Video: Everybody has a sweet tooth!
I still have lots of Orioles coming, and the funny part is that this year, many more birds are seemingly having a sweet tooth and give the grape jelly a try. I have never seen a Cowbird doing it until yesterday.
Video: I put a little station
with nesting material on the chestnut tree to see if anybody would take some. Activity has been low on this camera, but the other day I saw something interesting. A female Cowbird came to inspect the material. She must have thought it was a nest. Brownheaded Cowbirds are so-called brood parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let them raise their young. Later in the season, the whole family will flock and migrate together. This was recorded with one of my Birdsy cameras. They are having a Memorial Day Sale right now too, go and check it out at birdsy.com.
While the winter crowd
can be a bit boring at times, surprises can happen any day. I think this is part of why I enjoy birdwatching so much. Every day has the possibility of something fun happening. Anyways, yesterday, I had this lone Cowbird lady on the feeder, and I also saw a Redwinged Blackbird. They sometimes travel with Starlings, so it makes sense that they were around. Here’s to a good week with fun surprises!
The snow brought in
some unusual visitors - a couple of Brown-headed Cowbirds. The females (here on the left) are one of the hardest birds to identify for a beginner birdwatcher. But if you know what the males look like and compare their overall shape and the beaks, things become more clear.
Along with the Starlings,
a group of Brownheaded Cowbirds has been coming recently. I am not sure I have seen them so late before, usually they arrive by spring and leave for the winter. Many people don’t like them because of their nesting behavior (they lay eggs in other birds’ nests and let them raise their young ones, often to the disadvantage of the original chicks), but I find them fascinating and also think they have the perfect bird shape.
Video: Breakfast with the Starlings
The flock came back this morning. My post last night evoked lots of interesting reactions. For the birder on a budget, Starlings can be a bit of a nuisance because of their voraciousness. They will chase other birds away and can be rather aggressive in defending the food (also amongst each other). They are an invasive bird in the US, and can be a threat to native cavity nesters like the Red-bellied Woodpecker, taking over nestboxes and killing the inhabitant. But they are also very clever, impressive and beautiful birds, and none of their behavior is their own fault. As a native European myself, I do feel a connection to them, but I am always glad to only enjoy them in small doses.
The dark bird crowd
has been thinning out recently, but there are still groups passing through on their way south. The Grackles come for a quick snack (here showered in sun rays), the Cowbirds usually take a bath. While I love them all, it is nice that the bird food budget gets a little break right now.
For some reason
it feels like there are more Cowbirds around this year. Or maybe I am just paying more attention to them. Pictured here is a female.
Now that nesting season is underway,
we will all see birds that we cannot identify for one or the other reason. As I said the other day, it feels like the female Brownheaded Cowbird is one of those “I don’t know what bird I just saw” ones. They are a bit bigger than a Cardinal, they don’t have the brown head like the males, they look intriguing because they are beautiful birds, and us birders are confused. Maybe this photo helps a bit with identification.
Video: Bird identification - the Brownheaded Cowbird
This is the time where many people see these birds and wonder what the heck they are.
Well, this is a Brownheaded Cowbird, either a female or a young adult. Many people dislike them for their nesting habits (they lay eggs in other birds’ nests so that they raise their babies) but this is how they evolved. They used to follow cattle and never settled anywhere to nest. Now that humans are destroying habitat, not as many herds wander around, and the Cowbirds come to our backyards (it is of course more complex than that, but that is the gist). It is their survival strategy, and other birds have found ways to survive nevertheless. Cardinals for example have several broods, and usually only the first one seems to be affected. (This was recorded with a Birdsy camera.)
