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.

Questions, Identification and Nesting Material

Q. We came upon a woodpecker and we’re not sure what kind it is, do you think he’s young? He looks rather fluffy.

Laura Hare

A. That’s actually an adult female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, she does look rather fluffy in some of the pictures, I think you caught her preening. A young sapsucker doesn’t have a red head and an adult male has a red throat as well as the head.

The sapsucker is wide spread across the Maritimes, but judging by the numbers of calls and emails like this one from people who spend a substantial amount of time watching (and photographing) birds, they are quite secretive. I don’t think they are trying to hide, when you do see them you can approach quite close, it’s just unlike other woodpeckers they don’t visit the old suet feeder. Unless one gets curious about all the activity around the hummingbird feeder or oriole offerings, you’re unlikely to have a sapsucker visit your feeder station.

If you listen in the spring you should however be able it identify them by their morse code like drumming. While our other woodpeckers have a steady drum, the sapsucker has a couple interruptions, making it easy to pick out.

You may notice that you’ve been visited by a sapsucker sometime after the fact, when you discover neat little holes evenly spaced around one of your trees (or firewood, I used to save those pieces but was told to get rid of them, hey, I’ve heard of stranger things to collect). This bird gets it’s name from the practice of drilling small holes to access sap. They’ll make frequent trips back to the tree to drink from the sap wells and to eat the many insects it attracts. Once the “sap bar” is open for business, it will attract other species including woodpeckers, warblers and the smallest bird with the biggest sweet tooth, the hummingbird.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is totally migratory, that is the winter range and the summer range have no overlap. It would make an interesting field trip to see what species are the winter beneficiaries of their sap wells. Maybe I’ll get some reports from you Snowbirds this winter.

Q. Is it OK to put out nesting materials? Someone said dryer lint wasn’t good, do you have any suggestions?

A. It’s great fun to offer a variety of nesting material, you may even get some new species to your yard that wouldn’t come for your feeder offerings. They say dryer lint isn’t recommended, although there is usually lots of dryer lint just outside the vent from your house so if birds really wanted it they could find it. My guess is they just don’t like it for nesting. There are however lots of other things you could offer, like pieces of string, cloth, human hair, dog hair (I once saw a nuthatch pluck hair for itself from my very old, very stationary golden retriever) and especially horse hair, sheep’s wool, and other fluffy material like quilt stuffing material. Cut everything in about 6 inch lengths. These can be offered in a variety of containers, a clean suet cage makes a good choice.

The best news...leaving your yard a little messy is a good thing, dead twigs, leaves and dry grass are great nest material, and why not offer them the way nature intended, right where they are, face it there’s much more pressing things to do than raking.

Don’t forget mud, I usually do, but luckily for me our yard has a steady supply. Barn and Cliff Swallows, phoebes and robins use mud for nest building so it might be a good idea to maintain a mud puddle if you are trying to attract these species.

You have lot’s of time though, I doubt you’ll have many takers until next spring, but if you’re looking for an excuse to get out of weed whacking the back forty, there you have it. “Uh, I better not, the Birdguy says the birds need long grass to make their nests.”

It’s never too late to start collecting, there’s never a dead gull on the causeway when you want one, so don’t put it off. The next time you see one get out and pluck it (white feathers preferred). It used to be you could collect horse hair off the barbed wire, not too many horse owners use it any more so you have to entice the horses over with carrots and comb their tails. Maybe in this case it’s better to just own up to the fact that you are a bird nut and ask the owners, if they see you combing their horses tail over the fence without permission they’re likely to turn on the electricity, I know I would.

Here’s two pictures from readers who unintentionally supplied artificial nesting material. First a very strong robins nest woven from pieces from a frayed tarp (Gayle Steeves) and second an American Redstart collecting some quilt stuffing for itself (Laura and/or Brian Hare)

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Finally, just what you want to hear, today (July 7) on the NatureNB information site, the first posting titled “fall migration” came across from a whale watcher in Grand Manan who observed birds crossing the Bay. Summers sure are short for bird watchers.

Questions, Identification, Feeding and Anting

Q. I recently noticed a Hairy Woodpecker feeding another at the feeder. I thought they might be courting but it seems late in the year, when I took a closer look they were both females, I thought it might have been an adult feeding a young bird but the one being fed was actually the larger of the two. Any ideas what I’m seeing?

