Sunday, March 15, 2015

So you want to attract Purple Martins to your yard or neighborhood...

Purple Martin

Around now is when Purple Martins start to settle in the north Texas area. The “scouts” come first, followed by hordes of others. If you’ve put out the “welcome mat”, they may just settle down at your place.

They prefer nest sites cleaned of the majority of old debris, near water, and free of other birds (especially House Sparrows). Martin houses are almost always on tall, metal poles, and can be raised and lowered easily for regular maintenance. Since their natural habitat has mostly disappeared, they are dependant on humans for nesting sites, so the house typically comes in a box. In Texas, Martin houses should be made of a material that withstands heat, and be white to reflect our sun (both are crucial here). The houses need to be cleared of old nests at least yearly, and you’ll need to monitor it so other birds don’t take it over. If a house doesn’t come with a pole, shop elsewhere; and make sure the pole is easily raised and lowered.

Purple Martins are exceptionally good fliers – all their food is caught during flight (the ultimate “in-flight meal”). They’ve been timed at 41 mph. It’s not unusual to see hundreds of them at once; on, in and around the special house you provide.

Each year more and more people put up Martin houses; either the traditional “apartment house” or the natural-looking gourds. Also, several neighborhoods and communities in north Texas have become Purple Martin landlords, and enjoy a reduction in flying insects.

Screech Owl

Where are owls’ ears? Despite how they appear, owls do not have external ears; 100% of their hearing function is inside the body. What look like ears on their heads are just tufts of feathers mostly unrelated to their exceptional sense of hearing. What is also exceptional is their eyes, which let them see in near-total darkness.

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.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Hummingbirds get here around the end of March. Will your nectar harm them?

Black-chinned Hummingbirds

Adding coloring to nectar is just an “urban legend”; it’s never been proven to be necessary. According to Wildbird magazine, if nectar is dyed red, a typical Hummingbird (weighing just a few grams) takes in 10 times the amount of dye necessary to cause DNA damage, interfering with reproduction.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

High doses of Red #40 (the most popular dye) will also result in “significantly reduced reproductive success, parental and offspring weight” according to researchers. Plain nectar is what they need. Nothing more.

Here in the north Texas, microscopic bits of mold (found in most food coloring) can multiply rapidly, ruining an entire batch of nectar and making the birds go elsewhere.

Nowadays, almost all feeders are colorful enough all by themselves. In truth, it’s not just red that attracts them. It’s any bright color except green; (an adaptation that lets them spot nectar-producing flowers in a leafy jungle).

So please keep the nectar fresh and clear. They'll get to north Texas around the last week of March, so give them the nectar they want and need - to attract a healthy share to your yard.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Where have all the ground-nesting birds gone?

Killdeer

Meadowlark

Chuck-wills-widow

This observation was about Quail, but applies to all other ground-nesting birds as well (such as Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, Killdeer, Nightjars [Chuck-wills-widow] and most species of ducks). A former official of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Dept. stated that their declining numbers are due to habitat fragmentation, uncontrolled fire ants, and feral hogs and cats. In urban and semi-urban areas, the lack of meaningful habitat for ground-nesters is very controllable. It’s done by naturalizing and uniting undeveloped areas such as parks and floodplains, and by controlling fire ants in a safe manner (both relatively simple to do).

Before you swat it… America’s native pollinators cheerfully pollinate a whole lot of crops; for free. 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.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The direction of a birdhouse's entrance hole

You could put up a birdhouse (or “nestbox”) at the right height, with the right design and in just the right place, but birds still may turn down your invitation. Maybe it’s the direction that the entrance hole faces. Avoid facing it into the prevailing winds, or the direction from which most spring storms come. In north Texas that means the hole should face generally east (anywhere from SE to NE is ok). In Texas’ heat, you don’t want the hot, west sun to shine inside a birdhouse - ever.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology did research, proving that more birds fledge from boxes that face east. In fact, several friends have reported that Bluebirds have laid eggs in boxes already. It’s certainly not too early to put one up since many birds produce several broods – all summer long. Generally it's the older birds (with more experience) that produce early or very late broods. Putting a house up now should help them get used to its being there.

Many Texas birds don't even use birdhouses, preferring to build their own nests. So please put out plenty of nest-building material too.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Bought Weed & Feed recently? Big mistake!!

“Weed ‘n feed” is a two-in-one weed killing and fertilizer product which claims to kill weeds and fertilize the grass in a single application. It’s often used purely out of habit, and is marketed under varying brand names, none of which work.

The idea of accomplishing two tasks in one action have made weed ‘n feed among the most frequently used lawn care products. But Weed 'n feed actually weakens your lawn—causing the kind of fast, weak, unnatural growth that makes your yard susceptible to pests and disease.

1. It doesn’t work as advertised

The two ingredients in weed ‘n feed products simply aren’t meant to be applied at the same time. The pre-emergent part of it should be applied about 2 months earlier than the soluble fertilizer part of “weed n feed”. Putting them both in the same bag doesn't change this.

2. Excessive application of weed killers is wasteful and dangerous.

Granular “weed and feed” products are applied to the entire lawn, not merely to areas of weeds, which results in chemicals being applied where they are not needed. One ingredient should be applied to the entire lawn, and one is intended for problem spots. In most lawns, broadleaf weeds like dandelions usually occupy less than five or 10 per cent of the area.

