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11 May happy (WBNU) mother's day from Coaldale, CO [] 11 May Re: kestrels nesting 200 feet from BB [David Trachtenberg ] 11 May Breeding Season Oddities: CACH? ["David Gwin" ] 11 May RE: This season_Tree Swallow Question ["Steve and Cindy Groene" ] 11 May Re: Tree Swallow / Thin Nestcup ["lviolett" ] 11 May Re: House Wrens ["Maria F. Pino" ] 11 May RE: House Wrens ["Linda Lawson" ] 11 May House Wrens ["Maria F. Pino" ] 11 May Re: This season_Tree Swallow Question ["Bruce Burdett" ] 11 May This season_Tree Swallow Question ["Ruth" ] 11 May Happy Mothers Day! Wild Turkey Federation Jakes Event ["Keith Kridler" ] 11 May Really small entrance holes [] 11 May No Culprit found [Richard Harlow ] 10 May interesting article ["Robert Barron" ] 09 May Re: Starlings [Sheila Rogers ] 9 May Article on titmice in England ["Keith Kridler" ] 9 May Re: Starlings nesting vs woodpeckers ["Robert Barron" ] 10 May Re: Starlings nesting vs woodpeckers [] 9 May Starlings nesting vs woodpeckers ["Keith Kridler" ] 9 May Cold Spring Kills Songbirds in Minnesota ["Steve Murphy Home" ] 09 May HOSP in natural cavites [] 8 May Re: Fw: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs ["Robert Barron" ] 08 May Re: Dimlin spray [Lynn Emerich ] 8 May Re: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs ["Mike" ] 8 May Dimlin spray ["wendy balder" ] 8 May Re: Strange goings on with hawk and sparrow? ["Robert Barron" ] 8 May Re: After an EABL nest failure ["Robert Barron" ] 8 May Abandoned WEBL Nest? [Jason Kitting ] 8 May RE: Strange goings on with hawk and sparrow? ["Dottie" ] 08 May Return of the cavity nesters [] 8 May After an EABL nest failure ["bapgar AT juno.com" ] 8 May Bluebirds guarding territory ["Keith Kridler" ] 8 May Fw: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs ["Keith Kridler" ] 7 May test [Horace Sher ] 7 May RE: Lesson Learned? ["Linda Lee H." ] 7 May RE: Lesson Learned? ["Linda Lee H." ] 7 May Blue Jays ["Lawrence Herbert" ] 7 May RE: Lesson Learned? ["Steve and Cindy Groene" ] 7 May RE: Lesson Learned? [Mary Beth Roen ] 7 May Spiders and other dangers in nestboxes! ["Keith Kridler" ] 7 May Re: Lesson Learned? ["Keith Kridler" ] 7 May Re: Lesson Learned? ["Maynard Sumner" ] 06 May Lesson Learned? [Richard Harlow ] 06 May hatchlings! [] 6 May Unexpected sighting!! [] 6 May 3 missing TUTI babies? [Horace Sher ] 6 May Magic Halos ["Linda Lee H." ] 6 May Re: House wrens ["Maynard Sumner" ] 06 May Blue Jays [Lynn Emerich ] 6 May feeding crows and jay birds ["Keith Kridler" ] 6 May Re: Sparrow Spookers ["Paula Ziebarth" ] 06 May House wrens [RLJ ] Subject: happy (WBNU) mother's day from Coaldale, CO From: <Christina.Mitchell AT UCHSC.edu> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 21:53:01 -0600 Tina Mitchell Coaldale, CO ~7200', pinyon/juniper habitat Hi, list-- The 2 earliest cavity nesters here in Central Colorado--White-breasted Nuthatches--now have hatchlings. In addition to the Juniper Titmouse nest with 6 eggs last week (which are still there this week--no small feat for this timid nester), we have a 2nd JUTI nest with 2 eggs so far, cozily nestled under a blanket of dog hair. One Mountain Chickadee nest has 6 eggs. And, at long last, a pair of Mountain Blues zoomed in and glowered at me as I checked on what must be their pretty-much-completed nest. We haven't seen or heard them around lately, and I was beginning to wonder if we'd done something to offend the whole lot of them. We have a number of stealth nest-builders as well--pretty much complete-looking nests that I've yet to see or even hear a bird around. They just show up a bit more put together each week I check on them. One of them even has 5 eggs in it--now THAT's a stealthy bird. As you may remember from last week's update, I'm dreadful at trying to guess what bird's building what nest. But what the heck--throw caution to the wind. I have no pride. This nest has a flicker feather and some other small white feather in it, both nicely decorating the edge. Because of the feathers, my first thought would be "swallow," but the Violet-green Swallows have just returned en masse this week and the feathers were there last week. One of my books says that Western Blues will sometimes have feathers--I suppose that's possible, but I never know how much stock to put in a casual statement like that in a field guide. It doesn't seem to be one of our little nesters, since there's no thick layer of animal hair lining the nestcup. And the eggs seem too big for them, although guessing size isn't one of my strong suits. It's far too neat for an Ash-throated Flycatcher and the eggs are much too plain; plus, ATFLs just arrived here this week too. Well, I hopefully will solve the mystery at least by the time the eggs hatch and the parents have to make themselves known a bit more. I made an interesting, and a tad grizzly, discovery when I cleaned out our 2 birdbaths yesterday--each held a dismembered Band-tailed Pigeon foot. (We have huge, sky-darkening flocks of them around here these days.) BTPIs are quite large birds--it's hard to imagine even a large female Cooper's Hawk taking one out, unless it was old/ill/near-sighted/slow. (sounds like I'm describing myself there) We have coyotes and small gray foxes that could have dined on it, if it were caught unaware or already dead from something else. But the image of them biting off the feet or dowsing the body in the water or--whatever--well, 'tis a puzzlement.Subject: Re: kestrels nesting 200 feet from BB From: David Trachtenberg <dat2 AT nyu.edu> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 22:55:21 -0400 Hi... I have for the first time a pair of nesting Kestrels on the property. There are some trees and shrubs betwen the boxes but I am worried about the BBs who are due to fledge in two weeks? I also like the Kestrels and BB are pretty abundant where I live. My property alone fledges 6-8 BB every year and Kestrels were seen hunting the fields prior to my mounting a box. The BB box faces into a garden that has some small crabapples and cover. Thoughts? Please copy me directly with any advice or comments. Thanks, David Columbia County, NYSubject: Breeding Season Oddities: CACH? From: "David Gwin" <Dgwin AT cstx.gov> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 17:55:13 -0500 Howdy, All: Very strange year ... as of this morning, I still have CACH taking to nests. Anyone else this far south experiencing similar breeding season oddities? Also, very strong ... and close ... breeding presence of CRWR. In fact, it looks to be a bumper year for them. Naturally, David Brazos County, Texas College Station. Heart of the Research Valley.Subject: RE: This season_Tree Swallow Question From: "Steve and Cindy Groene" <hausgroene AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 14:17:16 -0400 Ruth- My TRES don't build very tall or deep nests but they do put some nest material on the floor so the eggs aren't resting on wood. My TRES nests are lined w/ feathers and then lots of plumes of feathers are added on top. My EABL build nests that are double to triple the height of the TRES nests and have a very deep nestcup. It's a weird TRES season this year, I am finding. Cindy Groene South Lyon, MISubject: Re: Tree Swallow / Thin Nestcup From: "lviolett" <lviolett AT earthlink.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 10:02:18 -0700 My advice would be to not add any more nest material under a sparsely-built nestcup. When I was redesigning nestboxes for my trail, an extra inch of depth (7.5" bottom of hole to floor) was built into the box (standard hole/floor depth is 6.5 inches). In one of these boxes, a female had built a shallow nestcup with chicks eventually sitting almost on the floor of the box. Chicks who aren't given sufficient support for their growing legs will sometimes get splayed legs so I "helped" by adding some extra straw under the chicks. That was a mistake. On my next visit, a hawk flew from the roof of the box. Inside, a few primary feathers from one of the chicks was scattered on the nest. The extra padding put under the nest probably enabled the hawk to reach down into the box and barely grab feathers from a chick without pulling out the chick. The troubled clutch was immediately put into a deeper box and safely fledged. The chick with lost primaries had to grow another set of feathers at the rehabbers. You can find rolls of thin open waffle-weave rubbery padding material (normally used to line kitchen shelves or tool drawers) which could be put on nestbox floor under thin nestcups. Linda Violett Yorba Linda, Calif. ----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth To: bluebird-l AT cornell.edu Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 8:17 AM Subject: This season_Tree Swallow QuestionSubject: Re: House Wrens From: "Maria F. Pino" <avesamo AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:42:13 -0400 I have been checking my boxes every few days. I saw no sign of the wrens. This morning I heard and saw them flying into a box the TRES were checking out yesterday. The 5 bluebird eggs in another box should hatch shortly. They appear to be defending the box well. They fly within 2 inches of my head. They are the best defenders that I've had in a few years so I am hopeful. Good luck. Maria On May 11, 2008, at 12:27 PM, "Linda Lawson"Subject: RE: House Wrens From: "Linda Lawson" <linyl AT alltel.