Wild Turkeys vs. what's on our plates

wild Turkey

Unless we live under a rock, we realize that the turkey we eat at Thanksgiving is NOT the same as the wild turkey. They have a common ancestry, but it goes back hundreds of years.

The turkey was encountered by the Spanish conquistadors when they conquered the Aztecs in Mexico. The Aztecs had domesticated the bird for food and the Spanish brought it back to Spain.

In Spain and throughout Europe, it was bred and re-bred into the forerunner of the domestic turkey. It evolved into a very different bird from the original "wild turkey". The pilgrims brought it back to North America, and started the custom of eating it at Thanksgiving.

Since that time the domesticated turkey has been aggressively bred and hybridized even more, primarily to have more and more meat. These days, it can no longer fly, and has become what winds up on our plates each Thanksgiving.

wild Turkey

Lots of birds are in north Texas during cool weather

Some people are surprised to find out that there are more birds here during cool weather, than in the warm months. Many birds (like Chickadees and Wrens)  stay in north Texas all year long.  Also, lots of birds (such as Flickers and native Sparrows) come to Texas for the fall and winter - escaping the bitter cold and frozen ground up north. After all, this is the South!


Here's a short video I created showing some of the birds you might see in your north Texas yard during cooler weather.


Good birding attire should be durable, of course. The color is also very important. It should not be white, brightly-colored or dramatically patterned. In my yard the birds don't seem to mind earthtones, dark blue or dark green.

Why some birds are now singing BEFORE the crack of dawn

In a word (actually two); light pollution. It's the widespread use of intense artificial light when there should be darkness.

American Robin

According to a recent study, American Robins may start to sing 30-minutes to 3 hours earlier than they did in the past. The birds, quite simply, are confused. It's also evident in Mockingbirds, Wrens...all species. We can't see stars (or comets, meteor showers - all that neat stuff) in the night sky for the same reason - light pollution.

The Eastern Screech Owl is fairly common here in north Texas, and it "nests" throughout cooler weather - starting now. However, Screech Owls don't actually build nests. They simply find a safe place (unused birdhouse, old woodpecker hole, rotted-out tree trunk etc.) and lay eggs there.  The criteria are that it be hidden (so the owls can sleep during the day), the entry is at least 3 inches in diameter and the eggs won't just roll away.

In extreme weather the smallish owls may seek shelter in such a place (called "roosting"). If so, they're inclined to lay eggs there too.

The Eastern Phoebe's right at home in north Texas

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe

The north Texas area is at the southern extent of the Eastern Phoebe's "summer range", and also at the northern limit of its "winter range".  Which means that the Eastern Phoebe (despite its name) lives here year 'round - many of them anyway. Phoebes are very dependant on human-made structures such as bridges, roof overhangs, sheds and unused birdhouses, where they often roost at night or in bad weather.

Incidentally, the word "eastern" in a bird's name almost always means east of the Rocky Mountains.

Carolina Chickadee

Are you like me - sometimes forgetting where you put the car keys and so on? Maybe we sometimes share a trait with Chickadees. In a study of Black-capped Chickadees, the area of the brain used to process spacial information like where we left things  (the hippocampus) varies in size during a typical year.  It enlarges in the fall and winter, coinciding with the birds' seed-caching and -finding activity.  It shrinks in the spring, when feats of memory are no longer crucial.

By the way, the species of Chickadee found here in north Texas is the Carolina Chickadee.

Feed birds in your yard without a birdfeeder!

Log: about 1 foot long by 2 in. diam.

It's not difficult at all, and it's incredibly inexpensive!  Just slather some peanut butter on a small area of a tree's bark  (I use the Crunchy kind - the cheaper the better).  You can spread it on a part of an existing tree, or do what I've done:  cut a log section and outfit it with an eye-hook, to hang where flowering baskets were last summer .

Sometimes these "spreads" are marketed by some specialty stores. Don't waste your money!  Instead, save money by avoiding paying for others' marketing and pointless 'secret ingredients'.

Common Nighthawk

Sandhill Crane

Researchers with too much time on their hands discovered that most birds spend more flying time with their wings moving downward than with their wings moving up.  The downward motion (probably counteracting gravity) is a power stroke, and takes a tiny bit longer than the "recovery" stroke.

E. Meadowlark

N. Mockingbird

Look who showed up in my birdbath!

Although I felt somewhat like a voyeur, I spied on a Wood Thrush who was splashing around in one of our birdbaths. Wood Thrushes are usually summer birds here, so this may be the last I see of its kind for a while. But their "migration" may be just a short distance, so you never know! (see any similarity to a Robin?   He's a kind of Thrush too)

Mallard

North Texas has mild winters, so Mallards often stay here all year, depending on the availability of food and the safety of the surroundings. In the winter, they prefer roosts in or near wetlands (which rarely freeze solid here) which have lots of natural food, and are a hindrance to approaching predators.

Oh, to fly like a Turkey Vulture!

Turkey Vulture

ditto

You can see Turkey Vultures all over north Texas.  For a moment, let's forget the distasteful images. They soar effortlessly - flapping their wings only occasionally, and rocking gently from side to side. They're riding air currents, and it's almost a contest to see which bird can go the longest without flapping its wings. That behavior makes me envious of airborne Turkey Vultures and makes them easy to identify, even from a great distance.

Mockingbird in Yaupon Holly

A good landscape design has a place for everything you need. It accommodates a typical grassy lawn, places for birds, outdoor relaxation spots etc. All while lowering maintenance and utility costs dramatically. If this is the sort of "birdscape" you're wanting, from a licensed Landscape Architect (semi-retired), email Birdpoop@charter.net   This is the very best time of year to start planning a north Texas landscape.