Wrens need a good home. Your yard?

Carolina Wren

Bewick's Wren

Whether you see them or not, wrens live in your neighborhood. And now is a good time to attract them to live closer by - now that the rigors of a Texas summer are ebbing.

Wrens are small birds, with a disproportionately loud voice. It's a pleasant sound, so it's a good thing they're easy to attract. In fact wrens NEED human contact and conform well to the way we live. In north Texas, our native wrens are the Carolina Wren and the Bewick's Wren (pronounced similar to the car). The Carolina is browner than the Bewick's, and both are slightly "huskier" than other wrens. Consequently, our wrens probably won't be able to get into a mass-produced, one-size-fits-all wren house, which is sized for a House Wren (which is sometimes here, but isn't very common).

A key to attracting wrens in Texas is a brushpile; a random pile of branches 4-5 feet high, with lots of spaces and voids on the inside. In bad weather it's a comparatively warm place to roost - which attracts all birds. A brushpile also provides safety from animals that would like a wren for dinner.

 The year-'round availability of water is also essential to attracting wrens; not just during the heat of the summer. Even in winter, wrens need to bathe, and will poke around in vegetation near birdbaths in search of overwintering bugs.



You can try to attract owls as twilight fades. Pause in a meadow or a clearing in a wooded area (or your own yard, if it's wooded enough) and squeak like a field mouse. Draw breath in through almost-closed lips so you squeak (the precision of the sound isn't very crucial!). Owls are attracted to the mouse-like sound, but will veer away at the last second.  (Here in north Texas, our common owls are Great-horned, Barn, Eastern Screech and Barred)

Why plants native to north Texas should be planted here

Frequently I've advocated the use of native plants instead of plants whose origins are in Japan or Europe or...   Why?   The plants native to north Texas are easily recognised by wildlife (such as birds) who for thousands of years have instinctively and genetically known how to utilize our native plants for food, nesting, shelter and other ageless facets of life.

Plants' functions are also timed to coincide with our birds' needs. For example they'll produce berries just when birds are looking for food, and so on. Native plants also are better adapted to life in our dry, hot environment and our poor soil.  In other words, they'll live!

Perhaps this video explains it better. Fortunately we're about to enter (around mid-September) the best planting time for Texas plants (it's not spring, like up north). In my Landscape Architecture practice, I try to time my projects for Fall planting for this reason.

Probably that's a Chuck-will's-Widow, not a Whippoorwill

Chuck-will's-Widow

Chuck-will's-Widow

You probably don't see it, but it calls over and over and over and over and over and over. In much of the country that describes a Whippoorwill. But here in north Texas, that's almost certainly a Chuck-will's-Widow. They look somewhat similar, and both are in the Nightjar family.

Our Chuck-will's-Widow, however, has adapted to our environment.  It has a distinctive and persistent call - sounding much like its name.  It catches flying insects, like mosquitoes, with its huge mouth (2" across). Of course, if we kill most of the mosquitoes......


A hearty thanks to the powers-that-be where I live (Denton) for not spraying pesticides from airplanes on its citizens. West Nile Virus is certainly a bad thing for some people, but I have a very different view. 

To me, WNV is a plague that we, as humans, have brought on ourselves through our relentless destruction of bird habitat; places where birds can live. After all, a single bird can eat around 1000 mosquitoes per day (depending
on the species). So, having lots of birds around would take a big chunk out of WNV. 

Conversely, having fewer birds around means we have more mosquitoes. And more WNV. And if we kill the birds' food source, along with their habitat, we'll clearly have fewer birds. Many more people die each year in north Texas from asthma than from WNV, but many governments aren't taking drastic steps to curb its major irritant - air pollution.

Obviously I feel strongly about this, but I'll get off my soapbox now.

Selecting a birdbath that birds will actually like

Cardinal in birdbath

Birds are normally enthusiastically attracted to birdbaths - even kinds of birds that will never show up at your feeders. Actually, birds NEED birdbaths to survive. Many vessels, however, are just "garden ornaments", and quickly become maintenance headaches that just take up space in your garden. A true birdbath goes beyond just an ability to hold water; it's welcoming and functional for birds.

Painted Bunting on dripper

Address these three criteria when selecting a birdbath that birds will be attracted to:
1. Depth. Since most birds in north Texas are afraid of deep water, a true birdbath should be no deeper than 2 or 2.5 inches. That way non-swimmer birds can stand on the bottom while bathing.
2. Material. Whatever the birdbath's made of shouldn't be so light that it blows over, or can be upset by a curious dog. Some metals and a few resins are good, but a good grade of concrete is best. A densely made concrete won't harbor algae, develop tiny cracks or soak up water. It can remain outside all year long, since birds need birdbaths as much in January as in July.
3. Ease of cleaning. The inside surface shouldn't have a bunch of intricate, flowery designs. These can hide bits of algae (algae will grow in any birdbath) which birds don't like.
     If West Nile Virus is a concern, simply put an inexpensive "mosquito dunk" in the water. It's not poisonous to birds or mammals, and can be reused.


