eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

Check out the video below...

Yup, orioles, a catbird, a cardinal, and (of all things) a rose-breasted grosbeak. Now is the latter truly cool or what? I've never even seen one before... Here's the story behind the "film" above...

As always, it was another grumpy Sunday on Cape Cod - the weather was overcast and trying to rain (and that's not to mention a major computer rehab in the works). In general - just "Boresville". So the wife and I were zombie shuffling around computer files when a sudden whim compelled us to put out our little Flip Video camera. We trained it on the oriole feeder, hoped for the best, and watched for the rain. We spent all of a few minutes hooking it up and went back to our mindless rumba.

Sure as tides and temptation, right at the 60 minute mark it began to sprinkle. So we brought the cam back in, hooked it to our mini computer, started the download process, and went back to the Land of Drudgery. But shortly thereafter, I heard a heartfelt "WooHoo!" It turns out we had stumbled upon a rose-breasted grosbeak - a first for both of us. No monumental event, but fun and a nice break in the day to day.

And so it goes. Back to missing device drivers, printers that won't print, a network that simply won't recognize a particular machine, anti-virus programs that don't want to update... Blah, blah, blah...

But for a brief time, we got a chance to see a new bird. Not bad. Not bad at all.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

eBirdseed and misc. references

Other birding references

eBirdseed.com bird cam

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all,

The fellow on the right stopped by yesterday, no doubt to feast upon our birds. (Grrr!) But nature is nature, so we might as well live with it.

But what kind of hawk is that? Well... Let's see... Around here, we usually only have Coopers, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Broad-winged, Rough-legged, and Goshawks.

• Could it be the Coopers? Maybe. The chest stripes are right... Maybe...
• How about a Sharp-shinned? Possibly. The head is less blunt than a Coopers.
• Perhaps a young Red-tailed... Plenty of those around, though the chest markings aren't right.
• On a long shot it might be a Red-shouldered. Naw... The tail isn't long enough.
• Broad-winged, or Rough-legged? Doesn't feel right...

Any buteos experts out there?

You know, this is really the fun of backyard birding. We feed the birds in the morning, take a look whenever, and maybe we see something. We mull over our sighting with a friend on the phone or trade emails. It's not a huge deal. Just a colorful thread in the weave that is our lives.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

eBirdseed and misc. references

Other birding references

eBirdseed.com bird cam

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• The female Ruby-throat actually has a white throat as in the photo above.
• Hummingbirds are remarkably inquisitive birds. Time and time again, the wife and I have been "buzzed" by them, and on more than one occasion have met them face to face at a foot or less.
• Hummers flap their wings at a rate approaching 75 beats/second. That's thirteen one-thousands of a second per flap.
• They weigh 1/10th of one ounce.
• The hummingbird egg is about the size of a jellybean.

As imperceptibly as grief
The summer lapsed away, --
Too imperceptible, at last,
To seem like perfidy.

A quietness distilled,
As twilight long begun,
Or Nature, spending with herself
Sequestered afternoon.

The dusk drew earlier in,
The morning foreign shone, --
A courteous, yet harrowing grace,
As guest who would be gone.

And thus, without a wing,
Or service of a keel,
Our summer made her light escape
Into the beautiful.

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

• House Sparrow
• Baltimore Oriole
• Nuthatch
• Hummingbird Moth
• American Goldfinch
• Bluebird
• Tufted Titmouse
• Eastern Screech-Owl
• American Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Blue Jay
• Northern Cardinal

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Ours just showed up a few weeks ago - early to mid May.
• They like grape jelly, but don't have a taste for jam. (At least ours don't!)
• Orioles are gregarious fellows, especially around the feeders.
• They have umpteen cousins (the Altamira Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Audubon's Oriole, and Scott's Oriole) who live in Mexico and Central America. To boot, they're related to the Bullock's Oriole, the Orchard Oriole, and the Spot-breasted Oriole.
• These birds build (or weave) funky, hanging-basket nests.

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

• Nuthatches are tree cavity dwellers and prefer holes in trees that have been abandoned by other birds, most notably woodpeckers.
• They are one of only a few birds that can creep head-first down tree branches in search of food, and they will occasionally simply hang upside down from a branch.
• In the winter, nuthatches believe in the old adage, "There's safety in numbers," as they tend to feed and flock with other small birds.
• There is no U.S. state (and no Canadian province) which has the nuthatch as its state bird. How sad.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks
• Chapman's "Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America"
• Peterson's "A Field Guide to the Birds"
• "Birdwatching" from publisher "Discovery Travel Adventures"

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

• The hummingbird moth populates all of the northern United States, and roams up into Canada as well. It can also be found as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, stretching from the Great Plains eastward.
• Hemaris thysbe is a member of the Sphinx family of moths.
• The larvae eat plants of the honeysuckle family and are relatively innocuous.
• The clearwing is attracted to nectar-producing plants such as the butterfly bush, which also attracts actual hummingbirds.
• Once drawn to your garden, they are fairly oblivious to intruders, and are easily photographed.
• A mature hummingbird moth has a wingspan of roughly two inches.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
• Audubon Society
• eNature.com
• North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• "A Field Guide To Birds" by Peterson
• "Birds of New England" by Fred J. Alsop III
• Frank M. Chapman's "Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America"
• "Bird Watching" from Discovery Travel Adventures

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• As the pictures above clearly show, they're gregarious!
• The goldfinches' flight is quick and "herky jerky".
• In the summertime, the male is the only small yellow bird with black wings.
• You can listen to (and learn more about) this colorful fellow at: Cornell Lab of Ornithology (American Goldfinch).

