More "Birdy" Words You Should Know

A group that’s always held my interest, even before I was into birding, is birds of prey. When I went on my first hawk watching field trip, I was told it’s easiest if you first separate the accipiters from the buteos from the falcons. I just nodded, I’d heard the word falcon before but what were the others mentioned? I had no clue, luckily an old saying came to mind: it’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re an idiot than to open it and remove all doubt. So, there I stood, watching specks in the sky and trying to absorb as much of the chatter as possible, hoping no one asked my opinion.

When I got home I quickly looked into buying all the titles of the books I saw floating around and after getting my first hand me down computer I bought a couple of cd-roms with great video-game-like hawk watching quizzes. After almost 20 years, I’m able to identify most hawks that fly over our yard without running inside for 5 different field guides.

Accipiters have relatively short rounded wings and a long rudder like tail that gives them the ability to follow prey through thick bushes. They usually fly with several wing flaps then a glide. We have three species, Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s and Northern Goshawk, the most common hawk to see around feeder stations is the Sharp-shinned Hawk, it can be seen scouting around the yard with it’s characteristic flight pattern, when prey is spotted a sprint through the trees is likely to follow. Telling the sharpie from it’s close relative the Cooper’s Hawk in considered one of the toughest identifications for the hawk watcher, in general, the Cooper’s is larger, but there is overlap, an immature female sharpie might be larger than an adult male Cooper’s. They say to rely on several “clues” to come up with your ID.

I still haven’t checked off Cooper’s on my life list. Maybe I should put that on next years to do list.

The Northern Goshawk is a little easier to tell apart from the other accipiters, it’s larger and thicker, and has a distinctive plumage. They too can be seen around feeder yards, bearing down on an unsuspecting pigeon.

Buteos have broad wings, wide bodies and short tails, they’re able to soar for long periods. Buteos are the main subject of most hawk watchers, hundreds can be seen on a one day hawk watching stint as near by as New Horton in Albert County. Locally the buteos include the Red-tailed Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk and the occasional Red-Shouldered Hawk.

Most people hear “falcon” and they think Peregrine, but there are 3 falcons commonly found in New Brunswick, and yes it’s great to think of the Peregrine Falcon again as somewhat common. We also get the Merlin who looks much like a mini Peregrine and the one who nests in houses is the Kestrel, a beautifully coloured falcon about the size of a robin. Compared to the accipiter, falcons have long tapered cycle shaped wings and a short tail, they fly with constant flapping compared to the intermittent flap glide of the accipiter. Falcons rely on speed in open spaces, rarely continuing the chase into bushes.

So, if you’re on a hawk watch and you hear, “Buteo at 10 o’clock.” You can at least narrow your guess down to 4 species, or less, first it’s not likely a Red-shouldered, Rough-legged overwinter here and leave early, Broad-winged feed mostly on cold blooded animals so they arrive last and leave first. Red-tailed hunt mostly mammals to they will arrive first and leave late. If the first 250 buteos spotted were Red-tailed, you’ll likely be safe guessing Red-tailed, but you never know for sure.

You might hear: “We went on a birding trip to Grand Manan and I picked up 3 lifers.” They weren’t talking about picking up hitchhiking escaped convicts, they were referring to 3 new birds they added to their life list. Most birders keep a list of the birds they have identified, there is the life list, day list, year list, yard list, province list, county list, many even keep a yearly province list, yearly county list…you get the picture. I keep a life list and yard list, I’m not big on paper work.

Some try for big days, tallying up the species they can see in a 24 hour period, there are areas where a skilled birder can get over 200 species from midnight to midnight, (not individual birds, species) and some put their lives on hold and shoot for the big year record, crisscrossing the continent following migration and rare sightings, (the record is 745 species).

There are people who are referred to as “twitchers” these are people only concerned with checking off another box in the list. They don’t really care about observing the bird, taking in the habitat, watching behavior, just getting a glimpse and moving on, usually they don’t get out of the car, or even shut it off. They’re called twitchers because they get all twitchy at the thought of adding another check mark, although I see it in books, I’ve never heard anyone called a twitcher, but I’ve met quite a few people who fit the bill.

The Bird Quiz

I'm still hoping someone will get 100% on the quiz. So far though nobody has gotten every answer right, even if I allow for the answers that are a matter of opinion. I even challenged the subscribers to the natureNB listserve. I guess I made it too hard, next time I'll try to take it easier on you guys.

You still have almost 2 weeks to get your answers in.

To further sweeten it, I'll give an automatic $20 gift card to the first 100% and leave your name in the draw (so if you're the only one in the Grandmaster category you're guaranteed $40).

