Tom's Bird Feeders and Reptile Supplies

For the past two weeks we have been on a business trip to south Texas.  However, the beautiful thing about birding is that it is an interest that will travel anywhere with us.  There are birds everywhere in the world that a person would travel to.  After our own Portal, Arizona area, the Rio Grande Valley is our favorite birding area.  A trip can’t be all business…right?  It is an area with a number of unique bird species such as the Altamira and Audubon’s Orioles, Groove-billed Ani, White-collared Seedeater, Red-billed Pigeon, Long-billed Thrasher, Clay-colored Robin (Thrush), Brown Jay, Blue Bunting and Aplomado Falcon.   Even the common birds birds such as the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Harris Hawk, Crested Caracara, Ringed Kingfisher, Green Jays and Olive Sparrows keep us entertained because they are all species that we can only see when we visit “the Valley”.  Migrations in the area will always provide fun because most shorebird and warbler species that call North America home in the summertime will pass through the area both coming and going.

While many of our old birding haunts in the Valley are now closed to the public because of the rampant drug trade with nearby Mexican cities, several great places are still available for birding and nature studies.  Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is an excellent birding location.  We have spotted Aplomado Falcons here on several occasions and feeders and water features at the headquarters bring in many local favorites.  Falcon Dam and Falcon Dam State Park provide homes for Green and Ringed Kingfishers and Green and Brown Jays.  Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is great for a number of Texas endemics.  The Hidalgo Pumphouse Nature Park in Hidalgo, Texas is a wonderful early morning birding site.  Favorites here include the Clay-colored Robin which behaves much like the American Robin hunting worms on the grassy lawns.  Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park also provides for exiting birding.  There is even a Birding Trail which covers the vicinity and takes you into many small nature centers and special habitat areas.

We have found the birding to be very good in the Lower Valley all 12 months of the year.  Each season has its specialties, but you just can’t go wrong with this area at any time of year.

We have a report from Campbell County, Wyoming that the Greater Sage Grouse are booming.  They use the same area year after year, so any bird watcher should be able to give you directions.  Contact us if you need more help locating a lek.  This is something every bird watcher should see at least once.  On this particular lek there were about 20  males and only 3 females.

We also have reports of a good shore bird and duck migration from there.  Sitings include Cinnamon Teal, Black-necked Stilts, Western Grebes and Wood Ducks.

Tom and I just spent 2 weeks in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.  We were working, but as any good birdwatcher knows there is always time for a little side trip to birdwatch.  We were on Highway 281 by Los Indios when we spotted a small wetlands off of the highway.  As shorebirds and ducks are something we don’t see much of at Portal, we decided to stop.

Tom had wandered just a little ahead of me when I heard the “shouted” whisper. “Nancy, Nancy, Bluebird!”

I just nodded and continued looking at a Common Yellowthroat and had something wading just inside of some cattails.  I was hoping for a rail.  Besides I had all of the Bluebirds for the year.

“Nancy!” exclaimed Tom, giving be the behind the back wave which means he has something good.  I proceeded to catch up with Tom.  “We have a blue bird blipping through the brush.  I’ve lost him, but we need to find him.”

“Like a bunting or grosbeak?” I inquired.

“You tell me” he replied.  That is a clue that he does not want to influence what field marks I see or identification I may make.

About that time a blue bird hopped up onto open branch.  I got my binoculars on him just in time to watch him fly back down. 

“That was a dark, dark blue.  Much darker that an Indigo Bunting.  I don’t think I saw any wingbars.  I’m not sure what it was.”  The bird continued to move in the underbrush giving us glimpses of him, but never came out to give us a clear look.  Suddenly he flew across to an inaccessible area of the wetlands and disappeared.  We hung around as long as we could, but work called.

We returned to the car and dug out the book. The Blue Bunting is much darker than the Indigo Bunting.  Tom thinks that he may have caught a glimps of the beak, but not a great look.  The habitat was right, and if you are going to see one, we were in the right area.

We returned for the next 3 days to the wetlands and had lots of Indigo Buntings.  Most of them were between winter and breeding plumages.  None of then were dark blue to blackish blue.

It might have been a Blue Bunting.

It could have been a Blue Bunting.

I would like to call it a Blue Bunting.

Maybe it was a Blue Bunting.

This bird is going on our 2040 list.  If we have not seen a Blue Bunting by the year 2040, we will probably not get one.  When we are that old, no one will argue with us so the plan is to add all of the  might of….could of…..maybe birds to our life lists. 

2040 is going to be a great year for our life lists.

When we filled our coffee cups this morning and sat in front of our siding glass doors, we did not expect to see rival gangs try to take over our platform feeders!

A calm and peaceful Black-throated Sparrow was the only thing in our entire feeding station whe the day started.  He was selectively picking out his favorite seed when a “gang” of roudy Scaled Quail aproached from behind the red sage.  The male was calling and guiding his “harem” to the bird feeders for a quick breakfast before showing them his territory.

The Black-throated Sparrow calmly moved to the triple tube feeder to continue his breakfast.

Suddenly, from behind the rock fence (why it is a fence is another story) we heard another male Scaled Quail who thought that the platform bird feeders were clearly in his territory and was not about to loose face in front of his girls.

The Black-throated Sparrow calmly continued his breakfast.

