Naturally
It’s good to hear the red-winged blackbird males singing on territory. They returned in time for the annual meeting. The earlier males had quietly traveled through on their way farther north.
Winter had been a keeper whether we wanted to keep it or not, but there are beautiful things in the yard. Juncos make toy ray gun sounds. The gray birds with white bellies and outer tail feathers come with the season. They are joined by American tree sparrows that look as if they’re wearing tie tacks without neckties. I watch the runways to the airports that are my feeders. I welcome the company of nuthatches. A red-breasted nuthatch is about half the size of a white-breasted nuthatch and is smaller than a chickadee. Red-bellied woodpeckers are common and have expanded their range northward in recent decades. Their population increased by an estimated 0.8% per year from 1966 to 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, while the red-headed woodpeckers declined by over 1% per year, resulting in a cumulative decline of 54%. Non-migratory resident birds such as northern cardinal, Carolina wren, tufted titmouse and red-bellied woodpecker appear to be the most adaptable and have expanded their ranges the most. This seems to be primarily driven by warmer winters and, for some species, is further augmented by bird feeders.
Q&A
“What do robins eat during the winter?” They eat berries and fruits persisting on shrubs, trees and vines—hackberry, buckthorn, crabapple, hawthorn, mountain ash and others. Frozen or fresh fruit such as apple slices, raisins, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries could be placed on the ground. Young robins learn in robin school that fruit grows on trees and shrubs. They don't expect to find it elsewhere. They may not be common feeder birds, but that doesn’t mean they never visit feeders. A platform feeder offering raisins, crushed peanuts or mealworms might be welcomed. Some folks say robins eat cranberries in a feeder, but they ignored the domestic cranberries I’ve put out for them no matter how enticingly the berries were arranged. In my yard, I see robins feeding on suet fallen from a suet cake feeder. I crumbled some and placed it on the ground. The robins gobbled it down. I’ve seen a few robins eating hulled sunflower seeds (sunflower hearts) and they will eat jelly. A heated birdbath is a major draw.
“Can I compost sunflower seed shells?” Yes, but you might want to do so in limited amounts. The entire plant contains chemicals that may inhibit the growth of other plants. There is little research on whether the allelopathic chemicals of sunflower seed shells negatively impact the compost. Alternatively, they may be used as weed-suppressing mulch. Sunflower seed shells contain a plant growth inhibitor, so some people recommend you don’t place raked-up hulls on compost piles that will be used in gardens. However, this compost may help keep weeds at bay when placed between garden rows.
“How many times do deer defecate daily?” In 1940, researcher Logan Bennett found deer defecate 12.6 times per day. Observations today find that during fall and winter, most whitetails empty their bowels 10 to 15 times per day. In spring and summer, this frequency spikes, fluctuating between 20 and 30 times. And they do all of that without using a single sheet of toilet paper.
Lisa Kaye of KTOE Radio in Mankato asked how brood patches on birds form?” Birds need to transfer and preserve heat to their eggs and nestlings by brood patches, bare areas of skin on the belly that lose their feathers toward the end of the egg-laying period. Most birds shed automatically, but some pluck their brood patch and use the plucked feathers to make an insulating lining for their nests.
“Is there a hunting season on sandhill cranes in Minnesota?” Mark Heinemann of Albert Lea was golfing in Wisconsin when sandhill cranes flew over. He said they were the rib eyes of the sky. His fellow golfers sniggered and mocked him unkindly. Yes, there is a season on cranes. The hunting area includes portions of Kittson, Roseau, Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake and Polk counties.
“The inside of a window of my house has many flies on it. What are they?” If they are grayish black and resemble house flies, they are cluster flies, which are found in homes in fall and spring, and occasionally during winter when mild temperatures occur. They don’t harm people or property and don’t reproduce indoors. They are parasites of earthworms.
Thanks for stopping by
“Because the heart beats under a covering of hair, of fur, feathers, or wings, it is, for that reason, to be of no account?”—Jean Paul Richter.
“If loons invented the music of being lonely, cranes invented the music of being together.”—Kim Heacox.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2023
The opossum has thumbs and 50 teeth. The female is called a jill, the male a jack and a baby is a joey. Photo by Al Batt.
BIRDING WITH BATT
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