Foam Lake Birding No. 93

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 93
Autumn is a good time to watch warblers, particularly juveniles. As mentioned in the last article , it is also the time of year when it is very difficult to positively identify them. In many cases colours alone are not enough and behaviour and/or a process of elimination has to be used.
First one has to determine whether the bird being observed is a finch, grosbeak, sparrow, flycatcher, warbler and so on. Once this is determined then identification is easier but not necessarily easy.
This week's featured bird, the Orange Crowned Warbler, is a case in point. When it comes to a bird with the fewest field marks, this one takes the prize. The whole top side from the beak to the tail tip is a dull yellowish olive grey; the underside is much the same but a little paler. There may be a faint eye stripe and possibly even fainter wing bars. When observing a bird in the outdoors with the presence of light and shadow these field marks are all but useless. With binoculars in good light, the faint breast stripes and yellow under tail coverts are noticeable and useful in identification. Overall, with this bird drab is in.
As its name implies, it does have an extensive orange patch on its fore head. The problem is that the patch is almost never visible even on a windy day. Several years ago I saw one in Texas taking a bath. When its feathers got wet the orange patch was clearly visible. I took pictures of this warbler before and during its bath, but only the first pictures turned out. One of these photos is used in this piece. The shots that showed its orange fore head were of such poor quality that I could not use any of them.
Another fall warbler that is very similar to the Orange Crowned is the Tennessee Warbler. (See article No. 15). There are two differences but they do not really stand out and binoculars are almost mandatory. First, the Tennessee has a faint whitish eyebrow stripe that is always present; the Orange Crowned does not. Second, the Tennessee has white under tail coverts; the Orange Crowned has yellow ones. One ornithologist stated that in identifying the Orange Crowned Warbler ask yourself, "why is it not an Orange Crowned Warbler?" In other words once all other birds have been eliminated what is left must be the Orange Crowned.
This morning, Sept. 8, there were three Orange Crowned Warblers picking insects off our Chokecherry trees. One warbler was actually taking a bath by flitting among the wet leaves then fluffing out its feathers and fluttering its wings in the same way birds do at a bird bath. This is the first time that I ever witnessed such an event. Even in full living colour Orange Crowns are very drab and hard to identify; in black and white pictures it is even worse. Have fun with this one.

Foam Lake Birding No. 84

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 84
All of our summer residents have arrived and are beginning to start the cycle of raising another generation of their own species. These last arrivals include swallows, hummingbirds, warblers, wrens and Chipping Sparrows to name a few. These latecomers arrive at approximately the same time as the trees go into full leaf. All a birder has to do is to watch for the leaves and then the birds themselves. At the same time, all the spring transients have left for the far north to start their breeding cycle.
This week I am writing the second last article ("penultimate" for you word lovers) in a series of discussions about attracting birds to one's yard by providing food and water. I have written about feeders for seeds, nuts, peanut butter, suet and so on; many of which require some effort to put up. At this time of year, once the frosts are over, sugar based foods can be offered. (It is a good thing birds do not have teeth or else dentists would get excited). The feeders and the food are probably the cheapest and easiest to maintain.
There are three general or common kinds of sugar based bird food: 1). citrus fruit, 2). grape jelly, 3). sugar water (nectar). First, citrus (grapefruit and oranges only) are the easiest to prepare and set out. Simply cut the fruit at the equator and set the halves out on a piece of broken branch so that the fruit is positioned at about the same angle as a satellite dish. If there are no suitable broken branches, then drive a nail (large headed is best) into a branch and hang it on that. The nail can be pulled out later with no damage to the tree. Second, grape jelly can be put out in a small tin (tuna fish tin is almost perfect) in a tree secured with wire to provide stability. A word of caution here: use jelly, as in jam, and not the rubbery fruit flavoured dessert that little kids love. The dessert will not work. Both citrus and jelly need to be offered for only several weeks in the spring and right now is the perfect time to do so. After that the birds quit coming and the food becomes an attraction for insects, particularly ants. Third, sugar water or nectar is familiar to just about everybody. All sorts of feeders are available commercially and some can even be made at home. Commercially prepared nectar can be purchased at stores or made at home much more cheaply by simply dissolving one part sugar into four parts water and bringing to a boil. Boiling does not change the sugar but it does cause the nectar to become clear and the solution seems to last longer without the sugar settling out. Sugar water always reminds me of an incident that occurred in Saskatoon in one of the large box stores. A couple came up to me and asked if I knew where the hummingbird food was. Knowing that it was sold out, I informed them so, and then, to be helpful I suggested they make their own as I have just outlined. My mistake. The gentleman gave me a very stern lecture about the evils of sugar and that my concoction would cause great harm to the birds and that I should use only commercially prepared product. I did not reply as I did not think that pointing out to him that the sugar that one buys (white, dark or hummingbird mix), sugar in a beet or cane, sugar in a beehive or sugar in a flower is all the same - sucrose. (Citrus provides a fruit sugar called fructose). I went home and made my own.
Which birds can be attracted to what? Various warblers, especially Orange Crowned and Tennessee Warblers, orioles and some woodpeckers are attracted to citrus. Tennessee Warblers, but especially orioles, are readily attracted to grape jelly. As of this writing none of the aforementioned birds have come to my feeders this spring, yet. Here's hoping. The nectar feeders are really designed for hummingbirds only. Older models were not selective enough and larger birds like orioles would help themselves draining a feeder quite quickly. Newer models come with a weight sensitive perch that behaves like a teeter totter. The very light hummingbirds do not cause the perch to go down, but the larger birds do, causing a trap door to close off the nectar thus preventing them from drinking. Incidentally, larger versions of hummingbird feeders especially for orioles are available. Insects are a problem with sugar feeders. Wasps, bees and flies do not seem to be too much of a problem as the birds simple chase them away and then feed. Ants are another matter. They come in such large numbers that birds get discouraged. Citrus and jelly might have to be moved around thus delaying ant infestation. Hummingbird feeders now come with an ant barrier. Midway between the feeder and the point where the feeder is suspended a small pan of water is placed. Ants will not cross water so cannot get to the feeder. These commercially prepared ant barriers are simple in design, cheap and effective. Every hummingbird feeder should have one.
This week's photos are of a Tennessee Warbler feeding on half a grapefruit in our backyard; A rare Violet Crowned Hummingbird (white belly) and the common Broad Billed Hummingbird at a feeder in southern Arizona; and a Scot's Oriole sizing up a grapefruit in southern Arizona. The Scot's Oriole really did favour the grape jelly, but I did not get a shot of that. Our local orioles and hummingbirds will do the same.

