Wood Thrush Notes

Yellow Cardinal in TN

A backyard feeding station in Harriman, TN, in Roane County has quite an unusual visitor.  They have a yellow Cardinal visiting on a regular basis.  Yellow Northern Cardinals have been seen in at least 4 different states the last ten years but remain a rarity.  What causes a bird that is normally red to be yellow?  Basically, the red, orange, and yellow colors in birds’ feathers are created with carotenoid pigments derived from the foods they eat. In the male Northern Cardinal, yellow pigments from the diet apparently are converted to red by a specific enzyme. In a very rare genetic mutation, probably affecting fewer than one in a million cardinals, that enzyme is lacking, so the conversion to red doesn’t occur and the feathers are bright yellow instead. 

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Get Ready Now for Nesting Season

Just two weeks from now we will say hello to February, perhaps our coldest and potentially snowiest month.  But you can always count on a few days that warm to the 60’s and suddenly bird activity ramps up.  Some birds will begin singing and some, like the Carolina wren, may actually begin nest building. 

The Carolina wren, as you have probably seen, chooses some pretty odd locations to build a nest and often times in  places humans find annoying, like in a gas grill, or canoe, for example.  They often choose locations like covered porches, garages, and garden sheds.  Every spring we receive several calls from people who suddenly find themselves with a bird nest full of babies in a troublesome location.  If you have experienced this scenario get ahead of the game and block access to these locations as soon as possible. 

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And now is a very good time to review the nest box successes and failures you had last year and make adjustments if necessary.  If a nest box has been in the same location a couple of years with no activity go ahead and try a new location.  Move it soon.

Clean out old nests now if you haven’t already before birds begin new nest building.  Of course, birds will build on top of old nests but that can be a problem as insects like ants will find the old decaying nest attractive.  I have saved baby birds from certain death as the ants were beginning to eat them alive.

If you’ve never offered a Bluebird box consider putting one up in the month of February.  Even though the majority of Bluebirds won’t begin nesting until April they will do a lot of surveying of potential places to nest Feb. thru March.

National Bird feeding Month and the GBBC

February is National Bird Feeding Month and the Great Backyard Bird Count.  Many of you look forward to the count and sharing your data to help bird experts better understand the distribution and relative numbers of the different species of feeder birds. More info on the GBBC next week

Visit www.birdcount.org for more info on the GBBC.

Wood Thrush Notes

Spring is officially here as of this Sunday! So much, in regards to birds, is happening and will only get better and more interesting in the coming weeks. Yesterday, I checked all nest boxes on my property and found 2 Chickadee nests started, and 1 Carolina Wren nest complete, but no eggs yet. Bluebirds have been trying to decide which box to use and in past years I’ve seen this process go on until mid-April before a decision was made. Many times Bluebirds eventually moved into one of the boxes Chickadees successfully fledged their babies from.

Eastern Bluebird nest.

Carolina Chickadee nest.

We’ve only had one reported Bluebird nest with eggs so far, which is quite normal as the majority of Bluebirds do not start actually nesting for another couple of weeks. You still have plenty of time to attract Bluebirds even if you haven’t put a nest box up yet. For success this spring I wouldn’t wait much longer, though. All too often people new to attracting Bluebirds think they must offer mealworms to attract Bluebirds, which is not true. It’s certainly fun to feed Bluebirds but not at all necessary to the process. Some of you may already be seeing Tree Swallows as they have become frequent users of birdhouses.

The first Ruby-throated hummingbirds to arrive in this area are probably just a week to ten days away. As exciting as that is I would not advise putting out several feeders just yet. One feeder with a small amount of nectar will suffice as their interest in feeders is minimal at this time of year. Keep in mind the hummingbird you see may very well be migrating much further north to its summer home, perhaps as far as Canada. Let us know if you see one. I have never seen one earlier than April 4 at my home in Cheatam County.

As we approach mid-April we will experience the main period of migration in middle TN. Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, Wood Thrush, Summer, and Scarlet Tanagers, and Orioles, will be present as they settle into their summer home here or move on to destinations north of us.

Indigo Bunting.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

At your feeders be ready for Indigo Buntings and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  R-B Grosbeaks are especially fond of visiting feeders with sunflower and safflower.   While a platform feeder may be their preferred feeding situation they adapt very well to tube feeders as well.

This week it was noticeable that Goldfinches are changing out of their drab winter outfit in to their beautiful yellow summer plumage. 

I’m so glad spring is here, aren’t you!?

Early Nesting Activity

Carolina Wrens Quirky Nest Locations

It is hard to believe given the recent winter weather but presently you may see evidence of certain birds beginning the nesting process. For weeks now I have been hearing Cardinals singing, as well as Chickadees, Titmice, Bluebirds, and Carolina Wrens.

The Carolina Wren is one of the earliest nesting birds you should be aware of and be prepared for its quirky choices of nesting locations around the house. Carolina Wrens are notorious for choosing to nest in what seems to us to be terrible and dangerous locations. But their beautifully crafted nest can be so well concealed that you only accidentally discover it while doing a little spring cleaning. Their nest is an expertly engineered “cave” made from long thin pieces of root, a little moss, and lots of lacey skeletonized leaves intertwined where the eggs will be laid deep within.