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 12:27:46 -0400 I, too, have been hit by House Wrens. The blues started building as soon as the Chickadees left. They have been fighting the wrens since. I guess it depends on the experience of the bluebirds in defending their box. So far, no eggs tossed out and it has been 1 week today. Linda in NW GA -----Original Message----- From: bounce-2692619-3587688 AT list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-2692619-3587688 AT list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Maria F. Pino Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 11:55 AM To: BBList Subject: House Wrens Hi all, The house wrens appear to be back. They have been a problem the past couple of years. Has anyone had luck discouraging them from nesting? Does removing the twigs help or does it just make them more destructive? I realize they are native birds and cannot be treated in the same manner as HOSP. What seems to work, if anything? Thanks Maria Norton, MASubject: House Wrens From: "Maria F. Pino" <avesamo AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 11:54:55 -0400 Hi all, The house wrens appear to be back. They have been a problem the past couple of years. Has anyone had luck discouraging them from nesting? Does removing the twigs help or does it just make them more destructive? I realize they are native birds and cannot be treated in the same manner as HOSP. What seems to work, if anything? Thanks Maria Norton, MASubject: Re: This season_Tree Swallow Question From: "Bruce Burdett" <blueburd AT verizon.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 10:54:28 -0500 Ruth, Are your houses paired? Here where I am, pairing my boxes (15' apart ±) eliminates all Tree Swallow competition. They get along fine, and cooperate to drive off intruders of every kind. Bruce Burdett SW NH ----- Original Message ----- From: Ruth To: bluebird-l AT cornell.edu Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:17 AM Subject: This season_Tree Swallow Question I have had EABL nesting in my boxes every year. Two months ago, they were here checking out my boxes and stayed for about a week. I wonder why I have not seen them since. I have a box with 8 BCCH eggs in it. Another one is occupied with Tree Swallows. The swallow nest must be complete because there are white feathers on it. The nest they built is very low and the nest cup is not done up to par. Today there was one egg laid and it is resting on the wood of the box floor. Is this common to have a sparsely built nest cup? Should I put more nest material on the bottom of the box? Any advice is appreciated. Ruth Brinckman Souderton, PA 25 miles north of PhiladelphiaSubject: This season_Tree Swallow Question From: "Ruth" <r.r.brinc AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 11:17:22 -0400 I have had EABL nesting in my boxes every year. Two months ago, they were here checking out my boxes and stayed for about a week. I wonder why I have not seen them since. I have a box with 8 BCCH eggs in it. Another one is occupied with Tree Swallows. The swallow nest must be complete because there are white feathers on it. The nest they built is very low and the nest cup is not done up to par. Today there was one egg laid and it is resting on the wood of the box floor. Is this common to have a sparsely built nest cup? Should I put more nest material on the bottom of the box? Any advice is appreciated. Ruth Brinckman Souderton, PA 25 miles north of PhiladelphiaSubject: Happy Mothers Day! Wild Turkey Federation Jakes Event From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 07:32:58 -0500 I sent the following to my Texas Master Gardener group. Last week we were hashing over on this list the issue of teaching scouts or other children about putting up nestboxes. Most people seemed to be worrying WAY TOO much, or expecting WAY TOO much about having EVERY child or adult we teach becoming the PERFECT Bluebird Monitor. There AIN'T nobody or no group that is perfect! In the last 10 years we have "taught" more than 160 people how to be master gardeners in our local group. We have ONLY about 40 paid members. Maybe 30 will come to a monthly meeting, normally about 15. Then for a work day for REQUIRED hours we are LUCKY to get 10. In this case I got two, one for all day, 9 am till 3:45 PM, one for two hours....You can substitute "Bluebirder Groups" for Master Gardeners in the following post. Substitute your favorite cavity nesters below when I mention other plants we need info sheets on...Maybe others will share how they handle teaching events. I was lucky to have GREAT parents who taught me a wide variety of skills and hobbies. MOST children today will NEVER be as lucky as I was! I cut out the photo's, drop me a note if you want them sent off list. But they only give you an idea of the age groups or the numbers of people taught per class. Keith Kridler Here are a couple of photos from the event. I had time to take pictures of two other "Instructors" tables on our way to eat lunch and one photo inside the cafeteria at the end of the day. Shirley Pyland and Sandi Luttrell should get credit for double hours for all of the work they put in:-)) Even though they call this a Jakes event (a Jake is a young turkey) and it is for the children ages 8>17 there are a whole lot of adults that you also get to teach or that watch over YOU as you teach their children. Sandi and Shirley actually got to help EVERY child (and some of the adults) that came to this event build gourd bird houses thanks to Dwayne and Jeannie's gourd growing ability last year. Many children also got to help make and decorate bird feeders made from gourds. The timing of the event was good and MOST of the gourds were ending up decorated with hearts and flowers drawn on them with Sharpie pens and dedicated to their mother's as gifts on this special day. One of the boy's came at the end of the event and he made gourd birdhouses and or feeders for all four of his grand parents and also made one for his dad...Some of these children had NEVER considered making their own gifts for parents, grand parents or friends! Some children have TWO mommy's or Daddy's. There was only 45 minutes or so between events and the whole group rotated to another station. With restroom and water breaks between some of these we only had about 30 minutes to organize each group. Sandi and Shirley also helped each child prepare a baggie filled with enough sunflower seeds and gourd seeds to plant three or four normal sized gardens! Not only did they build the bird houses but they also taught a short course in how to grow mixed hills of sunflowers and gourds for this summer. They actually had a pot of gourds already growing to show the children what a young gourd looks like and what they look like when they begin produce a vine with tendrils! When ever you have children and power tools having a fun day means having a SAFE day! We have a VERY limited amount of time to go over safety issues and crank out the gourd bird houses. I also over heard them telling adults about the Master Gardener program. We give out blue prints on how to build wood nestboxes and then how to monitor the nestboxes but we also need to create "How To" sheets on planting gourd seeds and sunflowers. A one or two page sheet with planting instructions with a short paragraph on "Being a Master Gardener" with contact information. Again while we are helping the children we have a captive audience of adults that are willing to spend a Saturday WITH their children doing out of doors type events. We "should" have had our Master Gardener banner to put up! We "Could" have also had a MG teaching about gardening and planting seeds. Another teaching the adults and children about hummingbird and butterfly gardening. At the very least we need to create some "how to" sheets on various subjects. (In the past, normally I only have Shawn coming to help me with these events. Friday afternoon he sawed up one large pine log and we cut out 50 of the wood nestbox kits from this one log.) One of the photo's shows a group of children standing around a table where they were going to make plaster casts from animal tracks. You can take white Tee shirt material and hammer out the juices of plant leaves and flowers making a "Fossil" type impression that would be a BIG hit with the children. I stayed pretty busy as the first 62 children coming through our "lake house" out there at Camp Langston got to use nailguns and screw guns to "shoot" 2&1/2" long nails and make a really nice yellow pine nestbox for "bluebird" sized birds. Each nestbox was carefully made so that the children could open the boxes and monitor them for years to come! I REALLY don't have time to promote much in the way of Master Gardeners or even the birds since I am teaching each one of these children how to fire a "Nail GUN" SAFELY in a VERY crowded room! There was even a four year old girl who "Shot" EVERY nail in her own nestbox! BUT it is the 15 year