She’s a faithful daily visitor. A female American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). Many times a day I’ll see her either patrolling the garden in her search for insects or more often splashing around in one of the birdbaths.
I can’t stress strongly enough, the birdbaths I have in my garden areas are used often. Right now, there are no feeders out but the birds congregate. And as for the American Redstart, site after site, as I pull information from the internet repeat, “They like to situate themselves near water.” This is the way to get birds to your yard. Birdbaths!
They winter in South America. And their little wings carry them a humongous number of miles to get to their breeding grounds in eastern North America. Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea).
Male Scarlet Tanagers are that perfect color combination of brilliant red and black. Smart birds, they’re my favorite colors to wear too. The females are a subtle yellow and black.
If you are interested in what you might offer to attract Scarlet Tanagers to your yard, the internet will tell you to put out, “suet, mealworms, grape jelly or oranges.” My suggestion is have a birdbath or two or three and lots of blueberry bushes.
These beauties will be arriving very soon. I can’t wait.
Hallelujah! More of my summer birds have arrived! A few days ago I mentioned that both male and female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have presented themselves. Now, this morning I spotted my first American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). A male, looking quite handsome in his striking black and orange feathers.
The female of this species is also quite the knockout but in a more subtle way, as is often the case with birds. Gray and yellow and sweet.
Since American Redstarts eat insects, and in late summer, berries and small fruit, they don’t visit my feeders. IF those feeders are out during the summer. So far so good. No bear sightings. So the feeders are still out. Don’t let the bears know.
Though the American Redstarts aren’t interested in what I offer at the bird feeders they really relish having water available. During the summer I have three bird baths out for all the birds and it is quite the popular place. Like the old watering hole.
A male Downy Woodpecker has a red spot at the back of his head
The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens. A permanent resident here and in most places in their native range. That range, with the exception of the desert southwest and the tundra of the north, is nearly all of Canada and the United States. But in the northern portions of their territory, some may wander a bit south for the winter. Or if in the higher elevations may come to a lower elevation.
A female Downy Woodpecker has no red, only black and white
They are little woodpeckers. In fact, they are the smallest woodpecker native to North America. The size of a White-throated Sparrow. Little. Downy Woodpeckers are nearly identical to the Hairy Woodpecker, who is about the size of an American Robin. NOT little. Keep that in mind when you see one of these black and white beauties. I’m accustomed to seeing the Downy Woodpecker, and on the occasion that I see a Hairy Woodpecker, the size difference is enough to make me say, “Whoa!” For me, there is no mistaking one from the other, the size difference is quite striking.
Another difference that you might find helpful is the size of their bill. The Downy Woodpecker’s bill about 1/3 the size of its head. Think CUTE. The Hairy Woodpecker’s bill is about the same length as its head, from the base of the bill to the back of the head.
Though Downy Woodpeckers mainly eat insects, beetle larvae and caterpillars, they also eat berries, acorns, peanuts, sunflower seeds and grains. During the winter, when I’m able to feed the birds, Downies are frequently at the suet feeder.
During the warmer months the bears up here in the mountains, want to join in with the birds, getting their food, so I restrict my bird feeding, reluctantly, to the winter.
But I keep three bird baths full, one with a dripper. Without feeding them I still get to see the best of the warm weather birds. Pure delight.
Perhaps you’ve seen this photo in the past. It’s one of my favorite images of the many many that I’ve taken. Surely I’ve used it before. These Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) are performing a mating ritual in which the pair pass a treasure (in this case a sumac berry) back and forth. No telling which is the male and which is the female in this image since their markings and plumage are the same.
A pair of Cedar Waxwings are monogamous during each breeding season and both parents participate in nest construction and rearing activities. Incubation of the two to six eggs takes two weeks.
Born blind and helpless the nestlings grow quickly and learn to fly in another two weeks. The bird above is a juvenile who has yet to grow adult plumage. Juveniles do have the yellow tail tip, although not the red wing tips, yet.
The bird in the center of the photo above has an orange tail tip. That orange coloring is due to the diet of the bird. In the late 1800s the bush, Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii), was unfortunately brought to this continent. I say unfortunately because it is an invasive. The berries of this bush contain a red pigment. If enough of these berries are eaten by a Cedar Waxwing during feather formation the tail tips will be orange rather than the usual yellow because of that red pigment. This unusual coloring began to be noticed in northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada in the 1960’s. Unusual but no other consequences as far as is known.
These elegant birds are irruptive and gypsies wandering from fruit supply to fruit supply throughout the year. They’ll also eat insects when they’re available. They love the sound of running water and enjoy small streams, or bird baths that have drippers or as in the case above, a puddle in the middle of a lane.
They travel in bands and normally when I see them they’re with their friends the American Robin. And in case you are trying to get your terminology just right, a group of Cedar Waxwings is called an “ear-full” or a “museum” of Cedar Waxwings.
