Bird Nest by Tobyotter

Spring is springing all over the place and birds are singing, displaying, traveling, or even getting ready to nest. I thought I’d share some great resources related to bird nesting.

Below you’ll find information on attracting birds and enjoying the bird breeding season in your nature garden. It’s a wonderful time for you to better get to know our feathered friends, by inviting them to share your space.

All About Nest Boxes

At the Cornell Ornithology Lab website you’ll find a whole host of information on nest boxes. Did you know that small nest boxes should be mounted on metal poles or pipes? I didn’t. Find all the information you need, from plans for bird nesting boxes, to information on dealing with competitors and non-native bird species. All the links are on the page All About Nest Boxes.

Nest Watch

If you like garden science you can get involved in monitoring bird nests through the Cornell Nest Watch program. Carole Brown has written a great intro to what Nest Watch is all about, or go straight to the Cornell site for nest watching resources. If a full-blown nest watch sounds too much, you might commit to selecting three things to do to help nesting birds.

Watch Birds Nesting

Rather than risk disturbing nesting birds in your own garden you might want to watch birds nesting through one of the many nestcams. Here’s the Cornell Nestcams. Don’t confine yourself to watching birds in North America though, you can watch barn owls in England, ospreys in Scotland, or check out this wildlife cam site which allows you to see a bird table, a water trough, and even British badgers.

Nesting for the Kids

It’s the perfect time of year to visit your local library and find some books about spring, birds, and nesting to share with your children. If you’ve not yet cleared out bird houses there’s no time to waste. Old nests harbor parasites and should be removed from nest boxes. It’s fascinating to study what nests are made of. Kids need to know not to disturb nests. A pair of binoculars can be handy for watching from a distance.

How Birds Build Nests

At the Cornell Ornithology All About Birds site you can look up your favorite birds and find out where they like to build their nest, what they build it of, and what it looks like. Or if you want to bring more birds to your garden for you to enjoy check out their how to attract birds section. Apart from providing fresh water, you’ll want to think about providing native plants.

I never tire of wondering how a nest can be built with just a beak. Have you seen any signs of birds nesting in your garden yet?

Amazon.com has a good selection of children’s books on bird nesting. Please leave a note of any favorites in the comments.

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
2. 5 Great Books for Bird Loving Moms
3. How to Make a Winter Bird List

Chickadee by auburnxc

I have a special guest for you today, a guest who is keen to learn about birds. Enjoy!

Dear Mama,

I really want to spend some time with you this weekend learning about birds! I heard about the Great Backyard Bird Count and I am really excited to identify new birds. We only have to spend 15 minutes watching and counting individual species, but we could go to the pond and look for the big red hawk or some ducks. There’s a website where we can look up great information about what kinds of birds live around our house this time of year. I heard there are even some eagles over near the river; maybe we’ll see one of them!

To take part, we need to go bird counting sometime next weekend (February 12^th to 15^th). After we make our list of species we send it in through the internet. Scientists are collecting all this information to see if there are changes from other years. This is one way scientists keep track of the climate changes. I think that what scientists do is really cool and I’d love to see what it’s like to do their work.

So can we check it out? I‘ve been feeding the birds in our yard for a long time, but I never looked up their names.  Now I can and it will help others learn too! Could this be our special Valentines Day adventure?

Love Ya, Your Little Explorer

PS. We could even win some of these prizes for participating! I’d love to win a new birdfeeder!

Shannon Baer started writing at Backyard Mama this past summer in an effort to inspire grandparents, parents, teachers, caregivers and their children to spend more time in nature. Follow @backyardmama for up-to-date tweets about her new adventures. She looks forward to meeting you knee deep in mud and exhausted from a full day of nature play! See you outside!

Related posts:

1. How Long Does It Take Birds to Find a Feeder?
2. Beans, Beets, Butterflies, Bees, and Birds
3. Splash, Learn, Contribute

Cedar Waxwing 1 by Bob MacInnes

Here I’m going to tell you how to make a winter bird list for your area. I made a winter bird list for Kansas, you can make one for wherever you live using the same steps. It can be a list for your nature garden, or it can go beyond this.

Why Make a Winter Bird List?

Unless you’ve looked at making a list of birds to look for in winter you may not realize that your area has winter bird visitors. For instance, here in Kansas, the cedar waxwing (pictured left) can only been seen in winter.

But you may also be wondering why you shouldn’t just do a Google search for a suitable list for your area or state. I’ll tell you why you may want to make your own list. There are several reasons:

- you may want to include only birds from a specific habitat;
- you may want to learn what the birds look like while making your list;
- you may want a short list which is achievable and can engage your kids (and yourself).

