The Uncaged Bird - Ready for Spring!

Various woodpeckers, red headed finches, gold finches, tufted titmouse, cardinals, white breasted nuthatches  and black capped chickadees.

One the houses we made that usually gets inhabited by a house wren has been home to a black capped chickadee this yearcheese

The phoebes have also taken up their usual residence under the garage overhang. 

I just have to remember to take down the suet feeder every night or it will be taken down by either the bear or raccoon...again...


In addition to our year round residents, a pair of Baltimore orioles visit the tall trees behind our house most evenings. The male sits high in the branches, his brilliant orange plumage glowing, and sings his monotonous but tuneful song.  Carolina wrens argue noisily over where to build their nest.  Visiting warblers on their way to their breeding grounds include American redstarts and a beautiful magnolia warbler.  Yesterday on a bird walk in Central Park, we also saw black-throated blues, blackpolls, common yellowthroats, northern parulas, a Canada warbler, and my favorite, several Blackburnian warblers.  Love migration!


Nuthatch today. Sorry. Can't figure out why it doesn't postmy pictures. 


RobinM2 said:

Nuthatch today. Sorry. Can't figure out why it doesn't postmy pictures. 

Have you mentioned it on Jamie's thread? Someone just posted they had a problem with their avatar appearing.

Dying to see everyone's pics.


So today another Hummingbird siting. He flew close to my feeder but there were two birds perched a foot away so they may have scared him off.  Or he may have been looking for the red petunias I had relocated and not known how to use the feeder. I've read that they learn to use the feeders from other Hummingbirds. So I put them back. Wow this is tricky.


Its official. The pool is open!


Too cute. I filled ours today, but nobody seems to have noticed. Maybe they are staying in the shade in the hedges.


I couldn't find red petunias but one of the workers at Metropolitan Plants suggested fuschia, so I now have two hanging pots, one with fuschia and one with mixed colored petunias and other flowers (dark pinks as well as purples) with a tray-style feeder in between.  Crossing my fingers ...

The purple and pink was a Mother's Day gift from my kid, not necessarily connected to hummingbirds, but there it is.


Our hummingbirds are checking out everything, including blooming sage, catmint, and a dark purple rhodie.


PeggyC said:

Too cute. I filled ours today, but nobody seems to have noticed. Maybe they are staying in the shade in the hedges.

I'm busy repairing a severe leak in the big fountain shown in the first post. I'm using silicone so I hope it will be functional by tomorrow. The sound of running water gets the crowd excited!

As for your birdbath, to tweak a phrase, "If you fill it, they will come."


sac said:

I couldn't find red petunias but one of the workers at Metropolitan Plants suggested fuschia, so I now have two hanging pots, one with fuschia and one with mixed colored petunias and other flowers (dark pinks as well as purples) with a tray-style feeder in between.  Crossing my fingers ...

The purple and pink was a Mother's Day gift from my kid, not necessarily connected to hummingbirds, but there it is.

I tried to get red/white or red/purple fuschia, but when I went back Metropolitan only had pink/white. I didn't know if it would get their attention or not. I've had 3 Hummingbird visits this season but so far no one has bellied up to the bar.


PeggyC said:

Our hummingbirds are checking out everything, including blooming sage, catmint, and a dark purple rhodie.

Can you send a few here??  I got another hanging pot (this time including some red petunias) so increasing the flower factor but no hummers so far.

Morganna or other experienced hummingbirders - how often to change the sugar water in this warm weather?


sac said:
PeggyC said:

Our hummingbirds are checking out everything, including blooming sage, catmint, and a dark purple rhodie.

Can you send a few here??  I got another hanging pot (this time including some red petunias) so increasing the flower factor but no hummers so far.

Morganna or other experienced hummingbirders - how often to change the sugar water in this warm weather?

If its in the direct sun and its hot, the advice is everyday.

If not every other day. Some sites say every 3 days but I think every other day is safe.

I once made the mistake of filling a feeder with the pre mix and didn't realize it was the concentrate!

Now I bought a pre mix but a clear one that has flower nectar in it. I'm giving it a try some days, but still mixing the water and sugar on others. I bought it at Metropolitan and it is packaged to have the look of a wine bottle. I'm also alternating different feeders. So I have seen hummingbirds but have not seen one use the feeder. I think they are coming out quite early in the morning. I caught one about 6:30 AM.



Morganna said:
 I think they are coming out quite early in the morning. I caught one about 6:30 AM.

Hmmm - I certainly have not checked that early.


On our trips to places like Arizona and Costa Rica, where the hummers are everywhere, they were at feeders throughout the daylight hours.  We need to train the local hummingbirds better.  cheese


sac said:

On our trips to places like Arizona and Costa Rica, where the hummers are everywhere, they were at feeders throughout the daylight hours.  We need to train the local hummingbirds better.  <img src=" src="/res/static/common/plugins/redactor/emoticons/1.0/images/3.gif" unselectable="on">

Did you see my link for The Bird Lady of Anchovy? She trained them to come to the feeder at certain times. It was  a sanctuary in Jamaica.