Both male Scaled Quail shouted and circled around each other.  Then suddenly the first male attacked the second one by flying straight at him.  The chase was on!  Male #2 ran until he figured out that flying to a higher perch would give him an advantage.  He then flew straight at  the first male and  chased him around and around the firethorn bush.

The Black-throated Sparrow calmly continued his breakfast.

This territorial dispute continued until a raven stopped in to try for a bite of peanut butter from the oriole feeder.  It seems that he really did own the territory and both flocks of Scaled Quail recognized his superiority.

The Black-throated Sparrow hopped to the opposite side of the triple tube feeder away from the raven and calmly continued his breakfast.

None of the Scaled Quail had much time for breakfast, they were to busy claiming the territory to eat……. is there a moral somewhere in this story?

We have been commenting on the fact that the bird migration is running weeks early this year with many bird species back in Portal almost a month early.  Now we know for sure that spring is here.

• A male Scott’s Oriole is in full song from the top of the neighbor’s Yucca.
• The baby Red-eared Sliders (a turtle species which we work with at our facility) are swimming in the turtle pool.  These babies hatched from eggs laid last fall by parents we are caring for after they were hit by vehicles in the wild.  Quite often they hatch in late fall, but remain in the nest underground until favorable weather exists.  They seem to know when there will be no more freezing nights.
• The mesquite trees are leafing out.  They also seem to know when there will be no more freezing nights.

Spring has truly sprung here in the Chihuahuan Desert.

My neighbor stopped by for a cup of coffee and to discuss the “goings on” in Portal over the week-end.  While she was sitting on our sofa she could see our Best -1 hummingbird feeder.  She was amazed that we had a steady stream of hummingbirds in.  She commented that she had picked up a hummingbird feeder a few weeks back and hadn’t had a bird yet.  She asked if I had any tips to draw the hummingbirds into her feeder.  (Note: she did ask, I didn’t comment on her choice of feeders until she asked.)

She had been to a street fair in Tucson and had found a beautiful “hummingbird feeder” made out of a liquor bottle with a cork and a glass straw.  I do have to say that the glass work used to twist the bottle had made this a piece of artwork.  But that was what it was- artwork, not a functional hummingbird feeder.

So this has given me a chance to stand on my soap box and preach again about how not to pick a hummingbird feeder:

1. Do NOT pick a feeder that has a straw  out of the bottom of the bottle for the birds to feed from.  As the temperature changes the straw will leak nectar and leave you with a sticky mess below the feeder.  This will most likely draw and ants and other insects.
2. Do NOT pick a feeder that you can not clean easily. My unnamed neighbor has had her feeder up for over two weeks and had not cleaned it once.  It was starting to grow black mold.  Not very attractive or healthy for the hummingbirds.  We tried to use a swab, but with the twists in the bottle we couldn’t clean it.
3. Do NOT pick a feeder that is hard to fill.  My poor neighbor filled her feeder, turned it over and then had to play with the cork until it stopped leaking.
4. Do NOT pick a feeder without considering where it will hang and what type of weather it will have to withstand.  We get 40-50 mile an hour winds at certain time of the year.  The liquor bottle was not made to hold up to this weather.  Our Best-1 feeders will not spill even in this type of weather.

Please don’t worry about our neighbor.  I have connections with the Easter Bunny and she just may find a hummingbird feeder in her Easter basket.  She can use the artwork to hang in  her kitchen.  After all it is a beautiful piece of artwork!

Over the past weeks I have discussed the first two necessities of providing a good backyard habitat for birds; food and water.  Today I will elaborate on the third and final component of a good habitat, shelter.

Shelter can be provided to birds and other wildlife in three basic ways:

• birdhouses for nesting
• brush piles for roosting, nesting and foraging
• plantings to provide nesting, roosting and and safe foraging areas.

While not a large number of bird species use nestboxes, many very desirable species do.  For these species the following components are important:

• size proportional to the bird species you wish to occupy it
• thick wood construction to provide insulation from the heat and cold
• an easy way to remove one side or the top for cleaning and clean it out when nesting is over to prevent parasites and disease
• the proper size hole opening to discourage predators
• no perch (perches are used by predators, not occupants)
• a rough interior or grooves on the inside under the opening to assist the young birds in leaving the nest
• box must be hung in the right habitat, at the right height for the species meant to occupy it and the opening must face away from prevailing winds

Brush piles provide a favorite nesting place for many bird species including quail, doves, towhees, juncos and several of the native sparrow species.  A simple pile of branches and yard cuttings will provide homes and hunting areas for many species of birds.  It will be a hub of activity during the nesting season and will provide great shelter in the winter time.  After a year or two move the brush pile and you will find a wonderful layer of compost beneath it which your garden plants will love.

You can also use plantings in your yard to provide shelter.  Massed plantings of evergreens are useful for nesting and protection from wind and bad weather.  Thick shrubs and trees will assist in providing nesting places and safe foraging areas for birds.  This is the hardest aspect of a backyard bird habitat to provide sometimes as it almost always seems like it takes forever for the plants to grow to a useful size.  Be persistent and it will come.

Remember the three Cs when providing shelter for your birds; cleanliness, comfort and consistency.  Then, sit back, enjoy a cup of coffee in your bird themed coffee mug and enjoy these beautiful and interesting birds you have attracted to your backyard bird habitat .