Step 1 – Get Yourself a Good Bird Reference Book

A good bird reference book will not only allow you to make your list, it will also help you identify any new birds you see later. The book you use will need to tell you what to expect for your area. Here are some bird guides to consider:

1. The Sibley Guide to Birds is the bird book others are measured against. It’s detailed without being overwhelming and highly understandable to use, though perhaps rather daunting for you if you’re new to birding.
2. All the Birds of North America was my favorite until I saw the Sibley guide. I like that this one is compact. Personally I think the maps in Sibley are easier to use (after 12 years of casual use of this book I still haven’t managed to memorize the map colors for the different seasons).
3. Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Birds – Eastern Region uses photographs rather than illustrations. As well as clear little maps it contains tips on how to attract the different bird species. Make sure you choose the correct Stokes guide for your area.

Now you’ve got your book with maps or another way to identify which birds will be in your area, let’s look at the next step.

Step 2 – Where Will You Look for Birds?

Many winter bird visitors to Kansas are ones which like water and can only be found on lakes or ponds. I wanted my list to only include birds I might see in my back yard and I don’t have a lake in my back yard. The only birds which made it onto my list are birds of woodlands or gardens – I excluded birds which like large open areas, prairie, or fields too.

Step 3 – How Do You Want to Use Your List?

You can make a long list of any winter visiting birds you might see, but before you do that, think about how you want to use your list. Is it going to be a checklist of all possible birds? Or maybe a list of a few special birds you’d like to see. Or you might be asking your kids to make a list, or making a list to catch their attention and prompt questions. Maybe you want to put on only birds you’ve never seen before, birds which visit only in winter, or birds you know you’ve seen and which will be sure to visit your garden again and bring you/your kids a feeling of success.

Step 4 – Choose a List Format

Do you want a simple 2 column list with bird name and page number? Maybe you’d prefer to make an illustrated list by drawing each of the birds you’d like to see, giving each bird it’s own page in your notebook or journal. Or you might want a multi-column list with common name, scientific name, habitat, size, and features as well as the page number.

Step 5 – Get to Work

I call it work, but this is the fun part. Snuggle up with you book and a pencil and paper, notebook, or journal. Simply start at the front of the book and work toward the back. Check the map to see which birds are in your area in winter.

Take as long or as short a time to make your list as you like. Enjoy the process, stop and use a ruler to help you visualize a few birds you’d love to see, or zoom through making a mega-checklist. Just make sure that if you’re doing this with your kids that you don’t leave them in the dust with your enthusiasm!

Birds are a wonderful gift of nature, something for us all to enjoy. Have you ever made a winter bird list for your neighborhood? Do you have a favorite bird guide book? Please share in the comments and consider subscribing so you won’t miss any posts.

Find birding binoculars, bird books and bird baths at Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Winter Bird Watch with Kids
2. All About Bird Nesting
3. Squirrel is Waiting for Winter

bird feeder by stevendepolo

Thinking of adding some birdfeeders to your nature garden. You might be asking the question, “How long does it take birds to find a feeder?” The answer seems to be a great big “it depends”.

For my feeders it took about 8 days – long enough that I lost track. For the first day I avidly watched my newly-hung birdfeeders hoping for a quick reward. Alas, patience was the order of the day.

How Long Will You Have to Wait?

A quick google search on the question “how long does it take birds to find a feeder” will turn up several sites, but they all contain the exact same text

“Sometimes it can seem like forever. It may take more time for birds to find window feeders than hanging or pole-mounted feeders.”

One of the sites is the US Fish and Wildlife Service. They have quite a lot of useful information on backyard bird feeding but just aren’t much help on this specific question. Yes, eight days seemed like forever, but surely there’s a better answer on what to expect. Surely someone has looked into this.

Downy Woodpecker by Audreyjm529

Project FeederWatch Has the Answer?

I felt pretty sure that the folk at Project FeederWatch and the Cornell bird lab must have something to say on this, but alas it’s not a Project FeederWatch frequently asked question.

What Should You Expect?

After waiting a whole week to see a single bird at any of my three not-so-newly-hung feeders I’d almost lost hope. I asked a friend, “How long does it take birds to find a feeder when you’ve not had one up for a while?” Her answer, “About 30 minutes.” So, I have my answer – it takes birds anything from 30 minutes to 8 days to find a feeder.

