White-breasted nuthatches brought two young in tow when they came through feeding. There were young everywhere we looked! Bigger things were still to happen, however.

Early into the feeding of Bonnie and Clyde’s first brood of this spring, another male shows up to help with the feeding. That is not so unusual and we had seen it before (see essay “A Bluebird Bonding Continued…”). Clyde was a little aggressive towards this new male, however he did not chase it off entirely because he had mouths to feed in his nest and this new male was, after all, helping to feed the young. Within a week and a half, before this brood has fledged, Clyde disappears! I did not know the reason for this departure. The new male helped Bonnie fledge three youngsters from that brood. Within a couple of weeks the new male is aggressively chasing off the new bluebirds and feeding Bonnie food because she has started making some more eggs to lay and needs the food. Apparently this new male will be the father of this second clutch.

The new bluebird dad with one of the first brood fledgelings, 2018. You can tell she is a female because of her color of blue.

I was also putting out bird kibble for the bluebirds on the south side of the house. They did very well and fledged four youngsters. Because of the upheaval with Bonnie and Clyde’s first brood on the north side, they also seemed to pick up a fledgeling dispersed from them.

Five fledgelings feeding on the north side along with two males.

Within a week or so our beloved towhee Tow-Tow stops showing up, just like that! Right after that I notice that I am only seeing three titmice coming by now instead of the five we had at first. One is definitely Tweeter because he feeds from my hand, and the other two appear to be fledgelings. Also at this time the second brood of Bonnie and her new mate are fledged and they are being fed up in the oaks. The main thing that happened during this time frame that might explain things was when a Cooper’s hawk alighted in a large oak limb some fifty feet away from me. I thought it had landed awkwardly and continued watching it. It suddenly started plucking feathers of a bird! It had the bird in its talons when it landed and that caused the awkwardness.

Cooper’s hawk in my yard.

I made note of where the feathers were landing on the other side of the fence so that I could gather them and identify what species it might be. Within a few minutes the hawk leaves and I go round up the feathers. Upon identification they belong to a Oak titmouse. Could this be how we were losing our birds?

Bonnie is still feeding her second brood at this point and then something strange happens. The calls of the fledgelings when Bonnie went up to feed had stopped. Not only that, she was returning to the table with the worms still in her mouth, having to eat them herself. Finally, she disappeared herself within a few days! That was a whole lot of birds to lose in a short period of time. Could the Cooper’s be the culprit? If it would eat a tiny titmouse it would surely take a fat, slow flying bluebird fledgeling, that’s for sure. We have a lot of Cooper’s here and as a result I have seen a few kills (see essay “Predators and Prey”), so it is highly possible. Also, I do not see any animal giving up on a habitat that contains lots of food. Oh well, I’ll never know.

So that I could keep an eye on the feeders on the south side of the house, I moved them to the patio on the east side where I could purvey them. With this placement, I could better keep the ground squirrels from eating the bird food, which they had been doing.

Bluebirds eating on the east side patio.

All the remaining bluebirds had now formed one flock. I was using four food dishes at this point. Two south of the table in the north yard and two just west of it. Animals pay attention to what other animals are doing, especially when it comes to eating. Last winter we had a couple of birds come to the feeders because they had observed the other birds feeding. We would get some Yellow-rumped warblers to come in with the bluebirds and we finally had the Northern mockingbird come down from the oaks to feed also. I fully expected the mockingbird to be around this spring, however it never showed, which surprised me a bit. Anyway, we did pick up one more bird that I was interested in, a California thrasher!

California thrasher at one of the east side feeders.

Actually, we picked up four thrashers, both parents and two fledgelings. I named the parent thrashers Slasher and Dasher. Slasher, for that long curved beak that they use to forage in the duff, and Dasher for the way they run along the ground. They seem to run more than a roadrunner does! The thrashers are extremely shy brush birds. Any attempt to throw them food previously only resulted in scaring them away. It was nice to have a drawing card to finally attract them closer. While we lost some birds, Bonnie, Clyde and Tow-Tow, which was shocking to say the least, we have gained others this spring. It is said the only constant in life is change. Life is always changing. Life is also tenuous at best here on this planet. That is the way it is in nature. New relationships will form and others will end. What I look forward to is that the experiences never end, only some of the characters change.

