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Brainy Birds Being Called a “Bird Brain” Is a Good Thing! EAGAN 2143 Cliff Rd BIRD’S-EYE VIEW Volume 23 Issue 1 | January/February 2016 An Unconventional Woodpecker: In this issue... Bird Intelligence ................ 1 Chirps ................................ 2 Seasonal Checklist ............ 2 Northern Flicker Backyard Favorite .............. 3 “Bird Brain”: A Compliment? Featured Products ............. 4 +Serving Suet Pellets Free Native Plant Guide ..... 4 BLOOMINGTON BIRD INTELLIGENCE 816 West 98th St. (Clover Center) By Wayzata Manager MELISSA BLOCK Bloomington, MN 55420 952.884.4103 Brainy Birds Being Called a “Bird Brain” is a Good Thing! EAGAN 2143 Cliff Rd. Brain size alone is not always a good gauge (Cedar Cliff Shopping Center) of intelligence. Yes, birds have small brains, Eagan, MN 55122 but they have a proportionally large brain 651.459.0084 compared to their head and body size. Studies MINNETONKA have shown that the structure of the bird brain 4759 County Rd. 101 is different than the mammal brain. Birds have (Westwind Plaza) a higher degree of connectivity between brain Minnetonka, MN 55345 sections. The best indication of bird intelligence, Source: BBC Two youtube.com/watch?v=AVaITA7eBZE 952.935.5892 See an amazing BBC Two video of a crow using tools: though, is through observation of bird activity. wildbirdstore.com/2015/12/crow-using-tool-experiment/ WHITE BEAR LAKE 2703 East Cty. Hwy. E. Memory Dexterity & Problem Solving (Cty. Rd. E. and Hwy. 120) Many birds, especially Tool use is found in some bird species. For White Bear Lake, MN 55110 woodpeckers and jays, save example, shrikes don’t have the strong talons 651.653.8705 and hide food to eat later. of raptors so they use tree thorns to impale their WAYZATA & WILD BIRD DELIVERS In one study, jays were able prey. Herons use bread as bait to fish. And crows 15710 Wayzata Blvd. to find seeds almost a year and ravens use twigs to get to bugs in tree bark. (394 Frontage Rd.) after they hid them. In fact, Birds also source a variety of materials to build Wayzata, MN 55391 they showed an amazing ability to remember very intricate nests, including twigs, plant fibers, 952.473.4283 hundreds of their hiding spots. This is an example hair, spider webs, lichen and mud. Some nests WILDBIRDSTORE.COM of planning for the future. Some birds have shown have hidden entrances or even dummy entrances. the ability to memorize. Hummingbirds remember Bird’s-Eye View is published which flowers in a garden produce the most Working Together to share the joy of backyard birds nectar and will return to those specific flowers Some birds work together in a way that with All Seasons Wild Bird Store’s year after year. demonstrates an understanding of the concept customers and friends. (continued on page 4) All Seasons Wild Bird Store | Your local backyard birding experts | WILDBIRDSTORE.COM ❈ page 1 CHIRPS SEASONAL CHECKLIST Celebrating a Quarter JAN. & Century in Business! FEB. Mid- Winter By Minnetonka Manager CAROL CHENAULT Welcome to 2016, 25 another milestone ❑ Provide foods loaded ❑ Call the Wayzata store to year for our family with fat and protein— arrange our Vacation Feed and business. In April, we like suet, suet pellets, Fill service to keep your feeders will celebrate our 25th peanuts and sunflower stocked while you’re out of town. anniversary. It’s hard out of the shell— ❑ Keep an eye out for to imagine that we’ve to help birds refuel overwintering populations of been at this for almost quickly. Bald Eagles, Mourning Doves, a quarter century! Time flies. ❑ Provide a clean, heated water American Robins, Northern Looking back over the years, many source. Flickers and Eastern Bluebirds. things in our world have changed, but not ❑ Scatter Critter Crunch on the ❑ Take note: Great Horned Owls, in how and why people feed wild birds. ground, on a tree stump, or our earliest nesting birds, are on Bird feeders haven’t changed too much, place it in a screened-bottom the nest in mid-January. with the exception of some entertaining ground feeder for over-wintering squirrel-resistant models. Bird foods haven’t ❑ Look to the open water of Mourning Doves, Blue Jays, changed a lot either, except for having more marinas and rivers to observe Northern Cardinals, pheasants non-traditional food choices like live or dried Bald Eagles. They begin nest- and Wild Turkeys. mealworms or an insect-infused suet cake. building in February. ™ People continue to feed birds for the joy ❑ Stock feeders with Nyjer ❑ Keep watch in early February it brings them . it simply feels good to and Chips for goldfinches and for returning Horned Larks, our have a relationship with nature. Birds are visiting finches. Nomadic mixed first spring migrants, followed interesting and beautiful, and fortunately foraging flocks will be abundant by Wood Ducks, Red-winged quite easy