Foam Lake Birding No. 138

FOAM LAKE BIRDING

No. 138

            This is our sixth time in southern Texas and we have come to look forward to seeing the common birds down here much as we like to see our regular visitors when we return home.  The only difference is in the species.  Rather than the Chickadees, Robins, House Wrens, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds back home, down here we have the likes of Chachalacas, Kiskadees, Altimira Orioles and Buff Bellied Hummingbirds just to name a few.  What is unique is that the birds just listed are Mexican crossovers that barely make it into the USA but, nevertheless, are common down here.  Some like the Great Tailed Grackle, Black Crested Titmouse and the Mockingbird are more widespread in the southern part of the US but are not found in the Canadian Prairies.  Others like the Orange Crowned Warbler are winter visitors that move north for the summer to nest in the Boreal Forest.  Finally, there is the ever present House Sparrow which always reminds us of home. 

            In this article I am covering a bird that is not found in our yard here in Texas but is quite common in rural areas.  The Crested Caracara, a relative of the falcons, is primarily a carrion feeder that will occasionally take grasshoppers and small rodents.  Although a member of the hawk family its slow flight, weak legs and feet make it incapable of taking larger prey.  For a falcon the Crested Caracara is rather large approaching a raven in size.  Its white neck and tail cause it to be occasionally mistaken for a Bald Eagle, but the caracara’s black crown and crest easily separate the two.  In flight it appears all black with white head, tail and wing tips making identification easy.  To some early devout Christians the bird was very special because it reminded them of a dark cross with white tips on all four points.  The yellow beak is massive and can be seen with the naked eye whether the bird is perched or in flight.  Males and females are the same.  Caracaras are strictly new world birds with only the Crested Caracara found north of Mexico. 

          When Mexico became independent the authorities of the new nation decided to adopt a national bird emblem.  According to various sources, it was decided to adopt the same bird that was the emblem of the Aztec Empire but nobody was sure what it was.  Eventually, it was determined that the bird emblem of the Aztecs was the Golden Eagle so this particular raptor was adopted as the state bird of Mexico in much the same way as the Bald Eagle of the US was chosen.  Since then it has been determined that the bird emblem of the Aztecs was actually the Crested Caracara and not the Golden Eagle as first thought.  This has led to some confusion and some debate as well.  Many Mexicans would like to see the Crested Caracara made the state bird rather than the Golden Eagle.   Locally, the caracara is often referred to as the “Mexican Eagle” and is often thought to be the state bird of Mexico. 

            This week’s photo was taken off a moving jitney when we were on tour at the famous King Ranch in southern Texas.  There were actually a pair of caracaras collecting nesting material but I managed to get a picture of only one of them. 