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

Winter Arrivals; And Then Some

18/03/04 at 5.37pm   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

As fall is approaching in 2017, my thoughts turn to our winter visitors that we start getting in October. More specifically our dear Hermit thrush Patience.  She had been here the previous two years ( see essays “Theatrical Thrush” and “Winter Arrivals”) and I fully expected her return this year, barring some catastrophe.  The White-crowned sparrows and Dark-eyed juncos were the first to show up in early October, in a small flock of each species.  As the month progressed, I thought more about Patience and her returning.  On October 23rd I glanced over to the rocks next to me and there she was on her favorite rock!  Patience was back for her third winter!

Patience taking a worm from my hand, Winter of 17-18. Her favorite rock in the background.

How did I know that it was Patience? She waited on her favorite rock while I went into the house to get some live mealworms for her and she immediately flew to my hand for a worm. It was Patience for sure. This is the third winter that she will be staying with us. Birds will return to the same nesting territories in spring and this shows the same awareness for wintering birds as well. Why wouldn’t a bird return to a place that provides for them? They are very aware of what is going on around them and seem to have some memory of past encounters.

Patience on her rock.

The only other question that remained was, would Agro, the other Hermit thrush that also showed up the last two winters, be here also? As I mentioned in my previous essays Agro would chase off Patience to the other side of the house and I would have to feed her there. Well, Agro never arrived, which let me enjoy the relationship I had with Patience a whole lot more.

White-crowned sparrow.

As I mentioned previously in this essay, the first to arrive were the White-crowned sparrows. They started out with a small flock of four or five birds and grew from there. They would feed on the dried mealworms and also take small pieces of walnut that I would throw out to them.

Dark-eyed junco.

And then there were the Dark-eyed juncos, which are cousins of the White-crowned, again in another small flock of four or five. They are cute little birds, much smaller than the White-crowns. They are also extremely timid. They could only get to the worms when the other birds were not around and of course I threw them pieces of walnut also, which they ate heartily. Another winter visitor here that was not new to us in the winter but had started to come to the mealworms on the ground was a Yellow-rumped warbler.

Yellow-rumped warbler.

It had been following and watching the bluebirds feed and was now enjoying the worms also.

The Yellow-rumped is the fourth wintering bird that we are feeding now, however this winter was going to have a few surprises in the form of our year round residents.

The first to get my attention was a Bewick’s wren. When the wren would come by very close to me while it was foraging and checking out what the other birds were all eating, I would throw out a worm for her to consume. The wren soon focussed on me as the source of her delight. Since things were very busy around the feeders and it was the smallest bird here, besides the hummers, it was tough for it to find an opportunity to feed. The wren started to call to me with a soft “pit-pit, pit-pit-pit” from the tops of some tall Aloe Vera plants and I would throw a worm up over the metal fence corner post for it to gather. I decided to call this bird Buddy.

Bewick’s wren in the Aloe.

Eventually I worked Buddy in closer and closer until I had Buddy right next to me in the jade trees by the table. It is a good staging spot for birds when they are feeding around the table. I had also been using the little “pit-pit” call to alert it that a worm was coming from me. Buddy picked up on that really quick. There also were some rocks underneath the jade trees, one of which was Patience’s favorite.

Buddy and Patience waiting for worms.

At this point I was still throwing worms out to Buddy. When both birds were here at the same time I had to feed Patience first and then throw out to Buddy while Patience was eating hers. I finally decided to tempt Buddy to my hand for a worm. She did eventually come but it was a bit different, just like Bonnie the bluebird had done early in her taking worms by hand. Buddy would only come to an open hand for a worm. It would not come if you were holding it with your fingers. However, come it did! It would land on my fingertips, take two hops forward and grab the worm. It was extremely adorable!

