Tag: backyard birds

Familiar Faces

January 14th, 2020

I have not yet discussed house sparrows in this blog, which strikes me as an obscene oversight because house sparrows are the most common bird on earth!

I am sure that you, dear reader, are familiar with house sparrows already, but did you know that these birds are not native to North America? House sparrows were brought to this continent by humans close to 170 years ago. These small songbirds thrived here and can now be found from coast to coast.

House sparrows are often derided: they are an invasive species that compete with native birds for resources. That said, being brought here was hardly the fault of the birds, and it is just plain old unfair to hate them for something so beyond their control.

House sparrows live wherever humans live. If you keep your eyes open, you will notice house sparrow nests in all kinds of urban nooks and crannies like traffic lights, the eaves of houses, and vents. Or you may encounter house sparrows the way I did earlier today. I was just about to enjoy my last slice of acacia pizza when I was distracted by the sight of a raptor perched in a tree in the distance. I walked away from my pizza for just a few minutes to try to get a better look at the bird and when I returned, house sparrows were busy nibbling my pizza! Even though I had really been looking forward to eating that last slice of my vegan pizza, I decided I had better leave it to the birds – the tapioca cheese had little sparrow footprints in it and I found that quite unappetizing.

XOXO,
Bernice

PS: I have three more fabulous links about house sparrows for you today. The first is an article from Smithsonian Magazine entitled The Story of the Most Common Bird in the World. The second is an article from the Audubon Society called How the House Sparrow Conquered the World Is Encoded in Its Genes. Finally, I found a marvelous video from National Geographic called You’re a Sparrow. Here’s How to Survive New York. Enjoy!
Meow?

June 25th, 2019

“Meow? Meow?”

I looked over my shoulder and saw my dear friend, Hector, with his neck stretched way down, nose to the ground, face-to-face with a grey catbird. My funny friend was meowing at the bird.

“What are you doing, you nut?” I don’t know why I asked. I could see clearly what Hector was doing.

“I am hoping to hear this grey catbird say meow, Bernice,” Hector answered in a whisper. He then continued to do his cat impression. “This catbird is not cooperating!” Hector whispered, exasperated, after a while of uninterrupted meowing.

“I imagine the bird was stunned speechless when he found himself face-to-face with a meowing giraffe!” I giggled. “The sound isn’t really a meow anyway. It’s more of a short, squawky, mew sound. I don’t think grey catbirds sound like cats at all, though I seem to be alone in that opinion.”

“Well, I would like to hear for myself and make up my own mind about it,” Hector huffed.

“I’ll keep my ears open and let you know if we hear one, Hector.”

“Thanks, Bernice. You’re the best.”

We resumed our walk.
What’s in a Name?

March 12th, 2019

I like American Crows and am lucky enough to see them all the time. Why just today, I saw a crow perched on a lamppost outside the market and then I saw two crows in an oak tree I passed on my way to NuNu’s house.

Did you know that crows are very smart? They are thought to be some of the smartest birds in the world. I like the way crows say “Caw! Caw! Caw!” and I like how big they are. Crows are much easier to spot than a teeny bird like a house finch.

When I see a crow, I stop to admire it. Before this past weekend I had never seen a large group of crows, even though I know they often gather in sizeable flocks. So when Hector and I came upon a murder of crows, I was very excited.

“Hector! Look at all these crows! I think this qualifies as a murder, don’t you?” I asked my best friend when we saw what seemed like 500 crows gathered in neighboring trees.

“Um. What?” Hector gasped. “A murder? Where? How?” He looked quite spooked all of a sudden.

“A group of crows is called a murder of crows, silly. No one has been killed,” I replied. “It’s a special name like a pride of lions, a conspiracy of lemurs, a bevy of swans, a swarm of bees, or a prickle of porcupines. It’s pretty old-fashioned to use those words but I like to. I think they’re both wacky and charming.”

“Nothing called a murder is charming, Bernice! I want to go home now,” Hector shivered with the creeps.