old children you REALLY have to watch. We ran out of wood nestbox kits as there were 78 children. It is NOT fun telling a group of children "Sorry we ran out of nestbox kits!" when they have been hearing ALL DAY how much fun it was to "shoot" a nailgun.... The Wild Turkey group had a total of the number of adults and children we made an impact on but this will not come close to the number of parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles that will hear about yesterday! Just THINK about ALL of the neighbors of these children that will be having gourds swallowing up their joint fences and or yards like kudzu later this summer or the sunflowers that will be blooming over the tops of fences or along the edges of gardens:-)) MOST of the time we are teaching these children how to do these things for the VERY first time in their lives! In some cases their parents have NEVER done these things either. Teaching is like planting a seed. The fun part is seeing how the garden of children grow up with these new ideas! It is NEVER too late to plant a seed or begin to grow your own garden! I hope all of you enjoy this Mother's Day! Keith KridlerSubject: Really small entrance holes From: geochelone AT aol.com Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 00:24:58 -0400 Hi all, Well, I had a comment on one of my youtube videos that suggested that Tree Swallows could fit into a 15/16" hole. Â It was mentioned as a remedy against House Sparrows. Â Even though I don't have HOSP problems, I still am intrigued with the thought that I could set up Violet Green Swallows, which have so far been trounced at every opportunity to use my nestboxes by Bluebirds and such, with a nestbox that only Violet Greens and Tree Swallows could enter. Â Still, I have doubts that they could or would enter these holes. Â Anyone have information or experience with using entrance holes that are only an inch big? Â Have you heard ANYTHING that would suggest this works? Mike on a trail in MilpitasSubject: No Culprit found From: Richard Harlow <raharlow AT comcast.net> Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 00:06:19 -0400 To Christy, Keith, Evelyn, Linda, and the list, Checked the BCCH box with 'gloves' on and a stick. All the eggs (4) that I could see, were recovered; (when I left the box last I hadn't covered up the eggs) and the nest looked neater. Poked around slightly, no buzzing, no wasp - nothing that I could see. So, for the better part of valor I closed the box and decided to check again when she should have chicks. I may check in a week, but in the years that she or a BCCH has used this box I have never caught her on the nest with eggs. Feeding chicks yes, but that is it. This box has been a very successful box except the one year that a Red Squirrel took it over, that was before I put a baffle on the post. So far this is my only cavity nest!! To put this in context we live in a rural area with the only immediate open space is our lawn and the lake. Otherwise the rest of our property is woods, (many woodpecker trees and holes), a creek, etc. where we see Beaver, Muskrat, Deer, Mink, Otter, Red and Gray Squirrels, Opossum, Skunk, etc, etc. I have seen a pair of Coyotes in the winter, and evidence of them in the woods, but not seen them on our property as yet. Still hoping for some nester's before the end of May - otherwise it could be a short nesting season for me. Warm Regards, RichardSubject: interesting article From: "Robert Barron" <rebarron AT gmail.com> Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 10:37:32 -0400 An interesting article to get your mind off the wedding in Texas and wrens wreaking havoc in your Bluebird boxes. I can't imagine what the damage to wildlife was! Keep reading until you get to the part about the destruction of the mangroves that provided a natural storm barrier. Rob Barron Wilderness, Virginia http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/080508-AP-the-perfect_2.htmlSubject: Re: Starlings From: Sheila Rogers <sheilarogers AT charter.net> Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 20:51:47 -0700 Your article was quite interesting on starlings. They are quite smart birds in deed, if I wave my hands in the air....they don't leave, they know if I'm packing my black pellet gun in my hand they throw a fit and squawk away and leave. They change their voice on me, so I won't know what kind of bird is visiting and eating the suet I put out...then they watch for me....if I go in, they are back in seconds, they know and watch me when I fill up the suet, seconds later they our fighting amongst themselves over food. At this time, they aren't at the suet feeders, they our on the lawn looking for bugs and visit at dusk, so my suet is lasting 2 days instead 30 minutes:) Sheila Redding, CaSubject: Article on titmice in England From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 21:30:32 -0500 Pretty interesting article on titmice adjusting their egg laying to match the food source for their young. KK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7390109.stmSubject: Re: Starlings nesting vs woodpeckers From: "Robert Barron" <rebarron AT gmail.com> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 20:40:11 -0400 Keith, You don't miss a thing! Where I see Bluebirds in natural cavities in Virginia is almost always in Green Ash, Sycamore or Black Walnut trees growing along the wooded edge or in hedgerows between grazed horse or cow pastures. The sad part is that the developers come in and bulldoze everything and plant a bunch of 6 foot, short lived, ornamental exotics that will never produce a natural cavity. I don't know much about European woodpeckers, but it seems definite that our native birds didn't evolve to compete with ecological generalists like House sparrows and European starlings. They aren't true secondary cavity nesters, they will nest anywhere including nest boxes and natural cavities. I have enough trouble keeping our native birds fresh in my brain, but I would guess that in parts of the world there are native House sparrows and European Starlings there are less secondary cavity nesters, and maybe that is why Chickadees make their own cavity, with an entrance too small for starlings and weaver finches. I agree that European starlings are facinating, intelligent birds. If I remember correctly, they are related to Minah birds, and as pets can learn to talk (or speak human languages). Their flock-flight behaviour is fascinating, like an airborne school of fish. I think they are actually quite pretty in the nuptial stage (what an anthropomorphic name) and they have inspired Shakespeare and the Beatles. They just don't belong here and it is our fault, not theirs, that they are here. I think we should start some kind of groundswell to change the official ornithological clasification of *Passer domesticus *to something that doesn't include the word "sparrow" because it is a name based on ignorance and lumping all small brown birds together. They aren't even New World Emberizid Sparrows group, English or House, and calling them Sparrows is an insult to our wonderful native "sparrows". I've read some interesting articles that point to sparrows originating in South America and then diverging into Europe. Here are some interesting links for those inclined to folow cladistics. They all are flying descendents of dinosaurs. Pretty amazing. http://www.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-8038(199804)115%3A2%3C412%3ASRATES%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O&cookieSet=1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emberizidae I just hope that when Bob Dylan wrote "Every Grain of Sand" he wasn't talking about house sparrows. I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintry light, In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space, In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face. I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me. I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand. Rob Barron Wilderness, Virginia 2008/5/9 Keith KridlerSubject: Re: Starlings nesting vs woodpeckers From: wensuz AT isp.com Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 00:30:33 -0000 (GMT) > Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
> Interesting observations about the House Sparrows and Starlings and
> bluebirds in natural cavities. Below is an interesting article about
> Starlings and their reaction to people watching them! Look how it applies
> to
> people trying to keep starlings from feeding at their birdfeeders or suet
> cages:-)) Search the "news" for "Starlings" and you will pull up about 150
> news articles.
>
>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/04/30/scistar130.xml
>
> Now starlings vs. woodpeckers are an interesting topic as in my part of
> the
> south we have a long nesting season. Starlings tend to time their egg
> laying
> so that the young hatch out just as the grass greens up and the white lawn
> grubs come up near the surface of the soil to feed on the shallow roots of
> mowed grass lawns or over grazed winter pastures with livestock. Starlings
> are communal nesters and seem to prefer to nest in a fairly large colony.