Buddy the Bewick’s wren taking from my hand.

There were more visitors to our food dishes that winter which we had not had previously. Other year round residents of our yard were paying attention to all the birds actively feeding now. They knew that it was food and would come in closer to investigate. One of the birds investigating was a Spotted towhee. I gave it further incentive by throwing out nice pieces of walnut, since they are, like the California towhees, just big fat ground sparrows and therefore like nuts. When I would work with the Spotted towhee, throwing him pieces of walnut, I would use the call that the spotted would make foraging, just like I did with Buddy. The towhee’s call was a loud “braaack”. That also brought to mind a name for the Spotted towhee, Braaack Obama. Kind of a silly name maybe but it worked for me.

Dark-eyed junco, Western bluebird and Spotted towhee feeding. The bluebird is on one of the feeding dishes.

Another bird that I had been hearing up in the oaks above me for a couple of weeks finally came to the feeders. I knew that there was a Northern mockingbird up in the trees from hearing it’s calls. Well, it finally came down to feed.

Northern mockingbird at one of the feeding dishes.

I also started throwing out worms to it in order to get it’s focus on me and who and what was responsible for the worms. After all, that is my modus operandi isn’t it? Let them know just who Daddy Food Bags is around here. I am pretty sure that is my nickname with all the birds, “Daddy Food Bags” or something equivalent. I also was using the mockingbird’s call, a loud “chew”, to alert it to the coming worm. All three of these new birds would recognize and focus on me when I would use the appropriate call of their species. This was getting to be a whole lot of fun!

White-breasted nuthatch on Patience’s rock.

Another bird that I caught while fishing with meal worms and walnut pieces, this is a lot like trout fishing with flies, was a White-breasted nuthatch. They are small little birds with short legs and a low posture, which led me to it’s name, Shorty. Yeah, I know, real original isn’t it? I got it’s attention with worms and then used walnut, which is less expensive. That gives me four more year round birds that are very focussed on me, Daddy Food Bags. It is all very enjoyable, as you can imagine. However, the sole purpose of this is to remove their fear of me so that they will act totally natural in their behavior when they are around me. It lets me see little insights, from time to time, of their relationships with all the other birds and even other species. Everything is interconnected and intertwined on this planet and my feeding of the birds and other little creatures helps me see this up close and personal. I find that so incredibly rewarding!

Your’s in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

A Western Bluebird Bonding: Continued…

17/07/23 at 2.26pm   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

I mentioned in a previous essay that the adult bluebirds, Bonnie and Clyde, had not pushed off their young from from spring of 2016 until late January of this year. By early spring Bonnie was begging Clyde for food with wing shakes and open mouth just like a fledgeling. She does this because she is growing eggs for the nest and needs the extra food. Once she lays the eggs Pops (the name I normally call Clyde) will feed her while she incubates them. We had been watching them as they refurbished the nesting cavity that they used last year (see essay ” A Western Bluebird Bonding”) and we were excited at the prospects! While incubating the eggs Bonnie will leave the nest from time to time and feed at the table. One thing is certain however: if she is stacking worms in her mouth, she has hatchlings!

Bonnie stacking worms for the hatchlings

They made countless journeys to the nest over the next three weeks or so to feed the little ones inside the hole in the tree. One morning it was different. The parents were not flying to the hole but up into the far reaches of the oaks. The young have fledged! The young will stay up in the leafy branches of the oaks for their safety until they become proficient flyers. We knew it would be only a matter of time before they were at the table.

Pops getting a worm for the fledgelings, 2017.

We were curious as to how many young have fledged this spring. The parents had been eating great since they got here over a year ago and we wondered if that would affect the clutch size this year. We only catch glimpses of the young when they are up in the oaks and it is very hard to determine just how many birds you are seeing. Once they start following their parents around on their search for food they will arrive closer and we will get an accurate account.

