This is an update to a previous post . I had some server issues that are now corrected.
I’ve been birding for almost seven years. Most of it has been spent at or around my home outside of Nashville, TN. I have been blessed enough to have a fairly wide variety of both permanent and migrating species to keep me busy. I have not graduated to the birding trip to other parts of the USA or abroad. I know the time will come for that.
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I’ve been listening to my backyard since I’ve started feeding birds years ago. No matter what season it is I always try to pay attention to what’s going on back there.
Last weekend we almost hit 70 degrees on Sunday and I’ve been hearing a whole lot more of the calling you hear in the spring when males are looking for mates. I guess I technically mean more songs than calls but you get my meaning. Cardinals, goldfinches, titmice, blue jays, mourning doves, chickadees and more all seem like their tuning up their pipes for the coming mating season.
Every winter, I get an interesting mixture of wintering and migrating species to my backyard. Every year, Yellow Rumped Warblers are among these. I’ll see them but not think much about it because they have been generally non-aggressive and somewhat passive feeder customers. They pick around the ground for tidbits here and there and don’t really make much a fuss about anything. That is, until this year.
As far as I can tell, this one is a solitary immature male that has gotten away from a flock and his behavior is quite unusual. He will get on my feeder station and spend the next half hour to an hour trying to keep anybody off of the feeders that he thinks he can take in a fight. Chickadees, juncos, goldfinches, titmice and even some house finches are all fair game. I’ve never seen a Yellow Rumped Warbler behave in this manner. He doesn’t appear to be sickly. My secret theory is that he is more aggressive because he’s stressed by the cold weather here now and being separated from his flock.
Do I just not have enough experience with these guys to know what I’m talking about or have any of you seen this type of behavior at your feeders? Leave me a comment below and tell me your experience with these wonderful little birds.
Since the weather has turned colder at night I’ve had this sneaky suspicion I’m being watched every morning. As usual, my chihuahua/yorkie mix, Maggie and I go out before 6 AM. The last few mornings, however, I’ve felt there were eyes on us. I looked around and saw nothing. Then, I looked at my closest bluebird box and I spotted him. The little black and white head with the red spot on top gave him away. I had an overnight tenant. It was one of my downy woodpecker backyard residents. I had seen him looking around before and had actually put some nesting materials in the box to help him out. Apparently, he really appreciated the gesture because I’ve noticed he’s put them to good use plugging up the drafty corners on the floor of the nestbox.
It never ceases to amaze me how smart birds can be. Most humans see them as things lucky enough to fly wherever they need to go that spend the majority of their time looking for food. While this may be true to a large extent, they are also capable of some very intelligent flock behavior. My nightly birdbath entertainment is a perfect example.
How sharp are you identifying bird calls and songs in your backyard? Do you find yourself calling out bird species while out in the woods? Or do you have to spot them with your binoculars and fumble through a printed guidebook to find them?
Don’t get me wrong. Field guides have their place to give you the details about any species you may observe. However, for even a novice birder they’re not the quickest way to identify a bird.
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