A. It is an adult feeding a young bird, most fledglings appear slightly larger than their parents, mostly because the fledglings have brand new feathers, making them seem larger than the parents who’s feathers are very worn at this time of year. All those trips up and down the tree trunk looking for food along with going in and out of the nest cavity take a toll on the feathers. Luckily a new batch of feathers is right around the corner.

Q. Today there was a Blue Jay laying on the ground with it’s wings spread out and trembling, thinking it was hurt I approached the jay but it took off seemingly uninjured. The spot it was laying was the beginning on and ant hill and it looked like the jay had been scratching the surface. Was he taking a dust bath?

A. What you most likely observed is called “anting”. Several species of birds have been known to lay in an ant hill and let ants crawl over their bodies and feathers, this is referred to a “passive anting”. A bird may also pick up an ant and rub it through on it’s feathers, when it’s done with that ant it may be eaten or discarded for a “fresh” ant, this is referred to as “active anting”. Ants secrete formic acid and it’s thought to help rid the birds of parasites.

I’ve seen both forms of anting a few times and my first thought is there’s something wrong with the bird, but observing from a distance with the aid of binoculars or scope will reveal this odd bird behavior.

Q. I wanted to feed small birds without being bothered by the pigeons and black birds that have become such a problem in our back yard. I switched totally to nyjer tubes but I’m only getting Goldfinch now. It said on the feeder package that chickadee would use it but they’ve all disappeared. What can I do to get the chickadees to return?

A. Most of the nyjer feeders I sell have chickadee listed as one of the species that will visit the feeder. Although I have seen the very odd chickadee with a taste or nyjer it’s not the feeder you’d use to attract them. They favour good old black oil sunflower seed and luckily it’s half the price of nyjer. There are several feeders that fall into the category “clingers only”, they are usually small feeders with no tray or perch, if hung by a string or chain they will swing around if a large bird tries to land. Small birds are good at hanging on to the hole and retrieving the seeds. If you have any of your old sunflower tubes you may be able to convert one by removing the perches all together. Hang it close to your house where you can monitor it for pigeon activity. The most important thing is to not use mixed seed, the small birds will drop the parts they don’t like and the pigeons and black birds will be attracted to the ground, then they start to look up to see where the seeds came from.

Almost daily I hear someone say they don’t want to feed sunflower because they only want small birds, but if you want chickadees regularly you have to offer them their favourite. Small seed doesn’t necessarily equal small birds, one of the smallest seeds is millet and it is a magnet for some of the largest birds (pigeons) that come to feeders.

Pigeons are creatures of habit, so if you’ve been pigeon free for a while it may be a good time to offer a small feeder full of sunflower, if pigeons come to the feeder try something else before they add your yard to their routine.

A few weeks ago I started giving the pigeons a little treat when I arrived at the market, don’t tell the MPP (Moncton Pigeon Police). Now they recognize my van and swarm as soon as I shut it off. It’s strange because I’m only there once a week and it’s one of several white cargo vans, they don’t bother with the others, maybe they can read...

Q. I saw something flying over Main Street, Moncton, my first impression was bats, but it was early afternoon and when they circled close I could hear them (I didn’t think you could hear bats). I heard of a disease in bats where they were being observed flying in the day time, could this be the case?

A. My guess is you saw Chimney Swifts, they seem to be around a lot the last couple of years. They fly fairly high and fast, once you learn the sound you will be hearing it a lot. On a trip to Fundy Park last week we heard them in Hillsborough, Edgett’s Landing, when we slowed to go through Riverside Albert and when we arrived at the Park. I too have heard them downtown Moncton, so hopefully this little bird is making a comeback. I recently found a plan for a fake chimney that attracts the swifts, I hope to install one on the back of my shop over the winter. The Chimney Swift was the subject of my very first bird watching trip, when I drove to Wolfville NS and watched with dozens of people as the swifts returned to their roost at dusk.

Just Add Water

The easiest way to increase bird activity in your yard is to offer a fresh, clean consistent source of water. As the weather warms and some sources of fresh water dry up your birds will have to travel farther from your yard in to find a drink or bath. There are several species that wouldn’t come to feeders, but would be attracted to water. Most of our common warblers have stopped by over the years and waxwings and robins are regulars.

You don’t have to spend a fortune, any container that’s about 2 inches deep with a gradual slope for the birds to walk into the water (not many species do the cannon ball) makes a good bath. The large plastic “terra cotta” trays made to go under plant pots make great starter bird baths. Find a flat rock that’s tapered to provide the gradual slope and to keep it from blowing away if the water gets low.