A first brood fledgeling gulping them down, 2017.

Arrive they did and soon they started feeding themselves at the table. It was still very hard to get a count of the young at first because they come in and out so quickly. Once they settled down we found that they had three fledgelings, the same as last year. As the fledgelings are maturing and feeding themselves, I notice that Bonnie is doing that little wing shake and open mouth that fledgelings do and Pops is feeding her.

Three fledgelings of the first brood, 2017.

That can mean only one thing, she is having a second brood! Within a few weeks the first brood has been dispersed from the area and Bonnie lays a second clutch of eggs. This was very different than last year, when they kept their young for several months. Last year they did not have a second brood, which is probably why the young got to stay around so long. I would have to say that Bonnie fed pretty well here since she is having a second clutch. Food resources play a big role in clutch size and number of broods that a bird has. As the bluebirds were feeding this second brood they received some help from one of their sons from the previous nesting effort of 2016.

Bonnie on the right, Clyde in the middle and one of their sons from 2016 top left

Year old bluebirds can sometimes end up with a part of their parents’ territory when they move out. If one of the young from the previous year have a nest failure or fail to nest they will sometimes help their parents to care for this years youngsters. One of the sons from 2016 showed up with a female to help out with the second brood. Probably because there was no genetic investment on her part the new female only stayed for a couple of weeks before she flew the coup, so to speak. The son, who I called junior, stayed the course.

The five fledglings from the second brood with the three adults that fed them.

As the young started to show up by our feeding area I tried to get a count on the youngsters. At times I would be able to count at least four fledgelings. That would be more than the previous broods that they have had with us. Wait, is that a fifth fledgeling that I just saw? Yes it is, Bonnie laid five eggs! Wow, Bonnie must be eating extremely well!

With having to feed five young this time I am sure that Bonnie and Clyde appreciated the help from their son. We felt that we had also played a dig part in the process. So much so that we really felt like grandparents! When the second brood started to feed more on their own I moved the feeding dishes up onto the table to bring them closer to us.

At the table the birds are feeding only three feet away from us. It’s up close and personal. It does take some time for the little ones to get used to us. Even with their parents flying to our hands for worms. The only time that the young birds would always come in without fear is when Pops comes in to the table. Then it is a bit like Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”. OK, OK, I exaggerate. However, it is so cute when all five youngsters fly in at once upon his arrival and immediately attack the food! What a dad!

At this point the young still have their streaky breast and upper back feathers. They are, however, showing the color blue that will show their individual sex as bluebirds. The males have more cobalt and the females are more of a sky blue. The problem is trying to get a clean look at them when they are all present. At first I was able to count two males and two females. Eventually I was able to recognize three male fledgelings feeding together at the table with us. OK then, three males and two females it is. The first brood this year was sent away so quickly that I never had a chance to determine their sex.

As the summer wore on and the young bluebirds became more accustomed to us at the table, I noticed that one of the male fledges seemed to be very interested in the mealworms that we were feeding to it’s parents. Which is a bit strange to me because the son, Junior, who came back to help the parents this year never showed any interest in taking a worm from our hand in the one year plus that he was with us.

So what the heck, I offered him a worm and by golly he took it! When I offer worms by hand at the table I start out by offering a worm while my arm is lying on the table so that they can just hop over to it rather than fly over. They seem a lot more open to approaching this way in the beginning. I decided to name him Bright Boy, since he had the sense to figure out what was happening. Within a day or two he was flying right to my hand! This feeding of Bright Boy went on for a couple of weeks when suddenly I noticed Pops chasing Bright Boy away from the feeding area! Within a few days Bright Boy was never to be seen again. Could this be a territorial dispute by Pops over food resources? I think so. Regardless, it was an interesting and informative breeding season with the bluebirds. I saw different behaviors and aspects of bluebird life that I had not observed previously. I will await the wonders of next years breeding season with much anticipation!

