NOVA Cowbird Video

Arthur posted a link to a cool video from NOVA about cowbirds and nest parasitism in my comments section--check it out! It's a cool video for several reasons--capturing cowbird "mafia behavior," making nest boxes for prothonotary warblers out of juice cartons and a birder named "Bubba." Also, here's a link to a blog entry with Non Birding Bill's footage of a roadrunner nailing a cowbird.

Should You Remove A Cowbird Egg?

A question came in to my blog in the last few days and someone asked if she should pull a cowbird egg from a nest.  This is an interesting question. For people not familiar with brown-headed cowbirds, they are nest parasites.  A female cowbird will lay her egg in another bird's nest.  Often the adult bird raising the cowbird is half the size of the young cowbird.  Sometimes other nestlings will not survive and sometimes they will, depends on the species.  The cowbird can contribute to the decline of species on the brink, like Kirtland's warblers by having the adults "waste time" by raising a cowbird and not another Kirtland's warbler.

For years it was believed that cowbirds evolved this pattern because they followed herds of bison eating insects.  That nomadic lifestyle left little time for raising young.  As bison disappeared, cowbirds started following humans...who are rather sedentary and now a female cowbird who would lay 60 eggs in a summer over several miles is now laying those 60 eggs in one neighborhood.  Makes sense...that is until Alvaro stepped in.

Alvaro Jaramillo who wrote the book about blackbirds (literally, he wrote the book on blackbirds) has this theory:

“This cannot be true. If you look at the evolution of the cowbirds (the entire genus Molothrus) you will find that they most likely arose in South America where there are no bison. As well, the Shiny Cowbird and Brown-headed Cowbird appear (based on the phylogeny developed by studying variations in mitochondrial DNA sequence) to be the most recently derived species in the cowbird clan. Thus, by the time that the Brown-headed Cowbird arose as a species it was already part of a lineage of brood parasitic birds, it was not the first. Cowbirds were ‘pre-adapted’ to a nomadic lifestyle due to their brood parasitism, but this behavior did not evolve due to a ‘need’ to follow Bison.”

Arrrrrrrg!

Officially, the answer is that it is illegal to remove a brown-headed cowbird egg from a nest.  They are a native species and therefore protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty--unless you have a depredation permit from the federal government to remove them as in the case of Kirtland's warblers.

Do one remove it regardless of the legality?  Is removing one cowbird egg helping an overall bird population?  I've posted the same question on Facebook and people have opinions.  How about you?

Birding Jeffers Petroglyphs State Historic Site

Some of my work this spring has taken me to southwestern Minnesota and I was so excited to see that one of the places I have always wanted to visit in this beautiful state was close by.

It's called Jeffers Petroglyphs Historic Site and it's in Comfrey, Minnesota.  The visitor center itself does not open until after Memorial Day but a person can visit just about any time and walk the well marked trails--and stay on the trails so as not to ruin all the native prairie landscape they have worked so hard to create.  I called to confirm they were open before I headed out and the person working the phone recommended evening viewing.  Many people come during the middle of the day and it's harder to see the ancient petroglyphs with the sun overhead.  She said that the late afternoon sun makes the carvings look almost 3D.  That timing worked for me and I knew that would be good photo light.  I asked if she was aware of any birds I could find when I visited.  Her first suggested bird was:

Dickcissel!  SWEET--I hadn't seen one of these snazzy looking sparrows for a year or two so I was up for some dickcissel action.  When I arrived in the parking lot, both a grasshopper sparrow and the above dickcissel greeted me.  I noticed that the visitor center was closed and my vehicle was the only one in the lot.  It was a gorgeous late spring night and I thought I couldn't be the only person at the historic site for long, but I ended up spending over three glorious hours alone and some fantastic prairie birds.  Many Native Americans consider this spot a holy place and come to pray.  I found it peaceful and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude that some people have worked so hard to preserve it for my generation and future generations to enjoy.

Bobolink (the above male bird) and western meadowlark rounded out the evening chorus.  Incidentally, if you are not familiar with the song of the bobolink, listen here.  For western meadowlark, listen here.  I'm serious, if you have never heard either of those birds, click on those links--can you believe birds like that can be found outdoors? I love the bobolink song so much that it is the default ring tone on my Blackberry (Manilow).  The bird song combined with the late spring warm air and sun made for a wonderful place for me to unwind after two (incredibly fun, but) exhausting weeks of travel.