Foam Lake Birding No. 15

FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 15
At this time of year many of our backyards are being invaded by small, often drab, yellowish birds on the start of their fall migration. Up to twenty different species of these energetic, almost frenetic, birds can be seen in our yards at one time or another.
These little birds, unique to the Americas, are called wood warblers. Because they do not exist in the Old World, they had no “ready made” name as it were. Therefore, they were named after similar, but unrelated, Old World birds – the warblers. The adjective, wood, was added to differentiate the two groups. Here, in North America, we refer to our wood warblers simply as warblers. Males and females of Old World warblers are similar and basically brown in colour; male and female wood warblers are different (except for five species) and much more colourful with the majority being yellow to some degree.
Spring is the best time to observe warblers as the males are in their colourful spring plumage and are quite distinctive. The females are pale versions of the males. In the fall, the males have molted and look like the females making identification very challenging to say the least. In the summer, most warblers are nesting in the boreal forests leaving us with only one species – the Yellow Warbler. The problem facing birders is that, during migration, not many warblers come into our backyards in the spring, but many do in the fall. Why? A good guess would be that our fall visitors are probably juveniles that have not developed a keen wariness of man. Whatever the reasons, one usually, has to leave one’s backyard to see spring warblers. Warblers, in general, like thickets near water. Therefore, one good location to observe them is along Milligan Creek on the nature trail near the visitor’s centre. I do intend to cover a few warblers next spring when they are “at their best”.
In the early fall, one of the most common warblers in town is this week’s featured bird – the Tennessee Warbler. It is so named because it was first identified in Tennessee, but is common here during migration. Like most warblers, it is smaller than a sparrow; has a needle-like beak; and usually wears a fair amount of yellow. Some, especially juveniles, can be quite pale with very little yellow. It is very similar to several other species, but has three subtle and distinguishing features: first, it has a yellowish green back and tail; second, it has a modest whitish eyebrow line enhancing the black line through the eye; third, it is white on the lower belly at the base of the tail (under tail coverts). A small, drab yellowish warbler with all of the above features is most likely a Tennessee Warbler.
Getting a picture of a warbler is quite frustrating as they are constantly flitting about in shrubs and trees looking for small insects. This week’s photo shows a Tennessee Warbler, in typical pose, gleaning insects from the underside of a leaf. To attract these, and other warblers, to your garden in the fall leave a small stand of dill. Dill seems to attract small insects which, in turn, attract warblers. At times, a small dill patch will have several species of warblers feeding together.
At the beginning of the Labour Day weekend, our backyard was literally swarming with finches, sparrows and warblers. On Monday, September 1, there was not a bird in sight. I assumed the dull and dreary weather was to blame, but when a Cooper’s Hawk landed on our lawn, I knew the real reason! Feeders do attract birds, but birds, in turn, do attract predators. Predatory animals, like cats, do cause some excitement, but do not really scare the birds that much; predatory birds do. There are four such birds that are actually quite common in our area: the Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Merlin and Northern Shrike. They catch birds in flight, and bird feeders are a handy source of food. I tried to get a picture of the hawk, but it took off as soon as it noticed my movement. Within minutes after the hawk left, the birds were back at the feeders. The fear does not last long! Such are the ways of nature.
At least half a dozen of these small yellowish warblers come to our garden each fall and identifying them is challenging. As of this writing, we have had nine different species of Wood Warblers in our backyard: Blackburnian, Cape May, Orange Crowned, Oven Bird, Redstart, Tennessee, Wilson’s, Yellow and Yellow Rumped (Myrtle). We do expect to see a few more. Quite often the birds cannot be positively identified. In addition, another group of unrelated, but similar birds, the vireos, have arrived. Three species, the Blue Headed, Philadelphia and Red Eyed, have been in our backyard for several days now. For a beginning birder, the task of identification can be daunting and even overwhelming. At a time like this, one should set identification aside and enjoy these energetic little birds as a whole. In a couple of weeks or so, depending on the weather, they will be gone.