Yours in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

Winter Arrivals

16/11/24 at 1.43pm   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

As fall begins in 2016 we are still feeding the bluebird family of five (see essay “A Western Bluebird Bonding”), as well as all the other birds and lizards we normally feed, and I am thinking a lot about wether or not the Hermit thrushes, Patience and Agro ( see essay “Theatrical Thrush”), would return this year.  Birds will return to the same area to nest and also to winter if things were good for them before.  I was really looking forward to seeing them again–well Patience anyway.  However, before the thrushes arrived, we had some return visitors from last winter.  A small flock of five white-crowned sparrows and six dark-eyed juncos showed up for the winter. Hey, that’s why I live here, it is dam nice in the winter.  I had fed small flocks of both the white-crowned and juncos last winter.  The neat thing about both these species is that they are primarily seed eaters, which means that I could use pieces of walnut to entice them rather than live giant mealworms.  It is a lot less expensive and the bluebirds would get all the mealworms anyway.  The bluebirds pay no attention to the nuts.  I have also been using dried mealworms for our year-round birds, however I wasn’t sure if the winter arrivals would be attracted to them.  As the winter birds would forage around us in the yard I would toss out small pieces of walnut.

White-crowned sparrow (left corner) and a dark-eyed junco

white-crowned sparrow

 

 

The birds quickly focused on me tossing out the walnut pieces and came in closer.  This led them to discover the dried mealworms we put out when we are outside, well at least the white-crowned sparrows noticed them.  To my amazement the dark-eyed juncos never showed an interest in them at all.  Maybe they were a little intimidated by all the action around the feeders.

 

Bewick’s wren

 

Besides the five bluebirds, we are feeding two California towhees, two oak titmice and we picked up a Bewick’s wren recently!  Add the eleven new visitors and that is a lot of birds vying for food.  I decided to put out three dried mealworm dishes instead of the two I had been using in order to help out with the congestion around the feeders.  I put two feeders on the ground and one on the table with us.

 

 

 

I must mention that we put out the dried mealworms slightly moistened.  The reason for that is to make them less brittle and easier for the adults to pick up and feed to their young without them breaking up and falling out of their mouths.  We actually call it bird kibble.

There is a pecking order as to who gets to eat first.  The bluebirds are the most aggressive because of their flying ability and their numbers.  However, one on one, the towhees tend to rule the roost, so to speak.  Who I found to be pugnacious little birds were the white-crowned sparrows!  They would stand up a little to the bluebirds and towhees.  Not so with the titmice, they are scared of everyone!  I make sure to toss the titmice food that they can get to when the feeders are busy.

California towhee

Part of the bluebird family

 

As all these birds are settling in with each other my thoughts turn to the hermit thrushes from the previous year, Patience and Agro (see essay “Theatrical Thrush”).  If she even comes back, would Patience come flying to my hand again?  After a few weeks of starting to feed the new arrivals, I spy a hermit thrush on the rocks next to me by the table. Could this be Patience?  I pull out a live giant mealworm from the container and offer it to her by hand and she immediately flies over and takes it from my hand!  “Patience” I cry loudly, “you’re back!”

Over the next couple of days Patience and I renew our friendship.  Then one day I have a hermit thrush on the rocks by the table who won’t come to my hand.  Could this be Agro?  This bird was very familiar with the routine of me tossing worms out, however, he will not fly to my hand for one.  That was the same pattern last year with the thrushes. Last year Agro would chase Patience to the southern side of the house and I would have to feed her there.  I leave the table on the northern side and go around to the southern side of the house.  Lo and behold, there’s Patience waiting to be fed!  She flies to my hand for her worms and then goes on her birdie way.  I knew in my heart that these were the same two birds from last year but I wanted more proof of that.

The only difference between the birds that I could discern last year, other than behavior, was that Agro showed a lot more white underneath his cheeks than Patience had.  It was quite reliable as I always knew which one was which.  I had taken many photos of them last year and I realized that I would be able to compare them to this years photos.