> They tend to synchronize their egg laying to an extent and will leave the
> nesting colony in flocks to feed and return in flocks. They work as a
> group
> watching for hawks as you have to realize that when they are digging a
> grub
> out of the grass roots they CANNOT see danger coming from above them. They
> depend on some birds in the flock to be watching for danger while their
> head
> is buried in the short grass.
>
> It is interesting to watch a large flock for when the majority of the
> flock
> have food they will ALL fly back to the colony or a staging area and head
> off to various nests. Then return to the staging area after the young are
> fed and return as a flock back to the feeding area. These starlings
> compensate or reward the unsuccessful "guard birds" by feeding ANY young
> in
> the colony that are begging loudly for food.
>
> In our area when the rains quit in a few more weeks the winter grasses
> will
> dry up, the ground will harden and the starlings will have already fledged
> their young for the year. These are really fascinating birds and you
> should
> observe them while you are dining or stop shopping for a while to observe
> these birds feeding in grassy areas.
>
> If Robert is seeing dozens of Starlings in one tree along that proposed
> right of way then somewhere fairly close you have open pasture land or a
> suburban community with many mowed lawns. These starlings just don't nest
> deep into a continuous unbroken forest land as they need certain food
> sources. The May or June beetle provides this source of food and again
> with
> the starlings as with MANY species with extremely high numbers they HAVE
> to
> take advantage of a fairly narrow window of optimum food sources as the
> June
> bug swarms are short lived as the adult bugs feed off of new tree leaves
> and
> die out as their preferred leaves harden off and the weather warms up. In
> good years June bugs swarm out of fields early evening by the millions to
> breed and simply overwhelm hungry predators with their sheer numbers, then
> they burrow into soft moist soil at first light to hide from Starlings and
> other birds and mammals who feed on them. Then the survivors emerge again
> as
> dusk deepens to dark of night.
>
> Once the young starlings fledge they follow the feeding flocks to the food
> sources. Once there, ANY young starling can beg for food from ANY adult
> and
> that bird will feed it and or teach it how to find food on it's own. This
> is
> when dog and cat food dishes outside become feeding stations for
> starlings!
>
> Right now in Northeast Texas starlings are beginning to fledge leaving
> some
> empty nest cavities. Oak trees are being stripped of leaves by June bugs.
> Great Crested Flycatchers are calling from every wooded area and
> woodpeckers
> are busily tap tapping out new homes or the lucky ones are also about to
> fledge their young.
>
> This makes me wonder what species of wood boring beetle grubs the late
> nesting woodpeckers find to feed their young! Late nesting Red Headed
> Woodpeckers are actually a "flycatcher" catching adult grasshoppers on the
> wing! How have the woodpeckers and other secondary cavity nesters adapted
> to
> the Starlings in Europe and Asia? KK
>
>
>
Hi Keith and all; Since the Red-headed Woodpecker is in decline due to
Starling competition, I was just wondering how other
competitors/predators factor into their decline as well. I have been
observing a pair of RHWPs in a tall snag across the road from me,
their cavity faces my house, east, so I have a great vantage point.
What I have been seeing however, is not EUST interference, but
Grackle. The Grackles have been prowling about lately in my area, and
I saw one of them in the RHWP snag while one of the WPs was in its
cavity. When the RHWP exited, the Grackle flew off after it. I'm
thinking the Grackles are waiting for the RHWPs to begin laying and
then snatch up the eggs and/or chicks. I have seen the Grackles
investigating what looks like a squirrel nest, it seems to have been
empty or abandoned. I am rethinking my attitude toward these
predators, since Keith mentioned he feeds the Jays and Crows to keep
them satisfied and thereby perhaps, preventing them from raiding other
birds nests. Maybe I should let the Grackles fill up on my peanuts,
and not be so quick to chase them off? I would hate to see the RHWP
nest attempt fail if I could help in some way. Just my thoughts.
-Wendy in OH
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Subject: Starlings nesting vs woodpeckersFrom: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 07:19:40 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Interesting observations about the House Sparrows and Starlings and bluebirds in natural cavities. Below is an interesting article about Starlings and their reaction to people watching them! Look how it applies to people trying to keep starlings from feeding at their birdfeeders or suet cages:-)) Search the "news" for "Starlings" and you will pull up about 150 news articles. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/04/30/scistar130.xml Now starlings vs. woodpeckers are an interesting topic as in my part of the south we have a long nesting season. Starlings tend to time their egg laying so that the young hatch out just as the grass greens up and the white lawn grubs come up near the surface of the soil to feed on the shallow roots of mowed grass lawns or over grazed winter pastures with livestock. Starlings are communal nesters and seem to prefer to nest in a fairly large colony. They tend to synchronize their egg laying to an extent and will leave the nesting colony in flocks to feed and return in flocks. They work as a group watching for hawks as you have to realize that when they are digging a grub out of the grass roots they CANNOT see danger coming from above them. They depend on some birds in the flock to be watching for danger while their head is buried in the short grass. It is interesting to watch a large flock for when the majority of the flock have food they will ALL fly back to the colony or a staging area and head off to various nests. Then return to the staging area after the young are fed and return as a flock back to the feeding area. These starlings compensate or reward the unsuccessful "guard birds" by feeding ANY young in the colony that are begging loudly for food. In our area when the rains quit in a few more weeks the winter grasses will dry up, the ground will harden and the starlings will have already fledged their young for the year. These are really fascinating birds and you should observe them while you are dining or stop shopping for a while to observe these birds feeding in grassy areas. If Robert is seeing dozens of Starlings in one tree along that proposed right of way then somewhere fairly close you have open pasture land or a suburban community with many mowed lawns. These starlings just don't nest deep into a continuous unbroken forest land as they need certain food sources. The May or June beetle provides this source of food and again with the starlings as with MANY species with extremely high numbers they HAVE to take advantage of a fairly narrow window of optimum food sources as the June bug swarms are short lived as the adult bugs feed off of new tree leaves and die out as their preferred leaves harden off and the weather warms up. In good years June bugs swarm out of fields early evening by the millions to breed and simply overwhelm hungry predators with their sheer numbers, then they burrow into soft moist soil at first light to hide from Starlings and other birds and mammals who feed on them. Then the survivors emerge again as dusk deepens to dark of night. Once the young starlings fledge they follow the feeding flocks to the food sources. Once there, ANY young starling can beg for food from ANY adult and that bird will feed it and or teach it how to find food on it's own. This is when dog and cat food dishes outside become feeding stations for starlings! Right now in Northeast Texas starlings are beginning to fledge leaving some empty nest cavities. Oak trees are being stripped of leaves by June bugs. Great Crested Flycatchers are calling from every wooded area and woodpeckers are busily tap tapping out new homes or the lucky ones are also about to fledge their young. This makes me wonder what species of wood boring beetle grubs the late nesting woodpeckers find to feed their young! Late nesting Red Headed Woodpeckers are actually a "flycatcher" catching adult grasshoppers on the wing! How have the woodpeckers and other secondary cavity nesters adapted to the Starlings in Europe and Asia? KKSubject: Cold Spring Kills Songbirds in Minnesota From: "Steve Murphy Home" <thcri AT qwest.net> Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 06:15:54 -0500 I don't know if I can post links here or not but if not let me know and I won't in the future. Sad Story Though. http://www.kttc.com/News/index.php?ID=24620 Better Story Here, http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a= 341535 Steve MurphySubject: HOSP in natural cavites From: ckanchor AT comcast.net Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 02:03:01 +0000 Rob and others, I've never seen HOSP nest in natural cavities either although I have seen them build large messy nests in trees, mostly evergreen trees but also some small deciduous trees as well. I don't know the area you are talking about. If the trees you are describing are in woods that would