If you already took it you can try again, I'm just not going to tell you which answers were wrong.

Oh well, with $40, I'll be able to take my wife out to a romantic dinner for our 20th.

Dwayne

Birdy Words Defined and Explained

Some “birdy words” explained, so you can follow a conversation with a hardcore birder.

You might hear: “We’re going on a pelagic trip next week.”

This means looking for birds that normally hang out over the “open sea”. Groups will often charter boats and head off shore to look for gulls, gannets, skua, jaeger and more. These birds are often seen during whale watching trips. Technically, I suppose if they say pelagic trip they should be going out on the water, but if they say, “...going after some pelagic birds”, they may just be going to Pointe du Chene for fried clams and check out what wanders close to shore or steals fries off the next picnic table...not nearly as impressive.

You might hear: “I’m a little slow getting started, we were owling until the wee hours.”

Sounds like a wild time, and maybe it was, they were out after dark in search of owls, either by sight or more often simply listening for the calls. One might mimic the owl calls or play pre recorded calls through a portable player or over the vehicles sound system. I’ve been...one night we saw a Saw-whet Owl, heard a Barred Owl and a Great Horned Owl. The Great Horned was at first distant but within seconds it was so close I couldn’t help ducking and waiting for a territorial owl to strike my head. It was not impressed by the intrusion, I was quite eager to give it some space.

If you walk up to a couple of birders who are arguing whether the vocalization they just heard was song or a call, you might want to just keep walking. There is a difference but it’s not an argument you want to enter.

It’s usually only the male that sings, he does so to claim territory, attract a mate and to communicate if he already has one.

Many species don’t have songs but claim territory with flight displays, but most birds to have calls, they’re usually shorter and have different function than song. Some calls indicate alarm, aggression, or a quick contact call to keep in touch. If you are outside after dark in about a month you’ll here various single note whistles and chirps, these belong mostly to warblers and some sparrows. They are keeping in touch with each other while migrating south at night. Stand there for a while and you’ll likely hear hundreds of call notes, you’ll be wondering where they all came from since you only see a few in the day time.

Legend has it, there are people who can identify each bird from this call note, but how would I know if they were wrong? They all sound the same to me.

Some birds make non-vocal sounds considered by some to be song, woodpecker and grouse play the drums (my favourite part of any song), the winnowing of a snipe and the buzzing of a hummingbird is made with stiffened tail feathers during courtship flights.

The wing whistle of a Mourning Dove taking off is considered an alarm call, while the wing whistle of the Black Scoter in flight is a great way to keep track of the flock while migrating at night.

You might hear: “I saw a warbler high in the canopy, when I pished him down, it was a Bay-breasted.”

Pishing is blowing air in short blasts through closed teeth, like you do to call a cat. A curious bird will come a little closer to see what’s making the noise and you should be able to get a closer look. Some describe it as an art, but the only tricky part is knowing when to stop. I’ve been with people who are standing nose-to-beak with a bird and they are still pishing, when the bird flew away I’m sure I heard it mutter a few choice expletives, I know I was.

You want to hide yourself somewhat, pish a couple pishes, and wait. The best thing that could happen is for a chickadee to come along and scold the pisher, chickadee’s being one of the most pishable birds. If you have a chickadee over you scolding, sit tight, stop pishing and wait to see what comes along to join in the scolding. Sure you may have won the county pishing competition but you’re still no match for a chickadee when it comes to attracting other species.

If you’re out with a group, etiquette states that you should ask if we agree it’s OK to pish, if so you should have a designated pisher, both for the birds sake and your own, you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of 30 octogenarians all pishing at once.

You should have an idea of which birds are pishable (I hope that’s a word, I use it so much I’m used to it), for instance; warblers are very pishable, shorebirds are not, I’ve heard of some pishers at Mary’s Point who came close to being thrown into the bay. Chickadee and finch...very pishable, hawks not so much, continuous pishing on a “hawk watching” cliff is probably dangerous to your health too (if you’re with a group).

One hawk that is quite pishable though is the Northern Goshawk, here’s an exercise for you “over pishers” out there, next spring, stand under a goshawk nest and pish, you’ll likely get great close up views (and a few scars to brag about over drinks with other birders, don’t mention the pishing though).

Juvenile Laughing Gull

Here is the Picture of the sea bird we tried to ID at the Market today.
The picture was taken at 1:24pm on Wednesday Sept. 8th
We were about 3 miles off shore and about a mile or 2 west of Cape Enrage when I took this picture.
The bird had no fear of people. It stayed with us for about an hour. It would peck at the chum ball we had set up to attract sharks. Then it would circle the boat (flying) and hover about 2 or 3 feet over from my head and about a foot above it.
While in the water it kind of looked like a morning dove. The boat captain said he had been on the bay all of his life and has never seen one of these birds before.

