Bird Watching ... new spottings

[Bart Elliott]

I know some of you enjoy bird watching as much as I do. I've been (slow) building my property to be more accommodating to wildlife; sometimes not an easy thing to do when you live in the suburbs.

Anyway, I just spotted an Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) on my property this morning. For those that don't know, this is the bird that Woody Woodpecker is modeled after. The bird is as big as a crow and typically prefer mature forests, which is why I'm surprised to see it on my property. I have a .5 acre lot in the hills of Nashville which is heavy wooded yet very developed. I've been planting a lot of fruit/nut trees (pear, plum, peach, Chinese chestnut), all of which are now mature. The Pileated Woodpecker is a fruit/nut eater as well as having a steady diet of beetle larvae and carpenter ants (yeah!).

When you've been watching perching birds for weeks on end, and suddenly a Common Crow or Pileated Woodpecker lands in your backyard, they look REALLY big! We've had a few hawks land as well, catching a squirrel or two throughout the year. They look big enough to carry off a small dog!  :)

[HDT]

Everything from hummingbirds to turkey vultures have turned up in our neighborhood.  The biggest "common" visitor is red tailed hawks. We have quite a few rabbits in the area (our neighborhood was built on old pasture farm land) and they seem to be a favorite among the raptors.  Occasionally we hear screech owls and hoot owls, but not very often.  The company that owns the property next to our subdivision cut down about 75 to 80% of the trees we had as a buffer, so woodland loving birds and animals have become scarce, unfortunately. 
That's cool to have a pileated woodpecker though.  They are beautiful birds, with an unforgettable call.  We had a downy woodpecker that took a shine to the wood siding on our house!  We kept hearing this tap... tap,tap,tap...tap,tap.  I went out and saw the little guy just pecking away at the corner of our house.  That didn't last long.  I saw to that ;)... didn't kill it (I wouldn't do that) but I just made sure he knew he wasn't welcome anymore.

[pemfoo]

That's cool. My wife does a little bird watching. It is always fun to see a new species. I have never seen one of those woodpeckers. The only ones I have seen I think are the Hairy Woodpecker.

We also get lots of hawks in our neighborhood. Surprising for the burbs. Must be lots to eat here. Last week a Great Blue Heron landed in the back yard. It makes a yearly stop here to get fish out of the neighbors ornamental pond. They are not to happy about it.  :o

[smoggrocks]

that's really neat.

i never got into birding, but my friend's mom is really involved with the audubon society and her interest has piqued mine.

i was pretty shocked a few weeks back when i spotted 3 nice-sized bluejays on the tree outside my bathroom window. i've seen my share of cardinals over the years, but not blue jays. i know they're not the rarest bird in the world, but seeing stuff other than pigeons here is a big deal! i've also spotted a hummingbird in my friends backyard. they have a pretty big garden and i guess they planted certain flowers to attract them. apparently, they're fairly rare 'round these parts.

animals are cool. i'd love to get a pet someday.

[Chris Whitten]

I love animals of all kinds.
I don't bird watch professionally, but keep my eyes and ears open whenever I'm outside.
A couple of days ago we were blessed with a pair of yellow tailed, black cockatoos.
http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/cockatoo.htm

They aren't exactly rare, but you certainly don't see them everyday.
We have a few other regular parrot visitors, all of which is great when you are used to brown and black European birds.

[HDT]

Sometimes it's easy to forget the broad reach that this great Drummer Cafe provides.  When Chris said cockatoo... my first thought was that someones pet birds had escaped (silly American ;))  They are not found "wild" in North America.  There may be a species or two of parakeet or parrot in parts of extreme southern North America, And certainly in Mexico, but from what I understand, it's just too cool in most of North America to support those kinds of "tropical" birds.  If someone knows more, I would appreciate hearing from you.  Now I'm curious.