Worth the Wait

It was worth the wait – my kids will tell you how excited I get when a downy woodpecker arrives to peck the suet, or a chickadee to take some niger seeds. In the last few days I’ve seen the following birds – house wren, chickadee, downy woodpecker, robin, bluejay. My feeders are still full of food and the birds are not yet regular visitors, but the weather is still mild – things could change soon. The birds found my feeders – I think it’s going to be a good winter.

How long did it take birds to find your feeder? Are you taking part in Project FeederWatch?

Related posts:

1. Foiling Squirrels At Your Feeders
2. Great Birds – Red Cardinal
3. Mama, I’d Like to Learn About Birds

Hummingbirds are truly amazing. As a testament to the hummingbird, winner of the Favorite Backyard Critters Contest, here are a couple of amazing videos. Enjoy!

Ruby-throated Hummingbird Eating From My Hand (Part One) from Russ Thompson on Vimeo.

My thanks to everyone who tweeted, voted, and got involved in letting me know their favorite backyard critter

Related posts:

1. Favorite Backyard Critters Contest
2. Rabbit, Hummingbird, and Squirrel
3. Douglas Tallamy and the Spun Glass Slug Caterpillar

Purple martins. I’ve always understood that they’re the saviors of humans, selfless aerial warriors who scoop thousands of mosquitoes from the sky each day thus saving us from bites and even diseases.

Sadly I have to report – purple martin mosquito myth busted.

Here I was yesterday reading about the golf course where purple martins are not only hosted, but also appreciated and made available for birders to visit and learn from. It was a pretty long article and I was fast losing interest when I got to the part which shocked me.

“...the myth that martins eat 2000 mosquitoes per day was originally perpetuated by the author of a book about martins. That author also happened to sell martin houses, so the supposed environmental benefit was a great sales tool. Unfortunately, it was largely a lie. Martins do eat some mosquitoes but the tiny bugs make up only an about .03% of their total diet. Instead martins catch and eat dragonflies and other flying insects that deliver bigger doses of protein.”

So, not only are mosquitoes pretty safe from purple martins, but dragonflies, contenders for my very favorite insects, are what they prey on. How disappointing! Needless to say, my dream of living in harmony with purple martins and without bug spray has gone “bye, bye”.

Well, nature isn’t often as clean, convenient, and ordered as we’d like. Purple martins are still wonderful birds, capable of entertaining us with their acrobatics and sharing their family space with us. Some day I may still want to have a purple martin house. Meantime I’ll dream of bats ridding my garden of mosquitoes. If that’s a myth, I don’t want to know, don’t want to know… just keep it to yourself!

In case you are in any doubt of the awesomeness of purple martins, here’s a little video you might check out:

Related posts:

1. Prairie Dog Myth

Have you ever wondered what you would see if you traveled with the world’s fastest animal? According to the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) the world’s fastest animal is the peregrine falcon and the BBC have captured the flight of the peregrine falcon on camera.

Take a look, but if you are subject to vertigo and dizziness, watcher beware!

What do you think? Would you love to fly like a bird? Imagine the feeling of the wind on your feathers, the freedom to soar, the effortless way to get from A to B…

If you liked this you might enjoy:

• Bald Eagle cam – it’s #2 on the list.
• 3 Fabulous Bird Photographers.
• Going on a Treasure Hunt.

Related posts:

1. 3 Fabulous Bird Photographers
2. Favorite Backyard Animal Nominations
3. 3 Classic Reads for Animal Lovers

During the last week I’ve come across some fabulous bird photographers, courtesy of hummingbird2 whom I’m following on Twitter. I’d like to share these 3 fabulous bird photographers with you here.

#1 Matthew Studebaker has an expert eye for framing birds with elements of their natural habitat. Each bird he photographs shows wonderful plumage detail and the character of the bird comes through in the poses he captures. It’s really hard to choose a favorite, but take a look at Matthew’s red-shouldered hawk collection – exquisite! His photographs are accompanied by both the scientific and common names, with details of where and when the photo was taken, the camera he used, and technical settings. You can see Matthew’s complete online gallery at StudebakerBirds.com.

#2 Christopher Taylor photographs birds from the more mundane, but still cute, dark-eyed junco to exotic birds of Hawaii, Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, and the Galapagos. I especially enjoyed Christopher’s yellow warbler album and his May 2009 Ohio collection. Christopher lives in California. You can find all of Christopher’s photos at Kiwifoto.com.

