Habitat Manager's Dilemma

Thanks to a donation, installation, and encouragement from a local group of bird folks, we added three new bluebird houses to the upper savanna area and have been more diligent in monitoring them. We have felt no angst in years past in removing the occasional sparrow nest from bluebird boxes we have maintained, and have often had at least one bluebird family successfully fledge young.

This year, however, we were faced with a new situation, as shown in two photos immediately below. On April 5, a couple of Carolina chickadee eggs were observed in one of the old nest boxes located in the southwest corner of the savanna. We followed our usual practice when finding eggs of any bird species in a box and left them alone. But six days later, on April 11, the regular check of the box discovered an additional chickadee egg plus five bluebird eggs! This raised the stakes on a decision as to how, or if, to intervene.

April 5, 2012

April 11, 2012

The long term strategy of Habitat Home has been to recreate and/or enhance a few habitat-worthy areas of the property to encourage occupation and success among a wide range of plant and animal species. While we have favored native plant species and removed some non-natives, in particular invasive species, we have generally had no interest in playing favorites. A notable exception has been the introduction of nest boxes, more or less intended to encourage bluebirds. These boxes have been occupied by bluebirds, tree swallows and nuthatches, often resulting in successful families of young birds.

In this case of two native bird species, the question is whether to let nature run its course or if it is better to remove the chickadee eggs. Would we be crossing a line in "natural" selection, intervening in support of not the "fittest" but the "preferred"? Would the chickadee and bluebird compete for nest "rights"? One might expect the female bluebird to begin to sit on the nest and incubate the eggs since she was probably the most recent egg layer here. But if she did, the chickadee eggs would almost certainly hatch first, since they have a shorter gestation time. What would happen then? Would the female bluebird feed the newly hatched chickadees? Would the chickadees destroy the bluebird eggs before they hatched? It's difficult to imagine a scenario which results in all the birds living happily ever after. But hey, this is how it works; I'm sure this is not the first time a nest has been simultaneously used by two birds.

We decided that since we received a donation and installation of nest boxes this year, specifically intended to promote the local bluebird population, that we would intervene and remove the chickadee eggs, which we did on April 12 (see photo below). We expect this to increase the odds of success of any of the eggs (now only the bluebird eggs) to hatch and the young to fledge.

April 12, 2012
(after human intervention)

Addendum 4/23/2012: Following yesterday's post (above), it has been pointed out to me that there are reported cases of birds raising young of different species, or even multiple parents raising young in the same nest. Plus, by removing the chickadee eggs, I have violated both state and federal laws covering protected species, which include chickadees. While I am not planning to turn myself in to the sheriff's office, I will likely not so over-think this issue if it presents itself again. I guess this is what we meant by "challenges and frustrations" in the blog's upper right sidebar introduction.

Great Egret

Yesterday the whole bottom field was flooded. This is the area that we burned last month (see the previous post).

Today as we watched the flood waters recede we were delighted to see this bird in the bottom flooded field. Great Egrets (Aredea alba) were once threatened in Illinois due to both habitat loss and the desirability of their feathers for ladies hats. But today, egret feather hats are no longer in style and many habitats have been restored to suit the egret. They like marshes, wetlands, and river floodplains where they patiently walk about seeking frogs, fish and snakes. This egret successfully stabbed a frog and walked about with the frog clamped in its bill, as shown in the photo above. It dipped the captured frog in the water every so often, then squeezed it between its bill. After about ten minutes of this it finally swallowed the whole frog. The egret stayed around all day and was joined by a great blue heron and a pair of Canada Geese.

American Robin

These robins along with about 20 more were foraging in our back yard this afternoon. The weather has turned warmer and the snow cover is melting. The snow was practically gone on this south facing slope that is our backyard. These over-wintering robins did not seem to find many larvae, insects or earthworms in their search, but they certainly were busy looking under all the dead leaves.

Ground Feeders

The back brick patio at Habitat Home (once it is shoveled) is just perfect for throwing a scoop of cracked corn and sunflower seeds on to feed the birds. A few of the partaking birds are a blue jay, junco, mourning dove and sparrow.

