Thursday, October 20, 2011

Are there enough dead trees in north Texas?

For birds to protect themselves from bad weather, and to raise little birds, there needs to be at least four dead, full-size trees per acre, according to 'Bird Watchers Digest'. Clearly, they make nests in them, or on the branches.  If all dead trees are totally removed, birds will simply go elsewhere.

Thirty to forty percent of all birds in north Texas nest in the "cavities" in dead trees. To keep those birds around my yard, when I remove a dead tree, I often leave a tall stump (6 ft or more).

Does your neighborhood make Chickadees, Wrens, Woodpeckers, Titmice, Bluebirds and Swallows feel at home?


Since thousands and thousands of bats, flying closely, don't ever bump into each other, we know that they're not blind. That's a total myth!

They each use an exceptionally fast and accurate sonar-like system called "echolocation" to avoid other bats, to avoid humans, and to find food (flying insects). Each bat makes an extremely high-frequncy sound and listens for the sound to bounce off an object. This happens in a millisecond.

Each bat has a slightly different sound so they don't interfere with each other. They can also use this unique sound to identify family members.
bats hunting at dusk, Uvalde TX

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