(A-52) BIRDS PREFER OLDER NEIGHBORHOODS WITH MATURE TREES

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I was taken by this research because I live in a suburban "MT" area with large trees and old houses.The article demonstrates how important it is for people to transform parts of their lawns into wildlife-friendly spaces. Let me explain!

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Researchers compared breeding bird prevalence in three different suburban environs. The first was a 70-year-old area of large houses along streets shaded by mature trees (MT), primarily oaks and elm (describes my neighborhood). The second suburban environment was a 15-year-old area built upon open agricultural land with young maple street trees (YT), and the third area was a 15-year-old area on which houses were built in small clearings within a second-growth oak-pine woodland (OP).

Bird censuses were taken in each of the three suburban environs yearly for 5 years. The results showed that the YT supported the lowest total avian density of the three suburbs; OP supported the greatest variety and total density of insectivores and the lowest number of ground-gleaning omnivores; and MT supported the highest total avian density, comprised primarily of ground-foraging seed eaters and omnivores.

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As far as nesting sites went, OP had the fewest ground/herb and shrub nesters, while MT had the most. Tree cavity and twig nesters were significantly more numerous in OP, and tree branch nesters were the fewest in YT. Analyses of habitat structure revealed that shrub maturity is more important than numbers of shrubs, and that planted trees, no matter how mature or abundant, do not replace natural forest stands as habitat for most insectivorous species.

I enjoy walking around the block in my old, MT neighborhood, toting binoculars. The spring migration of warblers is astounding as they flitter high in the aging oak, maple, locust, sycamore, and ash trees. This suburban forest canopy has dead limbs and cavities that attract Red-bellied woodpeckers and even Wood ducks. In fact, it's a yearly tradition to gather up the poor Wood duck babies as they jump from a cavity 70 feet up in a aging oak tree in our neighbor's yard. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats would get them if we didn't. The mother Wood duck is ferociously brave, and we trap her, too, in fishing nets. Moma and her brood are released several miles away in the Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Sandusky River.

Most of the old, victorian houses in the neighborhood have "old growth" shrubs planted years ago. We do have Goldfinches, House finches, catbirds, robins, Carolina wrens, and Ruby-throated hummingbirds that nest in them.

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Create A Wildlife-Friendly Yard!

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. encourages others to transform part of their lawns into wildlife-friendly spaces. Please join the movement by contacting us at the secure Bpath Mail Form. Have a wildlife-friendly space in your yard! We'd enjoy featuring it on this site free-of-charge, for the good of the order! Any relevant meetings or events you'd like to post free-of-charge? Contact us on the Bpath Mail Form.

(A-51) BACKYARD WATER GARDENS FOR WILDLIFE!

Spring is round the corner! To enhance your wildlife-friendly yard, simply build a tiny, small, medium-sized, or large water garden. People have created wildife water gardens with sunken bathtubs, washtubs, whiskey barrels, wine kegs, aluminum horse troughs, and plastic buckets. Many buy plastic water garden tubs from department stores. Others use vinyl to coat a cavity they dug into the ground. All can be decorated with stones and rocks.

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Whatever type of water garden you build, by providing a constant source of water, you'll attract water insects, mammals, birds, amphibians, and other critters to your yard. I dug our water garden to be 9 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 36-inches deep, with shelves around the edge, 9-inches underwater, for aquatic plants. The biodiversity increased dramatically upon its completion- large dragonflies, damselflies, frogs, salamanders, water bugs on top and below the water surface, birds (including a Great Blue Heron that ate my koi!), racoons, opossum, a pair of Screech Owls and young ones that would perch on a hula hoop floating on the surface, a wandering snapping turtle, a constant visit by butterflies and honey bees that sat on the floating duck weed to drink, and visits by wrens and songbirds of all types. Watch the video (Below). It offers great tips for building a water garden to attract birds.

One moring, I woke up to find 3 baby Screech Owls sitting around the hula hoop, which floated in my water garden. It served to keep the duck weed from covering the entire surface so I could see the Koi eat the food I threw to them. Mama Screech Owl perched on the lounge chair by the water's edge. The movement of the owl babies made the Koi think it was feeding time. They surfaced inside the hula hoop ring and the baby owls inspected them intensely, stepping around the hula hoop to do so. Well, they ended up all on the same side and the hula hoop sank as the opposite side raised into the air. The Koi scattered, the owl parent went into a frenzy, but the babies easily flopped through the duck weed to dry ground. They looked cute, covered with duck weed. They stayed in the yard until dried off enough to fly. Wish I had my video cam ready!

Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. encourages others to transform part of their lawns into wildlife-friendly spaces. Please join the movement by contacting us at the secure Bpath Mail Form. Have a wildlife-friendly space in your yard! We'd enjoy featuring it on this site free-of-charge, for the good of the order! Any relevant meetings or events you'd like to post free-of-charge? Contact us on the Bpath Mail Form.

(A-50) BIRD SONG SURVEY: WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TWO FAVORITE BIRD SONGS?

What are your two top favorite bird songs? Contact us at the secure Bpath Mail Form and send in your answers. We'll keep a running tally (below) as they come in. Feel free to leave your name and comment as well. Let's find out what bird songs are most popular amongst us!

Favorite Bird Song Tally

Field Sparrow = 1

*Song Sparrow = 2

Yellow-shafted Flicker = 1

*So far, the Song Sparrow sings the most favored song

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My most favorite is the alluring call of the Field Sparrow. It begins with several single and short beckonings, probably to get the attention of a nearby potential partner. Then, a continuous series of chortles (I know not how else to describe them), ending in another series of chortles.

Field Sparrow singing out!

My second favorite is the Yellow-shafted Flicker, alias "Yellow-Hammer".

(A-49) IDENTIFY BIRDS ONLINE- SIX GREAT WEBSITES!

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I've got these 6 Websites bookmarked and use them often

Welovebirds.org: The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has partnered with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to create this site as a place for bird-lovers to share stories and information about birds and to help protect birds from activities that harm them and their habitat. You become a member for free to enjoy all the benefits, like a Forum and various birding interest groups to join (for free) and discuss birds.

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center: Great site because of the bird ID photos and tips on identifying birds. Lots of migratory bird data.

ENature.com: I joined this Website, too. Gotta have it bookmarked! Almost 6,000 individual species are listed with the same data set used to create the printed Audubon Field Guides. All the data has been carefully reviewed and vetted by leading biologists, zoologists and other natural history specialists. You can listen to bird songs, etc., that all download instantly; I used it to hear the difference between Red-bellied and Red-headed woodpeckers.

Wildbirds.com: This web site is for backyard birders and fledgling birders. The Website answers questions and contains great photos of birds as well. There are new discussion forums that are very interesting.

Naturesongs: A great site with thousands of animal species and their calls and sounds. This one is for birds only. I just listened to warblers, vireos, and chicadee calls and downloaded them. Truly amazing variety of excellent bird songs here!

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds: A truly amazing site to help in identifying unknown birds. Great photos and ID tips, plus instant songs to listen to. I also like how they describe the bird's song before you play it; it helps in remembering and in differentiating between similar-sounding songs.

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Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. writes about the natural world. Questions? Comments? Have a photo, personal story, article, meeting, workshop, or seminar you'd like to share? We'll publish it free-of-charge on this site...for the good of the order! Contact us on the secure Bpath Mail Form.