The well marked trails lead out to the petroglyphs.  Signs supply some of the information for the long-grass prairie (and to please not pick the flowers) while birds serenade you.  I must admit that I wanted to run off the trail the and get better photos of the bobolinks but instead enjoyed the songs from afar.

The petroglyphs can be found in the Red Rock Ridge, an outcropping of Sioux quartzite that goes for 23 miles.  The petroglyphs were discovered by Europeans in the 1870s and the property was purchased by the Minnesota Historical Society from W. R. Jeffers, Jr. in 1960.  The age of the petroglyphs is not known for certain.  From what I can find on the internet, they could be anywhere from 3000 - 5000 years old--that's older than the pyramids in Egypt.

Signs near the outcropping give you a hint of symbols to watch for in the rocks.  Above is the sign for Wakan Tanka.

Above is an arrow pointing to the petroglyph of Wankan Tanka.  You can see several other ancient carvings in there as well.  As I basked in the late afternoon sun and listened to the birds singing (without any man made sounds of cars or airplanes) I fell in love with this historic site:  birds and archeology--what a fantastic combo.

The late afternoon sun angle did make the carvings easier to see but I did not find them all, my attention was divided by all the birds.  I took in as much as I could and made a mental note to visit again when my travels bring me back this way in the coming weeks.

As I continued on along the rock trail, I noticed a killdeer walking slowly and giving a halfhearted attempt to lead me away by pretending to be somewhat injured.  The killdeer apparently ignored all the signs to stay off and not touch the petroglyphs and nest on one.

There were some noticeably newer carvings in the rocks.  I think it's a safe bet that this is not a 3000 year old artist's signature to the rock carvings. I doubt there were too many Dakota running around with the name Otto.

Here's a proper signature.  I was struck by how similar in size this carved hand was to mine--such tiny hands!

As I walked to my car, I noticed some clay-colored sparrows furiously chipping back and forth.  I figured that they must have been setting up territory near the building.  Lots of birds were nesting on the closed visitor center: starlings, robins and barn swallows at the very least.

And then to cap off my perfect time at a perfect historic site, I got a shot of the clay-colored sparrows engaged in a cloacal kiss.  Ah for one brief moment I could tell male and female apart!  I know bird sex is fast, but I'm still amazed that any eggs are produced from balancing on the back of a small brown bird while she is balanced on a branch.

To learn more about Jeffers Petroglyphs State Historic Site visit here and here.  They will have some official programming this summer and a guide can give you the inside scoop on the site's history and ancient symbols carved in the stone.  If you are a birder and in the mood for some great prairie birds, definitely check this little spot out.  The small patch of prairie is surrounded by agriculture so it concentrates some awesome species in one spot.

Seriously, if you have ever had it in the back of your mind to visit this place, make it a must do this summer.  I love all the archaeology we have in this state from fossil hunting in St Paul to petroglyphs in Comfrey.

Blue-winged Teal: Beak Check

I love living in the Twin Cities. As I'm typing this, I just heard a radio commercial for the MN DNR about taking kids to enjoy the outdoors in our lovely state and one of the lines was: "Today, my daughter learned that the call of the warbler is more powerful than the call of her BFF!" Ha!

I may have over done it this spring.

Every spring I have the best intention to keep it simple--leave some time to actually enjoy birds and not work birds the whole time.  And every spring cool bird opportunities come up and before I know it, I have three solid weeks of work. I have a great time but I turn around and wonder, "Whahappa?"  Especially for warblers.

Not that I haven't had a great time.  I've had the opportunity to enjoy some time up close and personal with sparrows like the above vesper sparrow (love that little rufous patch on the shoulder) but I look at this week and think, "Wait, wasn't it just tax day last week and how is it already the week of my wedding anniversary?"  Incidentally, Non Birding Bill and I have been married for 12 years now--our marriage has now lasted longer than the M*A*S*H tv show!

But despite feeling like I've been birding at the speed of light, I've seen some beautiful birds in beautiful light.  Here's a pair of blue-winged teal at a WPA in southern Minnesota (one of my jobs is forcing me down near the Iowa border this year and even though I may not be getting the warbler action I'd hoped for, I'm getting the opportunity to bird some habitat that I generally avoid).  The male is on the left and the female is on the right.  Both are helpfully showing their sky blue patches on their wings.

And I chuckled as I watched the male go to town in his preening and focusing on his belly.

And he kept focusing on the same area.