     Place your birdbath within 3 to 5 feet of a dense shrub or small tree to leave an escape route if a predator (cat?) appears.
     The amount of sun isn't critical, but a half-day of direct sunlight is ideal. Never put one in the middle of an otherwise-empty lawn.  Add a dripper or mister to a birdbath to make it even more enticing.
     Above all, place the birdbath where you can see it. Like from a living room window. Then sit back, watch, and enjoy.

Don't worry about ugly birds this time of year

molting Blue Jay

molting Cardinal

About this time of year, many people see scruffy-headed, bald or patchy birds. It's not their finest hour, cosmetically. But they aren't seriously sick, they don't need your help, and it's only temporary. Most likely it's molting;  a normal occurrence for many living things that live outside.

Birds constantly replenish their feathers when they become worn out. The head feathers, however, molt and regrow all together (so the head often looks much worse than normal). Also, birds often pick up microscopic, parasitic feather mites.

They're not a serious problem and birds usually get rid of them by preening their feathers with their beaks. But they can't physically get to the mites in their heads, so the feathers there get disheveled sooner. When cool weather arrives, however, the mites will die and the birds' feathers will have regrown.

IT'S JUST A THEORY   Woodpeckers have huge brains, relative to other birds. A recent gathering of the American Ornithological Union backed this up with measurements.

Nobody's certain why their brain is so big, but a leading theory has to do with their trait of hammering on wood. With the constant hammering, some of the woodpecker's brain cells are bound to be damaged, so woodpeckers are endowed with bigger brains to make sure they'll have enough left over in old age. (Sounds good to me!)

Does corn demand more than its fair share of space?

The unique topography of the Great Northern Plains was formed over 10,000 years ago, when ice-age glaciers scoured the terrain and, when retreating, left behind thousands of indentations, many of which can be called lakes. Today the area is known as the Pothole Prairies region. For many centuries, it has been the nesting and breeding grounds for millions of birds, including many that we see in north Texas during the birds' "off season".

The region covers the Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota, plus bits of several other states. It also includes portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba in Canada. But it's being diminished in size, due mainly to corn growing.

Tax subsidies promoting corn-based ethanol are hastening the area's destruction. Source: a recent study released by the National Wildlife Federation, with data gathered by researchers at the University of Michigan.

More than 3.2 million acres of the Prairie Pothole region in the U.S. have been plowed under in order to make room to grow more corn. Much of that corn is grown to meet America's questionable need for ethanol, an ingredient in fuel that allegedly creates cleaner combustion and lowers emissions when blended into real gasoline.

Eastern Meadowlark

Grasshopper Sparrow

The habitat's conversion to corn growing, however, comes at a very high price. In some areas the decline in bird populations has reached 30% - and it's still climbing. Seriously declining species include Meadowlarks, Upland Sandpipers and Grasshopper Sparrows (you can occasionally see a Meadowlark near Lake Ray Roberts Park, but it's rare).

The USDA provides corn-growing incentives, such as tax breaks, crop insurance and low-interest loans which virtually guarantee a grower's profit regardless of the crop yield. If the demand for ethanol remains steady, an additional 10.6 million acres of corn could be planted in the next year. Grower's will reap a profit without taking any risk, and bird populations will keep declining.


NOTE: I've used the term "grower" instead of "farmer" because most entities that now grow corn are corporations.

The close-knit world of Bats

A ton of myths surround bats, mostly due to old Hollywood movies and the absence of a fact-checker.  Fact is, a single, mature bat can eat about 5,000 mosquitoes per night. So they're great to have around, unless you like mosquitoes.

CORRECTED MYTHS:  There are absolutely no vampire bats on this continent. Bats do not get tangled in your hair. Bats constantly groom themselves, making them one of the cleanest animals in the world. Bats are not blind - they're "nocturnal" which is totally different. Bats are not rabies vectors, though a few (under 1%) get it; (if one gets the disease, it dies within about 24 hours, so it's unable to transmit it.).

Bats leaving Congress Ave. Bridge,
Austin, every night at sunset

I hope you'll forgive me for posting this blog a little late;  Nancy and I were down in Austin visiting relatives (and seeing bats).

There are over a million Mexican Freetail Bats in the Congress Ave. Bridge - all female. They all hunt and eat every night. We went on the Lone Star Riverboat Tour, which we heartily recommend for their knowledge and environmental concern. (And there were NO mosquitoes!)


HIGH-TECH BIRDING!   Times have changed!  Within the search area of the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker, a biologist discovered a large woodpecker feather. Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology was able to analyze the feather's DNA and compare it with an Ivory-bill's that they have on file. Unfortunately it was from a Pileated Woodpecker but it's amazing that the analysis was even possible!