Most of north Texas' Woodpeckers don't migrate.

Downy Woodpecker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Some migrate – but most of them are here all year.  Evasive answer, I know. Of the 22 Woodpecker species north of Mexico, only 15 migrate long distances. Non-migrators include the most frequently-seen here; the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. The Red-bellied Woodpecker doesn’t migrate either. On the other hand, our local species of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (a member of the Woodpecker group) spends summers up north and winters here. So it's called a "Migrator”.

 

How a woodpecker eats suet    If you looked closely, you’d see that a woodpecker has many tiny barbs on the end of his (or her) long, narrow tongue.  So the tongue has sort of a bottle-brush shape. The barbs catch on the suet and break off tiny pieces. The “regular” tongue brings these pieces into the woodpecker’s mouth. Although many birds peck at suet, only the woodpeckers (in north Texas, Downy WPs, Hairy WPs and Red-bellied WPs are common) are adapted like this.

 

 

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.  

 

 

Now is a critical time for Hummingbirds in north Texas

Buff-bellied

Now, here in north Texas, we are entering a crucial time period for Hummingbirds. Soon they’ll start their twice-a-year migration. Most will fly non-stop over the Gulf of Mexico; some will fly south along the coasts of Texas, Mexico and Central America. If they survive the flight, they’ll end up in their wintering grounds of Central America. and far northern South America.

 Many will die, sadly. Which is where you, the individual homeowner, come in. Big government (whether it be city, county, state nor federal) can’t do it. Nor will they. It's up to you, and maybe your neighbor.

Hummingbirds that have lived here all summer join with those from other parts of the continent as they migrate. You may see species you’ve never seen before – “porking up” at your nectar feeders. They’re using the Central Flyway, which comes right through north Texas.

They’ll come through at all hours, too. Some may even stop for a day or two to rest up if the nectar you have is particularly good, and there are safe resting places nearby. (Due to calmer winds and the lack of predators, much of migration flight is done at night).

So expect your nectar feeders to be busy in September. Also, do your part by keeping nectar feeders filled with of clear, fresh nectar for some Hummers you may not have seen before.

Broad-billed

Costa's

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.  

 

starlings came to America, unwillingly, from far, far away

 

European Starling

Like Kudzu vine, 'flying' Carp, fire ants, Burmese Pythons and Dutch Elm disease, starlings (technically European Starlings) didn’t occur naturally on this continent (like 99% of our birds).

An eccentric Shakespeare enthusiast released about 100 starlings in New York in the 1890s. He thought it a clever idea to bring to the “New World” every species mentioned in Shakespeare’s writings. Now we have over 200 million of them.  Alas!

 

Before you swat it…      America’s native pollinators cheerfully pollinate a whole lot of crops; our native bees alone do $3 billion worth of crop pollination that would otherwise have to be done by hired honeybees (which are mainly European in origin). As of yet, nobody has received a bill for all the pollination by home-grown pollinators.

Of course all honeybees (whatever their country of origin) are suffering greatly from the man-made eradication that's called "colony collapse syndrome".

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

A world minus half as many birds as there are now

.     "Queen of the Sun" is a documentary film about the importance of bees, how we are killing them, what a world without bees would be like, and what we can do as individuals. Here's the "trailer".

For one thing, there'd be a lot fewer birds around. Because there'd be a lot less natural bird food around. Because there'd be a lot fewer pollinators around.

JUST BECAUSE YOUR BIRDFEEDER IS EMPTY, IT DOESN’T MEAN YOU HAVE TO FILL IT RIGHT AWAY

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

Why don't birds fall off the branch they fall asleep on?

 

Eastern Kingbird

When birds sleep, they usually perch on a branch and stay all night. But why don’t they fall off when they doze off? Because a ratchet-type arrangement of the leg bones, muscles, tendons and feet tightens - the opposite of the relaxation that happens with humans. When they awaken, birds can adjust this, but when asleep the feet clench tightly, like they’re glued to the branch

 

 

Clogged feeders?       Whenever your feeders are outside, experiencing 3 or more straight days of continuous rain and/or high humidity, the seed can clump together and clog. Since birds feed heavily during breaks in the rain, I leave my feeders outside. But when the rain ends, and preferably overnight, I’ll bring them in, temporarily empty the seed into a large pan, break up any clumps, and let it air-dry.

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

Please, please write - they can't

The U.S. wants to crack down on the U.S. trade in elephant ivory and help save elephants from extinction. But opposition groups like the NRA are doing everything in their power to make sure these rules never see the light of day. Meanwhile, African elephants are being gunned down by the thousands, fueled by surging demand for ivory in the United States, China and around the world.

More than 30,000 elephants were poached in 2012 for their ivory, leading scientists to estimate that African forest elephants could become extinct within a decade. Deaths of African elephants now exceeds their birth rate. We must do everything in our power to stop the killing.

The United States ranks as the second-biggest ivory market in the world. Much of the world follows our lead. That means that the proposed regulations can make a real difference in the global fight to protect elephants.

Please send  a message to the President and Fish and Wildlife Service Director, Dan Ashe, urging them to issue strong safeguards and help end our role in the deadly trafficking of elephant ivory.

Just last week, the governor of New York (the country’s largest ivory market) signed into law a bill banning the sale of ivory and increasing penalties for traffickers. New Jersey has done the same. Now the stage is set for U.S. to strengthen ivory laws at the federal level

 

 

The term “weed” has absolutely no botanical meaning or firm definition, unlike words like “tree”, “flower” and “shrub” etc.  It evolved around the 9th century from the Old English word “wiod”. It’s a variant of an earlier Saxon term meaning wild and uncultivated.

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.

 

Two birds species that were very similar, but evolved into separate botanical groups

Painted Bunting



Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Buntings and Grosbeaks were once in the same botanical group. After the Ice Ages, they each became differently unique, and separated into two distinct groups (according to fossil records). The two groups evolved very differently. In north Texas, we’re fortunate enough to be in the “overlap” of some of these species. Observant birdwatchers here can see both the Painted Bunting and the Blue Grosbeak.

 

 

Enchanted forest?   The smallest bird in the world lives in a forest in the Sierra Maestra Mountains of Cuba. It’s about the size of a healthy bee; hence the name - Bee Hummingbird. (Like all hummingbirds it makes a buzzing noise too)  This same forest is probably home to a close cousin of the elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which was allegedly re-discovered in an Arkansas swamp.

 

 

OWEN YOST, in addition to being a blogger, is a licensed Landscape Architect emeritus who has lived and worked in north Texas for over 30 years. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Federation of Landscape Architects, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. His office is at Yost87@charter.net in Denton.