...and focusing...That must be one itchy spot!  I think I have about 250 shots of him working his belly...I almost wondered if he was really just trying to work his way down to his cloaca...

When he finished, he had that look of, "Hey, lady, don't judge."

And then he gave a big stretch revealing how large that blue patch on the wing really is.  Such a brown bird, with a lovely shade of blue tucked in the wings.

When NBB Attacks!

Hello all, NBB here. Shaz is back from two weeks of travel, her brain so full of birding that I've had to pull her off the ledge at least twice, her mouth stuffed with string, twigs, and animal fur. A typical Saturday night 'round here, then.

Sharon's asked me to blog for her—worried that you lot are feeling neglected. But since I've already written every single thing I know about birds during our last mutual incarceration, I'll write on a subject that I know a few things about: bad movies.

Ah, terrible, terrible films. I love 'em. The goofier the better, but there's also something to be said for a film that is certain it is making a grand statement about humanity, only to find that it is really, incredibly, embarassingly wrong.

NBB's List of Some Bad Movies That May Feature Birds

1. Ladyhawke. This one's kind of a fudge, as there's a decent film buried somewhere in there, underneath Matthew Broderick's spotty accent and uninventive cinematography. But the film is absolutely murdered by its horrible synthesized soundtrack.

"Dude! You know that movie you're making with the staggeringly beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer, and the raw manliness of Rutger Hauer? The tale of forbidden love and dark sorcery? That you've convinced a studio to spend millions of dollars on? How's about we save a few bucks by replacing an orchestra and an epic score and instead just hit the 'demo' button on my Casio? What could go wrong?"

The hawk, however, does a pretty good job, although I understand she regularly fought with the director over her motivation.

2. Barbarella. There are those who will tell you that Barbarella is a misunderstood film, a delightfully campy romp that's waiting to be rediscovered by each generation.

These people are alien invaders. Wait for your chance to strike and don't turn your back on them.

A sex farce with no sex and precious little farce, Barbarella is the film to watch if you've ever wondered what would happen if you took Sudafed and NyQuil at the same time. The... oh, I hesitate to call it a "plot," but I suppose that'll have to do—the "plot" reaches its most ridiculous when Barbarella is sentenced to be killed by a flock of killer budgies. No really, this happens. The poor birds flap around while Jane Fonda tries to act afraid. In fairness, it is pretty terrifying if you accept that a woman could be killed by a parakeet sitting on her and preening.

3. Night of the Lepus. Giant. Killer. Rabbits. Let that sink in for a moment. Another film where poor actors (including DeForest "Bones" Kelley!) have to stare out windows and act afraid of, yes, Giant Killer Rabbits, who run rampant in slo-mo over model train towns, with red dye occasionally sprayed on their lips to show how truly vicious they are.

The best (and by "best" I, of course, mean "worst") part is that after the first victims are found, a scientist is asked to figure out, based on the injuries, what attacked them. His first guess, he says, would be sabre-toothed tiger, but since that's impossible, he thinks it's Giant Killer Rabbits.

Okay, that's all you get for now. I'd like to say that it's because I'm going to pop in my Criterion Collection Blu-Ray of Citizen Kane, but I think we both know that I'm going to root around in my closet for a VHS of Giant. Killer. Rabbits.

Cooper's Hawk and Crow

I caught this interesting interaction between a Cooper's hawk and crow.  I had noticed the crow going back and forth throughout the day and figured it had a nest nearby and was bringing back food.  Later, I heard red-winged blackbirds giving their aerial predator call and looked up.  The crow was chasing a Cooper's hawk.  The hawk circled as though to glide into a thermal but then turned the tables and chased the crow.

The crow managed to dodge the hawk, flap upward and then get in a position to dive at the hawk.  The shape of the crow reminds me a bit of a stealth bomber.  It was interesting to watch one crow chase a raptor instead of a full on murder of crows mobbing the crap out of a red-tailed hawk or great horned owl.  I think the crow had a nest and territory to protect, but realized it was not part of a flock and Cooper's hawks are crazy enough mothers and not to push the envelope too much.

But a fast accipiter like a Cooper's hawk is a master of maneuvers and soon was above the crow again.  The hawk didn't appear to be seriously diving for the crow, just giving it a warning to back off.

The crow continued its pursuit and was once again above the hawk--it even dropped its landing gear down towards the hawk.

