Christmas gifts for Myself and the Birds

My dear daughter purchased these two bird houses for my Christmas gift. These are made out of recycled milk jugs and bottles. The small one took 30 milk jugs to make. I now have two new bluebird houses to get put up and the smaller one will be used by wrens or chickadees. In my shed are bird house gourds that I hope dry correctly and survive this terrible winter. If they don't I will just have to plant more. I vow no House Sparrows will occupy these houses.

White-breasted Nuthatch

Nuthatches always creep down the tree trunks head first, this allows them to search the bark crevices for insects overlooked by birds that climb up head first. They keep the trees healthy by eating beetles, caterpillars, wood borers and other damaging insects. The Nuthatch nest in natural cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes. They may also breed in bird boxes, but most often choose a tree hole. So it is so important to allow dead trees and branches to remain for them and others to have the natural cavities. Their populations are increasing which may be due to backyard bird feeders. They like the sunflower seeds, suet and cracked corn. 

The other day one of these birds was hunched down in the feeder, not moving at all. I was so concerned at first, then it dawned on me what was going on. A hawk had to be perched nearby. I ran outside and on the side of the house the hawk was up in the large tree. By feeding the birds at feeders they attract the hawks and it is advised to stop feeding the birds for a few days so hawks will give up and look elsewhere. With the freezing weather we are having, I try to feed them early in the morning and once again before night, hoping they don't hang around all day with the hawk near.

The branches were in the way and it made the pictures a little blurry.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

There is only a slight red patch on the belly of these woodpeckers in which they are named. This is a male pictured who can be identified by the red forehead cap. The female has just a splash of red on her head. I can hear this fellow coming across the field before I see him. He arrives daily to check out the suet feeders and sometimes hangs around in the large maple trees here. The Red-bellied will tap loudly on metal gutters, aluminum roofs and even vehicles to attract a mate. The sad part is the European Starlings will evict these and other woodpeckers from their nests. This is alarming because of hundreds of Starlings that show up here. This past summer there was a female with him, but I have only seen this one showing up.

Junco with broken leg

This little fellow has been showing up daily and I put some seed on the patio ledge for him. But I did see him sitting in the feeder today with all of the other birds. I feel he would get too banged up there, so this is why I hope he will stay on the patio and eat where it should be safer for him.

Poor Cold Birds

Today was so cold with blowing snow that I had to shovel around the feeder by 7 a.m. then refill the feeders all day long. The birds were non-stop from sunrise to sunset eating, they have to build up some fat during the day in order to survive the bitter cold nights.

This Dove looks like an Angel has landed.

Eastern Towhee

The Eastern Towhee tends to be solitary and often feed on the ground, scratching noisily in the dry leaves. Their habitat are woodland edges, pastures and brushy backyards. Their populations appear to be declining with the loss of the woodland edges due to development and frequent Cowbird parasitism.....which means...
Cowbirds are known as a "brood parasite." They lay their eggs in other birds nests, commonly the Eastern Towhee, sometimes tossing resident eggs out to make room for their eggs. Other birds do not know they have an alien egg and they raise the young nestling as their own. A group of Towhees are known as a "tangle" and a "teapot" of towhees. It is not the picture, their eyes are a red/brown. This lone bird did visit the feeder and I found him later in the day in this snag of a tree. I have only seen one so far, hopefully a few more will visit.




American Tree Sparrow

Despite their name, they build their nests on the ground.

The Tree Sparrow is very similar to the Chipping Sparrow. The difference being the rusty crown and eyestripe on the Tree Sparrow and the gray breast has a dark spot in the middle. They nest in the summer in the far north of Canada and winter in northern United States. A group of Tree Sparrows are known as a "grove" of sparrows.