help explain the absence of the HOSP. I've never seen them in wooded areas and that would be where there would be more trees with natural cavities. I'm am surprised that the bluebirds would have nests along with the starlings though. Maybe since you are not able to monitor the situation, that eventually the bluebirds will find themselves in trouble. A couple of times I've watched Red-bellied Woodpeckers making nest cavities while starlings stood by quietly observing. After a couple of weeks of hard work and after the female Red-bellied was there with the male trying out the new hole, the starlings evicted them. But even around here where we have 1000's and 1000's of starlings, the Red-bellieds must find a hole someplace or we wouldn't have the woodpeckers. I've also seen bluebirds checking out natural cavities, mostly in wooded river bottom areas. I didn't know if they were nesting there but assumed so. River bottom areas aren't exactly short-grass habitat....lots we don't know. Charlene Anchor E. Central IllinoisSubject: Re: Fw: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs From: "Robert Barron" <rebarron AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 20:48:27 -0400 I work for an environmental consulting company and during nesting season I'm frequently doing threatened and endangered species surveys from dusk to dawn, all over Virginia. Yesterday I was surveying a long easement where Domnion Power is installing a new aerial power line and looking for Loggerhead Shrikes and Upland Sandpipers. It is in an area of northern Virginia that has been rapidly developed (near Purcellville). Ono easement, there were two Sycamore trees 50 feet apart, one was healthy and full of Baltimore and Orchard orioles, Redstarts and other assorted warblers, Red-bellied woodpeckers, Mocking Birds and Brown thrashers. The other tree was diseased, full of cavities, and looked like a European starling hotel until I got closer and saw at least 3 pairs of EABL's nesting in a tree infested with European Starlings. I didn't see a Bluebird box all day. I see Bluebirds nesting in natural cavities every day in Virginia, and I have never seen a House sparrow nest in a natural cavity. I don't know what it all means. The more you observe, the more you realize how little we really know. Rob Barron Wilderness, Virginia 2008/5/8 Keith KridlerSubject: Re: Dimlin spray From: Lynn Emerich <lemerich AT epix.net> Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 20:37:25 -0400 Just pulled this from the chemical fact sheet: Based on these studies, diflubenzuron is of low toxicity to birds, finfish, and honeybees, but is extremely toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Therefore, additional studies are required to complete a hazard assessment for aquatic invertebrates. Here in PA, they usually spray with BT which only effects caterpillars. I think some areas here are expecting a good crop of gypsy moths, so some areas will be sprayed. Lynn near Bernville PA wendy balder wrote: > Yesterday they sprayed the wooded part of our yard and the yards of > neighbors w/mature oaks (we have none, yet) w/Dimlin to kill off Gypsy > Moths. Does anyone know of its adverse effects on birds? Will Dimlin > affect all other insects? > > Any information'd be welcome. > > Wendy of Freeland MDSubject: Re: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs From: "Mike" <giaandmike AT zoominternet.net> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 20:16:09 -0400 Hi I am interested in your comment about people who don't add nestboxes in successive years. I might be able to add one more nestbox for blues in my front yard (if I successfully DRST house sparrows, although there aren't many left), but if we're talking 500 yards between nestboxes, that would be all my property can offer. Is it possible that returning members of the same family might nest closer together? Gia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Kridler"Subject: Dimlin spray From: "wendy balder" <wbalder AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 19:39:34 -0400 Yesterday they sprayed the wooded part of our yard and the yards of neighbors w/mature oaks (we have none, yet) w/Dimlin to kill off Gypsy Moths. Does anyone know of its adverse effects on birds? Will Dimlin affect all other insects? Any information'd be welcome. Wendy of Freeland MDSubject: Re: Strange goings on with hawk and sparrow? From: "Robert Barron" <rebarron AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 18:04:06 -0400 I think the hawk got hit by a car and the impact split it's crop open. Bird crops withstand gravel and sharp bones. Just my opinion. Sorry about your shoulder Dottie! Hope you repair quickly. Rob Barron Wilderness, Virginia 2008/5/8 DottieSubject: Re: After an EABL nest failure From: "Robert Barron" <rebarron AT gmail.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 18:10:15 -0400 I'd leave the nest there, especially right in the middle of the nesting season. having to start over from scratch will delay egg laying, expend more energy, and may make them find another site. They may not come back because they learned that location isn't a good nest site, but removing an unused nest won't stimulate them to nest again in that location. If anything, I might consider leaving the nest in that box and moving it slowly to another location. I had a nest box specifically made for trapping House sparrows. Bluebirds made a nest in it and laid 5 eggs. It was in the full sun, so I moved it 4 or 5 feet at a time over the course of a day to get it under the shade of a tree. Rob Barron Wilderness, VA 2008/5/8 bapgar AT juno.comSubject: Abandoned WEBL Nest? From: Jason Kitting <jrkitting AT yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 14:46:26 -0700 (PDT) I checked my nestboxes today and found two eggs in a box that WEBLs had built a
nest in, but the strange thing is the BBs started laying on Monday. I also saw
a female WEBL perched on a snag near by that has an old woodpecker cavity in
it. Is it possible that the BBs abandoned the nestbox and re-nested in the
natural cavity? Would they abandon a nest with eggs? Thanks for any help. And
on a lighter note, the MOCHs have three eggs now!
Jason Tijeras, New Mexico
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Subject: RE: Strange goings on with hawk and sparrow?From: "Dottie" <yumyumkatts AT voyager.net> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 15:31:17 -0400 I don’t believe it. Hawk would have killed bird before eating it—I think. Broke right shoulder-fell---typing with left hand. I’m right handed. Dottie, Hickory Hollow Brown County, Indiana (50 miles south of Indianapolis) Lat: 39.371N Lon: 86.261W Zone 5 Elevation: 680 ft -----Original Message----- From: bounce-2640592-3587711 AT list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-2640592-3587711 AT list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of KCBSP AT aol.com Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 7:57 PM To: Bluebird-L AT cornell.edu Subject: Strange goings on with hawk and sparrow? This came in an email to me. Just though this sounds so odd. Kathy Clark http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24294408>1=43001 Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos.Subject: Return of the cavity nesters From: happywebl AT comcast.net Date: Thu, 08 May 2008 18:33:57 +0000 It has been two years since the CDF "cleaned up" the preserve behind my home. At that time, they cut all the dead limbs from the trees, removed trees along the creek that were dying, and cleaned out all the blackberry bushes. Before that, the trees were full of birds, the creek was full of frogs, and we saw deer and wild turkeys in the bushes. Last summer, they were all gone. This season we have a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers nesting there, a pair of Titmice, and a Flycatcher! In the evening I'm hearing some frogs sing now, too. I can also hear the turkeys, but I haven't seen any yet (no deer, either), but I'm hopeful that things are turning around. Barbara in Cloverdale, CASubject: After an EABL nest failure From: "bapgar AT juno.com" <bapgar@juno.com> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 13:06:15 GMT Hi all, Say, what's the conventional wisdom as far as what to do after a nest is abandoned or the eggs removed by a house wren? What condition promotes the fastest nest re-start? Are we supposed to remove the nest or leave it in there? I have now had to endure just about every cause to nest failures including four wheeler's startling the birds away, a wren attack, a hawk attack and mysterious abandonment (which may have been four wheeler's again). Also, if we've been monitoring and found a brand new nest this year that has been left, without eggs kind of dishevled, should we leave it in there for the rest of the season? Or should we wait a certain period and remove the nest THanks, Bill from South Central, MA _____________________________________________________________ Protect your family. Click here for life insurance quotes from top companies. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2111/fc/Ioyw6iifSTswp4TgwU7C6upPYqt8OSOLgSbUrnnvLunnF3lVzeN534/?count=1234567890Subject: Bluebirds guarding territory From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:06:09 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Last weekend we were able to observe how wide of an area Eastern Bluebirds were feeding from. I mentioned the adult bluebirds seemed to be eating most of the insects and then carrying just a few to their nest in the wall of a building. Since they were being so picky on what they were carrying to the nest I falsely assumed that the young must only be a day or two old. We were watching their "nest" from several hundred feet away and the bluebirds would "disappear" into a dark section of the back of the building. When I went and parked my truck at this location Monday to eat lunch they were actually landing on a special perch just before they flew to their nest under the front of a trailer for and 18 wheeler rig. There were actually five young ready to fledge so I don't know why the adults were eating so many insects and only carrying a few to the young. Another interesting thing I noticed when we observed them from the far end of the city block, for two days the bluebirds were flying 300 feet or more in several directions to hunt for insects. BUT when I parked my truck within 15 feet of their nest they stayed within about 100 feet of their nest while watching me and hunting for insects. They seems to fly down and pick up insects anytime they wanted one! They have amazing eyesight as they drop down from high perches and will fly 80>130 feet to pick up an insect they saw moving in the grass! When you think about it one of the reasons bluebirds "might" guard such a large area from other nesting bluebirds is that they may "want" to be able to feed well away from the nestbox so as NOT to draw attention to their nest if they constantly fed or hunted within a small area surrounding their nests. With their "wanting" to nest in a more open area like this the bluebirds could easily sit 500 or even 600 feet away from the nest and still have the uncanny eyesight to watch for nearby predators approaching their nest site. There were hundreds of pairs of birds feeding in the areas with these bluebirds, mostly grackles and starlings were also working the grassy areas in search of insects. It did not seem like there was a shortage of insects for any of these birds. Watch and see if YOUR bluebirds feed near the nestbox or if they spend most of their time hunting and perching and watching their nestbox from a distance. We see so many things but fail to understand what we are seeing! KKSubject: Fw: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:16:31 -0500 I am forwarding the write up below that I sent a few days ago to some folks off list with three photos of the tractor trailer rig and the bluebird nests that I wrote about this morning. I encourage all of you to go out and watch for bluebirds to see where they are nesting when there are NO nestboxes for them to nest in:-)) Especially those people who have fledged bluebirds for years in a location but never add more boxes over the years for the overflow of baby bluebirds the following years! If you want to see these photos e-mail me off list but I have a noon program to give and then a 6 PM meeting tonight to pick up 150 gourds to put on a program for a couple hundred kids at a Jakes event Saturday for the Wild Turkey Federation. I don't worry about every Scout or child or adult I talk to about bluebirds EVER doing everything 100% Gung Ho about bluebirding. You hope that over the years you inspire just one or two people to be better bluebirders. Keith Kridler Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 6:41 AM Subject: bluebirds nesting in tractor trailer rigs There are MILLIONS of these shipping containers coming to North America from China every year. They take the excess containers and bolt on a set of wheels and make tractor trailer rigs out of them. Or sell them for storage containers. They are building apartments out of some of these or cutting in doors and windows and making small houses. If you look at the front and back, bottom and top corners of all of these containers they have what looks like an entrance hole on them. Bluebirds are attracted to these holes, fly around and under them and then nest right on these ledges. Notice that there are TWO different nests on this one ledge. The first one was pine needles the second was made from grass. Evidently the last time bluebirds nested in this trailer the rig was parked near some pines trees at a different location. There are four or five of these ledges under the fronts of all of these trailers that I am finding bluebird nests on. These two trailers are Union Pacific railroad work trailers that were brought in for a big re-work project south of Pittsburg Texas. There are actually five baby bluebirds about to fledge in this nest. The flaking paint you see is almost for sure an industrial lead based paint. I could test if with a test kit to be sure but if they use lead paint on baby toys I think you know what is in this! The lead paint is supposed to last longer for industrial uses and I think we still export lead based paints. Anyway if you look around just a little you can find bluebirds nesting in these spots as will the Carolina Wrens. The problem of course is that the birds need to chose a trailer that will stay put for a month or just a little longer. Notice the label on the blue trailer, BB 4310 or Bluebird Box 4310:-)) Height of the floors of these trailers are 54" from the pavement to the inside floor so the nesting ledges are under 48" to the ground. Keith KridlerSubject: test From: Horace Sher <hjsher1 AT yahoo.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 11:45:36 -0700 (PDT) test ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJSubject: RE: Lesson Learned? From: "Linda Lee H." <girlie.123 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 17:39:37 +0000 mice carry disease, thank goodness the skin wasn't broken............. > From: m-r-sumner AT juno.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 01:34:34 +0000> To: bluebird-l AT cornell.edu> Subject: Re: Lesson Learned?> > Richard,> > Maybe it was a mice.> > Maynard Sumner> Flint, MI> > www.michiganbluebirds.org> > > > -- Richard HarlowSubject: RE: Lesson Learned? From: "Linda Lee H." <girlie.123 AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 17:38:08 +0000 Richard, Vermont is so beautiful you lucky you !!! Do you think it was possibly an angry mom down there? Very strange, let me know if you figure it out !! I would think this "thing" may have to be removed as maybe the birds will be in danger. Can you look at it closer again with the mirror, this time with long gloves on ??? By the way, I always use gloves when checking a box as one never knows what they may find in there and I proceed cautiously..... since I'm new at this I'm extra paranoid anyway. good luck with your birds !!! Linda - VA (DC metro Area) > Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 21:03:32 -0400> From: raharlow AT comcast.net> To: bluebird-l AT list.cornell.edu> Subject: Lesson Learned?> > I thought I was sending this to the list as well as Evelyn.> Sorry about that.> Here goes.> > > Hi List, and Evelyn,> > Thought you all might get a laugh out of my stupidity!!Subject: Blue Jays From: "Lawrence Herbert" <lherbert AT 4state.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 12:05:54 -0500 Lynn, in PA and bluebirdsters - Actually Blue Jays are quite often very regular in migration especially in late summer and early fall. Post breeding I suppose. They'll fly day time in loose flocks or many times in rows. And they fly silently going somewhere (personal observations). Many raptor watchers see them in migration but they are just monitoring the raptors usually and don't count the Blue Jays. Like Keith said these birds can come right back to your door step. That has always been amazing and uncanny to me. Good birding to all, Larry H. Joplin MO.Subject: RE: Lesson Learned? From: "Steve and Cindy Groene" <hausgroene AT comcast.net> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 10:50:42 -0400 I would caution everyone using the mechanics mirror to check how well the mirror is attached. I nearly had a disaster w/ a box of 5 eggs last season. The mirror came unglued and fell off when I pulled it out of the nestbox and hit the ground. It was a new mechanic's mirror too. I was totally surprised. That mirror was only used for monitoring. I shudder to think of the consequences of that mirror falling on five eggs. Cindy Groene South Lyon, Mi "Hi all, This is a good reminder for all of us. When I check my nest boxes, I use a mechanic's mirror, a round movable mirror "on a stick". I can look into the nests without having to touch the eggs at all. I have my nest boxes mounted high enough that I cannot just look in to the nest. With the mirror, there is no danger of accidentally breaking an egg or getting stung or bitten. To remove the nest, I use a plastic 3 inch putty knife that scrapes the bottom and sides of the box as well. Mary, River Falls, WI"Subject: RE: Lesson Learned? From: Mary Beth Roen <mbroen AT hotmail.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 08:36:20 -0500 Hi all, This is a good reminder for all of us. When I check my nest boxes, I use a mechanic's mirror, a round movable mirror "on a stick". I can look into the nests without having to touch the eggs at all. I have my nest boxes mounted high enough that I cannot just look in to the nest. With the mirror, there is no danger of accidentally breaking an egg or getting stung or bitten. To remove the nest, I use a plastic 3 inch putty knife that scrapes the bottom and sides of the box as well. Mary, River Falls, WI > From: txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> To: raharlow AT comcast.net; bluebird-l AT list.cornell.edu> Subject: Re: Lesson Learned?> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 06:53:52 -0500> > I was away from the computer yesterday and missed this one. Richard e-mailed > me privately and this "bite" progressed to this: "There wasn't but a tiny > hint of blood. The end of my finger hurts, is stiff and swollen, but not by > much. There is a very small light circle of whitish skin on the side of the > finger end, almost like a burn mark. RH"> > Anyway this is a classic sign of an insect sting. ONLY the European Honey > Bee will commonly lose the stinger and poison sack when it stings something. > The honey bee stinger has barbs like a harpoon and or multiple backward > pointing barbs like a fish hook. This is why the stinger stays in your flesh > or tightly woven clothes fibers.> > Hornets, paper wasps, bumble bees in Vermont at this time of the year would > WANT to crawl down into the nesting material to be warmed up by the bird > eggs (the eggs are 99*F or so if they are being incubated) or just to hide > in the nesting material. IF it gets cold they cannot move fast enough to > escape predators so they try to hide in holes and crevasses during cold > periods and fly on warm days or when the sun is shining.> > By this morning I expect Richard to have a painful finger with almost no > swelling, the pain will probably have spread to several fingers by now and > possibly the thumb and wrist area will be painful.> > Now I use Benadryl cream or pills if I think I am going to have a reaction > to a bee sting BUT YOU ALL NEED TO CONSULT WITH A DOCTOR BEFORE YOU NEED ONE > IN A CASE LIKE THIS!> > Richard can go back and check out the nest carefully and see if the insect > is still in the box but I expect it to be a wasp that has probably already > moved to another location. I always carry a "Sharpie" marking pen and I > would use the rounded end of this or the eraser end of a wood pencil to open > up the nest to see if the insect is still in the nest for medical purposes. > (Richard wrote that his finger feels fine this morning!)> > Anyway I NEVER open up a chickadee nest or titmouse nest to count the eggs! > My clumsy fingers have broken more EGGS that I care to admit to the list. > Checking a few nestboxes at your house a couple of times a week and you will > catch the eggs uncovered BEFORE they hatch out and you do not run the danger > of breaking the eggs and have the female abandon the nest.> KK> > > > _________________________________________________________________ Get Free (PRODUCT) RED™ Emoticons, Winks and Display Pics. http://joinred.spaces.live.com?ocid=TXT_HMTG_prodredemoticons_052008Subject: Spiders and other dangers in nestboxes! From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 08:11:49 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas OK I HATE to scare off nestbox monitors but you all need to use common sense when getting ready to open nestboxes! One of the reasons I like the wide ventilation slots on my styles of nestboxes is that I can look across the inside top of my nestboxes and SEE if there is a wasp building up under the roof of the nestbox BEFORE I open the box. NORMALLY if I see grass when I am looking through the ventilation slots I KNOW that House Sparrows are nesting in the box BEFORE I go to open the nestbox. Like Christy I hate to open a top opening box and have angry wasps now right in my face or just inches from my bare hand! I tap lightly on the sides of the boxes and LISTEN before I open a box and SOMETIMES you will hear a bumble bee "buzzing" giving a warning. MOST of the time they don't buzz until it is way too late to run. Sunday morning I checked about 50 nestboxes before 8 AM and in FOUR of these I found ADULT female Black Widow Spiders! It was 13 days or 8 days since I checked these boxes. Spiders, wasps, bees and hornets can move into a box 10 minutes after you last checked the nestbox. I find some of these spiders EVERYTIME I check nestboxes. I found a flying squirrel in a box that had a House Sparrow nest just 8 days before! It was down inside a partial House Sparrow nest! I never found a Flying Squirrel on this property in 25 years of checking these boxes! They have razor sharp teeth and can bite BOTH sides of your finger at the same time IF you grab them thinking they are a House Sparrow! A Pocket Gopher can bite ALL the way through your finger to the bone or even a little deeper. Same goes for Fox or Gray Squirrels!!!! Spider bites: MOST spiders would have a hard time opening up their fangs wide enough to bite you on the hardener round parts of your fingers. BUT even small spiders can bite you where your skin grows over the edges of your finger nails, OR the webbing between your fingers OR the softer skin or wrinkled skin on the BACKS of your fingers. In the south we also occasionally find various species of scorpions in nestboxes. They can sting anywhere on your hand. There are Brown Recluse Spiders occasionally and these are REALLY nasty biters. This is the ONLY spider I actually fear! They normally only bite you when you pinch them or pull on clothes that they are hiding in. They are a member of the wolf spider family and do NOT spin a web warning you they are in the box like the Black Widow Spiders do. (I raised Black Widow Spiders in bottles back in the 1960's when there was a market for them dropped into liquid acrylic jewelry!) There is now an imported cousin, the Brown Widow Spider from Australia that has spread all through the Gulf Coast states and is just as poisonous as the Black Widow. They have slightly different habits from the Black Widow but I have not found one yet. In the south there is an insect called the "Velvet Ant" or "cow killer" and it has one of the most painful stings and injects poison with a stinger 3/8" deep or so. Thus the name "Cow Killer". It can also repeat sting like a bumble bee or wasp. Before you go and panic take a little time and check with your county extension agent to see what types of insects and or critters you have in your area. Find out what types of bats, rats, mice that you MIGHT encounter in your area. THEN take a little time and look up pictures of them and read about what types of habitat they prefer! I use a "bee hive tool" to slip under old bird nests to clean them out! That way I don't have to reach in and grab out an old nest with a bare hand. It is TOO hot down here to wear gloves all day! I LIKE side or front opening nestboxes as again I can slip out a nest with this tool and scrape out the box without having to put my hand down inside a top opening nestbox. This tool is basically a short "wonder bar" 8" long with a sharp putty knife type end and a 90* bend for scraping at the opposite end. Most hardware stores actually carry these if you look them up at Dadant.com or under beekeeping tools. They fit in the back pocket of my jeans and the bent end with the hook end against my back WON'T tear the seat cushions in my truck between nestbox checks like a regular putty knife will. KKSubject: Re: Lesson Learned? From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 06:53:52 -0500 I was away from the computer yesterday and missed this one. Richard e-mailed me privately and this "bite" progressed to this: "There wasn't but a tiny hint of blood. The end of my finger hurts, is stiff and swollen, but not by much. There is a very small light circle of whitish skin on the side of the finger end, almost like a burn mark. RH" Anyway this is a classic sign of an insect sting. ONLY the European Honey Bee will commonly lose the stinger and poison sack when it stings something. The honey bee stinger has barbs like a harpoon and or multiple backward pointing barbs like a fish hook. This is why the stinger stays in your flesh or tightly woven clothes fibers. Hornets, paper wasps, bumble bees in Vermont at this time of the year would WANT to crawl down into the nesting material to be warmed up by the bird eggs (the eggs are 99*F or so if they are being incubated) or just to hide in the nesting material. IF it gets cold they cannot move fast enough to escape predators so they try to hide in holes and crevasses during cold periods and fly on warm days or when the sun is shining. By this morning I expect Richard to have a painful finger with almost no swelling, the pain will probably have spread to several fingers by now and possibly the thumb and wrist area will be painful. Now I use Benadryl cream or pills if I think I am going to have a reaction to a bee sting BUT YOU ALL NEED TO CONSULT WITH A DOCTOR BEFORE YOU NEED ONE IN A CASE LIKE THIS! Richard can go back and check out the nest carefully and see if the insect is still in the box but I expect it to be a wasp that has probably already moved to another location. I always carry a "Sharpie" marking pen and I would use the rounded end of this or the eraser end of a wood pencil to open up the nest to see if the insect is still in the nest for medical purposes. (Richard wrote that his finger feels fine this morning!) Anyway I NEVER open up a chickadee nest or titmouse nest to count the eggs! My clumsy fingers have broken more EGGS that I care to admit to the list. Checking a few nestboxes at your house a couple of times a week and you will catch the eggs uncovered BEFORE they hatch out and you do not run the danger of breaking the eggs and have the female abandon the nest. KKSubject: Re: Lesson Learned? From: "Maynard