Hopefully, by pointing this out now you may be able to discourage one from nesting in a location that will be quite the inconvenience for you later.

Here is a list of actual nesting locations we have either experienced or encountered with customers: A wreath on the front door, open mailbox, on a shelf in the garage or garden shed, under the hood of an old vehicle that’s been sitting for a while, upside down canoe, bicycle helmet hanging on a wall, in a hanging plastic shopping bag, behind pillows on an outdoor couch, in a potted plant on the porch, on a hanging ladder, in a covered boat, in a gas or charcoal grill, and in the folds of a hammock to name a few.

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If you have experienced something like this in the past get ahead of it now to avoid the unpleasantness of having to relocate a nest, which rarely works. Avoid leaving a window or door open on your garage or shed because these inquisitive little birds will and do quite expertly find their way in and out of small places and openings. At the store during the spring months, we sometimes leave the backdoor open to let in the fresh air. We have seen in just a few hours a Carolina Wren discover an empty box on a shelf and promptly begin nest building. It can happen that fast. You may think to put up a birdhouse for them out in the yard somewhere but that usually does not work. Carolina Wrens want to be close to the cover and protection of your house, or some large object. I have had success with Carolina Wrens in a birdhouse, but it was placed on the wall of my covered porch just a few feet from my backdoor.

If you discover a Carolina Wren nest with eggs or babies in an unwanted place, please consider letting them finish and allow the babies to fledge. Wren babies leave the nest quickly, sometimes less than two weeks after hatching.

Bluebirds Searching for Nest Sites

Bluebirds are now singing and exhibiting courtship behaviors. Listen for the sweet call and the male wing waving as he sits on a nest box or near-by perch to court a female. Although bluebirds are going through the motions of courtship relatively few will get on nest in the month of March. Sure, there are always a few eager pairs, but the majority seem to wait until early to mid-April. There is plenty of time to still offer a nest box in your yard and attract Bluebirds this spring and summer. Bluebird numbers are great and its easier than ever to attract them with a nest box. Rather than duplicate our “Bluebird Handout” in the store with all the nest box placement tips and suggestions I would prefer to dispel a few myths instead. We frequently encounter customers who are under the impression one must have the perfect situation to attract Bluebirds. Bluebirds are quite good at adapting and the very fact they use nest boxes made by man illustrates this.

· Nest-boxes must face east. Not true. Facing it east is suggested only because the entrance hole would be away from prevailing weather patterns. Good idea but not necessary. My most successful box over the years has faced northwest.

· The nest box must be in a big clearing. Bluebirds are at times of the year a “field and meadow” type of bird which may be what led to this myth. The fact is fields and meadows never provided Bluebirds with nest sites so they would leave those areas in the spring to look for them in more wooded areas where secondary cavities (abandoned woodpecker holes) were available. Simply choose the most open space you have even if there are trees around. My yard is surrounded by forest, yet Bluebirds use one or two of the boxes I provide every year.

· You have to offer mealworms to attract Bluebirds. Absolutely not the case. The nest box is the most important part of the process in attracting Bluebirds. Feeding them is enjoyable and in periods of several days in a row of spring rains and very cool temperatures feeding them live mealworms can help them significantly, especially as the young grow and demand more food.

Announcement about Curbside Service

Curbside service is available Monday Through Friday ONLY. Saturday is our busiest day of the week with in-store customers requiring more help and consultation. Please understand we cannot efficiently attend to our in-store customers and fulfill orders being called in from the curb. You may still place an order by Friday for Saturday pick-up but we cannot process orders called in on Saturday. Thank you, we appreciate your cooperation.

House Wren Competition

After our blog about “dealing with predators and problems” appeared last week we received a couple of comments about House Wrens (HW). One comment referred to the HW as a predator. Technically the HW is not a predator but a competitor, and has been known to pierce eggs and even kill baby birds in the nest box. They also have the unique behavior of filling up several available boxes with their nest material with no intention of using those nests. These are known as “dummy nests”. This is an interesting dilemma because the HW is a native songbird and must be treated as such.

The House Wren is not a year round species, like the Carolina Wren, and tends to first appear in this area around mid-April. They are fairly common but many of you will never see one in your yard. In 28 years at my home I have never included the House Wren on my “yard bird” list.

HW’s use almost exclusively sticks for nest building so when monitoring your nest boxes this is an easily identified nest. Any advice we can offer to help keep HW’s from doing what they do may “backfire”. Offering more choices of nest boxes can alleviate “pressure” on the one or two already present but may encourage more HW activity. Spending a little time monitoring your boxes can help. For instance, if you find sticks in a nest box where Bluebirds have been building a nest you may remove the sticks. Don’t just drop them on the ground because HW’s will just retrieve them and put them back. Or as we suggest with House Sparrows plug the entrance hole to a box for a while if you see HW activity.

An interesting strategy to try if you have experienced HW issues is the wren guard. The wren guard disguises the entrance hole. (Click here for a more in depth look at the wren guard). The wren guard is best used after a Chickadee or Bluebird, for example, have already fully committed to a nest by laying eggs.

It’s good to remember competition among birds for nest sites can reveal some difficult things about nature.

We hope this helps some of you and next week we will spend a little more time on monitoring Bluebird boxes. Please keep the questions coming. We enjoy being able to address things you want to learn about backyard birds.