The most important thing to consider is ease of cleaning/refilling, so you’ll want it close to the hose. If you don’t have a hose or can’t locate it nearby, stick to a small light saucer that can be dumped and taken to the water for cleaning. The heavy concrete or stone baths will likely have to be washed in place. I have a cheap splitter on our house and a short piece of hose that I leave laying beside the bath, (pick it up to cut the grass, they’re hard to get untangled from the blades but you do end up with a great sprinkler). The splitter allows us to leave the regular length of hose attached and ready when we need it for other things.

You’ll hear that you shouldn’t have a bird bath because of mosquitoes, but it takes 10 days in “favorable temperatures” (so I guess that’s 20 days here?) to go from egg to adult. Once you’ve had an active bird bath you’ll see that you have to clean them much more than once every 10 days, as most birds tend to take a drink, bath and poop, in that order. I sometimes flush mine out and refill it a couple times a day, especially if the Mourning Doves have been around, they have big poop. I doubt a mosquito larvae could live in the poop stew that would be created after a few days with the doves.

I’d avoid the tips and costly products available to keep your birdbath mosquito free and just make sure it’s clean. As for the algae, I find a little elbow grease works fine, bleach kills the grass. There are great bird bath brushes that are cheap, they are also the same ones available at farm supply store for cleaning dairy equipment. The fewer chemicals the better.

You can install a pond or fountain but they are costly and much harder to maintain. Moving water is irresistible though, when I bought my first fountain pump I was eager to try it out, I filled a large tube with water and let the pump run, shooting water a couple inches above the surface. Birds went nuts, they tried to figure a way to get in the tub, but had to settle for perching on the edge and drinking.

Making an in ground concrete bird bath is a surprisingly easy project, make a hole in the ground about 2 feet across and 6 inched deep. It’s easy to get creative with the shape. Mostly fill it with premix cement that you can mix in a bucket or wheel barrow. Using something for a trowel, I use a putty knife but a wooden shingle works fine, make a depression in the middle by pulling the concrete to the outside making a nice edge with a slope. Put a straight edge across it in various places to check the depth (about 2 inches is best). I add interesting rocks, shells and beach glass that I’ve gathered, make sure they are covered over the “equator” and they won’t come loose.

The secret is to use just the right amount of water, just enough to hold it together, and to not let it dry out too fast. If it’s in the sun cover it with leaves and keep it damp for a few days.

Mine has been in the same place for 12 years, summer and winter, and looks better now than when it was new. It was about $5 to make but a similar bath would cost much more than that to buy and likely wouldn’t last as long.

Since it’s on the ground, make sure it isn’t too close to a bush that cats could hide in, but close enough to a tree so the bird can retreat to preen and dry off.

A dripper is a nice addition to a bird bath, it provides a little noise and movement while keeping the bath full on hot days. If you have it on a tap, you can turn the dripper up to fill the bath after cleaning then dial it back to a drip every few seconds.

I haven’t tried a mister yet, (except the time I hit the hose with the mower), but I did just order one and I’m eager to see if they are the hummingbird magnate the makers claim them to be. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve had several enquiries about the abandoned eagles nest off the Crowley Farm Road, the pair has been relocated just a short distance away with a new nest and 3 eaglets. The area is about to be developed, I’m hoping the construction can wait until the eagles have fledged, it shouldn’t be much longer as they are quite feathered already. It would be nice if the developers could take the same approach as was taken with the Salisbury Road eagles nest. A buffer was left and the eagles have been nesting within the Forest Brook subdivision for years, a real source of pride for the home owners.

More Questions and Answers

Q. I bought a feeder like this one and haven’t had any birds yet, when will they come?

A. The thing with birds is, they’re unpredictable, when these questions come in by phone or e-mail I refer them to the Magic Eight Ball, it’s more accurate. “Magic Eight Ball, will the birds visit Mary’s feeder this week?” Magic Eight Ball says, “My sources say no.” If our government can use one than so can I.

Sometimes you get lucky and birds find your feeder within minutes, sometimes it may take weeks. I can’t tell you when, but I can give some tips to help them find it quicker.

Hang a new feeder in the open, but close to cover so birds can escape a hawk attack. Feeders placed right in the trees may be slow to be found. The feeders right in our large maples are our most active in winter, once the leaves come out they are rarely used. The best trick I’ve used to get bird to a new feeder is to screw or wire a large dead tree branch with lots of small branches still attached for perching. I’ve done this to inactive feeder locations and had birds on the feeder before I got back inside the house.