[smoggrocks]

that parrot story reminds me...the other day i stepped into a cab and heard a very loud whooping screech. i thought it was the passenger behind me yelling coz i beat him to the punch. in fact, it was a rather nice-sized african grey, perched atop the cabby's shoulder.

it was awesome! this bird had quite the personality, and even took the cab fare from my hand and passed it on to his 'master'. i shot some pics of it with my cell phone, but they're really not good enough quality to warrant putting up here. a cool experience nonetheless.

in other urban birdie stories...maybe some of you have heard of pale male and his wifey--the two hawks who somehow managed to set up shop on 5th avenue in nyc. there was quite a stir last year because some co-op board wanted them removed from their nest atop a 5th avenue building, or some such thing. celebrities got involved, a media circus ensued, and if i recall correctly, pale male and co. were reinstated to their nest. it's a cool story.

http://www.palemale.com/

this site chronicles the "eviction" proceedings and more:
http://pages.cthome.net/rwinkler/news.htm


few months back, i found a very cool website that does great educating and outreach to help preserve birds and their habitats. among other things, they discussed simple things humans can do to keep birds safe, and how to care for an injured bird. one safety strategy involved hanging a cd on one's window, to provide a visual cue for birds to not land there. apparently, many birds are injured or killed from running into windows, because the reflection of the trees in the windows confuses them, and they think they're about to land on a treebranch. the cd reflects sunlight and the glimmer helps divert the bird's flight path away from the window. 

can't recall the url, unfortunately, but if i remember it, i'll post.

[sletti]

 http://www.wildparrotsfilm.com/]http://www.wildparrotsfilm.com/
another cool urban bird story

[Dave Heim]

These Monk Parakeets have been sighted around Chicago for years.  My father-in-law had some coming to his window bird feeder a couple of years ago in the suburbs north of the city.

http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/winter2003/monkparakeets.html

[HDT]

Wow Dave... that's amazing.  I would have never guessed that pet shop birds from the tropics could survive in Illinois... let along thrive.

[Bart Elliott]

Interesting stories everyone.

FYI about the Pileated Woodpecker, they are native to our region, but they are shy and prefer mature forests. To see one on my property really surprised me. I typically only see them when I go camping or hike deep into a forest or thick wooded area. We've got a lot of trees (woods) in and around my property, but with all the homes ... well, just didn't think I'd spot one.

[Chris Whitten]

Yes, there is quite a large flock of parrots in West London, around Richmond Park. I used to see them all the time.
They are pale green and yellow. A species of South American bird I was told. Escaped former pets that have survived and thrived.
In fact, there are a couple of species of parrot that survive in the alpine regions of Australia (yes.....it snows!).
But back to what HDT said.....
Coming from the Borthern Hemisphere, you do expect to see these birds in cages.
I always find it odd to see the white Cockatoos flying around the trees, instead of saying rude words from inside a cage.

[Robyn]

There was a parakeet sitting in our big cottonwood tree a couple days ago when I was out working. Squawking like a banshee (the bird, not me :)). I'm sure that one was someone's escaped pet. I don't think it was a monk parakeet--didn't look that big.
Then that evening I saw what I think was some sort of oriole--have never seen one around here before. We have a lot of meadowlarks tho, and those have such a wonderful song.

robyn

[Bart Elliott]

We are enjoying our Eastern Bluebirds again this year; they're back!

I purchased a bluebird box several years ago as a Mother's Day gift, and we've been enjoying it again and again.

We've got five baby bluebirds that are about one week old now, and they are extremely loud (and hungry).

The nice thing about the Eastern Bluebirds is that they have another brood again this year. Sometimes the young from the first brood hang around to help out with feeding the second brood.

Earlier this year we saw five bluebirds come check out the nest box; we think it was the young from last year's second brood (there were five).

If you have Eastern Bluebirds in your region of the planet, do yourself a favor and get a bluebird box. We get so much enjoyment from it. The only thing you have to watch for is keeping other birds from nesting in the box. We had House Sparrows trying to do that this year, but we just kept pulling their nesting material out so the bluebirds could have a chance. Sounds mean, but that's another story.  :)