When birds start a family close to your home, it offers a thrilling chance to observe their behavior. But if they choose to place the abode in a high-traffic area, it can be challenging too. Here are some pointers on how to be a good host.
Enjoy the Front-Row Seat
Most birds are secretive nesters. So when a pair chooses a visible spot, such as under the caves of a porch, it provides a rare opportunity to watch their family life up close. If the nest is visible from a window, you have a perfect situation: Most birds quickly adapt to being watched through the glass, especially if you avoid sudden movements near the window.
Writing notes on the things you observe each day makes the process more interesting and educational. Can you tell when the adults have started incubating or when the eggs have hatched? Can you see what kind of food they're bringing to the youngsters? Generally it's best not to approach the nest too closely. But if you can't resist peeking in to check the contents-no more than once every few days-it's OK. Do it when the parents are away, toward the middle of the day, not early in the morning when it's cooler and the birds may be feeding more actively. And steer clear of the nest when the young are nearly full-grown, or they may jump out before they're totally ready.
Denne historien er fra June/July 2023-utgaven av Birds & Blooms.
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Denne historien er fra June/July 2023-utgaven av Birds & Blooms.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Sense or Nonsense? - Why some birds can taste and smell - but others can't
Does a porcelain berry taste like a blueberry to a gray catbird? Does a block of lard smell like frying bacon to a northern flicker? The short answer is no. While some avian species do have a well-adapted sense of taste or smell, they can't distinguish between flavors and odors the way humans can. They're not picking up every ingredient in the suet you put out, says José Ramírez-Garofalo, an ornithology researcher at Rutgers University in New Jersey and the director of Freshkills Biological Station in Staten Island, New York.
Maple Mania - Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Amazing facts about this fall foliage mainstay
Food-Focused and Fierce - Meet Canada jays and learn why they eat almost anything they can find
Even if you haven't heard of Canada jays, you've heard of their relatives. Members of the corvid family, they belong to the same group as American crows, blackbilled magpies, and jays including blue, Steller's and scrub. "Unlike many of the other jays, a Canada jay doesn't have a crest of any kind; it just has a rounded head," says Dale Gentry, director of conservation for Audubon Upper Mississippi River.In 2018, the Canada jay's name was changed from gray jay, but Dale thinks the former adjective was fitting. "Most of its body is shades of gray with some white," he says. "There are different subspecies that have different physical traits, but most of them have some lighter coloring on their foreheads, upper breasts and throats, each with a darker streak that starts at each eye and goes back."
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