Birder's World Field of View

Winter feeding boosts spring breeding

If you feed birds in winter, you're helping them survive the natural lull of insect and fruit abundance. And you're not alone: A 2006 study estimated that households in the U.S. and U.K. provide more than 500,000 tons of bird food annually.

While all of the suet, seed, and mealworms mean that lots of birds can make it through the cold, snowy months, we've never really known what other effects winter feeding might have. Until now.

Research published Wednesday by the journal Biology Letters shows for the first time that the extra food we provide backyard birds in winter boosts their breeding success in spring.

Where have all the birds gone?

My little urban backyard was teeming with House Finches, Northern Cardinals, grackles, and chickadees this summer. And then, without any warning, poof. Gone. Even the abundant House Sparrows vanished into thin air. It was like some mysterious bird-sucking vortex hovered over my yard and whisked all the birds away overnight. But of course, that's not what happened.

Did the birds finally get tired of my ridiculously adorable dog stalking them while they perched on the fence? Or did our neighbor's fat orange tabby cat scare them off? (Sure, I love kitties, but please, please keep them indoors.) Could be. When birds sense a predator on their turf, they will split. Last spring, the songbirds disappeared when a pair of Cooper's Hawks took up residence in a nearby tree. But once the hawks left their territory, the regular birds returned.

Another possibility is that they found a better food source elsewhere. I didn't have feeders out this summer, but plenty of birds hung around to scavenge for insects and stray seeds in my garden. Earlier in the summer, chickadees chattered to each other in the neighbor's big box elder, hunting for bugs. Grackles pecked at the front lawn, and robins tugged at the biggest worms I'd ever seen. But food doesn't stick around forever. If there's a better meal the next block over, the birds will find it. It's like knowing which of your friends' moms made the best meals and always trying to stick around long enough to get invited over to dinner. Birds know that trick, too, only they don't wait for an invitation.

But what about folks who seem to have the perfect bird habitats? They put out feeders, birdbaths or misters, don't have predator issues, and have loads of appropriate vegetation and shelter. What's happening when their resident birds disappear? Well, sometimes it's simply that birds move around. Populations fluctuate, and as much as we'd love to always have goldfinches or cardinals in our yards, it's unrealistic to expect them to stay put all year long.

How to get rid of grackles

One of my favorite things is looking at our web statistics, which reveal all of the fascinating search terms that land web surfers at the Birder's World website. Some are true gems:
-Clown picters
-Wiperwill
-Vulcher bird
-Swan attack
-Hard candy lollipop
-Bug sucking device

Among them, though, are terms that reveal a great deal about common problems birdwatchers are looking to solve. Grackles clearly are one:
-How to get rid of grackles
-Grackel
-Get rid of grackles
-Getting rid of grackles
-Gackle bird

I also find frequent pleas for grackle help in my inbox, posted in our Birdwatchers Forum, and submitted to "Since You Asked," our regular Q & A column about birds.

Poor grackles. They can be such beautiful birds, with their bronzy iridescent feathers and yellow eyes. But they can also be real hogs at birdfeeders, driving away many other species looking for a meal. No wonder so many folks want them to go away. If you're one of them, the following dos and don'ts are for you:

DON'T offer seed on open platforms or on the ground.

DON’T allow spilled seed to accumulate under feeders. Grackles and other pest birds like to feed on the ground, and so do rodents.

DON'T feed bread or other food scraps. Grackles will take advantage of almost any food source available. And again, scraps attracts rodents and other unwanted creatures.

DON'T provide suet in sacks, open cages, or nailed to a tree. Doing so makes it easy for feeder pests to raid the stash. 

DO remember that if you feed birds, you won't always have much of a choice of what species come to your feeders. Most are extremely adaptable and abundant, so it can be tough to exclude a few while accommodating others.

DO feed birds from feeders that allow a few birds (not a backyard-ful) to access food, and that generate less waste.

DO try using a tube feeder with short perches that allow only small birds to use them –- you can trim plastic perches so that only goldfinches, for example, can fit on them. 

DO try using a tube feeder that is surrounded by a wire cage. The wire will allow smaller birds to pass through but keep out larger birds.

DO use suet feeders that require birds to cling upside-down to get at the goods.

DO pay attention to the type of seed you use. Cheap seed mixes usually include cracked corn, a favorite of grackles. Fancy blends aren't necessary. Try single types of seeds, such as sunflower, safflower, or nyjer.

DO restrict or stop feeding birds in the summer. Most birds are raising families then, and even seed-eaters will be feeding insects to their young. Natural food will be abundant.

DO be patient. Grackles typically use feeders heavily during migration only. If you can’t tolerate them for a few weeks in spring and fall, take down your feeders for a while when grackles are abundant. They will likely leave to find an easy meal elsewhere.

Special thanks to Julie Craves, our fabulous "Since You Asked" columnist, for her help with all of our grackle questions. You can find a collection of her past columns, containing more common-sense answers to a variety of questions about birds, on our website, including her October 2007 column, in which she talks more about feeders that keep out bad birds. -- J.E.

Second chance

"What is that?" It's a question I don't mind asking myself when I'm birding in a beautiful park or on a sandy beach but not when I catch sight of a black blob lying in the alley behind my house. The answer, I realized as soon as I stepped out of my car, was: "It's a Chimney Swift."