Bird Feeders

Bird feeders are so important this time of year. Deep snow, cold winds and ice all make it difficult for the birds to find food. Not only will you help the birds survive this time of year but you will benefit also from watching the beautiful birds at the feeders. These are just a few that visited our feeders this afternoon.

A tufted titmouse, the downy woodpecker and the little chickadee.My friend reminds me that: Tomorrow [12/18/2010] is the annual Champaign County Christmas bird count. The circle of territory runs from approximately Flicker Woods Trail at Homer Lake to the east and Busey Woods to the west, so if you are within that area please consider counting a few birds tomorrow, either at your feeder, on a special trail, in your car, or at Homer Lake with some of the Champaign Co Audubon folks. Folks will be at the Homer Lake Nature Center at 7AM and the building will be open from 11-1 for indoor bird watching at the feeders.

Happy Birding!

Ring-necked Pheasants

We were pleasantly surprised to see an unusual sight today, a group of about eight ring-necked pheasants wandering through the back yard.  There has been quite a bit of snow recently, with the latest inch or two falling last night.  These birds, six males and two females (plus or minus), walked in from the bottom prairie, explored and foraged among the trees behind the house, and then flew in a rush a couple hundred feet to the east for some additional searching for something to eat.

We frequently remark about the apparent decline in the number of pheasants we've seen in recent years.  Ten years ago, it was an almost daily occurrence to see or hear one of these beautiful birds flying into the prairie, moving around in the upper savanna, or running across the road in front of the car. Today, it is rare that we see a pheasant anywhere in the area.  Apparently, this is not an isolated situation; pheasants are having a hard time throughout much of North America.  Although not native (pheasants were introduced from Asia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), pheasants thrived here.  However, their population peaked around 1950 and has been declining since.

Loss of habitat heads the list of reasons for the decline, likely locally as well as regionally.  These birds like hay and grain agricultural areas, especially where there are grassy borders and pockets of tall grass and trees (sound familiar?).  They historically did well in the agricultural Midwest, but the changes from small multi-crop farms to large monoculture farming practices have taken their toll.  Alas.  Anyway, it was so fun to see this "large" group, that I have to include another photo.

Phoebe Family Feeding

By Friday, the phoebe nest (see Phoebe Nest Compendium post) was on the ground and there were no birds to be seen or heard. I wished them well. Then this morning, out the bedroom window (no, I wasn't climbing trees, at least that early) I saw a phoebe-size bird fly off the deck and out onto a nearby tree branch. Sure enough, also on the branch was one of the little guys. The adult made a couple more quick visits over a ten minute period, and the camera managed to catch one of the transfers of an insect to the hungry kid. Guess the adults aren't finished caring for the family yet, and we're glad to have the flying "mosquito collectors" still in residence. I may tend to anthropomorphize everything, but doesn't Mom look a little haggard here, at least compared to four weeks ago?

Barn swallows

Habitat Home does not have a barn, but our neighbors do. We were over visiting our farm neighbors this morning and they showed us these wonderful nests that have been built in their barn. The barn swallows will return to the same nest site every year, repairing or rebuilding the nest. They eat mostly flies but they also eat beetles, bees and wasps. All taken on the wing. There were two other nests in the barn. The male and female were quite busy feeding this brood and did not seem to mind having visitors about.

Thanks Tom and Sue for sharing your barn and birds with us.

Phoebe Nest Compendium

For those of you who can remember (through the recent avalanche of flower and plant posts here) and may have been watching for a follow-up to the story on the pair of Eastern Phoebes who built a nest above my den window, I'll sneak a synopsis in here. The last post (Nesting Continues) showed that after a lengthy courtship, the phoebes finally got down to business at least three weeks after the nest was complete, and were rewarded by June 14 with four white eggs.  Almost two weeks later, on June 27, there were four hatchlings as seen here.

