"pecking order" is a real thing

Cedar Waxwings

All birds have a pecking order - who eats first and so on.  Even common birds of north Texas do this, like the Carolina Chickadee (the species found here).

The "top" male feeds before anyone else. The younger "squires" draw
the short straw - the perilous sentinal duty of watching for the most dominant birds of all; hawks.

Black Skimmers

BEFORE YOU BUY JUST ANY BIRDSEED!   A recent univerity study examined ten popular brands of birdseed. Half of them contained seeds of at least six species of weeds - things you very likely don't want in your landscape. Not only would you be paying for seeds of noxious weeds, but wild birds rarely eat them - leaving them to sprout and spread.

  Since nobody prints "contains weed seeds" on the birdseed bag, I suggest you buy from a trusted marketer who cares about reputation and not just profit; where the bag hasn't been sitting on a shelf for an unreasonably long time.

Drills finally reach ancient, pristine Lake Vostok

...drilling through over 2 miles of solid ice...

It took scientists a few decades of hard work, but they finally drilled down to Lake Vostok, in the middle of Antarctica.  Lake Vostok is a fresh-water lake, about the size of Lake Ontario, that's been under ice for somewhere between 15-million and 34-million years.

Russian scientists finally reached Lake Vostok, drilling in the coldest spot on earth, through over two miles of solid ice (12,366 feet to be precise). Despite this being the end of the Antarctic summer, temperatures reached minus 45 degrees (f). The site is idle now due to the cold, but scientists will return next summer to reopen the bore hole and test the pristine water.

If simple, basic life exists in these conditions, it holds hope for finding life within ice formations in other parts of the universe.



On a similar subject, Russian scientists have "revived" a growing plant from a frozen seed about 31,800 years old found in Siberia. This holds promiuse for varities of grains and so on, thought to have disappeared forever.

The seed, from the Pliestocene ara, was probably buried by an Arctic Ground Squirrel in permafrost, and the area was never thawed or cultivated. The plant, a Narrow-leafed Campion thought to be extinct, is now happily flowering.

A phenominally miniscule "feeding niche"

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Certain birds can share the same tree as a 'food source' by looking at it from a different perspective. The Downy Woodpecker and Brown Creeper, for instance, will hunt for insects while going UP a tree. Conversely a Nuthatch will hunt for insects on the same tree(s) while going DOWN.

Downy Woodpecker

All birds find food, and the available food supply is spread out fairly and used efficiently.








Check out this Screech Owl video;

What is the magnitude of the oil spill in the Gulf? (Not just the beaches but the whole Gulf)?  For a comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 was 11-million gallons. It's estimated to have killed between 100,000 and 250,000 seabirds.

The recent Deepwater Horizon spill ("leak" actually) let about 210-million gallons of oil pour into the Gulf. Dead birds are still being counted, and more deaths will occur for decades; the bird deaths may total well over a million.

Safely cleaning gunky, wooden suet feeders

"Before"  (Yellow-throated Warbler)

After several years, oil from suet and/or peanut butter will leach into wooden suet feeders. The bacteria that can then grow on the wood can harm birds.

You can use a simple solution of water and bleach (10 to 1) to safely clean it. I'd soak it in the solution for about an hour, scrub it, rinse it with fresh water, then let it air dry.

In case you're thinking that any bleach residue will hurt birds; Household bleach from the bottle is diluted to 5 to 9 percent already. If you then dilute it further, at 10 to 1, any bleach residue (sodium hypochlorite) will be negligible.


Privacy fences can have unintended consequences. Cats instinctively use them to trap young birds (that are unable to fly yet).l


Rather than eliminating the fence or the cat, I suggest planting some sort of dense vegetation at the base of a fence, allowing the fledgling bird to hide, or climb up the vegetation instead of being fatally trapped. In north Texas, vines such as Coral Honeysuckle, Virginia Creeper, grape or even annual Morning Glory will do the job. Excellent dense plants for Texas yards are Lantana and Mistflower.

"That hawk doesn't look tired to me"

Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Spring migration is underway. So Swainson's Hawks will be here soon, arriving from their annual migration. Thousands and thousands of hawks of all species, from all over North America, have spent the winter in a small area in northern Argentina that's about the size of Arizona. That means a round-trip migration of around 12,000 miles.

A reader reported that a flock of Pelicans has settled in at the Southlake Park Lake, near McMath Middle School. Nobody can remember them landing in Denton before, although flocks have been seen on Lake Lewisville in the past.

These are the species "White Pelicans", not the Brown Pelicans that dive underwater for food. White Pelicans, as they swim, strain the water with their large bills, catching fish. Several of them will swim in a line or an arc to trap small fish.

Most birds aren't faithful at all

Ruddy Ducks

Carolina Wrens

It may come as a surprise, but very few birds are monogamous. There's a lot of hanky-panky going on in the trees, wetlands and shrubs of north Texas.  Recent DNA research shines a light on the "playing around".

Of course, birds' primary concerm when mating is passing on good genes; those that enable better flying, more endurance, better hunting for food etc. In a typical nest of four nestlings, only about two have the genes of the parents raising them.  The other two have a different mother or father or both (usually it's the father that's different - for logistical reasons).

In other words, it's not uncommon at all for a bird to copulate with a bird that's not its mate; sometimes birds will even incubate an egg laid by another bird. It's all for the sake of the genes!

Passenger Pigeon (extinct)

Early in the last century, Passenger Pigeons were found in great numbers - in most parts of the country. Millions and millions of them - flying wild in their rural habitat.  Now the bird is extinct.

It was hunted to death, and its natural habitat (and food sources) was going away. The last one died in a zoo in 1914.

Which reminds us, especially during a cold spell like north Texas is having now, to make sure your birdfeeders are full, and (when the weather's better) to plant more "birdscape" plants to provide fresh food for our birds.

Go ahead; pick up that baby bird if you must

Carolina Wren

Fledgling

Fledgling

Bunting

Momma can't "smell" if someone has handled it.  That's just a silly myth. In truth, birds have no sense of smell (although Vultures can smell somewhat, to locate food). But the songbirds we see in north Texas (Bluebirds, Wrens, Cardinals, Robins, Titmice etc) just can't smell at all.

So pick up the bird if it's absolutely necessary. But don't "kidnap" it. Keep in mind that the vast majority of the time, a "fledgling" bird  is being monitored carefully by a parent in a nearby tree. Most young birds spend around a week on the ground, still unable to fly, after emerging from the egg and growing larger and stronger.

If a human frequently goes and looks at it though, the human will leave a scent trail that a hungry predator (raccoon, snake??) can follow.


Ninety-five percent of Texas' Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge (in the lower Rio Grande valley) was obtained through the purchase of "Duck Stamps", which are used not only for Duck habitat, but for acquiring habitat for all kinds of birds.