Archives

Black-billed Magpies: Did You Know?

When I started bird watching I was startled to see a magpie sitting on the back of a deer. I watched it land on the deer’s back, fly away and then land on the deer again four times. This behavior sent me back to the books (this was before the internet) to find out [...]

Red-breasted Nuthatch: Did you know?

These birds reminded me of watching a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches … collecting resin globules from coniferous trees and plastering them around the entrance of their nest hole. [...]

Turkey Vultures Mean Spring is Here!

We had a Broad-tailed Hummingbird into our saucer hummingbird feeder this morning and the Cactus Wren and the Curve-billed Thrasher are fighting over the telephone [...]

Bird Migration is Starting in Portal, Arizona

This week-end we saw our first signs of the spring bird migration…Over the week-end we had a Magnificent Hummingbird and a Blue-throated Hummingbird…We also had Mountain Bluebirds come into our Supper Dome bird feeder. [...]

Mountain Bluebirds – Did You Know?

The importance (of nest boxes) can be emphasized when talking about the Mountain Bluebird. Most studies of the Mountain Bluebird involve birds in nest [...]

February is Here – Start Thinking Bluebirds

For many years now the bluebird populations have been declining …but you can impact the population [...]

Lucy’s Warblers-Darlings of the Backyard

For the past couple of weeks we have been entertained by a pair of Lucy’s Warblers while we sit with our coffee mugs and watch the birds coming in to our backyard bird habitat.  These birds do not come in to the birdseed we put out for the birds.  However, the sound of flowing water [...]

Summer: A Prosperous Time for Birds?

Summer might be considered the most “prosperous” time of year for birds.  Most raise their families during this time of year because of the abundance of insects and berries to feed the young and themselves and the leafy shelter of trees, shrubs and vines is much more luxuriant during the summer than any other time [...]

Backyard Wildlife Habitats: Part 3 Shelter

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 [...]