It’s also a good idea to scatter some seed on the ground, in winter you can just beat the snow down, in summer you may want to put out a pie plate or tray so the seed doesn’t get lost in the grass.

The type of feeder also makes a difference, hopper feeders and especially the green octagonal gazebo seem to get birds almost instantly. The problem is they’re not always the kind of birds you want to attract. If you love grackles and want to attract more, by all means go out and get the largest green gazebo you can find, then fill it with mixed seed, if it’s during the spring or fall migration you’ll be able to count a few hundred birds in your yard. Grackles can detect these feeders from space, they swarm it with all birds on one side so it tips and the contents spill on the ground for their flock mates.

It’s often the uncommon types, like the small bird selective feeders that take the longest attract birds, they are less active but worth it if you want to give the little guys a quiet place to eat.

If you’ve notice a little flurry of activity at a feeder then for no apparent reason, (like migration), there is no activity, the seed may have “bridged” over the hole. That is the birds got all the seed they could reach and the remaining seed is stuck, the feeder appears full but there are no birds on it. Note the level of the seed then give the feeder a few taps, if the seed level drops, this was likely the problem, especially common with nyjer and hulled sunflower.

A similar problem happens with mixed seed, the birds take all the seeds they like from the ports, when they can’t see the ones they like they move on the neighbours. Check inside each port, the seed is likely yellow, the colour of most of the undesirable seeds. You could shake the feeder and spill some of the yellow seeds on the ground where they are desired by ground feeders, but next time I’d just fill it with black oil sunflower only.

Also remember, there are times of year when natural seeds are abundant, given the choice between feeders and fresh seed the latter usually wins out. Right now I have no Goldfinch on my feeders, but our thousands of dandelions are extremely busy, giving beautiful photo opps for the patient.

Once a bird or two starts at your feeder, and likes what they find, the word gets around quickly. Smart birds will follow the even smarter chickadees, Blue Jays announce to the whole neighbourhood when they find a choice feeder station. There is no better advertising than word of beak.

Q. My hummingbird feeder is leaking.

A. This is more of a complaint than a question, but I still hear is several times a week. Usually people think there is something wrong with the feeder and are looking to buy a new one, but if you get another one the same, it’s likely to leak too. I haven’t used an inverted bottle style hummingbird feeder yet that didn’t leak at least a little.

It’s the air space that’s at the top of the nectar that is the culprit, when it warms up in the daytime, especially if the sun shines directly on the feeder, this air expands and forces the nectar out the bottom. That’s also why it likely didn’t leak when you first put it out, the days weren’t as warm.

Here’s a little demonstration you can try with the kids...fill your feeder about half way with cold water, leave it upside down (you may have to place it in and empty dish for support), put it in the fridge for an hour. Take it out, invert it and place it in or over a dish. As the feeder warms up and the air expands it should start to leak.

On a hot day this air can expand a lot, I’ve had the air in my lawnmower gas can expand so much and create so much pressure the bottom got round and it tipped over. The pressure doesn’t have to build up in the feeder because there is an escape out the bottom, it’s just the nectar is the first thing to get expelled.

If the feeder is dripping a steady drip, even when it’s cool you likely have a crack in the bottle somewhere and it’s loosing the vacuum needed to keep the nectar in the feeder.

A leaky feeder will also attract bees, even though the bee guards are in place. They usually go to the lowest spot on the feeder where the nectar drips off. Ants also find a leaky feeder much faster than one that doesn’t leak.

Solution: Use one of the saucer style feeders with a built in ant moat, no leaking, no bees, no ants and easy to clean. They might not be as pretty as some of the bottle styles but isn’t it the birds that are the most beautiful?

Why Birds Poop in the Pool, on the Car, etc.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “fecal sac”?

If you answered, flaming bag of dog poo, you’ve probably spent at least a little time in juvi. If you said the excrement of nestling birds neatly surrounded in a membrane, you probably have a field guide and binoculars on the window sill.

This week I’ve had several calls complaining of blackbirds pooping in pools, on cars, and my favourite, on a glass patio table. Most complainants were looking for a kill free solution, to some it didn’t matter.