Last week, on Thursday (July 1), after watching from the den window as both parents worked very hard at gathering insects for the chicks, I made an attempt to photograph the parents doing a feeding. This is made difficult by the location of the nest immediately under the deck where there isn't much light. So I strung up a shop light with a 100w incandescent bulb, and although this allowed me to actually see a feeding, the results were not too clear photographically. You can see her pushing that insect way down the gullet of the chick. It was not clear from the photos that day how many chicks had survived.

After almost a week of procrastinating and getting involved in other projects, I realized it was now or never, so today I finally did the right thing, setting up my studio strobe light under the deck and running the sync cable down the hill to the camera.  This provided much more light and gave much better results.  Unfortunately, I could only see and photograph three young ones waiting for their mom or dad to show up with something to eat.  Apparently one of the chicks had not survived. But wow, they are big and continually move around in the nest, standing up on the edge, switching positions, etc.

I sat quite still, and finally the pair of adults returned and made several visits to the nest. I watched and took photos, but their repeated visits seemed to be very short (five to ten seconds) and did not seem to involve feeding.

Seen with their mom here, they sure look almost fully grown.  Perhaps she was trying to tell them something.  Although I'm sure she always looks like this when flying away from the nest, you want to imagine that she is trying to show them how to do it!

Anyway, I watched the adults make five visits to the nest, all apparently without food.  So I wrapped up the shoot, took the camera and tripod into the house and came back outside to take down the strobe and its tripod, which was on the patio about 8 feet from the nest.  There, under the tripod, was brother (or was it sister?) number four, apparently the adventurous one.  Or perhaps his brothers and sisters kicked him out?

He just sat there and looked at me while I collapsed the tripod.  When Joan came out a few minutes later to see him, we started to approach and the little guy took a couple hops away from the house and took to the air, in more or less a climbing flight, down the hill and about fifteen feet up into a tree.  Success!

American Goldfinch

A small band of goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) were eagerly examining the Rudbeckia maxima. The plant has grown tremendously over the last weeks and has sent up shoots that are about ready to flower (see post from last July). The stems are still rather weak and not even strong enough to support the finches that were examining it. Notice how bent they are in the photo. I have seen finches ride the branches all the way to the ground. They are quite amusing to watch with all their upside down antics. However, they will have to wait a bit long for these seeds to ripen and even longer for their favored thistle seeds.

Time for Eggs - Revisited

It's been four days since I checked the nests in the birdhouses (see the previous post, "Time for Eggs"), so time for another look. This time, mom bluebird sat and posed for about a minute, but as you can see in the left photo below, she didn't look too happy to see me. She finally had enough and took off, revealing the five pale blue eggs still incubating.

The white-breasted nuthatch nest, in the right photo below, was more interesting. Again, and unlike the bluebird, the female left the birdhouse as I approached within 30-40 feet. The five eggs have all hatched and the chicks are waiting for mom to return, presumably with their next meal. It's hard to believe looking at them, but these chicks' wing feathers and muscles will develop sufficiently in 18-26 days for them to leave the nest. Their mom and dad will continue to feed them for another two weeks after that, and then they'll be off to find and establish their own territory.

Time for Eggs

I belatedly checked the birdhouses this morning, and results were somewhat as expected and somewhat surprising. The tree swallows we covered last week did not take occupancy of the bottom field west birdhouse. However, those bluebirds they were keeping their eye on did establish a nest in the house to the east, and this morning, after opening the top of the house and then finally getting mom to temporarily leave the nest, the five pale blue eggs were visible (image above left). Five is very common for bluebirds, and incubation time is 13-15 days, so although I'm not sure how long it has been since she laid these, let's say hatching might occur in about a week.

Moving to the upper field, I approached the house there and a nuthatch flew out before I got very close. Apparently, she is a bit more nervous than the bluebird. The nest (image above right) is a two tier affair, with a deep mass of short green grass pieces (I've mowed a couple times around there recently) and some drier grass and hair(?) on top. Looked pretty soft to me! A count of five eggs is in the lower range for the nuthatch (usually 5-10, commonly 8), and incubation time is 12 days. Unlike bluebirds, the nuthatch pair will only have one brood this season. We'll keep looking, and maybe catch a picture of some newborns.

