What's that noise, and how do I make it?

Sometimes birds can be lured to a spot where you can see them by making a "pishing" noise. Pishing isn't at all difficult, but it can certainly make you look silly.  (this is a roughly shot video and the graphics could be a lot better, but it shows pishing understandably)   Basically it piques the curiosity of birds, who may come closer to see what that noise is.

With your mouth, make a spish, spish, spish sound as you exhale. I'm told it sounds like a baby bird in distress.

There are hundreds of ways to do it - no single one is absolutely correct. The best pishing method is the one that works best for you. A word of caution however - it can be overdone, and is sort of like "crying wolf" if used too much.

The best, and safest, insecticide known to man is bats.  Bats are "insectivores" (they eat insects), and a single one can eat up to 2000 flying insects, like mosquitoes, per night. Clearly they have a very high metabolism. For example, the 20-million Mexican Freetail bats from Bracken Cave (shown above) that emerge each night at dusk in central Texas eat more than 200 tons of insects in a single night. No poison is involved!

Give a birdhouse some privacy

Active birdfeeding areas make terrible nesting sites  - too much going on. Areas near birdbaths are "no-nest zones" too. Nesting birds, whatever the species, tend to be very territorial and dislike the constant activity around a birdfeeder or birdbath.

You may see birds near a feeder but that doesn't mean they're nesting there.  Trees and shrubs near feeders are merely staging areas  - intermediate perches to see if a feeder or birdbath is safe, or the food's promising.

A nesting bird doesn't want to be scrutinized for even a second. She (usually it's a female) is terribly vulnerable and the nestlings are helpless.(That's also why most female birds aren't brightly colored)

A reader's remedy for birds smashing into windows. It consists of strips of cloth hung about a foot from the glass and weighted with small clay pots.

Wrens have a tough time making up their minds

Carolina Wren

Wrens in nest bottle

Before selecting a mate, a male Wren locates four or five possible nest sites, and seeds each of the areas with lots of sticks and other nest-building materials. Then he chooses a mate. The mate/female then chooses the best nesting site and builds the real nest, using the materials put there by the male.

She'll lay 4 to 8 eggs but, like all birds, won't begin sitting on them ("incubating") until the last one's laid.  That way they're all hatched at the same time.

CLEVER BIRD:

Three rat poison marketers ignore STOP order

Three companies have refused to comply with a government order to stop selling or modify certain super-toxic rat poisons that can harm children, birds, pets and so on.  Most companies have acted responsibly and paid attention to the safety ruling from 2008.

Lola (rt.) killed by rat poison

This indiscriminate poison has killed many, many birds - primarily those that hunt rodents. A similar rat poison killed Lola, the mate of New York's famous Pale Male, a Red-tailed Hawk.

The three companies, pointed out by the American Bird Conservancy, are Spectrum Brands (makers of HotShot & Spectracide), Reckitt Benckisser (makes d-Con, also makes Lysol, French's Mustard & Woolite), and Liphatech (makes Generation).

Red Admiral

I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a lot of these Red Admirals in my north Texas yard.

A variety of food = a variety of birds

Platform feeder

Birds, especially migrating birds, will eat a wide variety of foods. Sure, they have favorites, like you and me, but you shouldn't hesitate to put out "unconventional" food if you're in a pinch.  Birds are likely to consume it if their favorite isn't conveniently available.

For instance, Woodpeckers' favorites are suet and nuts; but they will experiment with berries. Tufted Titmice will try nut pieces. Wrens often experiment with suet. Robins will try millet.

If you put a variety of foods out in your landscape, there's no telling what birds will stop by, but you are likely to have something for everyone.


The smallest bird in the world? The Bee Hummingbird lives in the Sierra Maestra Mountains of Cuba. It actually is about the size of a bee. This same forest is said to be home to a close cousin of the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which was re-discovered living in an Arkansas wetlands.

Woodpeckers are attracted by a challenge

If you've put up house for any of our local Woodpeckers, remember that they want a bit of a challenge so they can achieve a sense of accomplishment. It's part of their mating ritual.

Try adding a mild barrier to the entrance hole, such as putting a piece of cardboard, or thin piece of wood, with a 1" hole in it, over the real hole (which should be about 2" depending on species), so they can enlarge it themselves to the proper size.

Just make sure the real hole is somewhat obvious or the Woodpecker may ignore the birdhouse entirely.The smaller "dummy" hole also keeps Starlings from taking over.

Here in north Texas the most common Woodpecker species are the Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers (shown here). Other species sometimes live here, but are not as common, or are only here in the winter.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

There's hardly any activity at seed feeders about now. That's totally normal.


This is breeding season. Birds of almost all species are primarily concerned with feeding their young right now; and the developing birds eat only insects (with just a few exceptions) until they "fledge" from the nest. Seeds are indigestible to their undeveloped digestive systems.

How caterpillars and butterflies defend themselves

Everyone knows that caterpillars become butterflies. And birds eat caterpillars and butterflies.  After all, they ARE insects!

They've developed a defense mechanism, however. Particularly the Monarch butterfly we see here in north Texas. When the larve of the Monarch eats some of its host plant, the butterfly-to-be also ingests a bit of the plants' toxin. The Monarchs are immune to it, but this makes eating the Monarch poisonous to any pedator, including birds.

The host plant is commonly called Butterfly Weed; technically any species of Aesclepias is an ideal host, which includes Milkweed. Consider putting some in your yard to attract Monarchs.

Look again!!

Maybe some folks don't know that climate change is real, but birds certainly do. Now its impact on birds has been proven. A 40-year study by the Audubon Society pinpoints the effects of climate change on various birds. In just 40 years, the centerpoint of the Purple Finches' range has moved 433 miles to the north.  Boreal Chickadee, 279 miles north.  Downy Woodpecker, 29 miles north. What's more, Audubon's findings are that it takes about 35 years for a bird species to adjust to a new locale.

In a way these birds are fortunate. They happen to have suitable habitat and food sources to the north, so they can move. Birds that don't (Meadowlarks for example) face starvation and extinction.