Agreed we need to coax them into our gardens. I wondered if a whole block of houses put up feeders and filled their gardens with welcoming flowers if we could lure them more effectively.

I'm now reading about Bluebirds which appear to be on the decline. As the designated birds of happiness, I am trying to find some nearby efforts to bring them back. There are houses designed for them.

I ordered some new birdhouses last night after discovering how many of our local birds are cavity dwellers. I'm on a lot which is partially wooded, so I just assumed most of our birds built nests in branches. So chickadees, titmice, wrens and nuthatches are cavity dwellers and how many hollowed out trees do we have?

Also the more I study bird housing the more I realize how carelessly some of the cute ones are designed. Ventilation and drainage are a consideration as well as the size of the whole and whether a perch is a good idea or an invitation to predators. There are even considerations as to the interior with even some kind of mesh or rough surfact to make it easy for the fledglings to climb out for their first flight!


A mother Starling's morning ablutions.


Somehow I have a hard time getting excited about starlings.


sac said:

Somehow I have a hard time getting excited about starlings.

OK, I'll take up that challenge!

I found this item and while it may or may not be true, I think it adds a bit of glamour to a bird which has been accused of causing some problems.

Mozart had a pet common starling which could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major (KV. 453).[118] He had bought it from a shop after hearing it sing a phrase from a work he wrote six weeks previously, which had not yet been performed in public. He became very attached to the bird and arranged an elaborate funeral for it when it died three years later. It has been suggested that his A Musical Joke (K. 522) might be written in the comical, inconsequential style of a starling's vocalisation.[35] Other people who have owned common starlings report how adept they are at picking up phrases and expressions. The words have no meaning for the starling, so they often mix them up or use them on what to humans are inappropriate occasions in their songs.[129] Their ability at mimicry is so great that strangers have looked in vain for the human they think they have just heard speak.[35] Wikipedia

 As well as some information from Scientific American which tells of Shakespeare's mention of the starling in Henry IV. Later a society in the 1900s called the American Acclimatization Society planned to release birds of every species mentioned in Shakespeare into the United States. They released some100 starlings in Central Park between 1890 and 1891. This appeared in an article call Antigravity Call of the Reviled by Steve Mirsky.

And as for its black feathers with iridescent speckles, I think its feathered attire is somewhere between Goth and Steampunk!
 


 


Still looking for my first hummingbird ...


Don't let the heat ruffle your feathers, friends.


I thought I saw a crow this morning, one of my favorite birds, so I started to do a bit of research and stumbled upon this adorable story.

https://lockerdome.com/thedodo.com/8774086281146132


I'm in heaven. I just saw a male goldfinch in full breeding costume. They are usually tempted by water and he was perched on the bird bath. Wow. It was one of those moments when you chose to quietly watch or move and grab your camera...... he saw me move.


I just saw this bird in Maplecrest Park. At a distance from the behind it looked like a white headed sand piper. My son joked it was a baby bald eagle. But when I got closer and took this picture, I could see it was a robin with an all white head.  Very strange. And just found this story about the condition which is very rare, it says:


http://www.reporterherald.com/ci_22839303/red-breast-and-white-head-unique-robin-spotted


RobinM2 said:

I just saw this bird in Maplecrest Park. At a distance from the behind it looked like a white headed sand piper. My son joked it was a baby bald eagle. But when I got closer and took this picture, I could see it was a robin with an all white head.  Very strange. And just found this story about the condition which is very rare, it says:




http://www.reporterherald.com/ci_22839303/red-breast-and-white-head-unique-robin-spotted

Wow, thanks for sharing this! I'm going to be on the lookout. I hate to use a cliché but I've got to get out more. I think its time for me to stretch beyond back yard viewing.

By the way, the article mentioned Cornell's Project Feeder Watch, which is fun. I don't know if you have ever participated but I'm hoping to get some MOLers to try it next fall. I had a great time logging in all of the data.

I think your post deserves a subtitle alert!


Well this is not the rare bird that is mentioned above but I love finches and this one is blushing exquisitely.


For hummingbirds, plant Trumpet Vine. We have HBs everyday -sometimes 2-3 at a time.


ragnatela said:

For hummingbirds, plant Trumpet Vine. We have HBs everyday -sometimes 2-3 at a time.

My friends warned me that they are very invasive, Trumpet Vines, not hummingbirds, LOL. The vine broke my friend's trellis so I changed course and planted Honeysuckle another favorite of the birds but despite what I've read, the deer or woodchucks are nibbling at my growing plants. I have lots of red petunias, red salvia, columbines and assorted other attractive treats but I think they are intimidated by all of the other birds. The garden is getting crowded with feathered friends. Looking a bit like an a Hitchcock movie!


I've tried unsuccessfully to grow trumpet vine a couple of times.  I'm not sure why it doesn't like my yard/garden.  Is it possible to grow it in pots?


I was so excited to have the new Starling family raising little ones in my nesting box that I ordered 2 more each with smaller holes. The smallest was immediately investigated by a tiny bird and I just discovered today that she moved in. The tiny wren may have been attracted by the Made in America flag sticker that I left on the roof. This very small patriot is a true Yankee Doodle Dandy.


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