Wood Thrush Notes: First Migrants Arrive in TN.

Sale Continues and GBBC

Our February sale continues through this Saturday the 18th on all bird feeding related products. Seed and feed, and all bird feeders and accessories are marked down. Get ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count which takes place Feb. 17-21. Take part in this fun activity where your backyard bird data is used by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Visit www.birdcount.org for more information.

First Neotropical Migrants Arrive in TN

We naturally think of migration happening in “spring” and “fall”, however, spring migration has already begun and just last Saturday some of the earliest songbirds arriving from Central and South America were spotted in a couple of locations in TN by avid birdwatchers. One location, the Duck River Unit of TN National Wildlife Refuge in Waverly, is a very popular and productive birdwatching location.

Neotropical means relating to or denoting a zoogeographical region comprising Central and South America, including the tropical southern part of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Tree swallows were spotted in both Chattanooga and Waverly. Tree swallows are a beautiful bird that we see with regularity using Bluebird boxes statewide. We have had customers report having Tree swallows in Bluebird boxes for many years now. Tree swallows are primarily insect consumers, but unlike other swallows, can eat plant foods which help them survive potential wintery weather of early spring. Tree swallows are often seen in open field areas away from trees but get their name from commonly nesting in tree cavities.

Tree Swallow

The Swallow family in general is among the earliest migrating birds to return to N. Am. every spring. This family consists of Purple Martins, Tree, Cliff, Rough-winged, and Barn swallows.

Spring migration for Ruby-throated hummingbirds, as usual, is closer to April. It is not uncommon for a few hummingbirds to be seen and reported the last week of March, but the vast majority of Ruby-throated hummingbirds will arrive in, or pass through, TN between the first of April and mid-May.

Wood Thrush Notes: Our Big Sale & Mockingbirds

Sale Begins Tomorrow

A reminder that tomorrow, Sat. 11th we are beginning a week long sale on all things bird feeding related. Prices on ALL birdfeeders, iron poles, hooks, and deck mount arms, baffles, weather guards, and seed and suet will be reduced. Get ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count which begins Feb. 17th. Visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website allaboutbirdes.org for more information.

Mockingbirds being Mockingbirds

Every early February we encounter several concerned customers that claim they do not have any birds coming to their feeders. “They’ve disappeared in the last week or so”. We usually ask some standard questions that may give us some clues as to the possible reason. Then it occurs to us that the month of February is typically when our state bird, the Northern Mockingbird, begins expressing its territorial nature with much more exuberance. Mockingbirds begin establishing boundaries relative to an intended nest sight much earlier than most songbirds and if any birdfeeders are in that territory they will swoop in and chase off all intruders. They have no interest in the seed in the feeder but will defend with vigor the area the feeder is in. Mockingbirds, nor any birds, possess the trait of being mean. They just have varying degrees of territorial defense and posturing. The Mockingbirds’ is high and with each day spring gets closer its amplified. The only solution to continue feeding your birds is to spread your feeders out enough that the Mockingbird cannot effectively patrol them. In time this heightened behavior will pass and there will be relative peace in your yard again. Once nesting responsibilities commence they generally do not have time for constant patrolling. You still may see an occasional act of aggression, though. Be patient and understand it’s just a Mockingbird doing what it knows to do.

Northern Mockingbird

Wood Thrush Notes

Great Blue Heron Rookery

While canoeing on the Harpeth River last weekend I pulled onto a gravel bar to stretch my legs. As I looked around, I noticed in the distance a large tree with what looked like large clumps of mistletoe growing in the top 3rd of the tree. A moment later a very large bird approached and landed near one of the large clumps which I soon realized were Great Blue Heron nests. Through closer observation with binoculars I could see there were already two more GB Herons positioned alongside other nests. I had located a rookery which is an area where Great Blue Herons nest in groups, or colonies.

Great Blue Herons nest mainly in trees, but will also nest on the ground, on bushes, in mangroves, and on structures such as duck blinds, channel markers, or artificial nest platforms. As early as late January males arrive at the colony and begin to settle on nest sites; from there, they court passing females. Colonies can consist of 500 or more individual nests, with multiple nests per tree built 100 or more feet off the ground.

Male Great Blue Herons collect much of the nest material, gathering sticks from the ground and nearby trees, presenting them to the female. She weaves a platform and a saucer-shaped nest, lining it with softer materials like pine needles, moss, and dry grasses. Nest building can take from 3 days up to 2 weeks; the finished nest can range from a simple platform measuring 20 inches across to more elaborate structures used over multiple years, reaching 4 feet across and nearly 3.5 feet deep.

Peak egg laying is around mid-March her in TN. A typical clutch size is 2-6 bluish eggs, and incubation takes up to 29 days. The fledgling period is a minimum of about 49 days and can be as much as 81. Individuals usually do not nest until at least 2 years old.

Great Blue Heron rookeries are not difficult to find, especially this time of year with no leaves to obstruct views of nests. They are common year-round residents and can be found along, or near any body of water.

Spring Birding Class

Richard Connors will be offering his bird identification class “Birding by Ear, Bird Study by Sight and Sound” at Radnor Lake again this spring.

The class will emphasize birding by ear, and is designed for beginners and intermediates, and will be a good opportunity for anyone wishing to brush up and study our local birds. Classroom sessions will be combined with guided bird walks taking advantage of the fact that Radnor Lake is the premier place to see, hear, and study birds in the Nashville area. Our local birds will be covered, and of special interest will be the wood warblers, the elusive and colorful spring migrants that Radnor is so famous for. Through this class you will increase your proficiency in bird identification, learn how to enhance your yard to attract birds, learn what bird resources are available, and learn where to go in our area to look for birds.

The 5-week class will meet Tuesdays April 4, 11, 18, 25, and May 2. The first class meets on April 4th, 10AM – 12:00 PM in the visitor center meeting room, Radnor Lake State Natural Area, 1160 Otter Creek Rd., Nashville.

Morning bird walks start April 14 at 7:30 AM, followed by classroom sessions starting at 10 AM. There is a $75 fee for the class, with a portion of the fee going to Friends of Radnor Lake.

Contact Richard to register for the class: Rconnorsphoto@aol.com, call or text 615 330-7142. For more info visit Richards info page here. https://pbase.com/rconnorsnaturephoto/spring_bird_class_2023

Coming soon. The Great Backyard Bird Count!

Once again the Great Backyard Bird Count is just a few weeks away, February 17 thru 20. The GBBC is a worldwide online citizen-science project, the first of its kind to collect data on wild birds and display results in near real time. It was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society.

Our observations and data help scientists better understand global bird populations before one of their annual migrations.

Visit www.birdcount.org/about/ for more info on the count!

It’s fun and easy to participate and all you need is a birdfeeder or two. Information and instructions are available through the link provided. The 3 steps to participating are as follows:

Step 1 – Decide where you will watch birds. Easy enough. Your backyard works just fine.

Step 2 – Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 17-20, 2023.

Step 3 – Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings: E-bird mobile, E-bird on a computer, or Merlin bird id app.

If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID mobile app.

If you have participated in the count before, try eBird mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website www.ebird.org (desktop/laptop).

If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.

We hope you will participate and present your data for a very worthy study.

Mark your calendars!

In celebration of National Bird Feeding Month and the GBBC all bird feeding products, from seed and suet, to feeders and feeder accessories, shepherd’s poles, hooks and hangers, and squirrel baffles will be on sale Feb. 11 thru Feb 18!

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.