Tracking Birdwatchers and Canada Geese Interactions

[Redbelly98]

Hmmm, we always have something at our feeders. Even if it's just mourning doves sometimes.

I really need to put those hummingbird feeders away for the winter.

 

[Ouabache]

From today's PF Chat, i am reposting for others to enjoy too; here again is the Loon (with baby on mama's back). and here are a couple of their songs.

 

[lisab]

From today's PF Chat, i am reposting for others to enjoy too; here again is the Loon (with baby on mama's back). and here are a couple of their songs.

Wonderful!

They sit so low in the water, to me it seems like they're about to sink.

 

[Redbelly98]

The hummingbirds have returned! Been feeding one at my back porch for nearly 2 weeks now.

 

[Moonbear]

Yep, I've had a hummingbird for a few weeks now too. As soon as I spotted it feeding on the flowers of one plant the day I planted it, I ran out and got a hummingbird feeder.

When I first moved in, I was having trouble with ants invading the house by climbing the deck and carpenter bees feasting on my deck, so after treating the deck and plugging up all the bee holes, I decided on a natural approach to deterring the return of the bees and ants...I put bird feeders and a bird bath on the deck posts the bees had been using. That seems to have made them rethink their housing choice.

 

[Redbelly98]

Yep, I've had a hummingbird for a few weeks now too. As soon as I spotted it feeding on the flowers of one plant the day I planted it, I ran out and got a hummingbird feeder.

Cool! Have you fed them before? You can just mix water and sugar, 4:1 by volume. I don't bother with the store-bought red hummer mix, many consider it a rip-off.

 

[Moonbear]

Cool! Have you fed them before? You can just mix water and sugar, 4:1 by volume. I don't bother with the store-bought red hummer mix, many consider it a rip-off.

I haven't fed them before, but I did know the sugar water recipe and to avoid the store-bought stuff with food coloring. I only think I have one hummingbird so far, so only put out a little syrup at a time so I don't waste a lot. I figure if they start to finish it off between cleanings, I'll start adding more.

I have two decks, and the upper one has no stairs to the ground...more like a balcony. So, Ember gets to sit out on the deck whenever she wants (it's too high for her to jump off). She enjoys watching the birds too. Actually, I haven't seen her try to chase any, but she does like sitting in the chair closest to the feeder to watch. I think the birds have already realized she's a big wimp when it comes to catching anything, and are learning to ignore her.

 

[Gokul43201]

Help needed: can anyone tell me what this bird is? The picture was taken in June, in the White Mountains of NH, at an elevation of ~ 4400 ft.

Profile:
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/6854/img0658z.jpg

Front View (somewhat blurred):
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6465/img0656r.jpg

Hind View:
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/402/img0655c.jpg

Looks like a Gray Jay, but I could use a second opinion.

 

[Redbelly98]

Looks like a Gray Jay, but I could use a second opinion.

I concur. Though I'm not familiar with these, it looks a lot like the one pictured in my Peterson Field Guide. Plus the guide's description -- suggestive of a "huge overgrown chickadee" (the bird I thought of when I saw your first photo) -- pretty much clinches it for me.

 

[turbo]

In Maine, we call these Canada Jays. They are the most easily-tamed mid-sized birds around, and will hand-feed with little prompting. I hand-tame chickadees and nuthatches, and both learn from observing others of their species feeding from humans. Canada Jays are even more gregarious with humans than many of the smaller birds.

 

[Gokul43201]

Thanks, redbelly and turbo.

I concur. Though I'm not familiar with these, it looks a lot like the one pictured in my Peterson Field Guide. Plus the guide's description -- suggestive of a "huge overgrown chickadee" (the bird I thought of when I saw your first photo) -- pretty much clinches it for me.

In Maine, we call these Canada Jays. They are the most easily-tamed mid-sized birds around, and will hand-feed with little prompting. I hand-tame chickadees and nuthatches, and both learn from observing others of their species feeding from humans. Canada Jays are even more gregarious with humans than many of the smaller birds.

Yup, that's got to be it.

Here's another picture of it, happily landing on an outstretched hand:

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5683/picture4anm.png

 

[turbo]

Yup! Hikers on popular trails never have to train Canada Jays. They are already so used to people that they will readily "beg" for handouts and land on you.

 

[Moonbear]

Aww, shucks, I was going to tell you it was notagoshawk. That's a pretty neat bird.

 

[turbo]

Aww, shucks, I was going to tell you it was notagoshawk. That's a pretty neat bird.

Canada Jays are pretty cool. Canucks call them "Whiskey Jacks" - no idea why.

