Tom's Bird Feeders and Reptile Supplies

This week-end we went bird watching in South Fork just above Portal, Arizona.  On our way to the canyon we stopped at the Sunny Flats Campground.  Much to our surprise the Elegant Trogons are back already!  The trogon’s average return date is from the middle of April to the middle of May.  This is again a sign that the bird migration is early this year.

As with most times when bird watching we heard the trogon before we saw it.  The call is 4-6 low “croaks”.  For such a beautiful bird, Mother Nature balanced its beauty with a non-musical voice.

The trogons have nested in Sunny Flat Campground for years.  When you look for the nest of the trogon look about 25 feet up in a dead tree or branch with sycamores being their favorite tree.  In courtship, the male will climb into the cavity and call to the female.  If the female enters the cavity true love is in the air.

They usually have 2 eggs, but can have up to 4.  Both parents share the job of incubation, with the female taking the overnighter and again at midday.  The male gets the early morning and late afternoon shift.  Incubation lasts about 22-23 days.  Both the male and female will feed the young.  After about 3 weeks the young leave the nest, but still rely on the parents for care.

Trogons establish a territory.  The territory is announced by the calling and it is thought to be about 1/2 mile in size.  While you are looking for the trogon keep your eyes out for the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher as they will compete for nest sites.

One thing I must emphasize–trogon nests are vulnerable to disturbance by observers!   Be quiet when in their area and do not disturb the tree or use any mechanical device to call for the birds.

This morning we had our first Common Yellowthroat of the season at our four tiered bird pond setup.  May 1st is the traditional return time for this species, so, like several other species this year, he was very early (over a month).  Common Yellowthroats are rare here on the desert, however we do seem to get one or two every couple of years coming into our bird pond to bath and drink during their migration.  This shows the importance of providing water for the birds as a form of attraction.  Whether you are on the desert like us or in a suburban backyard, water will attract a wide variety of birds to your property.  Many of these birds are species which would not normally come in to seed type bird feeders because they normally eat insects or berries.  Always remember the three Cs when you provide water, food or shelter for your birds; cleanliness, comfort and consistency.  Always keep the container clean.  Place it such that it is far enough from trees or brush so that a cat or predator cannot sneak up on the birds, but close enough that the bird can jump into the tree or brush if a predator does happen by.  Try to provide the water on a consistent basis, but do remember that wild birds are not totally dependent on you.  Put out water in a bird bath or small pond kit and enjoy your birds.

This weekend we had a Hooded Oriole visit us for the first time this spring.  They usually do not arrive in this area until the first week of April, so migration is still about one week ahead of schedule.  This male came first to the necar in the hummingbird feeder and then moved over to the recycled oriole feeder for a bite of jelly.  This species will stay with us for the summer and will build their nests on the underside of yucca leaves.

We have observed the courtship ritual.  The male circles the female bowing low, then raising up until the beak is straight up.  He sings a very soft (and romantic) song to the female while “dancing” for her.  She  will mimic this behavior if she is interested.

They lay 3-5 eggs and the incubation period is about 12-14 days.  Both the male and female feed the young.  I should note that the Bronzed Cowbird will parasitize the nest.  We have seen up to three broods brought off the nest in one summer.

Last week I shared some thoughts on providing water, the first element of a good backyard wildlife habitat.  Today I will discuss food, the second element.  Food is by far the element most provided by people who wish to attract birds and wildlife to their yard.  Many people provide food and forget to provide water and shelter.  Many of these people then wonder why they have few or no birds in their yard.  It is necessary to provide all three elements together in order to attract the largest number of birds.

In general there are three types of birds when it comes to the foods they need.  These ae seed eaters, insect eaters and fruit eaters.  There is a lot of overlap within these groups.  For instance meadowlarks eat insects all summer, but in the winter they eat seeds.  Chipping Sparrows come to seed feeders in the winter but eat insects all summer.  Cedar Waxwings eat primarily fruit but feed their youngsters insects and berries.  To get the most species possible to your yard you must provide food for all three groups.