Patience, winter of 2016

Agro, winter of 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patience winter of 2017

Agro winter of 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the white on Agro below the cheek is far more prominent than on Patience.  That clinches it, these are the same birds!

I find it so wondrous to be able to establish a relationship with any wild animal.  My feeding by hand, either tossing out or by hand, has broken down most of the fear that these animals have for us.  Even other animals that we do not directly act with see the behavior of the birds towards us and accept us a bit more also.  Because of this lack of fear, even when I am not feeding them, the birds will come in extremely close looking for food.  They will actually come in closer than when they are being fed.  This lets me see their behavior up close and personal such as the time early one spring when two towhees were exchanging twigs while making some soft little calls to each other.  That was obviously a bonding ritual for the towhees.  I had witnessed it once before, many years ago, without being able to hear the calls because they were not close enough.   Feeding by hand has proven to be a great way to establish a real bond with the animals here. I will go out in the morning and again in late afternoon to give them a feed.  During the rest of the day the birds will come by while they are on their territorial excursions to check for food.  Some of them seem to beg for food by singing to me or coming in very, very close.  Tow Tow, our female towhee, will be up on the table, which is where she normally takes worms from my hand, right in front of me a foot and a half away!  My wife and I have noticed that she has quite the stare.  If there is no food available the birds go on about their foraging ways. Heck, I’ve even seen them walk away from food on the table and just start searching for more in the leaf litter.

Feeding the birds by hand has been such an incredible experience for me.  It brings much joy and entertainment to my day.  You should try it. I know you’ll like it!

Yours in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

A Western Bluebird Bonding

16/06/26 at 4.40pm   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   1 Comment

Early spring of 2016 brought a mated pair of western bluebirds to our yard.  Bluebirds eat insects by catching them in the air or by following the insects to a landing spot on a plant or on the ground.  They often come to the ground when they spy insects from the perch they are on.  Bluebirds are members of the Thrush family, which do happen to spend a lot of time on the ground.  It was this behavior that showed me a way to get their attention with:  “The Power of Mealworms!”  My essays are full of my stories on feeding birds and reptiles and how that affects their behavior toward who is feeding them.  They lose their fear of you.  I start by throwing out large, live mealworms onto the ground where the animal can see them.  The worms wriggle a little and the predator comes on over to snatch the worm up.  Works every time.  The most important things in an animal’s life are food, water and shelter.  The birdbaths bring the birds into the yard and the worms bring them to me!  The habitat was already here.  So now, the birds are focussed on me after only a few worms–“Hey, these Homo sapiens are OK!”  From there it was easy to get them to feed at the table.

The male bluebird snatching up a worm on the table.

The birds would alight on the chairs at the table and fly in for the worms that we would toss onto the table for them.  What really surprised my wife and me was how quickly they learned to take a worm from our hands, in only three days!  We have fed lots of birds but very few will take from our hand.  It’s usually a toss out to them.  Oh, I should mention that we also throw out pieces of walnut to the seed eaters, although they do love mealworms best.  Previously we have had only a California towhee and a hermit thrush take worms from our hands (see essay ” Theatrical Thrush”).  The lizards of all species run over to you like puppy dogs to take worms from your hand.  They are a kick! The birds, they seem more wary.

Pops coming in for his worm.

When the bluebirds arrived as a pair I was trying to think of a famous couple from history that I could name them after.  At this time we were also feeding two pairs of California towhees.  One morning, when I was tossing worms to the towhees that lived east of us, the male bluebird flew down to land close to the towhee that had a worm in its’ mouth. He then hoped over and took the worm right out of the towhee’s mouth and flew off with it!  I thought, “That’s it!  I’ll call them Bonnie and Clyde!”,  although, in all honesty, I usually just call the male Pops.

Bonnie leaving my hand.