 

[Moonbear]

Oh, more hummingbirds tonight. Two males! They each slowed down enough for me to see them clearly. They didn't cheep at the feeder, but did cheep while dog-fighting! One's a tough little bugger...he was trying to take on a much larger blackbird up in the treetops while cheeping away at him/her.

I was reading more about hummingbirds today, and read that they'll chase bees off from their territory too. Woo hoo! That means I made the right choice to mount their feeder on the post that was getting the most carpenter bee attacks (I haven't seen any carpenter bees since mounting the feeder ). Actually, since ridding the deck of the carpenter bees (after they bored out the wood filler, I stuffed their holes with silicone caulk...muwhahahahaha! I was envisioning bees with bubble gum as I did that), I have seen more OTHER bees...the good kinds that I don't mind keeping. I wonder if carpenter bees compete with other bees for territory. They are aggressive, and I was none-too-pleased to find out that the way to tell the males from females is that the females have stingers. So, if I got stung while smooshing one, it was a female. (By the way, carpenter bees are not as easy to smoosh as you might think..I think they are coated in kevlar...they make nifty projectiles when you swat them with a broom, but they just come right back).

Okay, enough about bees and back to hummers. Gosh, they are GORGEOUS when they slow down enough to see them.

Edit: Oooh, a female just came by too. As she left the feeder, there was a whole series of chirrups.

Is dusk a popular time for hummingbirds to feed? As the sun is going down, suddenly there are several of them showing up and taking turns (and the cat is sitting on the other side of the deck totally clueless that they are there...ha ha).

 

[Redbelly98]

Hey, you're getting a lot more hummer action than we are. As far as I can tell, they'll feed any time of day.

Our cats can be sitting on the very same porch where the feeders are, and they'll completely ignore these birds. Don't know if they're clueless, or perhaps they learned long ago that it's futile to try catching a hummer.

 

[Moonbear]

Well, Ember hasn't had an opportunity to try catching a hummer before, so wouldn't know it's futile yet. She will still get excited about other birds coming to the seed feeder. So, there must be something about the movements of the hummers that don't quite catch the cats' attention.

Yes, I was thrilled by the amount of action I was getting right around dusk. It was like they were all hitting the bar after work. I think they've been busy drinking all day. I don't put a lot of syrup into the feeder at a time, so I'm not wasting a lot to clean it often (I don't want it to get moldy), but the level was noticeably lower today than what I filled it to yesterday. I haven't seen so many until tonight, so I think that after the first one scouted it out, the others have just started to notice.

 

[Redbelly98]

I am jealous , I can't seem to get more than 1 at a time usually, and this is the 6th year that I am feeding them. Occasionally we'll have 2 or 3, but they chase each other away so it's effectively 1 hummer even then.

Well, Ember hasn't had an opportunity to try catching a hummer before, so wouldn't know it's futile yet. She will still get excited about other birds coming to the seed feeder. So, there must be something about the movements of the hummers that don't quite catch the cats' attention.

I believe you're right, after thinking about it more. If they had wanted to catch hummers in the past, I think it's really hard for a cat to suppress an urge like that to the extant that they wouldn't even watch the hummingbirds anymore.

 

[Moonbear]

Okay, Fall is quickly approaching. I vaguely recall being told that you're supposed to take down hummingbird feeders at some time near Fall to encourage them to move along and migrate. I have so much fun watching them every evening (one has turned into quite the chatterbox with constant chirping...perhaps a juvenile) and will be sad to see them leave, but I certainly don't want to encourage them to stay so long they can't make it to their winter homes before the food runs out along the way.

So, when are they supposed to migrate and when am I supposed to take away the feeders?

 

[Redbelly98]

I've heard that's a misconception, and that hummingbirds know good and well when to migrate. The recommendation is to take the feeders down after you've gone 2 weeks without seeing them.

 

[Moonbear]

I've heard that's a misconception, and that hummingbirds know good and well when to migrate. The recommendation is to take the feeders down after you've gone 2 weeks without seeing them.

Thanks!

I seem to have three "regulars" who show up for the feeder every night. I suspect there are others I don't see during the day, since the feeder seems to get sucked dry awfully fast lately. That, or the three I do see are little piggies! (On the down side, they seem to be sharing with the bees and wasps...I had a nest of ground bees that didn't have the sense to leave the person supplying the sugar water alone though, so they got exterminated...they swarmed me and I think I was lucky I only got two stings when I accidentally found the nest with the lawnmower. If the bees had left me alone, I'd have let them keep their home. I didn't think hummers were supposed to share with the bees!)

