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| INTERESTING ODDS & ENDS archive #2 |
| Early naturalists believed that small birds hibernated while large birds migrated. The facts that Barn Swallows live in marshes, build their nests out of mud, and disappear in the winter fueled the erroneous belief that they burrowed into the mud in the fall and re-emerged in the spring. Today we know that they spend the winter in the tropics. For the record: No birds truly hibernate but some save energy through torpor, or profound hypothermia. This differs from hibernation in that body temperature is maintained above ambient temperature. (from Enature.com) |
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| If a Blackpoll Warbler, which can fly 80 hours non-stop, burned gasoline instead of body fat, they would get 720,000 miles to the gallon! Most songbirds migrate at night when the air is calmer & cooler….and when Hawks are not around. Hawks fly by day when it is easier to take advantage of the thermals. Shorebirds and Gulls, that travel longer distances, go both by day & night. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that from 4 million to 50 million birds die annually due to collisions with communications towers or wires. There are estimated to be 10,000 pairs of nesting Herring Gulls, and from 3700-6600 nesting pairs of Great Black Backed Gulls on Long Island. There are 19 different species of gulls that visit or nest on LI each year. (from Newsday) |
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| Peregrine Falcons are reputed to be the fastest animal on earth: they fly at speeds up to 200 miles an hour and can fly at altitudes of 2000 feet. They kill their prey by striking it in the air at high speed and then flying underneath and catching it on the fly. Danger & Pitfalls of Bird Feeder Maintenance: Hummingbirds like sugar water, but if sugar water is not changed often it will ferment. Birdbaths are important for drinking, as well as bathing, but water left too long without changing will breed bugs; or if filled more than two inches can cause small birds to drown. Any bird feeder not cleaned often will breed germs and spread disease. (from Newsday) |
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| The 2003 spring survey of breeding ducks conducted by FWS shows an increase of 5 million birds from 2002. This is in large part due to increased rainfall totals, which helps produce ideal nesting habitat. So, rain helps ducks! (from American Bird Conservancy) |
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| From The Beginning Naturalist by Gale Lawrence; the New England Press, 1979. submitted by Karen What Hawks Eat Cooper's hawk 55% small birds 17% rats & mice 12% game birds 10% poultry 3.3% insects 1.7% rabbits 1.0% frogs Sharp shinned hawk 96.4% small birds 2.6% rats,etc. .7% insects .1% frogs .1% rabbits .1% poultry Broad winged hawk 39.7% insects 30.9% frogs & snakes 23.0% rats & mice 3.4% small birds 2.0% aquatic animals .5% gamebirds .5% rabbits Red shouldered hawk 32.0% insects & rabbits 28.0% mice 25.0% frogs & snakes 6.5% small birds 5.3% aquatic animals 1.4% poultry .9% rabbits .9% game birds Red Tailed Hawk 55% rats & mice 10.5% insects 9.3% rabbits & squirrels 9.2% small birds 6.3% poultry 6.1% frogs & snakes 2.1% game birds 1.5% rats & mice Rough legged hawk 72% rats & mice 8.6% rabbits & squirrels 6.5% insects 4.3% small birds 4.3% game birds 2.2% aquatic animals 2.1% frogs & snakes |
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| Heating & Cooling Facts: From "Down & Dirty Birding" Joey Slinger, 1996 -Most birds pant to cool off, but Turkey Vultures & Wood Storks "poop" on their feet to cool off. -Hummingbirds lower their heart rate and "chill out" to stay warm. Other birds do this as well, like Chickadees. -Birds' feet don't get cold because there is hardly any blood vessels in the feet area. -Some birds that spend time standing on ice & snow have feathers on their feet (like Ptarmigans, some owls & hawks) -Ruffed Grouse's toes swell up in winter and "turn their feet into snowshoes". -"To stay warm, birds fluff themsellves up.....On hot days they do the opposite, squishing their feathers down flat." |
| Hunting Habits: from "Down & Dirty Birding", Joey Slinger, 1996 -Birds that hover: hummingbirds, kestrel, rough-legged hawk, northern harrier, kingfisher, terns,. Others may hover, but don't make a real habit of it. -Reddish Egrets dance and "race around like a lunatic", and sometimes spread it's wings open like an umbrella.. Theories as to why: stirs up food from bottom, casts shadow with wings to cut reflection. -Flycatchers fly quickly out into the air, grab bugs and quickly fly back to where they started. (There are some warblers that do that too: redstart, Canada Warbler, Wilson's Warbler.) -Black Skimmers fly low over the water, lowering their lower bill, dragging the bill through the water as they fly. When the bill encounters a fish it acts as a "hair trigger" and snaps shut with the bird continuing to fly along. -Ducks: some dive and some dabble at the surface. Some combine the two. -Woodpeckers hammer on a tree with their bill looking for insects. Nuthatches also pick at the bark of trees either hiding food or looking for food. Sapsuckers drill holes (rows and rows of them) causing the sap to run so they can "suck it up" with tongues that look like little paintbrushes. |
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| Some Kirtland Warbler Facts From "Down & Dirty Birding", Joey Slinger "The entire population of Kirtland Warblers, after wintering in the Bahamas, returns to a section of central Michigan you could just about walk around ina day. Kirtland Warblers are picky, picky, picky. They demand jack pines, but the jack pines must have grown after a forest fire, and they must only have grown so far....to somewhere between five and eighteen feet tall.....These jack pines have to be in a stand, and the stand has to cover an area of at least eighty acres......No wonder there are hardly more than a thousand Kirtland's Warblers left." |