to attract. We are extremely one day and scarce the next. Blackbirds, grackles, American grateful for the 25-year run we’re on. ❑ Pick up a copy of Birds Robins and Canada Geese in the We owe all of it to our very loyal and caring of Minnesota State last days of the month. customers. Thank you. Parks to plan your next ❑ Send your bird photos to Minnesota birding trip. [email protected] to be ~Dave Netten ❑ Listen for hooting owls, displayed on our digital sign in ❈ drumming woodpeckers the stores and bird calls like the “fee- or on our bee” of chickadees when bird Facebook Worry-Free Guarantee! sounds increase in January and page. We want our customers to have a worry-free February. ❑ Participate Jim Weisman experience with every purchase. If you’re not ❑ Watch for winter-visiting in the Great Backyard Bird completely satisfied withany item purchased Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Count February 12–15. See from our store, simply return it to us for an Nuthatches, Purple Finches and gbbc.birdcount.org for more exchange or refund. irruptive species like Red Polls information. No worries . ever! and Great Gray and Snowy Owls. ❑ Check out our blog at Join the conversation online! ❑ Observe American Goldfinches wildbirdstore.com/blog Visit our Facebook page to post photos, ask for signs of molting. for timely tips and news. questions and be the first to know about upcoming sales and events. All Seasons Wild Bird Store | Your local backyard birding experts | WILDBIRDSTORE.COM ❈ page 2 BACKYARD FAVORITE By Guest Columnist KATRINA HASE he Northern Flicker is the non-conformist of Minnesota’s woodpecker scene. It’s the only brown-backed Tspecies of woodpecker, for starters, and it sports an unusual, slightly curved bill that makes it easier to dig in the ground for food, versus trees. Its penchant for horizontal hunting is reflected in its un-woodpecker-like habit of perching atop branches, versus clinging to the side of trees. And, while most of our native woodpeckers wait out the winter in Minnesota, Flickers perch unlike many Northern Flickers move with the migrating other woodpeckers. masses as the autumn days grow shorter. Yet, lest you begin to believe this dapper driller holds nothing in common with its cousins Hairy and Downy, consider that the Northern Flicker pecks holes in rotting trees for nests, communicates by drumming and wears a touch of red—males, at least—in manners consistent with your typical Minnesota woodpecker. Read on for some basics—and beyond—about the Northern Flicker. A Northern Flicker excavates a nest hole. (Yellow-shafted subspecies, male) One Species, Two Varieties All Northern Flickers are distinguished by their brown backs and wings with fine black bar patterns, a white rump patch, a gray crown, a buff-colored breast with black spots and a black chest patch. If you’re in the west, the Northern Flickers you see are likely to have reddish undersides (Red-shafted subspecies), while we northern folks and our eastern neighbors are likely to see flickers with yellowish undersides (Yellow-shafted subspecies). The Red- shafted male has a red mustache and no marking at the base The Red-shafted subspecies of Northern The Yellow-shafted subspecies has yellowish of the neck, while the Yellow-shafted male has a black mustache Flicker has reddish undersides and the male undersides and the male (above) has a black and a red crescent at the nape of the neck. (above) has a red mustache. mustache and red at the nape of neck. Courtship and Nesting in grassy meadows and backyards—my son even spotted one Though you may not be able to foraging in Grant Park in downtown Chicago! recall the sound of the Northern Once counted as one of the four most plentiful backyard birds Flicker, you’d likely recognize its in Minnesota, a 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife breeding bird survey wik-wik-wik-wik-wik! call as reported that Northern Flickers have declined about 4.9% per year a common part of spring’s during the past two decades, likely due to both the removal of dead soundtrack. Look up as you hear trees and the heavy use of lawn chemicals that deplete natural the call and you’ll likely see the insect food sources. male flicker backing up his vocal display with a prominent perch. Aside from insects, Northern Flickers may eat the occasional suet, Flickers excavate cavities to nest in trees with dead heartwood fruits and seeds and enjoy sipping water from heated birdbaths. (or nestboxes filled to the top with white pine wood chips). The male Migration and female share incubation duties—usually 5-8 white glossy eggs— The range of Northern Flickers spreads across the United States and and young fledge in 28 days. into Canada during nesting months, with migration south by way of Habitat and Diet the Mississippi or Atlantic flyways in the winter.
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