Let me know what you come up with

thanks
Don LeBlanc

Nectar Recipes and Water for Hummingbirds

I’ve had numerous inquiries about the best ratio to mix homemade hummingbird nectar, someone read an article stating that the birds liked a mixture of 1 part sugar and one part water as opposed to the recommended 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. I had been joking about it being “too thick to pour” or “hummingbirds wouldn’t be able to eat it because they don’t have teeth”, but the with the number of people using this extra strong mixture I thought I should take a more serious look.

I wanted to search published material from reputable sources because, as Justin Halpern’s Dad says, “Internet don’t count.” This is where I’ll see if my wife actually reads my column like she says, I spent over $200 on magazine subscriptions and memberships so I could search back issues, newsletters and journals on line. Everyone agrees, 1 sugar to 3 water in the spring when it’s cool and wet, 1 sugar to 4 water when it’s warmer and dryer. Never stronger as it could cause dehydration in warm weather, depending on the availability of fresh water for drinking.

I found plenty of reference on the right way to mix nectar, but nothing that spoke directly to the issue of the over strength nectar. So I finally gave up my solo search and contacted the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in New York, and it turns out Laura Erickson, the science editor, had recently responded to the article. She basically said in her response, the study didn’t consider hummingbird health, long or short term but simply stated hummingbirds preferred the sweeter nectar. (Well, no surprise there, most people I know are the same.)

There is plenty of research into maintaining healthy hummers in captivity but no qualified researchers have tracked individual hummingbirds long term to determine the effects of feeding the extra strong mixture.

I couldn’t find the study she was speaking of, I expect it was quickly deleted after getting chastised by Cornell.

So why not just keep with what is tried and true, the good old 1:4, it’s been used in feeders for years and has been fed long term to hummingbirds in captivity with good results. If the only reason to feed the concentrated nectar is to attract more birds than you neighbour, you should really ask yourself why you feed the birds in the first place. One of the few things I remember from school comes to mind, “First, do no harm”, I think that really applies to bird feeding. (And see Mom, school wasn’t a total waste of money.)

Without human “help” (or interference), the hummingbird’s main source of fresh water would have come from drinking natural nectar, which is about the same concentration as the 1:4 sugar mixture. If extra water is required, the hummers usually drink dew or rain drops clinging to leaves, the birds who fed on the strong mix were frequently noted drinking fresh water, even to the point of going to the ground to drink from puddles. (“I’m thirsty and I don’t know why!”)

On the subject of hummingbird drinking water...a few weeks ago I mentioned ordering a mister that attaches to my hose and sprays a fine mist, hummers are supposed to frolic through the mist bathing and drinking on the wing. If it’s placed near leafy plants the hummers can drink and bath from the leaves as well. Ahhh, bathing and drinking, drinking and bathing, it’s a hummingbird spa. It arrived and I easily attached it to the end of the hose and hung it on a hanger near the kitchen window. I went inside, got my camera, made a coffee and got ready. I waited, drank the coffee, checked e-mail, phoned my wife, went through the snail mail, made lunch and ate it over the sink, checked the directions again, gave up and went back to work.

If the birds are enjoying the drinking and the bathing they’re doing it deep within the honeysuckle bush I have it spraying on. It wasn’t a waste of money though, other species are getting plenty of enjoyment, the hostas are thriving, my son thinks it’s great, the dogs who bolt at the first sign of the hose or a squirt gun lay under it and drink from it when I hang it low. I too have found a use, on the hottest day to date, I had to spread a dump truck load of tailings, I set the mister up where I was loading the wheel barrow and got some relief while shoveling.

Maybe that’s the trouble, I probably need a second mister, one for family use and one for the hummers.

We found another benefit not mentioned on the advertising, window strikes on that side of the house are down about 99%, minerals from our water condense on the windows eliminating the reflections that cause birds to crash. I’m fine with that, my wife, not so much.

House Finch Fledgling Begging for a Drink

I've not noticed this behavior before, more photos in our album, thanks Laura.