But once again the Cooper's hawk got above the crow and showed it some real landing gear.  The birds took turns diving after until they were well out of sight.  I'm sure the crow eventually gave up its pursuit and that the smaller Cooper's wouldn't have been quite sure what to do with the crow if it actually nailed it in midair. The interaction seemed to be the equivalent of two birds trying to get the last word in.

2 Cool Birding Opportunities

Looking for some cool birding opportunities for a vacation?  How about volunteering for two weeks in Maui (that's right, go to Hawaii) for 2 weeks and help researchers with endangered birds: MAUI RARE BIRD SEARCH VOLUNTEERS (4) wanted for two weeks, 13-24 Sep 2010, to conduct transect searches for Maui Parrotbill, and other endangered forest honeycreepers, in Waikamoi Preserve on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii. Parrotbill are critically endangered, estimated at around 500 remaining individuals.

Primary field duties include aiding staff from the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project with finding and GPSing locations of Maui Parrotbill and `Akohekohe and recording Maui Creeper encounters along transects. Field duties are physically challenging, working at 5,000-7,000 ft elevation, in muddy and steep rainforest conditions.

Desirable Qualifications:

1.  Excellent physical health (no chronic problems with knees, ankles, or back)

2.  Excellent birding skills and capacity to detect birds by their vocalizations

3.  Experience and comfort with wilderness hiking (4) Experience and comfort with group living.

Provided Benefits: (1) Learn about Hawaiian forest bird conservation and bird ID with biologists from the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project; (2) Search and probably see one of the most endangered birds in the United States in an amazing rainforest setting; (3) Housing at our intern and volunteer cottage and in the conservation research cabin on Haleakala (4) Transport to and from the airport and into town for shopping (5) Field gear required for searches.

Work schedule will include 2 full days of training and 7-8 days of searches in The Nature Conservancy’s Waikamoi Preserve with a weekend break in between for your own free time to explore Maui. Volunteers will provide their own food during their stay as well as their transport to and from Kahului, Maui. The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project is asking for a $600 donation to help off-set costs of volunteer accommodation rental, transport, and field supplies. The donation is tax deductible. To apply please send a cover letter outlining your current physical fitness for rugged field work, your field biology experience, especially bird surveys or rare bird searches, your wilderness or back-country experience, and a recent resume to DR. DUSTI BECKER (EM: dusti AT mauiforestbirds.org).

It's tax deductible, you get to help birds and researchers, it's in Hawaii and it's a cool way to spend a vacation!  Now, Hawaii is all well and good, but the following opportunity is more my style and if I weren't happily married and I would be applying for one of the following positions to study boobies in Galapagos...yep, 2 magical words for birders: Galapagos and boobies!

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS--NAZCA BOOBIES. Two field assistants needed for each of two trips (mid-Oct. 2010 to mid-Jan 2011 and mid-Mar to mid-Jul 2011) for work on breeding biology of Nazca boobies on Espanola Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. The assistants will join a group totaling five continuing a 26-year study of this species.

Majority of the work will be identifying banded parents at nests and marking nests, 7-9 hrs per day of physically taxing and fascinating work in an incredible place. The group will live in tents and a primitive field camp on this uninhabited island, a day's boat ride from the nearest civilization.

Requirements: physical fitness, tolerance of heat and sun, cheerful can-do attitude. Previous field experience required, Spanish desirable. All expenses paid, including travel from your home base. No salary. These positions will be filled as soon as possible. Presently we are recruiting for the first trip, but if you are interested in both trips, please indicate this in your cover letter. Please email a one-page cover letter and contact information for three references, with c.v. attached, to DR. DAVE ANDERSON at Wake Forest University (EM: da AT wfu.edu).

All expenses paid and you get to spend a 2 months in a tent on Galapagos--for free!  And it's not just sightseeing, you are on a project to help boobies.  Can you imagine the great stories you'd have to tell at cocktail parties?  Or how that would look on a resume?  That's one heck of an adventure!  Ah, I wish I could do this trip, sounds amazing!

Education Magpie Envy

If you live in the eastern portion of the US and have never seen a magpie--Salt Lake City is the place for you.  Those birds are all over the place--they're like crows (not just in family but in commonality).  We have a remnant population up in northern Minnesota but not the sort of numbers you see out west. Since there are so many magpies around, there's unfortunately an opportunity for education magpies.  It's illegal to keep them as pets, but someone always tries and about the time the birds reach sexual maturity, the person doesn't want the imprinted bird any more and they end up in places like Utah's Hogle Zoo.

