Why do Houses Finches seem to be everywhere?

 

House finches are small, often red-headed birds. Despite their great numbers in Texas, however, this region is not their natural home. They are native to the dry regions of the west. Because of the males’ red coloring, they used to be trapped and sold in the New York area as “Hollywood finches”. Being illegal and not wanting to get caught, the dealers released them around 1940, all in the Long Island area.  The House Finches liked it and adapted quickly! 

Within two decades, the species expanded to the Carolinas. Eventually, Texas. The rest is history. As you can see in the picture, the males are red & gray;  females are gray & black.

 

 Cut down the right tree.  Now is the time to mark those trees that need removing this winter; due to its death, disease or location. Winter is easily the best time; for one, you have far less chance of damaging neighboring trees.

I mark trees with bands of brightly-colored "flagging tape" which is used by surveyors. But you can use anything handy. That way, I'm not afraid of cutting down the wrong tree by mistake. 

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

Molting birds aren’t sick or in pain…it’s natural

 

Around this time of year, lots of birds look shopworn, unkempt and raggedy. Don‘t worry about it! 

Birds lose some or all of their feathers on a regular basis. It’s called “molting”, and the regularity of it depends on the species. New totally-normal feathers grow back.

Feathers are NOT alive, but are keratin much like hair or fingernails on humans. When they get too worn, the birds’ bodies slough them off and new ones grow. This helps them stay warm when needed. Usually it’s simply due to the ravages of time, and our climate, that wear out feathers. But other causes may be at fault.

A common reason is microscopic mites which occur on all birds. Normally, a bird preens them off using his beak. But in areas that the bird can’t reach (like the neck or head) the mites may overpopulate and ruin a lot of feathers.  Winter weather will take care of mites, but the birds look bad for a time.

There’s no need for you to worry about it. There’s nothing for you to do but wait for cooler weather to solve the problem naturally.

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Privet and Ligustrum: plants to NEVER plant

 

 Privet invades a landscape quickly, growing into thickets that crowd out native plants and change the very ecology of an area. Even if the shrub can be removed effectively, it’s tough for a landscape to return to its previous condition.

Actually, privet and ligustrum are two names for the very same plant. First introduced into the U.S. in 1852, Chinese Privet (Ligustrum sinense) escaped cultivation by the 1930s and spread across the Southeast.  “Chinese privet is the primary cause of the decline in diversity of native herbaceous plants and tree seedlings in the areas it infests.” said research entomologist Jim Hanula.

Results from a five-year study published by U.S. Forest Service researchers showed that not only can a thorough removal of privet last at least five years without a follow-up, but also that native plant and animal communities steadily return to areas cleared of the invasive shrub. Hanula and Horn began investigating how privet removal affected the recovery of plant and animal communities by comparing the treated plots to reference areas that had never been invaded by privet and control plots that were invaded and not treated. The results were dramatic,” said Horn. “The hardwood forests we’re working on are some of the most beautiful places in the South when they’re not choked with privet. We saw the return of native plant species in all of the treated plots.”

Results from their studies on pollinators were even more dramatic. “After only two years, there were four to five times more bee species in privet-free areas, 40 or 50 compared to the 10 on control plots infested with privet,” said Hanula. “We caught three times as many butterfly species on the mulched plots and nearly seven times as many individuals.”  “Overall, these results are encouraging, since we expected to have to re-treat the privet more frequently to preserve the integrity of the removal plots,” said Horn. “These results show that control following one removal event lasts at least five years.”

Ligustrums are notorious water guzzlers, pilfering water from more desirable plants. Around homes, fall is a great time to pull them out of the ground (they’re extremely shallow-rooted). Large plants can simply be cut at the base with pruning shears. Then, plant a few native plants, or let the natives re-fill naturally.

 

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

 

Maybe we'll see more locally grown produce at farmers' markets?

     The Denton City Council approved a change allowing beekeeping in the city, It allows residents to keep honeybee hives if they meet certain criteria.

     The city also has applied for a Bee City USA designation that would help promote healthy bee habitats and overall knowledge about bees.

     To be able to keep honeybees, residents must inform their adjacent neighbors, have a source of water within 20 feet of all hives and register with the city. The size of a person’s land also can limit how many hives they can keep.

     Before, most beekeepers followed the nuisance ordinance, which said Denton residents couldn’t keep bees if they endangered their neighbors’ health or welfare. Some, however, took this to mean that beekeeping wasn’t allowed at all.