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks
• "A Field Guide To The Birds" by Peterson, published by Houghton Mifflin Company

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mealworms... YUM!

• The Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) (shown above)
• The Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
• The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sailis)

• Only the female Eastern Bluebird builds the nest and sits on the eggs. (Though to his credit, the male does supply the building materials.)
• Young born late in the season often winter with the folks.
• The typical bluebird egg is roughly 5/8" wide and 3/4" long.
• Both the Western and Eastern adult males have distinct orangish-red chests, but the Eastern has a white belly as compared to the blue belly of his Western counterpart.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
• Audubon Society
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Their range in North America has grown considerably over the last 100 years. (See an excellent depiction of their territorial expansion: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/BOW/TUTI/)
• Titmice prefer seed, though insects will do in a pinch. (This assertion is up for debate concerning seasonal eating patterns, though I’ll argue the point.)
• They have been rumored to snatch the hair off of live dogs to line their nests. (Editor’s note: We’re skeptical on that one!)
• In general, the titmouse is a close cousin to the chickadee.
• It’s difficult to distinguish the male ‘mouse from the female.
• The titmouse is not migratory.
• They can live ten years or more.
• In general, tufted titmice are cavity dwellers in trees.
• These folks also cache food in the bark of trees.

See you by the feeders.

CapeCodAlan

References used for this post are listed below:

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• When frightened, the cat can walk backwards as if he had simply been shifted into “reverse”. The behavior is so common that we call him the “Beep Beep Beep Cat” for obvious reasons.
• The wife’s sneezing sends him running. My sneezes on the other hand are meaningless.
• And, the cat seems to have a fetish for my feet. He likes to sleep on my feet. (Why look! There‘s a fifteen-pound cat at my feet now!)

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

• Crows can count.
• A wise frontiersman will beware! Corvus brachyrhynchos has been known to travel/roost in a murder of 200,000 or more.
• Crows seem to have the unlikely ability to learn and solve puzzles.
• You can listen to (and learn more about) the American Crow from the town crier and world authority Cornell Lab of Ornithology site.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 4:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• They are ravenous eaters, and can consume up to 25% of their body weight in a single night.
• They will kill and eat pretty much anything that won’t eat them including mice, moles, rats, insects, spiders, crawfish, frogs, bats, snakes, chipmunks, squirrels, fish, lizards... You get the idea. (With a diet like that, one would hope that they hunt breath mints as well.)
• The female is slightly larger than the male, though both mature sexes have a wingspan of roughly 24”.
• You can listen to (and learn more about) the Eastern Screech-Owl (including Otis) at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

• They are ready to try to fly within two weeks of hatching.
• Black-caps (who sing a two-note song) and Carolina Chickadees (who sing a four-note song) sometimes interbreed producing a hybrid that sings a three-note song. I kid you not.
• Black-capped Chickadees will stash away food for later, and a single bird can remember thousands of caches.
• You can listen to (and learn more about) the Black-capped Chickadee at the U.S. Geological Survey site.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• These Starling-sized birds pretty much occupy all of the eastern half of the U.S.
• They are monogamous (vs. polygamous or promiscuous) breeders.
• Both males and females feed their young.
• You can listen to (and learn more about) the Red-bellied Woodpecker at the U.S. Geological Survey site.
• They tend to eat nuts, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and especially suet. (I should think however that mealworms might be well received by them as well.)

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• U.S. Geological Survey
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• The migratory habits of these birds is still somewhat unknown. Sometimes they go, and sometimes they stay. In any event, when they do migrate towards the Northwest, they tend to stick to flocks numbering from 5 to 50.
• Sadly, no state has chosen the Blue Jay as its “State Bird”.
• Blue Jays have an undeserved reputation for marauding the eggs and young of other birds. While that behavior can and does happen, it doesn’t happen that often. By far and away, Blue Jays derive most of their sustenance from seeds, nuts, and suet.
• Like their cousins the crows, Blue Jays call out warnings and engage in mob behavior when they see a predator, be it hawk, owl, or neighborhood cat.
• Blue Jays tend to be fussy eaters, and will send feed flying just to find the perfect morsel.
• Male and female Blue Jays pretty much look the same.

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Audubon Society
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”
• ”Birds Of North America” published by Golden
• ”Birds of New England” from Smithsonian Handbooks

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

• Supposedly, the cardinal was named because its bright red color matched that of Catholic cardinals’ vestments. That sounds plausible to me.
• Cardinals (the birds that is) only live a year or so.
• It’s the state bird for seven states, (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia).
• During breeding season, the hormone level of cardinals (once again, I’m talking about the birds here) increases by a factor of 300. (No wonder they only live a year...)

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
• Audubon Society
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)