I knew right away that the bird was in trouble. Chimney Swifts never willingly land on the ground or even a branch. They can't. Their legs are extremely short. They can only cling to walls or other vertical surfaces, including the insides of chimneys, where they nest. What they lack in leg strength though, they make up for on the wing. As the name implies, swifts are fast. They've been clocked at more than 100 mph, according to Ted Cable's charming story, "The Bird in Your Chimney," in our February 2003 issue.

I see swifts virtually every day in the summer twittering away high overhead, but I had never seen one so close. I bent down and picked up the bird. It didn't try to fly, but it was alert. I assumed it had collided with one of the many power lines above the alley.

I decided to take it to the Wisconsin Humane Society. (Last month, Chuck, Ernie, Jessica, and I participated in the society's Avian Odyssey to support its Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.) Thanks to the center, I knew what to do.

Birds and their reflections

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Ahh. The familiar sound of bird meeting glass. Over and over and over again.

Hands down, one of the top questions I receive in my inbox and see posted on our forums is, "There is a cardinal (robin, bunting, sparrow, etc.) attacking its reflection in my windows. Why is it doing that, and how can I get it to stop?"

Imagine, for a moment, that you are a handsome male Northern Cardinal. It's springtime, and competition is fierce for food, territory, and lovely female cardinals. Suddenly, you see another equally attractive male staring back at you from a glass surface. To your cardinal brain, it's no reflection --  it's another bird, and he's a threat to your turf, food, and chances with the ladies. So of course, you've gotta show this other guy who's boss. But that darn bird. He just won't go away, no matter how many times you try to peck his eyes out.

Both male and female cardinals, and other territorial birds, often end up in such predicaments each spring. Birds can be obsessive about their reflections, expending much time and energy trying to drive off the mistaken intruder. Generally, aggression and determination to attack will wane as the breeding season progresses and hormone levels dip. But more often than not, the emails I receive are from frustrated homeowners who are concerned for the bird's safety and are tired of waking at 5 a.m. to thunk, thunk, thunk -- they need a solution, and they need one fast.

So what can you do?

Success

The young Mourning Doves outside my daughters' bedroom window fledged. I took the photo above of the two chicks on Wednesday morning. On Thursday morning, one chick moved around in the nest more than I'd noticed before, and sure enough, that afternoon, a chick left the nest. I soon saw it perched in the tree next to the house. When I peeked out today (Friday), one of the parents sat on the nest with the other chick. I came back five minutes later with a camera, but both birds were gone. — M.M.

Nestlings!

The Mourning Dove eggs hatched. I noticed a few days ago that the parent on the nest appeared to be sitting a little higher, so I suspected that it had newly hatched chicks underneath it. I finally saw a chick yesterday, and my daughter Megan saw two. The parent so far has blocked my view of the second chick. The photo today is a little blurry, but you can clearly see one nestling. — M.M.

Welcome back, Mourning Doves

For the fifth year in a row, Mourning Doves are nesting on a wooden platform outside my daughters’ bedroom window. The birds have been sitting on the nest round-the-clock for about 10 days. Incubation takes 14 days, so we should see little doves soon.

Having an active nest right outside the girls' window is great for two reasons: It's a perfect way to teach them a little about nature, and when they fight or get too loud, my wife and I have a novel excuse for telling them to pipe down. ("Be quiet so you don't scare the birds.")

I took the photo above looking through the window. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the birds. In the first and second years, the eggs hatched, the chicks grew right on schedule, and they fledged. But for the last two years, the chicks disappeared well before they were ready to fly. I assume something ate them but don't know what. It takes about 15 days for the chicks to fledge. Stay tuned. — M.M.

Ducklings!

We're pleased to report that Mike's ducklings have hatched. Mike's daughter came home from school Monday afternoon to find six fuzzy ducklings accompanying mom in the nest. And just 15 minutes after she took this photo, the family departed -- hopefully to find a pond for that first swim and a good meal. Good luck, ducks! -- J.E.

Everything's just ducky

Nothing says springtime like a dozen duck eggs, resting snugly in a nest. Our Managing Art Director, Mike Soliday, found this Mallard nest near his home here in southeastern Wisconsin. The parents chose a cozy spot close to his house, reasonably hidden from predators, sheltered by shrubs, and insulated with breast feathers. Mike said that the female started laying in early April, and that the clutch eventually reached a grand total of 12 beautiful eggs. And now, almost one month later, the ducklings should be almost ready to hatch, since female Mallards, known as hens, incubate their eggs for about 23-30 days. So what should Mike expect? The ducklings will start vocalizing while they're still inside the egg -- a good sign that they're about to hatch in a day or so. How's that for an egg-timer? The first egg laid should be the first egg to hatch. The rest will hatch in about 6-10 hours. The ducklings will crack through their shells with a special egg tooth that will be lost soon after hatching.

The hen will keep the newly hatched ducklings warm until it's time to leave the nest, and she certainly won't waste any time -- usually the ducklings make their first treks to water the morning after they've hatched. The mother will call hundreds of times, encouraging her young to follow her. And with that, the fuzzy-headed ducklings will head out, one after the other, for their first cool dip.

The ducklings feed themselves right away, feasting on invertebrates, fish eggs, and even insects. As they grow, they'll start to eat plant seeds and practice poking around the bottoms of lakes and ponds for food. The hen will generally hang around until the ducklings complete their first flight, around two months of age. After that, the young ducks will be on their own. If the brood is successful, chances are good the mother will return to the same spot to lay her eggs next year. We've got our fingers crossed for Mike's nest -- we'll let you know how things turn out. -- J.E.