Sumner" <m-r-sumner AT juno.com> Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 01:34:34 GMT Richard, Maybe it was a mice. Maynard Sumner Flint, MI www.michiganbluebirds.org -- Richard HarlowSubject: Lesson Learned? From: Richard Harlow <raharlow AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 21:03:32 -0400 I thought I was sending this to the list as well as Evelyn. Sorry about that. Here goes. Hi List, and Evelyn, Thought you all might get a laugh out of my stupidity!!Subject: hatchlings! From: vfoltz AT verizon.net Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 17:55:25 -0500 (CDT) Hello from Ft. Wayne, IN Four babies hatched today! Peace and All Good, Vicky F. Ft. Wayne, INSubject: Unexpected sighting!! From: wensuz AT isp.com Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 22:00:47 -0000 (GMT) Hi Bluebird gang; I know Rob will be especially interested in this post because I was just telling him this morning that I didn't think the Red-headed WP, who has been frequenting my feeders, would ever find a mate. Well at around 5:35pm, I saw the Red-headed WP come to the suet feeder as he has been doing now for over a week. I followed him as he left and settled in the treetops to the right of my station. I glanced back with my binoculars to the feeding station,and much to my astonishment I see a second Red-headed making it's swoop by runs before it was secure enough to make a contact landing at the feeders. There are indeed two of them now! I can't say if they are a pair because I didn't see them together interacting yet, as one flew off to it's cavity in a tall snag across the road, and I then lost sight of the second one. The first RHWP to come to my feeders has a few black spots in the white patches of it's wing. The second new-comer does not have any black in it's white wing patches. Does that make the first RHWP a younger one? I am very excited about this, it gives me hope that there may be more out there than we think! At least that is what I am hoping for. I will be sure to keep them in my watch so that I can learn as much about these two as I can, keep your fingers crossed that these two are a pair!:) -Wendy-N Central,OH ----------------------------------------- Join ISP.COM today - $9.95 internet , less than 1/2 the cost of AOL Try us out, http://www.isp.com/Subject: 3 missing TUTI babies? From: Horace Sher <hjsher1 AT yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 13:06:36 -0700 (PDT) Hello....The other day a box had 4 TUTI nestlings (2-3 days old) ..... all looking good. Today there is only 1 in there. The box is on a telephone pole. I'm thinking snake...however, is a snake known to leave 1 nestling? I thought that, at first, if a snake climbed the tel pole & got in there, it would have consumed all. So, now I'm thinking maybe it was something else....Thanks for any replys.....H. Sher in Durham, NC ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJSubject: Magic Halos From: "Linda Lee H." <girlie.123 AT hotmail.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 14:39:32 +0000 Hello, I got my Magic Halo up over my mealworm feeder as HOSP were taking it over from the bluebirds. It works fairly well - although a couple HOSP STILL ENTER AND GRAB WORMS, and I heard this is supposed to be 98% effective. But it does help - I think the HOSP are frantic to feed their young at this time as well, so they are less cautious now. Perhaps it will work better at other times of the year. I still have to act as a Magic Halo myself to prevent this HOSP from taking all the worms !!!! Linda/ VA (DC Metro Area) _________________________________________________________________ With Windows Live for mobile, your contacts travel with you. http://www.windowslive.com/mobile/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_mobile_052008Subject: Re: House wrens From: "Maynard Sumner" <m-r-sumner AT juno.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 13:38:33 GMT Rebecca, You may remove twigs but once the nest or eggs are in the twigs, you can not remove it. Maynard Sumner Flint, MI www.michiganbluebirds.org Does anyone know what federal law says about removing the “dummy nests” of house wrens? Thanks, Rebecca J. _____________________________________________________________ Hotel pics, info and virtual tours. Click here to book a hotel online. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2121/fc/Ioyw6i3nLmK0VPvSpebwtxi8eGWk34EUfHevTRrsu2v9s9fW85nn9M/?count=1234567890Subject: Blue Jays From: Lynn Emerich <lemerich AT epix.net> Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 09:29:15 -0400 Several time this year I have seen something I never saw before. I always have bluejays. When the feeders run out of sunflower seeds, they do everything but knock on the window to get more. One or two jays will keep going to the feeder, then to the window feeder and back and forth till I fill the feeders. I usually throw out a hand full of peanuts for them and as soon as the peanuts hit the ground, there are 8 or 10 jays there grabbing. What is strange to me, if that in the past two weeks, several time I have seen flocks of blue jays fly over my house. By flock, I mean at least 50 or more. I know they don't migrate, so is this a normal thing for them to flock in this size group? Lynn near Bernville PASubject: feeding crows and jay birds From: "Keith Kridler" <txbluebirder AT suddenlink.net> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 07:30:34 -0500 Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas We feed year round for our pleasure and to supplement the birds diet. Someone mentioned a Scrub Jay coming to their house even though they quit feeding the birds a while back. Don't forget that hummingbirds can be gone for the whole winter and return to the exact spot you had a feeder hanging up last year! Jays are smart they are going to travel around to all of the spots where people throw out food in the neighborhood until they find a meal. Crows and jays ARE going to eat today! Right now we have a family of crows coming and in fifteen minutes they eat two cups of "Bites and Bones" small dog food. (This is the amount we feed our Beagle once a day!) IF we did not feed the crows they ARE going to eat two cups of something else. They just started to bring their young to the driveway a couple of days ago and are trying to teach a single baby how to pick up a piece of dog food from the pile it is standing on!!! Check out the nutrition labels on dog or cat food. Cheap dog food will be around 18% protein. For the same price I can buy 32% protein floating catfish food that also has most of the vitamins and calcium added for a complete catfish food diet. We feed the catfish food to the crawfish and tadpoles in the swamp but we had 6 adult wood ducks coming this past week right after I throw out the feed morning and evening. It takes two gallons of catfish food a day now. For jays or crows you want small sized dried dog or cat food but MANY other species of birds crave this type food. Be sure to add eggshells to their diet or buy the finely ground oyster shells for a source of calcium. KKSubject: Re: Sparrow Spookers From: "Paula Ziebarth" <paulaz AT columbus.rr.com> Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 08:04:46 -0400 Sheila, In theory, the flapping mylar strips are frightening enough to keep the HOSP away from the native nester's box. The flapping mylar is frightening to any bird, but once a native nester has laid an egg, she is VERY invested in that nestbox and braves her way past the spooker to reach her nest. Once she does this the first time, she hardly gives the spooker a second thought, all is well, and she and her young are much safer. The HOSP looks for a box without a flappy thing on it and terrorizes that one. The spooker is removed as soon as the chicks fledge. I also wonder whether the HOSP is deterred because the arms of the spooker come over the top of the box. Those of us with HOSP problems know that the male HOSP loves to sit on top of the box and sing his little heart out to attract a mate. I am sure the spooker would deter that. No song would be quite so sweet with mylar flapping in your face... In practice, I can tell you that these things work. I was very skeptical at first, but am sold. They are easy and very cheap to make. Cheap solution for a "cheep" problem. Paula Z Powell (Central) Ohio > For the life of me, I don't understand " Sparrow Spookers"; I don't have > HS, at this moment. never have had them..no BB 's either.. this > year..Waiting patiently for them to nest in the 4 houses we made. > > I do have Starling problems, going after the Homemade suet, I have the U > shape wood holder, with the metal grade with the top. I put a dome > baffle on top. I even tried strips of foil...worked a few minutes...they > were back> I even made the UP SIDE Down suet feeder...doesn't work. I went > out and bought a Mylar balloon...cut it in strips and tied it on the > sides, tied it to the dome....flapping away...took them 1 day to figure it > out. I know...don't feed them:( > > I see the Sparrow Spooker on top of the bird house... how does that stop a > HS from entering? > > Sheila > > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.8/1415 - Release > Date: 5/5/2008 6:01 AM > >Subject: House wrens From: RLJ <ebecca AT comcast.net> Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 07:05:37 -0400 Does anyone know what federal law says about removing the "dummy nests" of house wrens? Thanks, Rebecca J. |