Spring is such an amazing season. These things happen every year, and it's new each time!

Tree Swallows

The west bird house in the bottom field is being thoroughly checked out by this pair of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). They've been in and out several times, but we've not seen them bringing nest material in yet. Although these boxes are occupied by combinations of bluebirds and sparrows every year, this is the first time we have seen tree swallows on and in them. But the neighborhood is big enough for everybody and, like the bluebirds, we welcome more bug eaters!

In the next couple of days we (like the swallows in the photo below) will be checking out the pair of bluebirds that are in the house next door, about 150 feet east (left in the photo).

Barred Owl

We noticed this barred owl sitting on the electric wires along the road early this morning.  Barred owls are common around here, often seen swooping around or watching from a tree or utility pole, but we're not sure if we've ever seen one on the wires.  This owl has a good view of the large upper field with conveniently short grass, but he's keeping a watchful eye on the traffic on the road, too, including me.

Barred owls feed on a variety of small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and even fish, so the environment around here is perfect, with a mix of grassland, trees, bogs and the river.  They haven't nested on the property for several years, though, so we're hoping maybe this one will settle down.

By the way, Joan prides herself on a great imitation of the barred owl's call, and claims to have had many two-way conversations.

Red-Tailed hawk

In our upper savanna area, the trees are finally getting big enough to support these large birds. They like to sit at the very top of the tree.  We often see one flying from one tree top to the next and also to the top of the telephone poles.  We watched as this one swooped down and captured something.  It then  flew to the top of a distant telephone pole and with its back to us, ate whatever it caught.  These hawks are fond of voles, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, birds, snakes and frogs.

Organ Pipe Wasp Nests

Minding my own business at the computer yesterday, the sound of pecking outside the window was enough motivation to go out in the cold to see who, or what, was trying to take the siding off the house.  Slowly approaching the pecking sound, now identified as coming from the underside of the deck above the window, something fell down and bounced on the patio, and then a downy woodpecker flew out.  The photo above shows one of the several organ pipe mud dauber wasp nests constructed under the deck.  You can see the damage the woodpecker has done (to the nests), probably looking for larvae or spiders that the wasps left last fall.  Mud dauber wasps tend to be nice to have around, they are not aggressive, eat lots of spiders, and are, in turn, eaten by birds - I've watched bluebirds take wasps on the wing.

Bluebirds - Harbingers of Spring?

Bluebirds were flitting about the backyard this morning, following an overnight snow (note the snow on the branch lower right). Two downy woodpeckers were chasing the bluebirds from tree to tree, acting either friendly or territorial, not sure which, probably the latter. Although it was 15°F when this photo was taken, can spring be far off? I'd better get busy and clean out the bluebird houses around the property!

The Nuthatch

This little bird looks fine in this photo, but it was having problems earlier. She flew into the kitchen's sliding glass door. We were easily able to watch as she slowly recovered from the mishap.

Nuthatches are great little birds. They are fun to watch as they move headfirst down a tree looking for insect larvae. The males have a black "cap" and the females have a dark gray "cap". They are year-round residents and it amazes me that something so small and delicate looking can survive the Midwestern winters and the occasional flight into a sliding glass door.

Bluebird Bath

We have so enjoyed the bluebird bathing going on each evening (see Bluebirds post), that we brought out the old Panasonic miniDV video camera and shot half an hour of splashing fun. Visiting the bath tonight were at least seven bluebirds, a mix of adults and juveniles. The black eyes on the left side of the bird bath belong to a ceramic frog. The birds seem to like the rough sides of the bird bath and the extra perches that the frog provides above the shallow water surface. These juveniles likely hatched and grew up on the property, but will be departing any day now for points south, perhaps only as far as southern Illinois.

Click on the play button in the window below to play the video which runs about 1 minute 50 seconds.