The droppings were described as extra-large and white, some even noticed the birds were carrying it in their mouth and “dive bombing” these cherished objects. What they were seeing was the adults carrying the fecal sacs from the nest and getting rid of them where they assumed they wouldn’t be noticed by predators, unfortunately by doing so they likely created the most dangerous predator of all, the angry home owner. The pool is easy to figure out, drop the poop in water, it washes away nobody knows were it came from. The car table and other shiny objects look like water to a bird, much the same way a wet road resembles a river to a loons and sea ducks. Other birds maybe are fooled too, but these guys can’t take off from dry land, so we tend to notice them on the road. A mallard or goose would simply shake off the road burn and fly away. Loons and sea ducks need to be moved to water so they can take flight. (Tip: If you’re called upon to pick up a loon on the side of the road and will be doing so alone, take that extra couple minutes to dig out the cat carrier. It’s kind of distracting to drive with a loon under one arm pecking at your face and “area”.)

The good news is, poop bombing only occurs for a short time, as little as 10 days and 21 days at the most, depending on which species you’re dealing with. If the blackbird is nesting in a tree, it’s likely a Grackle and I’m not sure what you can do about it, my line is more attracting birds. If the blackbird nest is in a bird house, your eve or other cavity, it’s likely a European Starling and you can at least prevent future nests by making the hole in your bird house smaller, (drill an inch and a half hole in a piece of wood and nail it over the hole) or fixing the holes in your eves.

The bad news is starlings are capable of having a second brood, so get those holes closed up as soon as the young leave the nest or you’ll have a repeat performance a few weeks down the road.

The contents of the fecal sac are white from the kidneys’ contribution, birds don’t have a urinary bladder so the nitrogenous waste is excreted with the feces through the multipurpose cloaca as uric acid. This doesn’t dissolve well and the crystals form the white pasty part we see. For any of you who’ve had an unfortunate experience with gout, it’s the same crystals that converge in your big toe to cause so much discomfort.

The nestlings waste is contained in the sac until the last couple days of nesting, that’s when things in the nest start to get a little messy. I wonder if it’s natures way of telling the youngsters it’s time to leave. “Mom, Dad, I don’t really want to go but this place stinks...my eyes are burning! So if you could just bring my dinner to that branch over there?” I also wonder if not cleaning up will work on human offspring when the time comes, but I’m betting he’ll be able to live with it longer than us.

When doing breeding bird surveys, spotting an adult carrying a fecal sac is a great sign that nesting has been successful in the area. So a bird flying over with a mouth full of poop is a good thing, unless you or your belongings are the target. I’ve never had the misfortune, or at least I haven’t noticed, but my vehicle is white, maybe it’s covered with bird poop. I can understand why people want to discourage this activity. Have you ever noticed how often a bird poops? Watch a perched hummingbird really close some time, they go every 30 seconds. Most birds aren’t quite that regular but they do go often, no sense carrying that extra baggage when trying to take flight. A nestling bird produces the fecal sac within seconds of being fed, so the amount of live ammo being produced is approximately equal to the number of trips made to the nest with food.

At the end of one of the conversations about getting rid of blackbirds, I was asked, “How can I attract orioles?” It’s funny how one of the blackbirds is considered a pest and another is sought after. Although starlings and grackles are quite beautiful if you stop and take a close look, they don’t compare to the shocking bright orange of the male Baltimore Oriole. That and the fact they aren’t around very long or in large flocks like the other blackbirds, at the most you’ll see 3 or 4 in May and June while passing through. Some people are lucky enough to have a pair set up house keeping in their yards and are treated to the sight of their large gourd-shaped woven nests. Sightings at feeders are usually in the early season, most of us saw our first oriole when it easily flipped the bee guards off of our hummingbird feeders and sipped nectar.

If you want to draw a few more orioles into your yard, place a few orange halves in an open area where passing birds are likely to spot them. Orioles do seem to be attracted to the bright orange oriole feeders, but if you have a hummingbird feeder with large enough holes after the bee guards are removed they work just as well, then after they move on you can still use it for hummers. Orioles also eat seeds, favoring peanuts and hulled sunflower, suet and they love grape jelly. A few weeks after arrival they desert the feeder station in favor of natural food, mostly insects. The orioles that show up in fall don’t use the nectar feeders but will glean grapes from vines or fruit feeders.

I’ve been reading that orioles will take meal worms during nesting season to feed their young, another good reason to start raising your own worms.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned the Common Yellowthroat that was our predominant nesting warbler until a few years ago had hopefully moved on after our trees matured. I was in Upper Coverdale last weekend and heard several males singing. This week we also have a couple males singing within earshot, except now they are on the other side of the house in an old pasture that’s growing over with trees. We still have the Northern Parula and Black-throated Green Warblers singing steadily, with everything else it sounds almost orchestral.