Foam Lake Birding No. 137

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FOAM LAKE BIRDING
No. 137
I am always amazed at how well our winter birds manage to survive the kind of severe weather that we have been having recently. Watching the birds at the feeders in -32F temperatures while having my morning coffee makes it seem not quite so cold outside. The regulars are still with us with the pleasant addition of large numbers of Redpolls that have been absent the past two years. They can certainly clean out the Canola feeders in a hurry.
In last week's article I had mentioned that I had never seen a Robin in the winter time. Well, since then my wife and I spotted one in a Poplar tree in our backyard providing us with a new birding experience. I ran for my camera to get a photo of it but by the time I got back the Robin had flown away. Too bad. To me one of the most interesting birds is the ubiquitous House Sparrow. What has impressed me the most is its adaptability. It manages to do whatever it takes to not only survive, but to thrive in changing conditions.
It should be noted that the House Sparrow is not really a sparrow but a member of an old world family of birds called Weaver Finches. Another member of the family, the similar Eurasian Tree Sparrow, has been introduced with limited success. A small colony still exists near St. Louis, MO.
As mentioned in Article No. 131 House Sparrows were brought to the Americas in the 1800s to "augment" the native bird population. The first few introduction attempts failed but enough birds were brought over that eventually success was achieved. Then, the Sparrows adapted so well and reproduced so quickly that within several decades a bounty was offered in an attempt to exterminate them. Those and future attempts to eradicate the species failed and now the House Sparrow is here to stay.
All sorts of horror stories were circulated about the aggressiveness and destructiveness of the House Sparrow and while true to some extent were greatly exaggerated. How so? Well, the House Sparrow is aggressive but it lives only in the proximity of man where very few other birds do. This means that there is no real competition for food or nesting sites except in the vicinity of man.
Sparrows prefer to nest in birdhouses and will at times expel other birds such as Tree Swallows and Blue Birds. If the nest boxes are situated away from farm buildings and urban centres the sparrows will stay away from them. On the other hand, sparrows will share multiple room Purple Martin birdhouses with the martins and with other sparrows. Birdhouses for House Wrens are just too small. If no birdhouses are available sparrows will build nests under eaves troughs, thatched roofs if available, street light fixtures and so on. If none of these cavity type sites are available they will build a free standing nest in a tree preferably spruce or Pincherry. The nest is an unkempt volleyball-sized ball of grass and feathers with an entrance hole in the side. I know of no other bird that is that flexible in its nesting practices.
Not only is the sparrow flexible in its nesting habits but it is just as flexible in its diet. It is primarily a seed eater, even shelling sunflower seeds for the oil, but will eat many other things as well. Along with the woodpeckers and chickadees sparrows gorge themselves on peanut butter and fat mixtures in our feeders. In the summertime they can often be seen feeding on squashed insects on the grills of cars and trucks. Easy pickings. In the spring they will feed voraciously on newly sprouted peas. It is comical watching sparrows lined up along a row of peas and tugging at the fresh pea leaves. As they tug at the leaves they brace themselves in an upright position ending up tumbling head over heels backwards as the leaf finally tears. The humour ends when the peas are stripped bare resulting in a row of dead plants.
In the last several decades the House sparrow population has declined locally and in Europe it has declined drastically. Why? When horses were the only means of transportation there was horse manure everywhere. (Old timers should remember those days). Unlike cattle horses do not have a very efficient digestive system and many particles of grain pass through their digestive systems and end up in the streets in manure. Although disgusting to humans, sparrows thrived on the partially digested grain in the manure. With the replacement of horsepower with machinery and the reduction in the number of farms and subsequent reduction in livestock the sparrow population has declined.
This week's photos are of sparrows sunning themselves, the male in the morning and the group in the afternoon just outside our window.

Foam Lake Birding No. 136

FOAM LAKE BIRDING

No. 136

            Most of our well known and regular winter birds are back in town as it were.  Our daily visitors include House Sparrows, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Chickadees and Redpolls with Pine Grosbeaks and Bohemian Waxwings making sporadic visits to our fruit trees that still have some fruit hanging on them.  What is unusual is the total absence of Red and White Breasted Nuthatches which have been very regular winter visitors in the past but, then again, there is still a lot of winter left. 

            The lack of nuthatches has not been the only unusual thing this winter.  One day we watched a female Downy Woodpecker raising the dickens with the House sparrows and Chickadees.  When ever one of these birds came even near the feeders she would fly at them making strange sounds and chasing them off.  Neither the sparrows nor the chickadees were overly scared but they did stay out of the way.  When a male Hairy Woodpecker showed up the Downy was not pleased and kept harassing the larger bird but from a few feet away.  It was interesting to watch the Downy spread her wings, fan her tail and make all sorts of threatening un-woodpecker-like sounds at the unconcerned feeding Hairy.  Eventually the Hairy flew off closely followed by a very feisty female Downy. 

            On Dec. 16 we drove out to the family farm 15 miles south of Wynyard to show our young visitor from Ukraine where I grew up.  As we drove down the lane a rather large bird was running on the road just ahead of us.  I assumed it to be a Grey Partridge but when it flew up it turned out to be a Mourning Dove.  Again, very unusual. 

            While we were visiting family in Humboldt just before Christmas we were shown a recently taken picture of Robins feeding in the snow covered yard of one of the neighbours.  Although not unheard of, this is one event I would have liked to have seen simply because I have never seen a Robin in winter before.    

            Another unusual event in our yard is the presence of a juvenile Harris Sparrow.  Harris Sparrows are migratory but this one is still here feeding with the House Sparrows.  The juvenile lacks the black face and throat of the adult but has a sloppy black breast spot instead.  The pinkish coloured bill and yellowish face provide all the needed field marks to identify the bird and easily separate it from the somewhat similar House Sparrows.   

            This week's photos, taken this past December, are of a juvenile Harris Sparrow sitting in a Chokecherry tree in our backyard and the same bird feeding on black oilseed amidst a flock of House Sparrows.  The Harris Sparrow is the one in the middle.