     With the addition of beekeeping to the city code, Christina Beck, president of the Denton County Beekeepers Association, said she hopes this will encourage more people to keep honeybees. Because bees are such good pollinators, it could result in more local food sources.

     Beck also said the ordinance could help curtail the spread of Africanized bees, a type of aggressive bee that is often called a “killer bee.” Because our honeybees travel in larger colonies, they could possibly overpower other bees.   “Hopefully, we’ll see more produce in our community market,” she also said.

 

A sparrow by any other name…   The familiar and often pesky House Sparrow isn’t actually in the same biological family as our native Sparrows. Imported from Europe in 1851, it’s actually a weaver-finch. The common name came about because the small birds look similar to our native Sparrows. House Sparrows (sometimes called English Sparrows) are in north Texas all year long. The real sparrows migrate north for the winter. Our native sparrows belong to the Emberizidae family, but House Sparrows are in the Passeridae family (if it really matters!).

  Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

Put nectar feeders away, and still attract hummingbirds

Yippee!! My experiment is working quite well. No longer do I have to deal with messy, sticky nectar feeders for hummingbirds on a regular basis. But I still have lots of hummingbirds dropping by and/or living in nearby vegetation.

Instead of regularly handling messy nectar feeders, I planted large masses of colorful, native flowers. Their nectar is what hummingbirds eat naturally, attracted by the brightly-colored flowers. In my yard, I use lantana, Turks cap and flame acanthus. But you could use any native

Texas flower. Hummingbirds will love you for it, and visit often. And I’m able to put my nectar feeders away.

I’ll only use my feeders twice a year – when hummingbirds arrive and when they “pork up” to leave (late September).

You can put away your nectar feeders too. But please forego the planting until late winter or early spring, when plants are starting to grow. My advice to anyone wanting to plant in our summer is to throw the plants you buy directly into the trash, saving one step.  :)

Move along, Mr. Wasp       Wasps (primarily “paper wasps”) tend to build nests in the worst places.  If they’re prone to building nests on the underside of your roof eaves or the platform of your birdfeeder, try rubbing some bar soap there first. The soap prevents them from attaching the wasp nest.   (I’m told foil works too, but you may not like how it looks)

  

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His Denton design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

I'm trying an alternative to messy, troublesome nectar feeders

I am gradually removing myself from feeding Hummingbirds via nectar feeders. I've had it with sticky counters, boiling pots, hungry ants, and artificial nectar that gets stale quickly in the Texas heat.

The artificial nectar does the job just fine. It's just too much mess and trouble. Besides, I'd rather feed Hummingbirds the natural way - the way nature has been doing it for thousands of years. With flowers.

In the last few years I've planted and encouraged several "masses" of colorful, native flowers. They're chock full of natural nectar which continuously refreshes itself. The nectar they produce has evolved to be in the perfect proportions. All I have to do is water it and fertilize it when it needs it (which is hardly ever). Hummingbirds love ‘em, and an added benefit is the bunches of butterflies.

For the record; my nectar masses (each at least 20 square feet) are Turks cap, Lantana and Mistflower. (Each mass is composed only of one species, except one has a tree in the middle). There are also Flame Acanthus, Spiderwort, Butterfly weed and Roughleaf Dogwood randomly growing in the yard. Being native, they all do fine in Texas' radical climate.

There are just two times when I’ll augment my flower masses with nectar feeders. One is early spring when Hummingbirds arrive in this area after an arduous migration. The other is late September, when Hummingbirds throng feeders to ”bulk up” for the long migration trip ahead.

 

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com

North Texas' night owls

Great-horned Owl

Owl’s ears are not at the same level on its head, and they face forward not to the side. This helps him (or her) locate prey easily at night (usually an unfortunate rodent). Also, those tufts on an owl’s head are not ears – just feathers. The Great-horned Owl is the largest in this area, but north Texas has many Screech Owls (which don’t make the familiar “hoot-hoot” sound) and are somewhat smaller.

The Barn Owl is another area owl. An adult Barn Owl kills and eats, on average, about five rats/mice each evening.

  

 

Owen Yost, in addition to blogging, is a Landscape Architect emeritus from here, who‘s worked in north Texas for over 30 years.  He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), International Society of Landscape Architects, the National BirdFeeding Society, National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. He was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by the Native Plant Society of Texas. His design office is at northwestern68@yahoo.com