The bird-eat-bird world in Darien

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 20 January 2011 14:24

“We live in a fragmented forest, surrounded by 100-foot oaks, so lots of native birds come to our sunflower hearts and nyger feeders, right out the back door,” reports Raoul Tschebull of Darien. “The birds find shelter in a stand of junipers and yews about 10 feet behind the feeders, but that doesn’t prevent hawk predation.

“One morning, a dove bounced off a window near the feeders, stunned, and was immediately pounced on by a Cooper’s hawk, who killed the bird under my nose and lumbered off with the carcass — almost as big as he was — about 30 feet to feed.

“A second day, a small hawk, probably a Cooper’s, flew low over the terrace where the feeders are, in pursuit of dinner, and made a sharp left turn into the aforementioned copse of evergreens, but didn’t catch anything. This all happens in seconds, and identification is often difficult, but this low flying hawk had a barred rounded tail, so I could identify it.

“Today, a Cooper’s Hawk nailed a junco, and ate it in the evergreen stand.

“I appreciate that I’m feeding all kinds of birds — and that I miss seeing the vast majority of hawk kills.”

When a bird’s ‘clothes’ go awry

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 13 January 2011 12:14

“Clothes make the man,” wrote Mark Twain. “Naked people have little or no influence in society.”

The same is even truer of birds, for the color and design of a coat of feathers can serve several purposes essential to survival. Sometimes, however, both color and design can confuse us, as it did with two birds spotted in the past week by readers.

How to squelch the sharpest squirrels

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 06 January 2011 11:13

Whole books have been written about how to keep squirrels off your feeders. A dozen bird-feeder manufacturers will tell you they have the perfect, squirrel-proof feeder. However, it may not be the feeder but how it’s presented, that makes all the difference in the success — and the price — of squirrel prevention.

Feeders on the other side of the glass

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 30 December 2010 10:45

Bird feeders in the yard are great for bird watching, but one right on the other side of your window can be a real treat, affording you a “bird’s eye view” of many of your birds.

There are a number of feeders designed to be window-mounted or even window- inserted. Some even have one-way mirrors that allow you to look at the bird close-up without the bird’s seeing you.

However, most of these feeders cost a pretty penny. We like to pinch those pennies.

We have two ways of getting feeders right outside the window. One employs a suction-cup hanger that is shown in the accompanying picture. These cost about $10 and come in a couple of different forms, depending on the manufacturer. I have found them strong and reliable in sticking to the window.

The one in the photo is on a picture window, right next to a section that cranks open so I can reach the feeder easily. It’s about 10 feet above ground.

Sundry sightings, including chilly hummingbirds

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 23 December 2010 10:23

Katie Rice of Sunset Hill Road reports,  “I don’t have leisure time for bird watching during the week, but while driving my birding eyes usually pan the electrical wires overhead to perching silhouettes.

“On Thursday morning, which was about 20 degrees, I recognized the unmistakable large crested head, compact body and long, thick bill of a Belted Kingfisher sitting on a wire overlooking Miry Brook in Danbury.   I have not seen one there before and I drive my son daily to school in that vicinity.

“I dropped my son off and doubled back to verify my hunch with the binoculars.  He was still there, perched over the frozen water.

“What would a Belted  Kingfisher eat in winter when the ponds and streams are frozen over?  Shouldn’t he have migrated further south where there is open water with fish, frogs and other water dwellers?”

Police to birdwatchers at Bradley Airport: Scram!

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 16 December 2010 12:30

One of the more unusual problems birders face is being considered potential terrorists.

Airports happen to be great places to spot many kinds of interesting birds. For instance, Snowy Owls are regularly seen in winter at Logan Airport in Boston, and many unusual species of grassy flatlands-loving birds are seen at the Stratford airport. Both are near the ocean.

Now comes word of a rare sighting at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks of a Mountain Bluebird, typically found in the region around the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. The airport is not only a commercial airline stop, but also home of the Connecticut Air National Guard.

Someone spotted the Mountain Bluebird there last week, and birders from all over the region began descending on the airport.

The state police, in charge of airport security, apparently flipped out.

More on woodpeckers, large and small

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 09 December 2010 12:37

This week’s column is about woodpeckers, large and small, good and “bad.”

“We frequently see the woodpeckers in our yard or at least the big holes they leave,” writes Denise Pereira of Ridgefield, who sent the accompanying photo of a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers.

The other day, for only the second time, she saw two together. “They were there for a couple of hours and didn’t seem to interact. The lower one went all over the tree seeming to establish his own hole. The upper one seemed oblivious to him as he pounded away at his established hole. I wondered if it is unusual to see them in pairs.”

Pileated Woodpeckers are monogamous and, while seeing a pair is hardly an every-day thing, it is not a “rare” sighting. And, as mentioned two weeks ago, Pileateds are becoming more numerous in our region as the trees — live and dead — become more numerous.

The bird for the birds: Backyard turkey time

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 02 December 2010 12:49

Our annual Thanksgiving tradition — a bird for the birds — was much more successful this year than expected.

Early each Friday morning after Thanksgiving, we deliver the well-picked carcass of the holiday’s turkey to the back yard. This year’s 20-pounder served 16 humans for dinner, plus leftovers, and its remnants fed several dozen Turkey and Black Vultures Friday morning and again on Saturday.

To a woodpecker, your house may be a big tree

Written by Jack Sanders
Wednesday, 24 November 2010 10:36

It’s Thanksgiving, the time to be appreciative of our many blessings. Among the birds, their blessings include our bird feeders. For some birds, however, our houses are also blessings — or so they think.

Among the many species that winter over in our area, relatively few birds spend the cold nights snuggled up in cavities like holes in trees or under piles of brush.  Most just puff their feathers up to add to their insulation quotient, and sleep on a branch. In really severe weather, some of these birds may seek refuge in old nesting boxes, cavities, baskets, under barns, or anywhere that provides extra protection.

An exception are the woodpeckers. Red-bellied, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers eschew the wide-open spaces at night and like a nice cozy cavity.

That roosting hole might have been an old nesting place, created by woodpecker or by nature’s natural rot, or it might be brand-new, created for winter sleeping.

The birds that love a good hoof; grackle invasions

Written by Jack Sanders
Friday, 19 November 2010 10:06

Vivien Cord’s nice shot of several Cattle Egrets hanging around with a “matching” white horse at first confused me because it shows yellow-beaked birds with black legs. That combination usually identifies the Great Egret, but these are not great-sized birds. And yet, in field guides, Cattle Egrets are typically shown with yellow beaks and yellow legs.

However, many guides fail to point out that the Cattle Egret has black legs as a juvenile or, as probably in this case, blackish legs as a non-breeding adult (from August to February).  That’s one of the beauties of Sibley’s big Guide to Birds — it gives you illustrations of many forms of variable birds.