Most people new to birding start out trying to attract the seed eaters.  This can be accomplished with a number of commercially available seed mixtures and several specialty seeds.  Among the seed eaters there are a number of feeding styles.  No one type of wild bird feeder is made to accommodate all three types.  In simple terms, we have the scratchers, the perchers and the clingers. 

The scratchers are birds like the towhees, quail, doves, White-crowned Sparrows, juncos, thrashers and others who normally feed by scratching in the leaves or on the ground to find their seeds.  These species are best fed with platform bird feeders.  These feeders accommodate the scratching instinct in these birds and present a much more comfortable feeding environment for these types of birds.

The perchers are birds like the Cardinals, buntings, House Finches, many native sparrows, English Sparrows, jays, grosbeaks and most blackbirds.  These birds are able to perch at a hopper bird feeder or tube bird feeder with perches.  These birds usually feed up off the ground, but perch (sit upright) while they feed.

The clingers comprise one of the most sought after groups of birds in the backyard environment.  These include the goldfinches, Pine Siskins, redpolls, Purple Finches, Cassin’s Finches, chickadees and nuthatches.  In nature these birds will cling to the top of a flower or grass blade and glean the seeds from the seed head.  This feeding type is best accommodated with a special feeder which allows the birds to cling directly to the side of the feeder instead of utilizing a perch.  These special feeders are available for dispensing thistle or Nyjer seed for the finches or sunflower seed or peanuts for the other small clingers.

Insect eating birds have been harder to attract in the past, but modern innovations have made it possible to attract them utilizing artificial food sources.  Many insect eating birds enjoy suet including the woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, wrens and more.  Suet bird feeders are now a staple in many backyard bird feeding stations.  Today, several companies make a suet cake with dehydrated or freeze dried insects embedded within the suet to further attract the insect eating birds.  Specialized feeders such as the bluebird feeder may be utilized to attract insect eating birds by feeding live meal worms or other live insects.  Recently peanut butter has been used to attract a number of insectivorous birds including wrens, thrashers, chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, warblers, bluebirds, towhees, White-crowned Sparrows and juncos.

The fruit eaters like berries, orange halves and other fruits.  Feeding them is a little harder to do artificially, but we have found several ways to accommodate them.  We provide orange halves on the pegs of our recycled oriole feeder.  This attracts orioles, catbirds, mockingbirds and thrashers.  We have tried placing melon fruit in suet baskets and that has attracted these birds as well as tanagers.  Jays seem to like the melon fruit also.  Raisins spread out on a platform feeder have been known to attract robins, thrashers, catbirds, waxwings and several other species.  There are now several companies that make suet cakes with berries and other fruit added to attract the fruit eaters.  All of these work to various degrees, but the one item that we have found that is a real bird magnet for fruit eaters is grape jelly!  Grape jelly lovers include the wrens, catbirds, flickers, mockingbirds, orioles, tanagers and warblers. We also provide this in our recycled oriole feeder and there is a steady line of birds to this food.

Always make sure that your feeders have food in them.  While wild birds are not dependent on feeders for food, it is much more pleasing for you if birds are actually coming in to the feeders where you can enjoy them.  An empty feeder attracts no birds.

Also make sure your feeders are clean.  Diseases may be spread on dirty feeders.  To prevent these diseases your bird feeder should be cleaned periodically with a 10% bleach solution. When nighttime temperatures fall below 55 degrees, the bleach is not necessary but the cleaning is still a must.  A simple rule of thumb regarding cleanliness is to ask yourself, “Would I eat from this bird feeder if I were a bird?” 

As with providing water, always remember the three basic elements of providing food for birds and wildlife–cleanliness, comfort and consistency.  All three are important in maintaining a backyard bird or wildlife habitat.