As nesting season draws near, Clyde is compelled to start feeding Bonnie.  He will also be feeding her when she finally has eggs in the nest.  He will actually fly in from further away to get to a worm before Bonnie does, only to end up giving it to her.  That’s testosterone for you; it makes males do some crazy things.  Anyway, come nesting season they chose a hole in a tree, being the cavity nesters they are.  The particular cavity they chose was one that our oak titmice used in 2015 to fledge three young.

Titmouse peering out from the hole in spring of 2015

Titmouse entering with a load of worms in 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is way cool because I can view them from where we sit at the table.  At this point we added some dried mealworms to their diet.  We put out the dried mealworms in a container on the table and they quickly learned to take the worms from there, not that we stopped feeding them live ones by hand.

Pops bringing worms to the hatchlings in 2016

 

Soon they were taking worms to the hatchlings in the nest.  This went on for a few weeks until the hatchlings fledged.  At first the parents kept the young up in the foliage of the oaks for safety until they could fly better.  When they gained some flying competency they began to follow their parents around.

 

 

Mom with one of her young.

 

 

The young would follow the adults in, closer and closer to the table, until they were being fed by the adults at the chairs.  As the time for the fledgelings to feed on their own arrived, they had become very accustomed to the situation.

 

 

 

Mom feeding dried mealworms.

 

We were really happy about our decision to include dried mealworms in their diet.  It makes it a lot easier to feed them all.  The parents had fledged three young consisting of a female and two males, so there were more mouths to be fed and we were still feeding all the other birds, as well as the lizards.  Soon we were all a big happy family at the table!

 

 

 

 

The Bluebird family in spring of 2016.

We fed the family all through the summer and as fall approached I wondered when they would push off the young to other territories, as is the case with most birds.  They had their adult coloration now and it was getting hard to tell them apart, although Pops showed a little more cobalt to his color.  Since I am writing this essay way after the fact, I can tell you that the adults did not chase off the young until late January the following year.  It was incredibly fun and interesting to be interacting with such a fine family of bluebirds!  However, it can get pretty crazy here at feeding time!  There are a lot of mouths to feed and timing is crucial in the feeding sequence so as to keep the more aggressive ones from getting all the food.  And that means between the different species also.  I would have to feed the bluebirds first, since they are bold and aggressive and would take the worms before the others would get them.  Then I would quickly give handouts to the other birds while the bluebirds were occupied.  I have had times when I was holding a worm for another bird and Pops would fly in and snatch it from my hand before I could react.  I really had to pay attention as to where all the birds were.  I leave you with a photo of little Bonnie that I thought was nicely done.  Tribute must also be paid to Clyde for all the bugs he found and fed to Bonnie and their youngsters–what a Dad he was!

Sweet Bonnie the Bluebird.

Yours in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

 

Theatrical Thrush

16/02/21 at 10.45am   /   by Backwoods Bruce   /   0 Comment

All through my blogs you have seen my delight for feeding the critters around here.  In my blog, “Feeding the Wild Ones ,” I stated my preferences and fears for feeding the “wild” animals.  I do not put out piles of food for indiscriminate feeding.  It attracts some non-wanted animals.  I feed by hand, not just from my hand but also in a gentile toss out to them of their favorite food.  This does two very important things, first, I know who I am feeding in order to keep out the riffraff and second, it creates a whole different bond than just putting out a pile of food for them.  They make a very distinct connection as to where all this food is coming from, me!  I become an animal that sheds meal worms and walnuts, although I am not sure about the quality of that distinction yet.  I don’t want to be just a walking food bag!  With feeding by hand all the animals then lose their fear of us, my wife and friends feed also.  Because of this, even when we are not feeding them, they will come by us very close or pop up on the table to check us out a little bit before going on their merry little foraging rounds.  We get to see very natural behavior up close and personal!

Dark-eyed juncos foraging.

Dark-eyed juncos foraging.

This winter we had a couple of winter visitors take the bait!  We had a small flock of three dark-eyed juncos arrive, normal winter visitors, hopping around us.  They forage on the ground searching for things to eat.  I actually got their attention with meal worms, more visible and they wiggle.  I then switched over to walnut pieces which are less expensive.  Today I had one of them up on the table with me.  However the real star was a hermit thrush.

