Overlook Circle

We had an interesting visitor at the feeders this week. As you may have read in my 2013 Yard Bird Wish List post, I have been hoping for a Carolina wren. When I saw this bird on Feeder Cam, I immediately noticed the wren shape and bold white eyestripe, which really got me excited. But something seemed a little off – the tail is quite long, the color more drab that I’d expect.

So I was thinking Carolina wren, but I’m not an expert on them, so I posted the image in the Minnesota Birding Facebook page and many people commented on it. I also posted to the MOU mailing list to get some additional input, and got some great responses from that also. Some thought it might be Carolina, and others suggested Bewick’s wren, which looks correct but would be very unusual. There were some additional suggestions like rock wren or even house wren in bad light. I wouldn’t rule out any of those, because with just a single image like this, identifying a bird (especially if a rare one) is very difficult. But that’s all I have to go on.

I arrived home about 1 1/2 hours after the bird appeared, but couldn’t find any sign of it. I sat on the patio and played various wren calls. Tried the same then next morning and then the next afternoon I spent more time outside on the patio and walking around the neighborhood. A Carolina wren would definitely be interesting and somewhat unusual, although not unheard of. If it were indeed a Bewick’s wren, then that would be big news and I think people would want to see it, so I was really hoping to find it again. Not only would it be a rare Minnesota sighting, but Bewick’s wrens are in decline east of the Mississippi, so that would have been really cool to see one and be able to report it with a confirmed ID.

Unfortunately I never did see or hear any sign of the bird beyond the one Feeder cam image. Many people took the time to look and comment, and I learned a lot from the discussion. I appreciate everyone’s input!

It’s mid July and this is the time of year when bird activity starts to slow down at the feeders. The main push of nesting is over and most species are taking care of their fledglings. It’s fun to watch parents bringing their young to the feeders. We had house wrens, chickadees and bluebirds all nesting at the same time in the yard this year.

Earlier in the spring, I had put up two Gilbertson boxes, and left up an existing Peterson box. The chickadees used one of the Gilbertson boxes and then the bluebirds arrived later. Usually if the bluebirds start nesting earlier (mid March) then they will chase off the chickadees (bluebirds are very territorial.) Once the chickadees started laying eggs I attached a hole reducer to prevent larger birds from entering the box.

Because we are in house wren habitat, I always put up a wren guard right after the first egg is laid. House wrens will enter the nest of another bird and poke holes in the eggs and/or toss the eggs out of the nest.

When the chicks are about a week old, I take the guard off. Very easy to make and attach, and pretty effective!

I do the same for bluebird nests. Our yard is not ideal territory for a bluebird since there are many trees, but they seem to enjoy the free buffet. However, it does require vigilance to protect against predators such as house wrens or raccoons. For bluebirds, after I take the wren guard off the nest, I immediately add a Noel guard which keeps the raccoon from being able to reach into the nest. It can be purchased, or you can make one yourself.

Our chickadees fledged on June 9, and the bluebirds fledged on July 7. The parents continue to come to the mealworm dish, grabbing beakfuls to take back to their young. A very successful and satisfying nesting season.

A few weeks ago we were hosting fox sparrows, who finally moved on after about two weeks of being very well taken care of in our yard. It seemed that the weather would improve, and it did briefly, only to get cold again. Some areas of the metro got quite a bit of snow, and we were right back to highs in the 30′s with snow/rain. For the last few days, we’ve had increasing numbers of yellow-rumped warblers. They get their name from the bright patch of yellow the males have on the rump (females have the same markings, but duller.) Since it’s such a distinguishing feature, they have also earned the nickname “butter butt.”

It’s one of the first warblers we usually see during migration, coming from the southern US and Mexico, on their way to nesting grounds in Canada and the arctic.

Yellow-rumped warblers are normally not feeder birds, but are one of the few warblers I know of that will come to feeders if they are hungry enough. There have been many reports of them all around the city, at suet feeders and in large groups foraging along neighborhood streets. It seems they are everywhere, delayed in their migration because of the cold last week.

They are mainly insectivores, but will eat fruit in the winter. Since there haven’t been many bugs around recently, they are having a hard time finding food. Usually they are seen higher up in the trees hawking insects (flying out from a perch to grab an insect in flight.) However when there are no insects, they are forced to forage on the ground. I scattered suet pellets and dried mealworms on the ground for them, and had a flock of probably 2 dozen gobbling it all up. Like most warblers, they move around constantly and quickly so it’s hard to get an accurate count!

So for the last few days, they have been pretty much everywhere in the yard – on the feeder, under the feeders, on the deck and in trees, in the garden and in grassy areas where I had scattered food for them. They seem to really like the suet and have no problem getting inside the caged feeder. I even had one coming to the mealworm dish for live mealworms that I had put out for the chickadees!

I’m sure they will move on soon, but it’s been fun hosting them and watching their antics. These warblers are fairly tame and are usually easy to watch up close by just sitting quietly. With all the difficulties that we humans create for birds, sometimes it’s nice to just give them a helping hand in a time of need. We’ll see them again in the fall, migrating on the way back south. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative.

The snow has pretty much all melted, but we have yet another winter storm on the way. I’ve been spreading seed, raisins, dried mealworms and suet pellets on the ground for the fox sparrows, robins and hermit thrush (yes, I did get my new yard bird!)

Over the weekend I saw a nice looking Cooper’s hawk perch up in the oak tree just to the left of the feeders. This morning I still had at least 15 fox sparrows and plenty of juncos, they must know about the impending winter storm.

They are all very well fed so they can continue their journey north anytime now. I’m glad I could give them a bit of a helping hand during this weird weather. I guess when they finally leave, I can really believe that winter is actually over. Supposedly it will get up to 60+ degrees this coming weekend, but I’ll trust the birds to let me know when spring arrives!

This morning during the snow storm, we had quite the feeding frenzy of sparrows! Many more juncos than I’ve seen all winter, plus a couple song sparrows, several tree sparrows, and more fox sparrows than I’ve ever seen (at least 8, probably closer to 12.) There were many scratching around the ground below the feeders, but also several back in the spruce trees and others in the garden going after seeds. If you look closely at the photo, you can see several birds on the ground.

Rather than cutting down the garden in the fall, I leave my plant stalks in the garden all winter to provide food for the birds and also some visual interest. Ideally we could burn it in the spring, but I doubt the neighbors or the city would approve of that. So usually I just cut it down, but this year I’m going to pay someone to mow it all down for me.

Fox sparrows are one of my favorite native sparrows. They are relatively large/plump, with a very noticeable reddish color. They are usually seen during migration but will occasionally stick around for the winter (I’ve had them over winter in the yard a few times.) Mostly ground feeders, they can also be seen doing a double-hop motion as they scratch up ground cover looking for food. They don’t often perch up in a tree like this one, but will often be found under a feeder or digging around in a garden.

Another sparrow I saw today, but haven’t seen in the yard very often, is a song sparrow. Actually there were two of them this morning mixed in with the other sparrows. They aren’t uncommon in the area, though. I think of them as looking like a chipping sparrow, but with a very heavily streaked chest.

Juncos are also a type of sparrow. They spend their winters here and nest in Canada and Alaska. Very common feeder birds in the winter and especially tend to congregate around feeders when it’s snowing. They are mostly ground feeders but will also get up on a bird feeder and eat seed, or hop around on the deck railing. We nickname them “snowbirds” because of their association with snow and winter. I like juncos, but I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see them leave because that means spring has truly arrived!