Tag: birding for kids

Avian Mail

April 9th, 2019

Two darling girls recently asked me if we have pigeons here in Washington, D.C. and the answer is: Why yes! Yes we do! You’d be hard-pressed to find a city anywhere on earth without rock pigeons.

You, dear reader, may think of the pigeon as nothing more than the pestilential soiler of your windowsill, but I am here to tell you that they are so much more. Pigeons are noteworthy birds with special skills.

Pigeons have a remarkable homing ability which allows them to fly straight home, even when they have been taken very far away. Humans have domesticated the bird and then used this special pigeon skill for their own purposes. Pigeons have carried messages home for people for thousands of years.

To illustrate how delivery-by-pigeon works:

Let’s imagine I have pigeons who live in birdhouses in my garden. Then let’s say I go on a trip with my family. I take my pigeons with me so that I can send messages to my best friend, Hector, while I am away.

When I want to send Hector a note, I can simply attach it to one of my pigeons and then release the bird. The pigeon will fly straight home to its own birdhouse in my garden.

Hector would need to know to go check the pigeons’ birdhouses so he could see if one of my birds had come home bearing a letter, but I would obviously have explained this to him before I left town.

Over the years the method of attaching a message to a pigeon has changed. During World War I soldiers attached messages to their pigeons’ legs with teeny metal cannisters. Modern scientists attach bird-sized backpacks to pigeons to gather climate data.
Let’s Talk About Feet

March 19th, 2019

Have you ever wondered how some birds manage to sleep perched in trees? Wouldn’t you think that they would fall off their branches once their bodies relaxed into sleep?

Well, the answer is in the feet. Half of all the types of birds in the world are in a category called passerine. One of the defining features of passerine birds is the way the feet are shaped and function. Passerine (perching) birds have four toes on each foot. Three of the toes face forward. One toe faces backward. When a bird lands on a tree branch, its toes wrap around the branch and then lock into place. This automatic locking of the toes is a very good thing: passerine birds can relax and sleep without worrying their feet will stop gripping their perch.

You can tell a lot about a bird by what kind of feet it has. As another example, if you see a bird with webbed feet, you can bet it is a swimmer. Webbed feet are terrific for swimming because the large surface area of the foot is perfect for pushing water around.
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?
Grand Theft Nest

February 26th, 2019

Some birds build their nests. Some birds use abandoned nests other birds have built. I am going to give the latter category of bird the benefit of the doubt and assume that when they move into a found nest, they usually think it is uninhabited.

Louisa and I have been watching the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest Cam quite a lot and a couple of red-tailed hawks have recently been eyeing the bald eagles’ nest with the seeming intent of taking it for themselves. Scoundrels! It seems to me that the hawks know darned well the nest is not vacant.

Can you imagine how outraged the eagles must be? They designed, built and have maintained their nest for years. How irritating it must be to have to defend it from would-be thieves (don’t worry if you missed the livestream footage of the eagles defending their home – there is a video on YouTube you can still see).

Long ago I saw a similar scene: two downy woodpeckers came home to find their nest occupied by two tufted titmice. Alas, the woodpeckers appeared to be on the losing end of that conflict. From what I witnessed the tufted titmice were not going to move out. How frustrating it must have been for the woodpeckers to need to go peck a new nesting-cavity out of a different tree. Hopefully their new home was better than the one they lost – a possible silver lining. A girl can always hope!
Birding at Home

February 19th, 2019

Hector and I had promised Louisa that we would take her to the National Arboretum on Saturday to do some bird watching. Unfortunately, Louisa got the flu, poor kid. She was very unhappy about having to cancel our outing.

I tried to comfort my sister by promising we would go as soon as she was well again, but Louisa would not be comforted. She whined in that pathetic, stuffed-up, nasal voice one has when one is sick and complained that everything was HORRIBLE and that she was SO DISSAPOINTED she might DIE.

Then I had an idea and it was brilliant, if I do say so myself.

“What if we could go birding in your room, Louisa? Would that make you feel better?” I asked.

She thought about that for a minute.

“Are you bringing me a pet cockatoo?” Louisa asked in response, sounding pretty darned excited all of a sudden.

“Er… no,” I answered. “But I have an idea. