April 2016 ROSE- BREASTED GROSBEAK 4

North America’s only magazine devoted exclusively to backyard birds!

watchingbackyardbirds.com • Vol. 19 No. 2 • April 2016 ROSE- BREASTED GROSBEAK 4

Oddballs in the Yard 28

Watcher at the Window— Looking Down From the for Birds 8 publishers of Features Rose-breasted Beauty — WBB staff 4 Readers Write: Our Fair Lady: A White Hummingbird —Lana Worley 12 Humor: In a Bit of a Jam —Al Batt 16

Photo Blog: Tips for Photographing Birds in Your Backyard —Bruce Cole 20 Ask Birdsquatch: Feeding & Housing 24

Oddballs in the Yard —Dawn Hewitt 28 Why a Hawk Is a Hummingbird’s Best Friend —Elizabeth Pennisi 31 LINDA HARTOB/WIKIMEDIACOMMONS LINDA 8 Watcher at the Window: When There Are No Birds, Look Down—Julie Zickefoose

Above: Kissing cardinals. Right: On a jog down a country lane with her dog, Julie Zickefoose ﬁ nds a pile of something that

becomes a lesson about JULIE ZICKEFOOSE pileated woodpeckers. &_AB C E F G H L MNO P Q

FOUNDING PUBLISHERS William H. Thompson (1932 – 2011) & Elsa Ekenstierna Thompson CO-PUBLISHER AND EDITOR William H. Thompson, III CO-PUBLISHER Andrew M. Thompson EDITORIAL Dawn Hewitt, Managing Editor PRODUCTION Claire Mullen, Magazine Design Male rose-breasted Lori Crook, Marketing Design grosbeak. ADVERTISING Wendy Clark, Sales Director Kyle Carlsen, Data & Accounts Manager Mollee Brown, Marketing Assistant Departments CIRCULATION AND MARKETING Laura Thompson, Director Editor’s Note 2 WEB MASTER Katherine Koch CONTROLLER Ann Kerenyi BIRDbites FULFILLMENT & SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Amy Sole SHIPPING AGENT Melody Carpenter Dryer Lint Isn’t Good 3 INTERNS Emily Jones, Andrew Knizner Nesting Material Plant a Tree for the 23 Contact Us Birds ADVERTISING/SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

GERALD MARELLA/DREAMSTIME.COM Garden for 32 Watching Backyard Birds Caterpillars P.O. Box 110 Marietta, OH 45750 Thanks to our CUSTOMER SERVICE sponsors! 800-879-2473 or (740) 373-5285 [email protected] Optics: Celestron 19 Advertising: [email protected] Editorial: [email protected] Bird feeding: 27 Find us on Facebook and Twitter! Audubon Park facebook.com/watchingbackyardbirds @bwdmag

Watching Backyard Birds (ISSN 1098-0229) is published bimonthly by Pardson Corporation. Material appearing in Watching Backyard Birds may not be reprinted without permission. Subscriptions One year: $16 • Two years: $30 • Single issue: $4 U.S. FUNDS ONLY PLEASE. Canada: add $3 per year. Other foreign: add $6 per year. For subscription or other information, please call

BOB HINES/USFWS 800-879-2473. Gray-cheeked thrush. COVER—ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK BY PIA1996/DREAMSTIME.COM Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 1 Editor’s Note —WBB Editor Bill Thompson, III It’s SPRING! Dear Bird Watchers: I relish the spring return There’s no denying it’s spring, of the chipping sparrows to people! The birds are singing, our Ohio yard, their sewing- the buds are popping, you can machine-like trills ring out smell the wet earth when you across our greening lawn. The step outside. It’s such a delight- ruby-throated hummingbirds ful season to be a backyard bird always come back around watcher. And while our avid, Tax Day (April 15). And the field-birding friends are chasing scarlet tanagers come back all over the place, trying to catch about May 5 or so. We keep a wave of warblers, we back- track of these spring return yard watchers are content to sit dates each year—it’s amazing back and let the birds come to how consistent these return- us. Depending upon where you ing birds can be. Spring is the live in North America, spring can time when the backyard bird be a long, drawn out affair over list swells to its fullest. two months, or something that And speaking of lists… lasts just a week or so. For my Did you get your Watch- friends in Alabama, spring starts ing Backyard Birds feeding in late February. WBB columnist chart and bird list poster yet? Al Batt, who lives in Minnesota, Here’s our Managing Editor, is still wearing two pairs of Dawn Hewitt, adding a spe- long johns in February—and cies to her backyard list. If you he won’t take them off until late don’t have yours yet, you can May—that’s how late spring can get it by renewing your own arrive up North. subscription or giving a gift

2 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Managing Editor Dawn Hewitt adds another species to her list. —WBB Editor Bill Thompson, III subscription to WBB. Simply write BACKYARD POSTER on your order form or mention it when you call our office (800-879-2473). But hurry! Supplies are limited. Happy spring backyard bird watching! M

Tidbits of Backyard Info BIRDBites You Can Use! Dryer lint isn’t good nesting material Although it feels soft and fl uffy enough to sleep on, dryer lint is not good nesting material for birds. Birds might fi nd it appealing, but it can be harmful to eggs and nestlings. When dryer lint gets wet, it absorbs and retains moisture longer than natural materials. Be- cause of its structure, dryer lint is a poor insulator, and eggs or young birds surrounded by it can be lethally Material with long strands chilled. Furthermore, lint is made up mostly of tiny makes sturdy nests. fabric particles rather than long strands, so it lacks structural strength. If used in nest walls rather than as a lining, the nest will be weak and could fall apart. Finally, depending upon the laundry detergent, fabric softener, or dryer sheets, residue of perfumes, soaps, or other chemi- cals are potentially harmful for young birds, and they certainly aren’t part of a natural environment. Better sources of nesting material that humans can offer birds include: human hair or animal fur, shredded paper, natural-fi ber string in three- to fi ve-inch lengths, pine needles, mud, moss, or lichen, grass clip- pings, twigs and small sticks, and dead leaves. Leaving your yard slightly wild and less than perfectly manicured is more helpful to nesting birds than dryer lint. Other things that should never be made available to nest-building birds include plastic, nylon, and, especially, fi shing line. M BRIAN HENRY

Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 3 ROSE-BREASTED JULIE ZICKEFOOSE HAIRY IS Beauty

Returning soon to bird feeders in the East: rose- breasted grosbeaks, both male (left) and female (right).

4 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Newsletter —Dawn Hewitt and Bill Thompson, III ROSE-BREASTED HAIRY IS Beauty

It was the spring of the rose-breasted grosbeak in southern Indiana a few years back, and not repeated since. “I had 22 grosbeaks on my deck railing this morning!” my friend Ann told me, almost breathless. That year everyone had crazy numbers of rose-breasted grosbeaks

I GERALD MARELLA/DREAMSTIME.COM in their yard and at their bird feeders.

Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 5 Even those who generally don’t the finch family. give a hoot about birds couldn’t Females and immature rose- help but notice. “I saw a flock of breasted and black-headed gros- black-and-white birds with a red beaks look very similar, like an splotch on their chest,” they’d tell overgrown female purple finch, me. “Were they woodpeckers?” but with a size XL bill. The breast Everyone was talking about it. of a female black-headed grosbeak The females confused some is a bit less streaked than that of folks: “The world’s largest female the female rose-breasted, however. purple finch is at my feeder right In the Great Plains, where now! I’ll send you a photo! You ranges of the two species overlap, won’t believe it!” they are known to hybridize. The That amazing spring, rose- hybrid offspring can look like breasted grosbeaks were some- either parent, or something in times more numerous than between, sporting black, white, mourning doves and northern rose, orange, or pink plumage. cardinals in the yards of most The males don’t look so folks who feed the birds. similar. It’s hard to mistake a Rose-breasted grosbeaks are a male rose-breasted grosbeak for short-term thrill for those of us anything else. No other bird has who live outside their nesting a black head and back, a rosy-red area. Those who feed birds and patch on its breast (usually trian- generally pay attention to the gular), and a clear white belly. In avian visitors in their yards see flight, the male flashes rosy-red them from early to mid-spring. under his wings with a wide, Rose-breasted grosbeaks migrate rectangular wing patch. east of the Rockies to nest in the “Black-headed grosbeak” is Appalachian Mountains and in an apt name for the male of that the northeastern quadrant of the species. His head is all black, and United States as well as across his bill is huge and black. His Canada’s prairie provinces. breast and belly are orange like a Rose-breasted grosbeak is robin’s, but with two bold, white in the same family as cardinal, bars on his wings. the tanagers, dickcissel, pyrrhu- The songs of both species loxia, and blue, lazuli, indigo, are similar to that of a robin—a and painted buntings. Its clos- rising and falling whistle—but est cousin is the black-headed the black-headed’s song is said to grosbeak, which is the western sound like a drunken robin! The counterpart of the eastern rose- rose-breasted’s song is sweeter breasted grosbeak. Oddly, they and richer than a robin’s, and it are not close cousins to pine or also emits a distinctive chink that evening grosbeaks, which are in sounds like a sneaker squeak-

6 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Female rose-breasted grosbeaks have a striped face, similar to that of a female purple finch, but more crisp. Grosbeaks are a bit bigger and bulkier, though, especially in the bill.

ing on a wooden floor. That’s grosbeaks, though, help with a sound Hoosier bird watchers incubation, usually of three or know very well. four eggs; incubation lasts 12 to Among many songbird species, 14 days. females alone do the bulk of nest Insects and fruit are the pri- building. That’s the case with mary foods of both species. Black- black-headed grosbeaks, but not headed grosbeaks are one of very rose-breasted grosbeaks, in which few species that eats monarch both parents contribute to nest butterflies, which are toxic and construction. so distasteful to many birds. Both Especially in species in which species will visit feeders filled the male is more colorful than with sunflower seeds. Their big, the female, the female alone strong bills effortlessly crack the incubates the eggs. Males of both hulls. They might also sip sugar-

GERALD MARELLA/DREAMSTIME.COM rose-breasted and black-headed water from an oriole feeder. M Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 7 —Julie Zickefoose Julie is eagerly awaiting the publication of Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in April 2016.

8 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds When There Are No Birds, Look Down It was a perfect early brink- I tried to take some of-spring day, and it got up pictures of coltsfoot. When to 70 degrees in the after- I get down on my knees, noon. Chet Baker, Boston Chet always trots over to Terrier, and I headed to see what I’m looking at. Dean’s Fork for a run. It was Clearly, Chet considers my so beautiful, with stripey photos vastly enhanced by

shadows running across my his presence. JULIE ZICKEFOOSE (3) Ifavorite dirt road.

Chet Baker photobombs the coltsfoot. Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 9 A rosette of leaves survived the winter. New growth is green.

Look at this winter rosette. the tree. Pileateds apparently I’m not sure of the species; drop their poo straight down perhaps it’s a primrose of as they cling to the bark. I some kind, but I sure love was not disappointed: lotsa the color, and the way the poop, a bunch of holes. This winter-burned growth is red bird had been working here and even frostbitten white, for a long time. but the new warm-weather This is what it looks like growth is green. It’s as if the when it’s fresh—cylindrical, cold has spray-painted it. with the white smear at one I was diggin’ it so much. It end that tells you it’s come started out a run, then de- from a bird. Snake droppings volved into a ramble. can have that, too, since I saw a tree that had been both birds and snakes have thoroughly woodpeckered. a cloaca, where urates are Only a pileated woodpecker concentrated and excreted can make a great big hole as a white paste. You won’t like that—well, up here in see that in mammals. Ohio, anyway. It was time for some Anytime I see fresh wood- pileated poop analysis. I pecker workings, I look for crumbled it up in my palm. pileated poop in the pile of The most surprising thing in chips beneath the holes. It it was a very large horsefly is always right at the base of head. Its leg was there, too. 10 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds You can see them at the Left: Pileated woodpecker poop is cylindrical when fresh, with a white smear at one end. bottom of the photo. I figure Right: When crumbled, pileated poop the woodpecker found the reveals the bird’s diet: horseflies, sumac horsefly roosting under some seeds, carpenter ant parts. bark and snagged it. Flying insects are not a typical prey we saw almost no birds. But item for pileated woodpeck- thank goodness I saw a tree ers, though. There were also with fresh woodpecker work- sumac seeds. ings and was able to locate I crumbled the big curly and crumble up pileated poop and it was almost solid woodpecker poop in my carpenter ant parts, with lots hand. That made everyone of nice black skulls. so happy, me most of all. So now you know how to Finding pileated poop is not look for pileated poop. I led a skill just anyone possesses, a bird walk a few winters ago but it’s something we can for the Ohio Ornithologi- learn and pass on to others. cal Society in our gorgeous Chet Baker understands Mohican State Park. It was me. We share a predilection a frigid snowy day and it for sitting down on dirt roads was great to be out with and looking closely at things. other like-minded folks, but I resumed trying to get a it was awkward, as birding good evocative photo of

JULIE ZICKEFOOSE (3) can sometimes be, because coltsfoot. M Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 11 —Lana Worley (left) Lana Worley, a retired shipwright and avid bird watcher for 40+ years, splits her time between Bellingham Washington, and Bermuda Dunes, California. —Donna Audette A retired professional photographer and Realtor, Donna Audette enjoys taking pictures while experiencing all things outdoors. She winters in Palm Desert, California, and spends summers in the Spokane, Washington, area. Our

FairA White Lady Hummingbird It’s January 19, 2015, another beau- nectar sources—a veritable banquet. tiful winter day in Bermuda Dunes, A few days later, I notice some- California. I’m looking at our des- thing strange just above eye level ert landscaping, pondering ways to on an ocotillo plant. It looks like a improve it when a white blur buzzes growth of some kind, about the size by my shoulder. What the heck of half a golf ball, but when I touch was that? There it goes again on my it, it’s fuzzy and soft. A humming- other side. It sure looks and sounds bird nest! On January 29th, I’m Ilike a … it can’t be. It is! Perched on delighted by a wonderful surprise. a nearby yucca looking up at me is We have at least 25 hummers blaz- a striking all-white hummingbird. I ing around our condo complex but can’t believe my eyes. whom do I see sitting on the nest? Whenever I return to the area None other than my fair-feathered it doesn’t take long to spot it. This friend. This development tells 75-yard square section of our condo me it’s a female, since males have complex is definitely its territory. nothing to do with nest-building, There is an abundance to feed on: incubating, or feeding the young. tiny gnats for protein as well as bou- The male’s only job is mating. gainvillea, lantana, citrus blossoms, What a life!

cactus blooms, and many other Costa’s and Anna’s humming- DONNA AUDETT (2)

12 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds READERS WRITE

An all-white hummingbird, probably a Costa’s or an Anna’s, takes up residence in a condo complex.

birds are regulars at my feeders. I suspect that she is one of those, but The white hummingbird tends to her two nest- really can’t tell. lings in a nest the size of One day while the mom is away, half a golf ball. I use a mirror to peer into the nest and see one jelly-bean sized, white egg. Over the next three weeks “Mom” is busy keeping her nest clean and the egg warm. It was at this time I told my friend Donna, an avid photographer, about my discovery, and she got very excited about taking photos with her new lens. On March 5, we see that Mom is gone from the nest, so we quickly set up the tripod and driveway camera about six feet away. Upon her return, she’s leery, watching us from a nearby yucca. As we stay stone-still, she zooms in close to

Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 13 check us out and then, satisfied foot or more out. And one more that we pose no threat, she goes to point of interest; I discover Mom the nest to feed. We see our first is not a “true albino,” which glimpse of the little beak as it pokes would have red eyes, a pink beak up above the rim and Donna clicks and legs. Although pure white, away. Later, when we look closely our gal’s black eyes, beak and legs at the blow-ups, we see there are identify her as a partial albino also two beaks! She must have laid the called “leucistic,” still a very rare second egg right after I checked the creature. nest with the mirror. Mom is extremely busy these So we settle into a routine. I days. She no longer sits on the nest, watch the nest daily and Donna mostly because there’s no room. comes every Also, it’s pretty few days to take warm at night Because the hummingbird has dark photos of their eyes, she is considered leucistic, or a and the chicks progress. My partial albino. have grown observations short feathers. and Inter- She diligently net research feeds her fascinate me: demanding Like the fact brood every 30 that the nest to 40 minutes, is made up of ramming her plant mate- beak deep rial and spider down their web silk, throats and which gives it slowly regurgi- strength and tating a mix- flexibility to ture of bugs expand along and nectar. with the growing chicks. I had I worry about her safety since watched another hummingbird she loves to perch high on a tall build her nest under our pool ocotillo while hunting, vulnerable umbrella. She would soar up into to diving kestrels, which are plen- the palm trees, return with a white tiful in the area. This point was puff of fluff, carefully place it and driven home a while back when wriggle her body to shape and I witnessed just that scenario. form the perfect bowl. Another Standing a few feet away from my factoid: The chicks won’t mess in feeder, watching three hummers their nest. Instinctively, they raise jockey for the prime spot, I was their little butts over the edge to mortified when a hawk swooped

“do their business,” blasting it a in from nowhere, grabbed one AUDETT DONNA

14 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds of them in its talons and crashed It clumsily flutters from plant to into the bird-of-paradise plant plant, gradually making its way below. There’s also the roadrun- to a bougainvillea hedge within ner threat as the hummers feed the courtyard. Soon Mom buzzes on bugs near the ground. I’ve into the area and the baby cheeps seen roadrunners walk by our loudly so it can be found. She condo with dead birds in their lands on a nearby branch and beaks—twice. slowly coaxes it into the interior Approximately 14 days after of the hedge with the promise hatching, the babies’ beaks are of food, safe and sound. We feel noticeably longer. They vigor- very privileged to witness such ously lift their bodies and necks an intimate scene. higher to be fed, eyes open, and Over the next 11 days I watch they are starting to exercise their the baby practice flying and wings. A week later, they look hovering, getting more proficient much more like little hummers. and stronger every day. It re- One is noticeably larger than the mains within the confines of the other despite the fact that Mom courtyard, the safe haven where feeds them with equal frequency. Mom returns regularly to feed it. Both are dark, even though they On April 9 I see a first. Mom is carry the gene for albinism. sitting on a yucca tip alone, baby About 24 days (March 22) af- nowhere in sight. After about ter they hatch, the chicks are so 10 minutes, it zooms in over my big Mom can no longer land on head and lands on the cactus. the side of the nest to feed them. It hops over to Mom, opens its The larger one rapidly flaps its mouth to be fed and she flies wings and the little one tries, away! After a few minutes, baby too. Four days later it happened, flies to a nearby bush loaded just as I’d feared. I found the with blooms and starts to sip runt impaled on a low branch of nectar. The weaning has begun. the thorny ocotillo, apparently The last time I saw Mom feed knocked out of the nest when her chick was April 15, 2015. its larger sibling was testing its They both flew into their sanctu- wings. I draped a beach towel ary, Mom first. After the feeding, around the base branches of the they flew off together, but Mom cactus so the same fate wouldn’t detoured to her favorite ocotillo befall the remaining chick. perch and baby went off into the Big day! On March 28 the distance. baby fledged. I spot it in the A 2016 update: She is back! morning, perched on a yucca tip She’s nesting in the exact same spot often used by Mom. I am so re- as last year! It’s such a treat! M lieved to see a successful launch. Watching Backyard Birds Newsletter • watchingbackyardbirds.com 15 —Al Batt Al Batt is a writer, speaker, storyteller, and humorist who lives in Hartland, Minnesota. His first book is A Life Gone to the Birds, published by BWD Press. In a Bit of a Jam

The day started as most of my investigate. She agreed to wait by days do. the window and wring her hands I was sitting in a chair, silently in a motherly fashion. chanting, “I don’t want to be a Out the door I went. I walked grown-up. I don’t want to be a to the feeder. The oriole saw me grown-up,” when my wife inter- and scrunched down, peering rupted my daily routine by calling over the top of the feeder. Tme to the large window in our I walked closer. The oriole living room. played peek-a-boo with me. I “That oriole has been in our touched the feeder. The oriole jelly feeder for a long time. I won- opened his bill in an avian mar- der if he is okay,” she said. tial arts pose. I looked where she pointed. I I saw why he hadn’t flown: He always do. I am a dutiful hus- was stuck in the gooey grape jelly. band. I saw the feeder I had I had fed jelly to orioles for many rigged up to hold a small plas- years and this guy was the first tic dish filled with grape jelly. one ever caught in it. I assumed Orioles stopped by regularly to that he was nowhere near the top sample the grape. I could see that of his graduating class. there was a male Baltimore oriole I attempted to free the oriole in the feeder. He appeared alert, from the sucking goo. I was care- but he wasn’t doing much mov- ful not to hurt the bird while ing. I worried that he might have he, in turn, busied himself by been injured. chewing on that sensitive web of I told my wife that I would skin that stretches between my

16 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Orioles prefer dark-colored jam: grape, strawberry, black raspberry. Only on very rare occasions do they get mired in the jelly bowl.

thumb and index finger. I was guest. You know mothers—that’s able to extricate the oriole from their answer for everything. the jelly with the loss of only Into the bathroom we marched. several small feathers—all his. The I released the loose grip I had question was, what do I do with on the oriole and was surprised an oriole that thought he was a that he didn’t stick to my hand. jelly sandwich? He climbed onto my finger and My sticky friend and I entered began to preen. My wife said that the house and were met by my she knew it would be a male be-

VICTORIA L. ALMGREN/DREAMSTIME.COM wife who ordered a bath for our cause a female would have known

Watching Backyard Birds Newsletter • watchingbackyardbirds.com 17 better than to get herself into I moved him close to the mirror, such a sticky situation. The bird the oriole took a hike from my and I gave each other the look— finger to my elbow. the look that husbands have been After a dozen baths and a like giving each other forever. number of dryings, the oriole was I gave the oriole a gentle bath looking good. He began to sing— using lukewarm water and patted a beautiful whistle. My wife gave him dry with a towel that said him a lecture about the sticky “HERS” on it. By the time I had qualities of jelly and informed given him a second bath, the bird him that there was no need for and I had become friends. You anyone to act so macho in today’s give someone a couple of baths world. The bird and I gave each and you bond. I washed and other the look. dried while the bird preened. We enjoyed the bird’s com- After we had finished his pany for a few hours, finally third bath, the oriole started determining that he was dry and making little happy sounds. The unsticky enough to be released sounds stopped when he made back into the wild. We ignored an important discovery in the those disturbing visions of an bathroom mirror. He froze before oriole stuck in the treetops. Out- cocking his head in an attempt side we paraded. We stood in the to get a better look at this punk middle of our yard, the oriole in oriole with the spiked feathers. no hurry to leave my finger. He uttered what I believed to My wife took the opportu- have been threats of bodily harm nity to give him another talk on toward the intruder in the mir- the perils of gluttony. That did ror. I held my buddy close to the the trick. The bird gave me the scruffy looking bird in the mirror. look and flew to a nearby tree. My friend, who obviously felt he He perched on a branch from could easily handle the loser he whence he whistled and preened saw in front of him, took a shot. until the day darkened into night. He gave the mirror a hearty peck. My wife and I searched each That was enough. day for our pal. We thought we First this sticky food all over saw him high in the trees, no- him, and now he runs into where near the jelly feeder. M Superoriole, the bird of steel. I continued to give the bird Excerpted from A Life Gone baths; he continued to preen to the Birds, available for while giving the dirtiest looks he dared to this image in the mir- purchase at birdwatchersdigest. ror. He was willing to taunt and com/shop or by calling (800) threaten his rival, but whenever 879-2473.

18 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 19 P h o t o B log TIPS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING BIRDS IN YOUR BACKYARD —Bruce Cole As a nature photographer, I that birds tend to be in constant enjoy photographing a variety of motion, which requires plenty of Asubjects, but by far, my favorite light and a fast shutter speed to targets are birds. Although there obtain sharp images. Therefore, are a variety of reasons for this, avoid hanging a feeder where it convenience is near the top of and the adjacent surroundings the list. I can literally step out my will remain shaded. Low light door and have the opportunity conditions in the shade will typi- to photograph a variety of birds. cally eliminate the ability to use As a result of spending literally the appropriate shutter speed to hundreds of hours photograph- obtain quality photos. ing birds in my yard, I’ve devel- Although maintaining several oped a few techniques/methods feeders with different types of to increase the odds of obtaining food will increase both the num- desirable bird photos. ber of birds as well as the number In using feeders to attract birds of species attracted to a yard, it for photographic purposes, it’s can be difficult to photograph fairly common to hang feeders birds at different feeders from in trees or shrubs in order to a single blind/location during obtain natural looking images of one session. I often temporar- birds perching on branches. It’s ily remove all feeders except worth bearing in mind, however, the one that I am stationed at 20 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds when photographing. This not only concentrates the birds at or nearby the feeder that I am focusing on, but it also makes it much easier to observe them as they arrive at the site, since I am watching a smaller area. In addi- Clockwise from top left: American goldfinch; indigo bunting; a palm war- tion, the lighting, distance, etc. bler visits a birdbath; blue jay; rose- will remain relatively constant in breasted grosbeak, all photographed that area, making it much easier in a Tennessee backyard. Bird feeders to manage camera settings. are nearby, but backdrops are care- Flowering plants such as aza- fully chosen. lea, rhododendron, and redbud move my feeders close to such (one of my favorites) provide flowering bushes and trees while beautiful backdrops in which to they are in bloom and set up my photograph birds, as illustrated portable blind to best advantage. by my photos of the goldfinch Although I have a permanent and rose-breasted grosbeak. To blind set up in my yard, I rely

BRUCE COLE (5) obtain images such as these, I on my portable blind for the Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 21 I’m fortunate in that I live on a ridge top and my yard is surrounded by a large, undeveloped woodlot, utilized by a variety of bird species, especially during spring and fall migration here in Tennessee. As a result, I have Clockwise from top left: Female north- roughly 100 species on my yard ern flicker; male scarlet tanagers; male list. Migrating birds passing eastern bluebirds. Species that don’t visit bird feeders, such as the tanagers, through treetops do not lend can be lured to a bird bath. themselves to many photo oppor- tunities, and, with a few excep- majority of my bird photography. tions, are not attracted to bird There are several advantages feeders. They can be attracted to to being able to move a blind my yard, however. around quickly and easily, such By far the best thing I’ve done as setting it up close to feeders as to increase the diversity of birds I relocate them around the yard that I have the opportunity to to take advantage of blooming photograph has been to install a backgrounds. A portable blind water feature: a pond at the top can also be moved throughout of a hill and a 10-foot long stream the day to keep the position of flowing down a steep slope into a the sun at a desirable location in second pond. The cascading wa- relation to the photographic sub- ter is easily visible to birds high in jects. For most of my bird pho- the trees and mimics the sound tography I keep the sun behind of a natural stream. This feature me to avoid harsh backlighting draws a wide variety of birds from and side shadows. A comfortable the trees and provides the op- chair and a tripod are mandatory portunity to photograph species to accommodate the patience that don’t normally come to a required to sit in a blind for any feeder such as warblers, vireos,

extended amount of time. thrushes, and tanagers. Feeder BRUCE COLE (3) 22 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds birds also use it. This water birds at my water feature was feature has probably tripled the watching five brilliant male number of species that I’ve had scarlet tanagers squabble for a the opportunity to photograph in spot to bathe within two feet of my yard. With the exception of my blind—too close to photo- the goldfinch and grosbeak, all of graph! M the images that accompany this article were taken of birds that A native east Tennessean, Bruce Cole is a natural resources manager on a were visiting my water feature. 6,000-acre property but spends the One of my most memorable majority of his spare time with his moments while photographing camera.

Tidbits of Backyard Info BIRDBites You Can Use! Plant a tree for the birds: Even a dead tree! Here’s a very affordable way to please birds! Songbirds need perches. If you can find room to plant just one tree, ideally a species native to your area, birds will find your yard to be friendlier and more welcoming, and more will visit you. If you have a tiny yard and no place to plant a tree, or if you have a postage- stamp-sized yard, or only a porch, deck or balcony to offer the birds, “plant” a dead tree! Not a plastic one, but a branch from a real tree— the biggest one you can comfortably fit in the space Birds often stop and perch you have for it. Birds are naturally attracted to tree on their way to a feeder. branches and use them as a staging area as they make their way to your feeder. Of course, you’ll have to figure out a way to secure your “tree” to the porch or deck railing. If you have room to “plant” it in your postage-stamp yard, sink it at least one foot into the ground for every four feet above ground. Better still, drive half the length of a four-foot piece of rebar into the ground, leaving two feet above ground to support your new “tree.” Use sturdy string or wire to tie the branch to the bar. As the wood ages and dries out, depending upon the tree species, it may become brittle and may need to

DREAMSTIME.COM be replaced. (But it won’t cost a thing if you can find a new one on a hike.) M Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 23

Ask

Feeding & Housing

Dear Birdsquatch: Is it wrong to feed birds in summer? I don’t want to keep Birdsquatch is a bigfoot who them from eating insects and has watched birds all his life. other natural foods. His home range is unknown. —TODD, CLEAR LAKE, IOWA fine to feed birds during the warmer months, but you need Dear Todd, Isn’t Clear Lake to be wise about it. First of where Buddy Holly, the Big all, feed the birds in modera- Bopper, and Richie Valens tion. Don’t give them all the took their last plane ride? Now mealworms or suet dough they I’ve got “Bye-bye Miss Ameri- can handle because these fatty can Pie…” running through my foods can cause health prob- brain. Thanks Todd! And Don lems. Imagine if you stuffed McLean! yourself with only pizza every To answer your question, day. Soon you’d experience Todd: yes and no. It’s perfectly some health issues. Offering a ILLUSTRATIONS BY JULIE ZICKEFOOSE BY ILLUSTRATIONS

24 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds limitless supply of mealworms or suet dough may cause your birds to under- take extra nesting attempts, which results in unnecessary stress to the parents—especially the females. Secondly, it’s vital to keep your feeders (and the bird Feeding birds, even in the summer, won’t prevent them from finding and bath) clean in the summer using natural food sources, too. months, when disease, fungus, mold, and other nasties can us—not because the birds are hang around and cause prob- reliant upon us for survival. lems. Cleaning feeders and “Took the Chevy to the baths with a light bleach-water levee but the levee was dry…” solution (9 parts water to 1 part bleach) will do the trick. Dear Birdsquatch: Finally, don’t worry about When should I put out my affecting the birds’ feeding bird houses in the spring? I’ve habits or foraging behavior. heard that it’s bad to leave For insect- and fruit-eating them out all year long. birds the bounty of natural —SARAH, food in spring and summer BAY CITY, MICHIGAN is irresistible. They’ll forego sunflower seed for a nice Dear Sarah, It’s always a juicy caterpillar or some other good time to put out a nest seasonal chow almost every box. Hang that bird house out time. Just remember to feed all today! foods in moderation. After all, Some cavity-nesting birds— we feed the birds because we such as woodpeckers—can

BILL THOMPSON, III BILL like to bring them in near to carve out a new nest or roost

Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 25 Clean out the nest box at the BRINGING THE end of the summer. AUDUBON EXPERIENCE stripping clay TO YOUR BACKYARD and place a small handful of soft, dry grass inside the box. Face hole anytime they want. the box entrance away from Others (such as bluebirds, prevailing winter winds. In chickadees, titmice, flycatch- the spring, clean it out and ers, tree swallows) lacking remove the weather stripping. the chisel-bills and excava- If you live in a part of tion talents of woodpeckers, North America where nest must rely on the secondary box predators are present, market. That is, they will take make sure your boxes are over old, vacant woodpecker mounted on metal poles with holes, or find natural cavities predator-proof baffles mount- (such as a hollow tree), or ed on them. Predator baffles look for nest boxes to use for are easy to make and are breeding and roosting. Since very effective at protecting you’re up there in the thumb box-nesting birds. My friends of Michigan, your winters are at Bird Watcher’s Digest have cold. I’d bet my all-natural simple instructions for mak- fur coat that any nest boxes ing a nest box baffle at this you left out over the winter link: months would get used as tinyurl.com/SPbaffle roosting spots by somebody. Good luck! M If you want to really provide some cozy shelter, block up the ventilation holes in the nest box using weather-

BILL THOMPSON, III BILL Find the perfect seeds for backyard birds at audubonpark.com 26 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds BRINGING THE AUDUBON EXPERIENCE TO YOUR BACKYARD

Find the perfect seeds for backyard birds at audubonpark.com Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 27 ODDBALLS in the Yard

—Dawn Hewitt

Most people who feed birds grow Ohio, a bird has turned up that to recognize the “usual suspects” looks and behaves like a junco, who regularly visit their feeders, but instead of having a solid gray so they know right away when a head, has a gray head splotched stranger shows up. with white. Are these birds rare visitors from far-off places? Are MBirds with odd plumage they freaks of nature? Sometimes a bird can be In these two examples, both an odd-looking variation of a birds are the species they appear familiar species. Since Septem- to be, but with a genetic condi- ber, Robert Loudon of West tion that results in too much or Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, has too little pigmentation. Animals been seeing a bird that looks like that have more pigment than a tufted titmouse, but has the their kin, such as the titmouse ROBERT LOUDEN ROBERT belly color of a robin! In Medina, in Louisiana, have a condition MARTS BARRY

This tufted titmouse has excess pigment.

This dark-eyed junco is a partial albino, a condition called leucism.

28 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds called melanism. Those with no West Virginia, who photo- pigment are albinos, and those graphed the leucistic junco, with less pigment than normal seems to have a knack for find- have leucism, as is the case with ing pale birds. He also sent the junco. photos of a leucistic mourning A leucistic female cardinal vis- dove, chipping sparrow, and ited my yard for several winters some other sparrow so white it in a row. She looked normal in is impossible to identify with all respects, except that one side certainty, although it has several of her head was mostly white. I features of a song sparrow. That enjoyed being able to pick her bird might be a true albino. out among a dozen or so other It’s hard to tell from the photo cardinals that were indistinguish- whether the eyes are black or able to me. pink—a sure sign of albinism. Leucism is more common True albinos are rare. Albino than many people realize. I’ve and leucistic birds usually have seen photos or heard reports a shorter than average life span of “partial albino” bluebirds, for their species because they

A leucistic mourning dove. Leucisitic birds can be difficult to identify. robins, hummingbirds, and are eye-catching to predators. more. A leucistic crow lives in It’s easier for a hawk to target an my neighborhood. Often, such individual bird in a flock or at a birds have just a touch of white feeder if it looks different from on them where it doesn’t belong, the others. such as “my” cardinal, and the crow. Nearly pure white birds are Off-course birds surprisingly common, too. More rare and surprising

BARRY MARTS (2) MARTS BARRY Barry Marts, of Martinsville, than birds with unusual plum- Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 29 A brambling, a European species, visited a bird feeder A flycatcher from the West turned in Ohio. up in an Ohio yard.

age are birds that are far from their regular haunts are more home. When such birds show common than we realize, but up at feeders and in yards, they they go unnoticed or unre- are often reported by folks who ported. If you see an “oddball” don’t consider themselves to be at your feeders or in your yard, “birders.” The hosts notice a bird don’t dismiss it. Try to take a they haven’t seen before and it photo if at all possible. Even a turns out to be a true rarity. bad photo is better than none. The leucistic junco in Ohio As you are watching the bird, try was spotted under a bird feeder to note details such as plumage where a brambling, a bird from patterns, the size shape of the Eurasia rarely seen in the United bill, behavior, other birds it was States, had been frequenting. It with, etc. Make an estimate of was spotted in late December its length and wingspan. Write and stayed for several weeks. it all down. Don’t rely on your A few weeks earlier, a western memory. Then track down a flycatcher (probably a Pacific local bird expert and describe slope flycatcher) turned up be- the bird to him or her. If it is a hind a garage in Whipple, Ohio, species common to your area a garage belonging to Watching but with leucism or melanism, Backyard Birds editor Bill Thomp- local birders may find it interest- son, III, and “Watcher at the ing, but they might not get too Window” columnist Julie Zick- excited about it. If it is a rarity efoose. Birders from near and far from afar, they will. came to see the brambling and Oddball birds—including the flycatcher. ones that turn up at bird feed- It is possible that throughout ers or in backyards—can be

M JULIE ZICKEFOOSE NICK PULCINELLA North America birds far from very exciting.

30 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Why a Hawk Is a Hummingbird’s BEST Friend

—Elizabeth Pennisi Red-tailed hawk.

Reprinted from the No- ern Arizona, the hummers vember/December 2015 have learned to build their issue of BlackHawk Watch, nests near northern goshawk the newsletter of the and Cooper’s hawk nests. Northern Arizona Audubon Almost five times bigger Society. than the jays, the hawks enjoy these birds for lunch. Sometimes it pays to have To avoid hawks swooping big, bad neighbors. Weigh- down and surprising them, ing in at about three grams, the jays forage only above black-chinned humming- the hawks’ nests. Thus, a birds can do little but stand cone-shaped safe zone exists by and watch Mexican jays below the 65-foot-high hawk 40 times their weight chow nests, extending out about down on their eggs. So in 325 meters, researchers re-

Sthe mountains of southeast- port in Science Advances. USFWS

Watching Backyard Birds • watchingbackyardbirds.com 31 Of 342 hummer nests This phenomenon, in studied over 3 years, 80 per- which one species is chang- cent were near hawk nests— ing the behavior of another and for good reason. The and benefiting a third spe- researchers monitored hum- cies is called trait- mingbird egg and fledgling mediated trophic survival near 6 active and 6 cascade, and inactive hawk nests. Those is similar to hummers what hap- unlucky enough pened to be near inactive in Yellowstone nests lost all but 8 National Park percent of their young, when the intro- while those in a “good” duction of wolves neighborhood had a 70 changed the behav- percent success rate, ior of elk, which they report. Hawks may have benefited could eat the the shrubs and hummingbirds, but these trees that the elk

morsels are too small and fed on. M STEVE MASLOWSKI/USFWS agile to be worth the effort, the researchers note. Ruby-throated hummingbird. Reprinted from Science.

Tidbits of Backyard Info BIRDBites You Can Use! Garden for Caterpillars Most nesting birds feed their young protein in the form of insects, especially soft and juicy caterpillars. Some birds are strictly insectivorous, and those are unlikely to visit your seed feeders. A great way to see warblers, vireos, and other such birds is to encourage caterpillars in your garden. At your local garden center, ask for native host plants—varieties that butterﬂies and moths use for egg laying. The eggs will grow into larva, aka

DREAMSTIME.COM caterpillars, aka bird food. M 32 watchingbackyardbirds.com • Watching Backyard Birds Watching Backyard Birds is sponsored by these A perfect companies. gift Bird Feeding Sponsor: for the BRINGING THE AUDUBON EXPERIENCE backyard TO YOUR BACKYARD bird watcher!

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