Most contain 20 to 30 percent more weed killer than is really needed – too much fertilizer too. When we give lawns more food than they need, the excess fertilizer ends up polluting groundwater because plants simply can’t absorb it all.

3. They can kill your trees.
Quick-release fertilizers, commonly used in most weed ‘n feed products, apply a quick and heavy dose of nutrients to the lawn, and are likely to wash off. Another main ingredient in “weed and feed” – atrazine, should never be used on 99.9% of residential sites, and many commercial sites. Simply said, atyrtazine kills trees in addition to broad-leasf weeds. And tree roots cover the entirety of many residential lots.

For this reason alone I do not recommend Scotts Bonus S, Vigero, Sam’s Club weed n feed and a few others. Studies have also linked weed-and-feed pesticides to massive bird deaths.

4. Long-term lawn health is compromised.
Once you begin a program of using synthetic fertilizers, your lawn becomes dependent on these chemicals for every following year. However, over-fertilizing with synthetic chemicals disinfects or kills most of the beneficial fungi and organisms in soil. This makes it more difficult to build naturally healthy turf which contains beneficial organisms. Result; you need to buy more of their products every year.

5. There are safer, more effective alternatives.
Inundating your lawn with synthetic chemicals may do harm to other living things that frequent your yard. Pets, wildlife, even small children may be harmed. The good news is that you can have a beautiful, healthy lawn without using blanket applications of synthetic chemicals.

Consumers should also realize that weed ‘n feed products do not prevent new weeds from growing. You can prevent new weeds from germinating by applying a pre-emergent herbicide during that first warm spell in spring and in the early fall. One of the best pre-emergents is corn gluten meal, a completely natural substance that also provides the benefits of fertilizing. Corn gluten meal is an organic alternative to weed ‘n feed.

In short, if you bought weed n feed, and haven’t put it on you lawn yet, take it back.

Where is the “east-west” division? In the north Texas area we see the Eastern Bluebird, the Eastern Phoebe and the Western Kingbird. Not to mention the Northern Mockingbird. Huh??

The clarity of the east-west line has gotten a little fuzzy. According to Roger Tory Peterson, “the logical division is a belt between the hundredth meridian and the foothills of the Rockies”. In other words, the east-west divider is not so much a “line” as a “region”. Informally it’s the Rocky Mountains.

However, since birds can fly, they can be found almost anywhere. Members of several bird species have flown over the Rockies. A few species are actually IN the Rockies. In north Texas, the bird species are more “east” than “west”.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A safe, inexpensive fire ant killer that you'll need real soon!

As I write this, there is a crust of ice and sleet on the landscape. Birds eat anxiously, and hardly a thought is given to the regular spring happenings. Spring will be here very soon, however. It’ll bring the nice stuff like flowers and warm days. But it will also bring fire ants.

Fire ant mounds erupt in unexpected and inconvenient places each spring. So, many homeowners rush to a store and buy anything that promises to kill fire ants, not realizing that it also damages/kills pets, children and wildlife (including birds). It’s poison!!

Instead, I mix up a natural mixture - one that’s very effective, safe and inexpensive. I make a batch of the ”base” every year or so from ingredients at most hardware stores. The cost is about a tenth of the poisonous commercial stuff.

I suggest a mixture of about 40% compost tea, 30% orange oil and 30% liquid horticultural molasses (mixed thoroughly). You can mix up a batch of this “base” now and keep it ready. When the time comes to eradicate a mound I take half a cup of this mixture, mix with one gallon of water, and saturate the fire ant mound with it. Pour slowly to saturate the mound, and let it soak in – not run off. (I use a stick to quickly break through the mound’s crust.)

This doesn’t poison anything. It instantly dissolves insects’

exoskeletons. In about 5 minutes there’s no ant activity at all. A few days later, I’ll add beneficial nematodes to the soil to control fire ants long term.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

What's a "pile" of chickadees, and why should you care?

Carolina Chickadee

On cool nights, chickadees (the ones in north Texas are Carolina Chickadees) sleep together in a pile to conserve and share body heat. This way, they stay alive to propogate. Normally this takes place in a hollowed tree, or brushpile, but could be in an artificial “roost” you set up (a roost could be a variety of cozy places, such as an unused birdhouse or any other place that offers some protection from the winds, weather and predators). Other birds seek out roosts too - but chickadees are known for “piling” in the winter and cool spring nights.

You’ll probably never see a true Black-capped Chickadee here. Ours is a

Carolina Chickadee

slightly different species called Carolina Chickadee. It has a black cap too – hence the confusing names. The term ‘Carolina’ stems from the late 1700s when everything west of each of the original states was informally earmarked for that state’s future expansion. So things in north Texas were ‘Carolina’.

Insect eaters like good fruit, too

Many insect-eating birds (in north Texas that’s Robins, Mockingbirds, Kinglets, Orioles, Thrashers etc.) will turn into fruit eaters whenever insects aren’t abundant. Insects aren’t around in cooler weather, and fruit (typically in the form of berries) gives them the energy they need. They may even try fresh seeds when they’re really hungry.