Overlook Circle

The American kestrel at Richardson Nature Center. This is a colorful male.

It was late afternoon and I noticed our resident songbirds were completely frozen in place on the feeders. Normally what that means is there must be a hawk around (Cooper’s or sharp-shinned.) I kept an eye out, looking for it out of the back patio door. Suddenly I saw something land in our maple tree and immediately thought kestrel, and quickly dismissed it because we don’t have those around here.

Our kestrel (education bird in permanent captivity) at Richardson Nature Center.

We are just on the northern edge of the kestrel’s winter range. I have seen them during the winter closer to the Rochester area and as far north as Cannon Falls. Now that spring is around the corner, they must be moving through. Hopefully he’s finding enough to eat in spite of the continued snow cover. Keep an eye out for kestrels in the warmer months, around open areas like cornfields. They can be seen perched on wires, or sometimes hovering stationary in the air, looking for prey below.

A few years ago there was a kestrel hanging out at Target field that would capture and eat moths flying around the stadium lights. He was on TV and there was some pretty cool video of him, shown during a Twins game.

Cooper’s hawk having a meal after a visit to the feeders

One of the things about having bird feeders is that they will not only attract songbirds, but often will provide some good hunting opportunities for raptors. In our area the types of hawk that we find stalking bird feeders are the Cooper’s hawk and the sharp-shinned hawk. These hawks belong to the accipiter family which mostly prey on other birds and are typically found in wooded areas. They are built for speed and maneuverability, with short wings and long tails, in order chase their prey through trees and shrubs. Yesterday I saw this Cooper’s hawk swoop in on the feeders and pick off a mourning dove.

If you find a red-tailed hawk or a broad-winged hawk around your yard, it’s probably hunting rodents. They are members of the buteo family which tend to hunt their prey from far above (perched high, or soaring in the air) and then catching it on the ground. They are adapted to hunting with long wings and a short tail.

Broad-winged hawk perched on telephone wire in the back of the yard.

It’s interesting to see the reactions of the songbirds when these different types of hawks appear. If there is an accipiter in the area, the birds either scatter or freeze in place and sound the alarm (chickadees and bluebirds are especially talkative) until the coast is clear. When a buteo is around, they pretty much completely ignore it. For example, when this broad-winged hawk was perched in the back of the yard, the other birds were coming and going from the feeders as usual. Recently I saw a pileated woodpecker going up the trunk of the same tree where a red-tailed hawk was perched. The songbirds definitely know the difference!

Identifying a Cooper’s vs a sharp shinned hawk can be tricky. The two look very similar, although usually (but not always) the Cooper’s is larger and most of them migrate south for the winter, while the sharp-shinned hawk is small and more commonly seen here in the winter. Their ranges overlap here, and at any given time it’s possible to see one or the other, so it’s important to understand the subtle differences between the two in order to identify them. Size alone is not a good indicator, because a large female sharp-shinned can be the same size as a small male Cooper’s. There are some good resources online, for example this checklist put together by Feederwatch.

Sharp-shinned hawk in the back yard, a few years ago, with a woodpecker it took from the feeder

Sometimes it’s not possible to see the shape of the tail or get a good view of the legs, which are probably the most commonly used method of identification. In the case of these two hawks I’ve seen in the back yard, it’s easy to tell the difference just by looking at the head. The Cooper’s hawk has a dark cap on top of its head, and the head has a flattened shape, while the sharp-shinned hawk has more of a hood, where the back of the neck is also dark, and its head looks more round.

Woodpecker and blue jay feathers found where the Cooper’s hawk was eating

After the Cooper’s hawk left yesterday (it spent over 2 hours in the pine tree resting/eating), I went back there to see what it left behind. I found many mourning dove feathers from what it had just eaten, but I also found remnants of previous meals consisting of downy woodpecker and blue jay feathers. This is an adult hawk and an experienced hunter. They learn quickly where the best food sources are, and I’m sure it’s a daily visitor to the yard. I rarely see it, but I often see the feeder birds frozen in place, so I know when it’s around by watching their reaction. There is plenty of cover for them around to evade capture. We do have an abundance of woodpeckers, mourning doves, etc. so the hawk is help keeping the population in check. Now if it would only take care of those house sparrows …

Mystery wren on Feeder Cam

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.

Gilbertson bluebird box with chickadee hole reducer

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.

Wren guard for chickadee nest

Chickadee nest

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.

Fledgling chickadee on its first day in the big wide world!

Yellow-rumped warbler in the brush pile near the feeders.

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.”

Yellow-rumped warbler on the caged suet feeder.

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 warbler with a dried mealworm. These birds are very well fed.

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.

Yellow-rumped warbler under the feeders.

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!

This chickadee isn’t happy about sharing mealworms with invading butter butts.

Yellow-rumped warblers are everywhere in the yard, this one is in the garden.

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!

Ok, this is getting a little ridiculous …

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.