Wood Thrush Notes July 26, 2024
Warner Parks Announces Hummingbird Celebration and Hummingbird Happy Hour dates
Saturday Sept. 7 Warner Parks Nature Center will hold its annual Hummingbird Celebration from 9 am until 2 pm. There will be activities for all ages highlighted by up close looks at hummingbirds as the skilled staff catches and bands hummingbirds. See these fascinating little birds up close and learn how it is determined if they are adult males or females, or juvenile birds just off the nest. The Wood Thrush Shop participates with a booth selling our favorite hummingbird feeders and accessories. The event is open to the public no registration required.
Hummingbird Happy Hour is Thursday September 5, 2024 from
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm. Tickets are $75. All proceeds benefit Friends of Warner Parks and the Warner Parks BIRD Program. Tickets can be purchased at https://warnerparks.org/event/hummingbird-happy-hour/
The event features live music, cocktails and brews, lite bites, and the presence of hummingbirds visiting the many feeders situated around the event grounds. The Wood Thrush Shop is proud to be a sponsor of this event.
Goldfinches on Nest
Many of you have reported seeing more Goldfinches at feeders this year. That’s great! I think part of that success is due to many of you making the switch from plain Nyjer seed to the fine sunflower chips and the finch blend. However, you may have noticed a decline in numbers and frequency in recent weeks because July is typically when Goldfinches begin nesting. Why do Goldfinches wait until now when most songbirds are concluding nesting duties? Goldfinches are almost exclusively seed eaters and it is crucial they wait until now when natural seeds are becoming available in fields, meadows, and other open habitat where they tend to nest. These natural resources are needed to raise their young.
A Goldfinches nest is built by the female, usually in a shrub or sapling in a fairly open setting rather than in forest interior. The nest is an open cup of rootlets and plant fibers lined with plant down, often woven so tightly that it can hold water. The nest is attached to tree limb with spider silk.
Clutch size varies from 2 to 7 eggs and incubation is 12 to 14 days, while the fledgling period is 11 to 17 days. Goldfinches will have up to two broods. You will likely see Goldfinches return in better numbers in August but don’t be surprised if they feed more at the flowers in your yard, like Black-eyed Susan, Coneflower, Zinnia, and Sunflowers rather than your feeders.
