Downy Woodpecker

There are limbs and piles of debris lying around throughout the arboretum since the ice storm. Many birds are hopping through them and using them for cover and searching for food. I enjoyed watching this Downy Woodpecker investigate some of the fallen dead branches.

In the first photo, it appears that both feet briefly left the limb as he struck it. Like in the previous post, a bird’s movements happen in the blink of an eye, so I feel some actions are only observable by capturing them with a photo. It is interesting to see him seemingly throw his whole body into it as he forcefully struck the limb.

As he chipped away the bark, I occasionally saw him trying to pull off pieces of bark to get underneath. He was so determined as he tugged on them.

As he went along, he circled the whole branch. While clinging underneath, he easily moved along as he poked and searched for food.

This bird has a great spirit and is fun to watch. Happy birding!

Bewick's Acrobatics

The other day I was snapping a few photos of a Bewick’s Wren singing. When I got home and looked at the photos, I saw this one. It is out of focus, but it captured the wren launching from the branch and doing an interesting maneuver. It was twisting its body to where its feet are towards the sky as it looks downward as it flies to a lower perch. I can’t figure out why it would flip over like this as it took off. Maybe it flipped over and did a full twist. I don’t know. Little birds like wrens and kinglets dart so quickly through the branches that they might do tricky, acrobatic moves like this all the time. These movements happen so fast that you aren’t able to notice them. Maybe he was showing off for a female that was watching nearby.

According to my dad, Founder of the Odell Society of Weiner Stand Hijinks and Oddball Medicolegal Terminology of Unexplainable Ailments, he might have the “Hygolican Flips!”

Accipter Action

When out birding it can be tough to distinguish between a coopers hawk and a sharp-shinned hawk. They are hawks that can whiz by you before you get a good look. I believe this one to be a Cooper’s Hawk that has caught a Northern Flicker. I put the measurements of the three birds below so you could compare them. The following data was taken from All About Birds by The Cornell Lab.

Measurements: Coopers Hawk
Male Length: 14.6-15.3 in (37-39 cm)
Female Length: 16.5-17.7 in (42-45 cm)

Measurements: Sharp-shinned Hawk
Both Sexes: Length: 9.4-13.4 in (24-34 cm)

Measurements: Northern Flicker
Both Sexes: Length: 11.0-12.2 in (28-31 cm)

In the photo, it appears to me that the hawk is considerably larger than the flicker. The Cooper’s Hawk has a more squared head than the Sharp-shinned Hawk which has a smaller, rounder head. Both birds can be seen out at the arboretum. Most of the time I hear the alarm calls of songbirds to clue me into the presence of a Cooper’s or Sharp-shinned hawk. It is amazing to watch the speed and agility of these birds as they navigate through the landscape in pursuit of prey.

I am putting a link to an informative page by The Cornell Lab that compares the two hawks side by side. Click here.

Good luck and happy birding.

Sunning

Birds need to care for their feathers. They are important for such functions as flight, attracting mates, camouflage, regulating body temperature, and keeping dry.

On warm, sunny days out at the arboretum I will occasionally catch a Steller’s Jay or an American Robin performing an interesting behavior called sunning. This maintenance behavior isn’t completely understood but seems to be largely associated with removing parasites, such as lice, living on their skin and feathers. Studies have shown that exposing the feathers to direct sunlight can allow them to heat up enough to kill some of the lice. In addition, lice might move to escape the heat possibly making it easier to clear them away during preening, which often follows a session of basking in the sun.

While scientists continue to unravel this mystery of sunning, one thing for sure is that we will all continue to marvel at the beautiful diversity of the colors and patterns of bird feathers.

Nature is an inexhaustible source of wonder. I look forward to seeing you out there.

Resources
Hot, Bothered, and Parasite-Free: Why Birds Sun Themselves | Audubon. 27 Feb. 2020, https://www.audubon.org/news/hot-bothered-and-parasite-free-why-birds-sun-themselves.

Sibley, David. What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing -- What Birds Are Doing, and Why. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020.

White-breasted Nuthatch

The white-breasted nuthatch is one of my favorite birds, and its curious, carefree spirit is an essential part of the oak savanna habitat of the arboretum. I always look forward to hearing its vocalizations and watching it hop and skip around on a tree.

It has an interesting behavior of moving headfirst down a tree as it forages. It will often pause and tilt its head back to have a glance at its surroundings. In David Sibley’s book What It Is Like to Be a Bird he says this about how nuthatches move around a tree:
”They do not use their tail for a brace when climbing—just their two feet clinging with sharp claws. The hind toe is particularly important for clinging, and it’s relatively large and strong. Usually they position one foot above the other so that the lower foot acts as a brace while the upper foot clings to the bark. This allows them to move easily up or down the trunk and at all angles on branches.”

It primarily eats insects, insect larvae, and spiders. They have pointy bills for probing into bark furrows and beds of moss and lichen growing on the tree. It also eats nuts and seeds. They love to retrieve bits of acorns from the parking lot that have been run over by cars. It will wedge a piece of acorn in the bark of a tree to hold it while it breaks off pieces to eat or will stash it for later. I also see it collect seeds like Douglas-fir.

Peterson describes its voice as: “Song a rapid series of low, nasal whistled notes on one pitch: whi, whi, whi, whi, whi, whi or who, who, who, etc. Notes of birds in interior West higher pitched and given in rapid series. Call a distinctive nasal yank, yank, yank; also a nasal tootoo.”

This is a fun bird to watch and get to know. I posted about this bird a couple of years ago and wanted to repost it. I hope to see you out there.

Resources
Peterson, Roger Tory, et al. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. 4th ed, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

Sibley, David. What It’s Like to Be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing -- What Birds Are Doing, and Why. Alfred A. Knopf, 2020.

White-Breasted Nuthatch Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-breasted_Nuthatch/overview. Accessed 15 Feb. 2024.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I feel that is always good to ring in the new year with the dark-eyed junco. They have a gentle spirit and are often at the entrance to welcome you to the arboretum. May we all be more gentle with each other and with nature as we journey together into 2024. May your time in nature be peaceful and rejuvenating. I look forward to seeing you out there.