Foam Lake Birding No. 164

FOAM LAKE BIRDING

No. 164

            This week I had a call from a fellow birder asking me if I had been involved in observing and identifying  an Hepatic Tanager this past summer near Prince Albert.  This particular tanager is an uncommon summer resident of the pine forests in the mountains of Arizona and adjacent areas let alone Canada.  This sighting near Prince Albert is only the second in Canada and the first in Saskatchewan.  I informed my friend that I had not seen the Saskatchewan bird but that I had seen an Hepatic Tanager in the Madeira Mountains of southern Arizona. 

            Meanwhile reports have come to my attention of other rare or uncommon bird sightings in our area.  A Black Headed Grosbeak was seen in the Yorkton area this past summer.  I have seen quite a few of them in the US but my most memorable sighting was of a spring male singing away in the poplar tree in our backyard.  Its song is a mellow version of the Robin's.  Another bird sighting of interest was of a pair of Barred Owls in the Madge Lake Area.  These eastern forest owls have slowly spread westward along the Boreal Forest and similarly treed areas farther south.  The last of the rare birds that has been brought to my attention is the Rosy Finch.  The sparrow-sized Rosy Finch is a bird of the Rocky Mountains where it lives and breeds along the snow line in the summer.  Occasionally during extremely harsh winters they will spread out over the plains usually in close proximity to the US/Canada border.  In Saskatchewan they are most commonly seen in the Cypress Hills region but, recently one was seen in the Yorkton area.  I have been fortunate enough to see them in both Banff and Jasper National Parks but not locally.  A word of caution when identifying rare birds.  Make sure that you have a good quality bird book, a knowledgeable witness and, if possible, good quality pictures.  Wishing to see a rarity often creates an exotic bird out of a common one. 

            Recently, I have had several local people tell me that they never realized that nuthatches lived around here and that they did not know what nuthatches looked like.  There are two species of nuthatches around here, the Red Breasted and the White Breasted.  Both birds have the unique habit of feeding upside down as it were.  Their feet are designed to allow the nuthatch to climb down trees head first and when they come to feeders they tend do the same.  The more common one is the Red Breasted.  We have a pair regularly at our feeders and I am sure that other yards with feeders have them too.  Although common in towns in the winter they disperse into rural areas during the summer for breeding. 

            Both birds somewhat resemble chickadees with the Red Breasted a little more so and an inexperienced birder would probably identify it as a chickadee.  The easiest way to identify nuthatches is by their unique feeding habits.  A second characteristic is the flight pattern.  Most birds fly directly from one point to another but not the nuthatch.  It often takes off in one direction only to change direction several times in mid flight.  It reminds me of the flight pattern of a butterfly.  As far as field marks go it is the easiest to consult a bird book.  In size the Red Breasted compares to a chickadee while the White Breasted compares to a sparrow. 

            This week I have included pictures of both nuthatches.  The picture of a Red Breasted Nuthatch sitting in a tree was taken two weeks ago while the picture of a White Breasted Nuthatch feeding was taken two years ago.  Both were taken in our backyard. 

Foam Lake Birding No. 70

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 70
Feeders, as such, for insect eaters are almost nonexistent and what does exist is very simple in design. Suet can be hung directly on a tree or post requiring only a piece of wire or string; peanuts can be placed directly on the ground or something like deck railing; peanut butter mixtures can be spread directly on a branch. However, to discourage unwanted “guests” some effort has to be made to protect the food set out for the birds.
Suet can be put in small metal cages that can be bought in stores. Once filled with suet, the cage can be hung on a tree or post. Unwanted visitors, such as ravens and cats, cannot steal the suet to eat elsewhere. Yet, birds can still peck at the suet through the grating.
Shelled peanuts should be provided in a metal tube similar to that of a seed feeder. Holes are drilled in the sides large enough for the birds to peck through, but small enough to prevent the peanuts from falling out. These feeders are available in stores. This kind of feeder also discourages squirrels - the bane of bird lovers everywhere. Peanuts, shelled or unshelled, will disappear very quickly. Both Blue Jays and squirrels gather the peanuts and take them away and store them for future use. No matter how many nor how often the peanuts are provided they disappear in minutes. One year a jay kept storing the unshelled peanuts that I had put out, so I would go to its storage site, pick up the peanuts and put them again out the next day. The jay would hide them in exactly the same place as before, and I would recover the peanuts and put them out the next day. This routine continued until the jay disappeared.
The peanut butter mixture can be spread directly onto a branch or the trunk of a tree if the bark is rough enough. If such a tree does not exist in your yard then some sort of man made device is necessary. Luckily, these are easy to make. A block of firewood with rough bark, such as maple or elm, can be hung horizontally and the mixture spread on it as on a branch. A design that I have developed is a 3” diameter and 12’ long block of wood hung by an eye hook screwed into one end. With smooth barked wood such as poplar, I drill shallow holes in the sides (3/4” wide and 1” deep) and fill them with the mixture. The holes should be drilled at a slight downward angle to prevent the food from falling out.
This week’s picture is of a Red Breasted Nuthatch feeding on a feeder of my design just described above. Of the two nuthatches found here, the Red Breasted can be identified quite easily by its distinctive black eye line through a white face. For a more thorough discussion on nuthatches see article No. 32. Over the past several winters we have had a small group of nuthatches roosting in a birdhouse used by Tree Swallows in the summer. Since the food we provide is only a few feet from the bird house, everything is very convenient for them. This winter we have three of them in that same birdhouse in our yard. In all likelihood a few should be in everybody’s yard sooner or later.