Wood Thrush Notes: Yellow-throated Vireo

This morning while having coffee on my back porch waiting and watching for the first Rose-breasted Grosbeak to appear at my feeders, I heard a bird call that I quickly identified as a Red-eyed Vireo. Much to my wife’s delight I was wrong. She had opened up the Merlin app to use the Sound ID feature and it identified the bird as a Yellow-throated Vireo. The songs of the two vireos are similar but different enough, too, that I should not have gotten it wrong. Identifying calls and songs is the most challenging part of birding.

Upon locating where the sound was coming from and using my binoculars it was indeed a Yellow-throated Vireo. I blamed my incorrect song ID on the nearly 50 male American Goldfinches that were in full chatter mode descending on all my feeders.

The Yellow-throated Vireo (Y-TV) is a spring migrant arriving from Central and South America. Practically the entire eastern half of the U.S. is in their breeding range. One could easily miss this bird if there is a strong presence of Goldfinches around, although you won’t see them at a feeder. Y-TV’s are insect eaters and will be seen in deciduous forest areas where they tend to nest, hopping slowly from branch to branch looking for prey. 

Yellow-throated Vireo

Males will find potential nesting areas and even begin placing some nest material in a few locations waiting on the arrival of a female. She will choose one of the locations and give approval. The male will begin the actual nest building only to hand over the duties to the female after one day. The nest material is comprised of bark strips, dry grasses, rootlets, pine needles, and perhaps hair, held together with spider web or some other insect silk.

Y-TV’s are mostly solitary and shortly after chicks leave the nest the pair will separate.

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Bird Bio: Summer Tanager

You’re walking in the park when you see a stunning flash of red in the tree canopy above you. You don’t get a good look, so you write it off as another cardinal. But something about it just didn’t seem right to you. Suddenly, you see the flash of red again up ahead, but this time the bird lights on a branch, sidles down, and grabs a large insect before it viciously begins to thrash it into submission. You look through your binoculars and this time get a good enough look to be certain it’s no cardinal, but what could it be?

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Male Summer Tanager. Photos by Eli Haislip.

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The Summer tanager is an eye-catching bird to say the least. These neotropical migrants call our deciduous and pine-oak forests home for the spring and summer months. During fall migration, they leave their summer breeding grounds behind and will travel as far south as the rain forests of Bolivia. When they aren’t traveling between hemispheres, they can usually be found in the tops of trees where they are more easily heard than seen. Listen for their robin like song, or their unique “pi-tuh-took” call. Once you are able to recognize these by ear, you will be amazed by just how common these beautiful birds are. To hear this birds call check out the Summer Tanager profile on allaboutbirds.org

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Juvenile male

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Female

During early spring, the males sing and aggressively chase one another in order to establish territories. Males will take only one mate per season. After the birds pair off, females will weave crude bowls out of dried grasses and other vegetation. Females incubate eggs while the males will busy themselves with important activities such as preening, foraging and getting a little rest. After an incubation period of 11-12 days, both parents will help to raise the young. After a period of as short as 8-12 days, it is time for the fledglings to leave the nest, despite being barely able to fly. During this period, they usually will hide themselves in dense vegetation, only calling on occasion to their parents who will continue to feed them for around 3 weeks.

While visits to feeders are rare, they are not entirely unheard of. They are known to visit suet feeders, and they might not rule out a plump mealworm if the opportunity presented itself. However, they are more likely to spend their time in the treetops where they specialize in eating wasps, bees, as well as other insects, and fruit or berries. Great places to see these birds include Edwin Warner and Bowie Nature Park in Fairview.

Peak Time For Hummingbirds

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Ruby Throated Hummingbird

August and September is the busiest time for hummingbirds at feeders.  By now our summer population of hummingbirds has concluded the nesting phase which explains why in the past couple of weeks you have seen a surge in interest at your feeders.  It will only get busier in the next four to five weeks.

Already, hummingbirds that have summered north of here are beginning their long journey back to central and South America to soon bring them through Tennessee.  So, not only are our hummingbirds that nested here coming to the feeders but all the migrating hummers will be sweeping through and joining the feeding frenzy.  This is the time when hummingbirds will be feeding heavily packing on as much fat as possible to sustain them during there long journey.

Food availability is thought to be the prime determinant of migratory routes.  Hummingbirds will travel where food is most dependable.  Many who study hummingbirds believe knowledge of food-rich migratory routes may actually be built into the genetic codes of these amazing little birds.  This explains why people in rural areas tend to see a lot more hummingbirds than those in more populated urban areas.  Hummers will feed heavily on late summer blooming plants like jewelweed, bee balm, and cardinal flower.  Cardinal flower and a purple variety of Salvia seem to be the preferred flowers at my house. These native plants not only provide nectar but attract insects that are critical to a hummers diet.

Since tiny insects are a major part of a hummers diet you may be interested in trying something I’ve had success with.  In the vicinity of your hummingbird feeders hang a mesh bag, or perforated container with a piece of fruit inside.  As the fruit over-ripens the fruit flies will converge.  Hummingbirds will find this “meat” feeder very interesting.  You will, too, as you see hummers hover and snatch insects.

If you have put away your hummingbird feeders because you thought you missed them this summer now is the time to get them back out and get some fresh nectar made.  The very best and busiest is yet to come.  In just one week I have seen consumption at my feeders go from 16 ounces per day to 32 oz.  Based on past years by mid-September I will likely see as much as a gallon of nectar consumed per day at my eight feeders.

Below is a video from a couple years back in September. We're compiling some new footage from this year so check back for a new video on down the line.