#3 David Kinneer is a gifted amateur photographer from Virginia who has taken an extensive series of photos of bluebirds. He has some fabulous photos of fledglings, so cute, like my favorite one and many, many fine photos of bluebirds in flight. David seems to be currently using two different gallery sites. You can see his photos at both SmugMug and PBase. You can also read about bluebird battles with a description of David’s work at Sialis.org.

I hope you enjoy the work of these three bird photographers as much as I do. I welcome comments. Please say, “Hi!”

Related posts:

1. World’s Fastest Animal
2. How to Make a Winter Bird List
3. All About Bird Nesting

I’ve put the (Northern) Red Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis on my list of great American birds because he really is an American icon. With his startling coat of red, and mask of black, he’s arguably the most likely to be seen brightly colored bird… unless you live west of the Rockies that is, because then you’re only likely to see him on a holiday greeting card!

If you have a pair of red cardinals in your yard or woodland you’ll easily be able to tell the male from the female – the male is the one with the bright red suit. He is very territorial and not shy of making himself heard, especially at this time of year. Every day when I am working outside in my Kansas garden I see him perched in one tree or other and hear his whe-cheer, wheet-wheet-wheet call.

I’m afraid my little red cardinal is going to be a lonely bachelor this year. A few weeks back every time I saw him he was with another male in pursuit of a single female. The feisty female was giving her two beaus a good run-around – in and out amongst the bare branches of tall trees. I think my little guy lost the race because now every time I see him he is singing his little heart out in a tree, all by himself, with no partner in sight. Cardinals are monogamous and can live as long as 15 years. Hopefully he won’t be lonely for too long.

Take a look at the cardinal’s great, conical beak. His beak is stronger and larger than that of a sparrow and he can feed on a wide range of seeds, as well as softer foods like buds, fruits, and insects. He’ll search from the ground up for things to eat and he does well if provided with seeds in the winter, indeed he is said to have expanded his range northward due to food from garden bird feeders. When I look out my window in the depth of winter and see my little brightly colored cardinal hopping around on gloomy, cold days I always feel cheered. What do I have to complain about when he is so full of life and joy living out in the cold of my garden?

If you want yet more facts and info about the red cardinal and want to hear his call and see him in action I recommend Cardinalis cardinalis at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis photo reproduced here under a creative commons license from FlickR.

Related posts:

1. Great Birds – The Red-tailed Hawk
2. Birds
3. 5 Great Books for Bird Loving Moms

The Prince of Birds
If the American Eagle is the King of birds, and the Golden Eagle the Queen, then the Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, is surely the Prince. With his freedom to roam, beautiful, elegant, feather cloak, and his haunting cry, he’s a fantastic, great, awesome, amazing bird. He makes my heart glad and I never tire of seeing him.

Almost any day of the week I can find at least one red tailed hawk just minutes from my suburban Kansas home. Perched on a tall lamppost, or riding the air currents, he looks down disdainfully on me as I drive by.

Facts and Trivia
It’s no wonder the Red-tailed Hawk is pretty easy to see. He’s the most common and widespread hawk in North America. Suburban parkland and tree-dotted open farmland seem ideal for him. He loves any kind of post to perch on, the taller the better. He is monogamous, courts and feeds his mate, and nests in tall trees.

Books I’ve read say his favorite food is rodents. He will also eat smaller birds, reptiles, and insects. I’ve only once seen a Red-tailed Hawk in my own back yard. He swooped in between two Scots Pine trees and snagged himself a songbird. One of my friends told me that she quit feeding songbirds in her yard because her bird table had become a Red-tailed Hawk buffet location. She was pretty sure word was getting around and that she was seeing more than one individual.

Did you hear the red tailed hawk in The Lord of the Rings or Spirit? If you thought you were hearing an eagle it’s no surprise – film makers are tricky that way! If you are familiar with the call of the red tailed hawk you couldn’t fail to notice the switcheroo. I’m sorry, but the call of the Golden Eagle and the American Eagle can’t hold a candle to the wonderful freedom call of the red tailed hawk. No wonder they made the switch.

I find the Red-tailed Hawk easiest to spot in the fall. I’m guessing it’s the time of year when the population of full-grown birds peaks. A September or October drive through the Kansas or Missouri countryside is peppered with mile after mile of fence-posts adorned by young red-tails.

• Read more about the Red-tailed Hawk and hear his cry at the Cornell Lab Ornithology website.
• The Prince of birds comes with a variety of different cloak colors and markings.

Northern Red Tailed Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk photos reproduced under a creative commons license from FlickR.

Related posts:

1. Great Birds – Red Cardinal
2. Kansas Eagle Days
3. Birds