 

[turbo]

Hi, MB! The males have already left as of 2-3 weeks ago to stake out territory in the winter stomping grounds. The females and juveniles are still here, tanking up for the trip. I leave the feeders up for as long as they'll come to them. They know when to leave.

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, I've noticed I haven't seen males since before I went to Africa. I thought maybe the females chased them off now that the babies are nearly grown.

 

[Astronuc]

We've been enjoying hummingbirds here. I watched one the other day bopping back and forth in front of a finch. It was funny to watch. The hummer looked pretty intense, and the finch just looked like WT*?! The finch flew off and the hummer landed to stand guard.

 

[lisab]

I finally have *lots* of hummingbirds in my yard! I've tried for years to attract them. Maybe it took this long cold snap for them to find my yard, maybe it's a good year for them, maybe because I put up two feeders...? Well it doesn't matter why. I'm glad they're here!

They're all "[URL .[/URL]

 

[turbo]

I finally have *lots* of hummingbirds in my yard! I've tried for years to attract them. Maybe it took this long cold snap for them to find my yard, maybe it's a good year for them, maybe because I put up two feeders...? Well it doesn't matter why. I'm glad they're here!

They're all "[URL .

If[/URL] you plant some cold-hardy flowers that they like, you'll probably get more of them. Ours (ruby-throated) are nuts over bee-balm (bergamot) which flowers for a long, long time every season and spreads like crazy. We have two varieties, with red or purple flowers. Plant some in full sun, and some in partial shade, if you want to stagger the flowering period a bit more.

 

[Borek]

I finally have *lots* of hummingbirds in my yard! I've tried for years to attract them. Maybe it took this long cold snap for them to find my yard, maybe it's a good year for them, maybe because I put up two feeders...

I always wanted to see them here as well, you just gave me the hope.

 

[rhody]

Redbelly, Moonbear, Turbo, Astro, LisaB, Borek,

My hummingbird story has a happy ending, however, it could have turned into a disaster. Left the garage door open last summer ran an errand to do something, when I came back there was a furious thumping between the curtain and the window in the garage. I thought it might be a large bee, but when I carefully slide the curtain back it was a green and yellow hummingbird, trying to get out beating wings against the glass. I got a soft towel and carefully scooped him up, my truck was in front of the garage, so I gently set him down in the towel on the hood and slowly lifted it off. He must have been near exhaustion because for about two minutes he sat there stunned with his little beak open and his tongue darting too and fro. Get this, his wings were not folded next to his body but hung limp next to his sides and he didn't appear to be standing on his feet. Suddenly without any warning he flew straight up, at least one hundred feet and flew off like a missile being launched. I believe now if I had come home fifteen minutes after I did he would have been dead, from exhaustion. That is my story and I am sticking to it, hehe.

Rhody...

PS

I thought this http://www.vimeo.com/1061969" was cool so I added it.

 

[lisab]

WOW I just saw two Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds mate right outside my window!

Yay, go hummingbirds, go !

 

[turbo]

The courtship dance is fun to watch. Essentially, the male picks out one of the girls and flies rapid figure-8s in front of her while never taking his eyes off her. Show-offs!

 

[Astronuc]

WOW I just saw two Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds mate right outside my window!

Yay, go hummingbirds, go !

Hummingbirds are quick.

 

[Redbelly98]

Many birds are quick. We have caged finches; the courting dance is cool to watch, while the actual act is over with pretty fast.

 

[turbo]

Many birds are quick. We have caged finches; the courting dance is cool to watch, while the actual act is over with pretty fast.

Yep! When I was a kid, I'd go to a neighbor's house-trailer to help out with chores for a few bucks. Finches are really quick about mating. He had several cages of them, and the actual mating procedure (sans courtship) looked like a few seconds of fluttering and contact. Then it was over.

He gave them resources for nesting, and managed to get them to raise babies. Pretty impressive, since they were in cages with limited space.

 

[edward]

WOW I just saw two Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds mate right outside my window!

Yay, go hummingbirds, go !

Hmm mating in december?

I can't tell whether they are mating or fighting. Well if it is two males...not that there is anything wrong with that.

I do know that they can't walk.

 

[lisab]

Wow, a crow has fun sledding:

http://wxerfm.com/blogs/post/jfrieders/2012/jan/12/official-video-watch-crow-go-roof-tubing-sledding-/

I love crows :!)!


(I tried to find this video on youtube but for some reason I couldn't...otherwise I'd have embedded it.)

 

[Borek]

(I tried to find this video on youtube but for some reason I couldn't...otherwise I'd have embedded it.)

 

[lisab]

Thanks, Borek!