While birding in Cave Creek we found six Painted Redstarts.  Now we have had Painted Redstarts winter over in our area.  When they do stay, the redstarts are common visitors to hummingbird nectar feeders.  They are one of the warblers that will come to nectar. others being the Townsend’s Warbler, the Black-throated Blue Warbler,The Cape May Warbler, the Orange-crowned Warbler to name a few.  But this number of redstarts is another indicator that spring is here.

These birds seem to be aware of how beautiful they are, and regularly posture with the wings and tail slightly spread.  They will also turn around on the branch so you can see all sides of the bird.

The Painted Redstart nests in a shady area on a steep slope.  In our area they like to use bank overhangs or a small crevasse between or under boulders.

To find the redstart here in Portal your first stop should be the bridge just before the picnic area in South Fork.  Good birding to you!

The National Wildlife Federation lists three components necessary for the survival of all species of birds and wildlife; water, food and cover and places to raise their young.  If you provide these elements you will attract birds and other wildlife to your backyard habitat.  Once you get these elements started in your yard you can get your backyard habitat certified as a NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat.   For more information on the Certified Wildlife Habitat Program go to http://www.nwf.org/backyard/index.cfm . 

Water is a very important element for birds.  Many birds come to water that do not come to seed feeders or other bird attracting devices.  The birds need to  keep their feathers clean just to stay alive so they make daily visits to safe, clean and consistent water sources for the important task of preening.  You can make your water feature more comfortable for the birds by providing nearby bushes and trees for preening and evading predators.

To provide water for your birds, all you really need is a shallow 1 to 2 inch deep dish with a non-slippery bottom.  Commercial bird baths are made specifically for this purpose and are available in most price ranges.  Many more birds can be attracted by a drip or waterfall situation.  The sound of moving water will attract every bird within hearing. 

Cleanliness is important with water as a number of diseases can be spread from dirty water in a bird bath.  To prevent these diseases your bird bath should be cleaned every few days with a 10% bleach solution. When nighttime temperatures fall below 55 degrees, the bleach is not necessary but the cleaning is still a must.  A simple rule of thumb regarding cleanliness is to ask yourself, “Would I drink from this bird bath if I were a bird?” 

Always remember the three basic elements of providing water for birds and wildlife–cleanliness, comfort and consistency.  All three are important in maintaining a backyard bird or wildlife habitat.

The spring bird migration was about a week ahead of schedule here in Portal until we reached the first part of March.  Two things have influenced our bird migration.  First we are having a cold spell that has lasted about 5 days now.  We have had some early hummingbirds in the canyon mostly the Broad-tailed Hummingbird and a report of a Magnificent Hummingbird.

The other thing that has influenced the birds in the area has been a large fire.  The Hog Fire is over 16,000 acres.  The fire is now 50% contained thanks to Mother Nature and hard working firefighters.  Mother Nature gave us about 2/3 of an inch of rain over night and the wind is down today.  The fire is in the Peloncillo Mountains southeast of Portal, but the smoke has found us.  Neither the birds or the local residents were enjoying the smoke.  Hopefully the hummingbird migration will be in full swing next week.   We will keep you posted.

I have a new life bird!! A BLUE MOCKINGBIRD!!  We had some birding friends from South Dakota stop by.  They are very experienced bird watchers and have been birding in our area before, so we thought we would go birding and add to our year lists. 

On Thursday and Friday they added some of the area specialties such as the Olive Warbler and the Hutton’s Vireo.  But the truly great day was Saturday when we drove down to east of Douglas.  We saw the Ruddy Ground Dove and the BLUE MOCKINGBIRD!!!  It was a lifer for all 4 of us.  The bird was in a little bog below a spring.  The bog was surrounded by a hackberry tangle.  Getting a lifer is always great and I think that the latest lifer is always the best for me, but others have a special sighting that brings a smile to their face. Let me know what bird and all the details of your best sighting.

 If you need directions to see the Blue Mockingbird just e-mail me.