From Shotguns to iPhones, Birding's Come a Long Way

About half of the phone calls that come into the shop are from people looking for help identifying a bird or to report a new or rare bird; often it’s a little bit of both. Like the calls reporting a rare Chestnut-backed Chickadee often turn into a helpful hand identifying their sighting as a Boreal Chickadee, after a quick check of the range maps. Then there’s the baby flicker report that turns out the be a fairly rare Red-bellied Woodpecker, usually accompanied by, “But it doesn’t have a red belly though.” The Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of the species that were named for a feature that was most visible when the bird was really close, like in your hand on it’s back right after you shot it.

Prior to 1934 when a young man named Roger Tory Peterson wrote his first Field Guide to the Birds, most ornithologists studied birds over the barrel of a shot gun. It was then examined at length and identifications were made on such things as size, width of tail bands and length of tarsus. This worked for a very long time but had it’s draw backs, besides being hard on the bird, study was limited to the range of your shotgun. The best ornithologist was likely to be a good marksman, Audubon was very handy with a shot gun, but judging by many of his paintings, spent very little time observing the bird while it was still alive. He would first shoot his subject then prop them up in very unnatural positions as models for his paintings.

With Peterson’s guide, birds were shown as they would look at a distance through binoculars with arrows that would draw your eye to the field marks that differentiate one species from a similar one. Exact size was less important, you’re urged to notice if the bird is crow sized, robin sized, goose sized, it’s next to impossible to tell if a bird is 9 ¼ inches long unless he’s laying on his back beside a ruler. It’s nice to know which species is half an inch larger in case you ever see them on the same branch, other than that, don’t obsess.

Since 1934 the popularity of bird watching has grown exponentially, you can sharpen your skills almost anywhere, anytime. A boring barbeque at the in-laws? Take everybody’s kids for a walk, while they’re picking wild flowers for their mothers you can scan the sky for raptors, check the neighbours feeders and bird houses to see what might show up, and you no longer have to blast a cardinal off your mother-in-laws new sunflower feeder to be able to identify it...very unpopular at family functions.

The biggest thing to come along since the Peterson System may very well turn out to be the smart phone, if you’re having trouble identifying a bird, you could easily have five different field guides, complete with sound and video right in your shirt pocket, all the time. Still having trouble? Take it’s picture and post it on Twitter, Facebook and Flicker, you could surf the net, or even use the phone for it’s intended purpose, and call a friend for a consult. There’s really no need for a shot gun any more, and judging from book sales in our shop, little need for a hard copy book either. I hear debates all the time if the book will be replaced by technology, I’d have to say yes, at least in the bird watching world. I recently got copies of a brand new field guide, a local naturalist (formerly a sucker for any new book) spotted it on my shelf, flipped through it, said it was great and that he can’t wait for the iPhone app to be released.

I read a term today in a Cornell University newsletter, “Citizen Science”, I liked it right away. Now with a cheap pair of binoculars and a hand-me-down field guide, a Joe Schmo like me can make an actual contribution. Many of you already have by participating in the Christmas Bird Count, Project Feeder Watch, Nest Watch, the Great Backyard Bird Count, Breeding Bird Surveys or by simply posting your sightings on a site such as Nature NB. Some people are installing nest cameras and uploading the images to the internet. Now volunteers are sorting through 8 million images on a site called CamClickr. This is extremely valuable information and most of these projects would never happen without the involvement of the thousands of ordinary people. There’s a place for everyone, no matter your skill level.

So...the Red-bellied Woodpecker is one of those birds that were named for a feature that we rarely see, because like most woodpeckers, that part of the belly is usually pushed firmly against a tree trunk. You can see it if they are perched on a branch, but the easiest way to see this trait on a live bird is looking through an almost empty suet cage at the birds belly.

The Ring-necked Duck and the Orange-crowned Warbler are others that were likely named during the shot gun era. The duck really should have been called the Ring-billed Duck, (mainly because that’s what I always end up calling it when I most want to appear intelligent) after it’s most prominent feature, I wonder if it wasn’t just written down wrong after a lengthy ornithological meeting and never got corrected.

I get quite a few calls reporting Orange-crowned Warblers, and they’re always tricky. I have to ask why do you think you have an Orange-crowned? Usually answered with, “Because it has an orange head.” My most memorable call ever came from a gentleman who thought I was nuts, I said if you see an orange head it’s likely something else, you rarely see the orange head, especially in winter. I tried to get him to check out the most likely suspect, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. He said his guide showed the warblers orange head. I said they sometimes try to emphasize field marks in the artist rendering. He said, “So you’re saying the Orange-crowned Warbler doesn’t have an orange head, OK, thanks for your time.” He put the phone down, but it didn’t disconnect, I heard him growl, “That guy doesn’t know anything, where’s that other number.”

Thanks guys, I wonder how you go about petitioning to have a birds name changed.