..who happened to be at the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival with an education magpie--so cool!  What a nifty looking bird.  I've worked with all sorts of raptors and a turkey vulture, but never a corvid.  Sigh, I was totally envious.  I would imagine a corvid like a magpie is a challenge in captivity--they are smart, they need enrichment to keep those little brains occupied.  As I was taking photos of this bird it began to mimic my camera shutter.  Here's a video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAzwMroL6AM[/youtube]

Another group doing live bird presentations called Tracy Aviary was there.  When I walked by their display, I did a double take when I saw this bird:

I asked the volunteer what it was for confirmation and she said it was a red-crested turaco. I thought it was a turaco--a bird I've only ever seen in field guides.  Apparently this African species does well in captivity and many people keep them.  It was such an odd moment for me.  I collect international field guides--you never know when you are going to get an unexpected call to go out of the country...it happens a few times a year for me.  I've seen this bird in my African guides and have always wondered how cool it would look like in real life.  Alas, it was in a cage but still a sweet looking bird.  They did use it in a free flight outdoors program so this bird does get around.

Just some cool birds around the fest and I guess I had a little turaco envy as well.

Digiscoping Workshop & Tern Rescue

One of the reasons I was at the Great Salt Lake Bird Festival in Utah was to conduct a digiscoping workshop for Swarovski Optik.  I really enjoy doing these types of workshops, we start with a basic how to and then we go out someplace birdy and take photos.  They are not trips about getting a ton of birds on the list, but more going someplace with a lot of slow moving birds and practice taking photos--you really get to spend some time watching a bird.  Sometimes I do this with perched out education birds or at a nature center with bird feeders.  In Utah, we went to Kaysville Ponds a small park with lots of cool birds like the above pelicans.  It's an urban and well used park.  There were several families making use of the ponds' ample fishing resources and walking trails, it was great to see so many kids enjoying the outdoors on a Saturday morning.

A really cool bird for me was the western grebe.  We have them in western Minnesota but that's a trek, so it was a treat to see them in this urban pond so close and spend time taking photos of the birds.  Although, I generally end up loaning out my scope during these trips.  I think many people get a digiscoping set up, take 12 photos that are crap and then are hesitant to use the equipment.  When I give someone my scope, I sometimes tell them, "I don't want it back until you take at least 250 photos of that bird."  The grebes were so close and so mellow, they were great to practice on.  And if you end up with 248 blurry photos, they are easy enough to delete.

There were also a ton of yellow-headed blackbirds perched in the open to photograph.  People got to practice with close up birds and birds further away (and learn the heartbreak of what heat shimmer will do on your seemingly in focus photos).

I did use this as an opportunity to practice some Blackberry scoping--holding my Blackberry phone to my scope and taking photos of birds.  The photos are not high quality, but they do have use.  You could document a rare bird and text the photo to your local state records committee, text the photo of a bird that your friend has not seen, sent it to Twitter or use your camera phone as a back up to document a rare bird if you camera batteries die or you left your camera back in the car.  It's not easy because you have to hand hold the phone to the scope's eyepiece but practicing on every day birds will help you be ready should a rare bird show up.

Here's a Blackberry shot of our class, it was a fun group and again, I love being out in Utah where you are surrounded by snow capped mountains on a sunny day.  The temps were mild and the wind was low--a perfect day for digiscoping.  I brought some different camera adaptors for scopes for folks to try and few people brought their own adaptors andwe had a good compare and contrast of what works easily and what does not.

As we were taking photos, I noticed a Forster's tern frantically calling.  I looked over as did friend and fellow field trip participant Suzy and noticed a Forster's tern in the water while another flew and called loudly overhead.  Suzy noted that the flighted bird had a fish and attempted to offer it to the bird in the water.  Looking through the scope, the bird int he water had its tail at an odd angle and could not pull its wing.  The tern tried to flap out of the water but could not flap well at all.  "Great," I thought, "a wounded bird at our workshop."  Suzy hoped that it was an adult feeding a young, but both were in adult plumage.  I wondered if there was any way to reach the wounded tern but it was far out in the water.  I continued with the workshop with half an eye on the tern, when I noticed the flighted tern dive bombing a man on shore.  I limped over to investigate (I'm still a little unsteady on my knee, but it is healing up a little every day).

I found a man with a fishing pole reeling in the tern from the water while the other tern angrily dove at him while screaming loudly.  He took the tern out of the water and had some clippers.  He was trying to clip the line around the bird but the tern was snapping its beak at him and he was afraid to touch it.  I hobbled over and asked, "Can I give you a hand?"