Hermit thrush.

Hermit thrush.

I had tried to get its attention last year, presuming it is the same one.  They do go to the same nesting areas so why not wintering grounds?  Only one time last year did it ever pick up any worms so it never focused on me.  This year I got to toss a few worms out to it with her focused on where they were coming from! Bingo!

DSC_0109

She, I call her she because I want her to have maximum double clutches when she goes north to breed, proved to be fearless and bold.  By the morning of the fourth day she was flying over and taking worms from our hands!  She is the first bird to do that for us.

Patience patiently waiting on one leg.

Unlike other birds she would hang close by us on the rocks for long periods of time, standing like a shore bird on one leg.  The other birds would go off to forage and come back later.  She stayed tight to us and I named her Patience.

My view of Patience on the rock.

I was at the table one day peering at Patience through the opening in the arm rest and I had the odd thought, I have many of those, would she fly through that opening in the chair?  Hey, I got Slinker, aka Leo the Leaping Lizard ( see “Rare Reptiles”), to jump for his worms. Besides, I do not want to be known for just being a walking food bag.  I want some more bang for my buck… er, worms!

Coming on through.

Coming on through.

I positioned a worm so she could see it through the chair and to my amazement here she comes, right through the opening!  I had to use my flash to try and stop her movement, which resulted in her having a somewhat ghostly look.

Patience flying through the arm.

Patience flying through the arm.

Sometimes she would go back through the arm chair opening after taking the worm, showing some fine flying skills. I had the same odd thought that I had about Slinker, the whiptail ( see essay “Rare Reptiles”). Would she go on tour?  Some times she would flutter around in our face as we got the meal worms out. She was amazing!

A bird on the hand is worth two in the bush... or something like that.

A bird on the hand is worth two in the bush… or something like that.

We were having a fabulous time with Patience until Agro, another hermit thrush, showed up. First, however, I will have to backtrack some. A few weeks after we had started feeding Patience another hermit thrush showed up while we were feeding her.  Patience immediately drove it off.  I was talking to another birder during the Christmas Bird Count and she said that she has three in her yard and they get along just fine.

Agro the hermit thrush.

Agro the hermit thrush.

On the day Agro shows up I think, “cool one more hermit thrush,” so I attempt to feed him the first couple of days by tossing him worms, which he eats heartily.  The third day of Agro’s arrival I am feeding Patience with the “fly to my hand” technique.  While Patience is taking a worm from my hand Agro swoops in, right at my hand, and chases her off!  I immediately stopped feeding Agro, mostly because I hate bullies, but also because Patience was first and takes from my hand.

However, since Agro had already gotten some meal worms he has unfortunately stuck around . He also sees the other birds feeding and I’m sure he feels left out.  Agro does not bother the seed eating birds because I am feeding them nuts, which he doesn’t eat. If I was throwing out meal worms to them it would be a different story.  He would challenge for them.  Regardless, he continues to chase Patience off when he finds her here.  I do, however, still throw Agro a few worms.  Where are those friendly thrushes like my birding friend?  Patience has been able to continue to come by, although she really has to choose her spots.  All of a sudden she is there and able to eat a few worms before Agro chases her off.  I can also feed her on the southern side of my house without Agro seeing.  For a better understanding of this phenomena read Konrad Lorenz’s seminal work “On Aggression”.  I am sure we also have that aggression hard wired in us, at least from what I am seeing of the world.  After all, we are nothing but another animal on this planet.  Within a few weeks the birds will be leaving to go up to breed in the forest of the North.  We have not had a sighting of Patience for a few days as of this posting.  My main thought now is that, will she return here? Birds return to the same spots to breed, why not feed?  I fully expect, barring catastrophe, to have her fluttering in my face next fall.  She was clearly the star of the show this winter!

Yours in Nature,

Backwoods Bruce

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