Such a sophisticated fashion statement the Cedar Waxwing makes. And what of those red wing tips? They are a waxy secretion called astaxanthin – a carotenoid pigment. Don’t worry, there won’t be a test on this. As the years go by the number and size of the tips get larger. It is believed that these appendages are used as status symbols in mate selection.
I was surprised last spring to see several Cedar Waxwings eating petals off the apple blossoms in my tree. Now I know, they eat berries and fruit, insects AND flower petals. Who would have thought?
That bobbing of the tail and saying its name makes identification of the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) mighty easy. Many bird songs baffle me, but this one is easy. Just think “fee-bee” (Phoebe) and you’ve got it.
I was delighted as I was refreshing my memory about what Phoebes eat to see that they not only eat flying insects which they capture in mid-air but they also eat spiders, millipedes and TICKS! Yay Phoebes! I can’t find a specific reference to it, but now I’m wondering if they also eat brown marmorated stink bugs. Too bad that they are such solitary birds. I’d love to have a big flock of them around.
Not as exciting as the Phoebe eating ticks and BMSBs but they do sometimes even eat small fish from shallow water. Such a talented bird.
As I look through my images thinking of which to include I see this photo of a Phoebe at one of my birdbaths. This reminds me to mention that as a pair goes through the process of selecting a site for breeding, one of their considerations is having a source of water nearby. That is something that I always try to provide in every season. You’ll get many more birds stopping by to see you with that birdbath set up. All four seasons.
Some might think this an LBJ. A little brown job. But certainly deserving of more distinction than that.
This, a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and a master of camouflage.
A bird that is known for its rich collection of songs. Quite the crooners, males use their songs to identify their territory and to attract females.
Song Sparrows are year round residents in much of their range. In the northern most parts they will migrate south for the winter.
The diet of the Song Sparrow includes a large variety of insects and invertebrates, and many different berries. If you put out a platform feeder close to good cover with sunflower seeds or peanut hearts you’ll probably find Song Sparrows coming to your buffet.
Of the native sparrows in North America the Song Sparrow species is one of the most abundant. But NOT just LBJs.
And, as you can see from my photos, if you’ve got a bird bath that you can put out summer and winter (with a water warmer) they’ll love it.
An occasional visitor to my bird bath, in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata). Fondly called Butterbutts by birders. If you don’t have a bird bath, I sure recommend one equipped with a water warmer to keep the water from freezing during the coldest that winter can throw at you.
These warblers don’t partake of the beautiful bird buffet that I put out for them but I’ve read that they do enjoy suet, sunflower seeds, peanut butter and raisins at back yard feeders. AND down at my Mom’s feeder in Citrus County, Florida, they enjoy her suet. Maybe I should ask my sister for her recipe. They don’t seem interested in MY recipe.
When they’re not at a feeder during the winter they will feed on the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper, and dogwood. Butterbutts also eat the seeds of grasses and goldenrod.
During the summer while they’re up north they eat spiders, and many insects like beetles, caterpillars, gnats, wasps, aphids, and grasshoppers.
Best of luck at getting to see Yellow-rumped Warblers and don’t forget, if I didn’t have a bird bath equipped with a water warmer I doubt I’d get to see these sweet little birds.
After an absence of a couple months, they’re back at my berries and birdbath again. This is a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) going after berries of Smooth Sumac, which is a small tree that I really enjoy having in my yard because it attracts such interesting birds.
I’ve tried to figure out how to entice the Hermit Thrush to be a feeder bird but they’ve offered only resistence. The one thing I can depend on is that they LOVE to have a bird bath around, that is not frozen, both for drinking and bathing.
During the summer they mainly eat insects but during the winter they go with what is more available, fruits and berries. Here in my yard they’re provided both the Smooth Sumac berries and also Beautyberries. They also enjoy rummaging through the leaf litter in my yard. Leaf litter seems to be a valuable asset for attracting birds.
Yesterday it was at the Beautyberry bush that I spotted a Hermit Thrush. I was pleased to see it, since I hadn’t seen one since late November. Using my photographs as a guide I can say that I see these birds from early November through late March of each year.
Glad they’re back and I hope they hang around through March!
Yellow-rumped Warblers, Setophaga coronata, have to come to visit for the winter. They’re also affectionately referred to as Butter Butts.
When insects are available, that’s their meal of choice but here, in the cold months, they will settle for goldenrod seeds, and the berries of juniper, poison ivy, poison oak, greenbrier, grapes, Virginia creeper and dogwood.
Some people are able to entice them to feeders with sunflower seeds, raisins, peanut butter, and suet but I’m not one of the lucky ones. That’s okay! They seem to like it here anyway. AND they do seem to enjoy the bird bath that I keep ice free during the winter.