“Okay, Hector,” I said. “Let’s go home and have some tea.”

We headed back the way we had come, and soon I could not see the crows any longer. But I could hear their caw-caw-cawing for quite a long time and I found the sounds delightful.
Bird’s Got Skills

March 5th, 2019

“What kind of bird is that?” Louisa asked. Hector and I stopped walking and joined Louisa to inspect the river birch tree.

“What bird? I don’t see anything,” my eyes roved over the tree but I saw no bird.

“It’s right in front of you, Bernice,” Hector said. “Do you need glasses? I have a great eye doctor if you do.”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, understanding that I could not really know. Hector didn’t know he needed glasses for a long time before he got them. It was only after he started wearing them that Hector realized everything had been blurry before.

“Where is the bird? I just don’t see it,” I said, wondering if I really did need to visit the optometrist. But then I saw the bird and I don’t think it looked blurry at all. The colors of the white-breasted nuthatch were simply blending into the bark of the tree. Furthermore, the tree bark had a lot of texture, making the bird difficult to see among all the shapes the bark itself made.

“Ah, I see it now! It’s a white-breasted nuthatch! It is searching the bark for insects to eat.”

The bird walked all over the bark as though it were nothing. First it walked down the trunk of the tree, facedown, tail pointed to the sky. Then it changed direction and walked straight up the tree. It searched for bugs to eat the whole time and seemed not to notice we were watching.

“That looks scary” Louisa commented. “But I would like to be able to scale surfaces like that. Would you? It’s like Spiderman!”

Hector and I both thought it would be useful to be able to climb like a white-breasted nuthatch and told Louisa we would like to be able to, yes.

How about you? Would you like to be able to walk up and down the sides of things like a white-breasted nuthatch?
Immigrants Just Like You and Me

February 12th, 2019

My great-great-grandparents moved here from Africa. If you live in the United States, chances are your ancestors moved here from another land just like mine did.

The European Starling, which one sees with great frequency here, was brought to this continent by a Shakespeare enthusiast in 1890. Shakespeare was a human who wrote plays a long, long time ago. English-speaking humans revere him and apparently Shakespeare mentioned starlings in one of his plays.

European Starlings have flourished here and they now live from sea to shining sea. You have probably seen one yourself: they are about the size of an American Robin, but are a glossy black with a metallic sheen that, depending on the light, looks green or blue or purple to my eye.

The other day, just as the sun was going down, I passed a massive flock of European Starlings settling down for the night in the branches of neighboring oak trees. What a cacophony they made! I rarely hear such a ruckus. They seemed to be having quite the party and they sure did look like they were having fun.

Their camaraderie put me in the mood to go have fun with my own friends and family and so I asked Hector if he wanted to go to my parents’ place for dinner, which is just what we did.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving

January 15th, 2019

Hector and I were out for a walk, noshing appetizing leaves we saw along the way. We moseyed with no particular destination in mind, as is our wont.

After a while we came upon a tree that was covered in berries even though it had lost all its leaves for winter. There were something like one hundred American Robins perched in the branches, busily eating the fruit.

“How huge they are!” Hector said to me, admiring the robins’ portly physiques. “I’ve never seen such obese birds. These robins must have fattened up for winter, don’t you think, Bernice?”

The robins did indeed appear quite heavy, but appearances can be deceiving. I explained to Hector that the birds were not fat at all – they had puffed out their feathers to keep warm. Did you know that birds do that? Birds use the heat from their bodies to warm the air between their feathers. Isn’t that interesting?

It seems like such small creatures would not be able to stay warm when it is very cold outside, doesn’t it? However, air is an excellent insulator and those of our feathered friends who choose not to travel south for the winter are indeed able to keep themselves warm.

Hector and I stayed by the tree for a while and admired the robins’ rust-colored chests. Then we decided we had better get back to fattening ourselves up for winter!

It sure is cold here in D.C.! Is it cold where you are?