"Yes, please!"

I picked the water logged tern up out of the water--how strange to put a tern in the bander's grip, they seem more like a piece of origami than bird.  He swiftly snipped off the fishing line and fortunately the hook was not in her.  I did a quick feel for broken bones but couldn't feel anything amiss.  The formerly tangled tern's feathers looked too waterlogged to fly.  I made a split second decision to let it go back in the water rather than spend the day looking for a rehab center with might cause more stress, especially if the tern wasn't injured, only wet and tired.  I opened my hands for her to fly but the tern couldn't get airborne and went right back in the water.  I figured that it would be far better for the tern to swim to a quiet spot, dry off and preen its feathers.  The bird was mostly likely exhausted from the struggle to get away from the tangled line.

The man with the pole kept apologizing.  He was there with his son to go fishing and when he cast his line, the tern flew into it and got tangled, it was a one in a million shot.  He watched the tern swim away slowly, "Oh no, I'm so sorry."

I looked at him and his little boy and said, "You did your best to help the bird, I'm sure it just needs to dry off, it's featers were soaked and it wouldn't be able to fly."

"She's probably exhausted too," he said.  I agreed.

"I watched before I cast," he said mornfully, "I always watch for birds.  And when I swung, there she was!"

As the bird swam away, some gulls flew over low to investigate (assessing if they could eat it, I'm sure) and then a pelican swam right for it and opened it's mouth.  "No," I shouted, "not today pelican!"

And that was enough to distract it and the tern paddled further away.  I'm all for watching cool and gross natural history moments, but this man and his son seemed traumatized enough as it was and didn't need to see the pelican eat the tern (that's not a pretty way to go, I think I'd rather be eating by a great horned owl).  And if you don't know what I'm talking about--those big birds are opportunists and there are videos of pelicans eating pigeons in parks.  A Forster's tern is about pigeon sized.

The tern attempted to fly off the water a few more times and each time it got closer to being airborne.  Eventually, it disappeared into some reeds on an island where I'm sure it preened and dried out.  The man gave up his fishing for the morning, he genuinely felt bad about what happened even though it was just one of those things.  I'm glad he took the time to help the bird and I hope he doesn't give up fishing for good.

When the pelicans weren't trying to eat terns, they made excellent digiscoping subjects!  It was interesting to note the various sizes of horns on the upper bill.  The above bird has a small one.

Check out this bad boy--his horn is HUGE and looks quite impressive in his full on display!  No one knows for sure why males get this epidermal plate on the top mandible, but presumably it has something to do with a mating display to female pelicans.  It falls off during the summer after the breeding season.  I have a couple from my pelican banding days.  They look like nasty toenails.

Since pelicans don't sing to attract a female, the put on these quiet, yet showy displays on the water.  It almost looks a little passive aggressive, the male silently lifting his wings, puffing his feathers and crooking his neck while showing his horn and a female or two will quietly swim by and quietly take note of this display...and then keep going.  It's very Minnesotan.

We had a few warblers and even an oriole (the above Bullock's oriole) to round out the rest of our field trip.  Participants seemed to have a good time and learn a few tricks--like try out video on your little point and shoot cameras.  One man even got video of a coot feeding it's baby.  All in all it was a beautiful morning and it's always fun when your group can do a good deed while on birding trip--like helping out a tangled tern.

Bird Nesting Material

This is a post I typed up on May 3 but for some reason it never published.  Here it is:

On Saturday I noticed a tufted titmouse gathering some of Cabal's hair in the driveway.  The bird was furiously grabbing hair as if hoping to avoid attention.  It reminded me of when I was kid growing up in Indiana and watching titmice steal tufts of fur off of my pet husky when she was napping outside.  Dog hair (or most pet fur) is great to let loose outside this time of year for bird nesting material.

If you are going to put out nesting material for birds, look for natural fibers to put out.  If you set out yarn or string, make sure that it is no longer than 6 inches.  Birds can use long string, but there's a risk with long string for birds to get it caught on a branch and get tangled in it.

I've read conflicting information on dryer lint--some say it's fine, others say it's no good.  Here are my thoughts:  if there's no consensus, they why risk it?  I don't use dryer lint.  Plus, I'm not sure how much detergent and fabric softener residue is on dryer lint and if that would be a good or bad thing for recently hatched chicks.  Stick to natural fibers and pet fur.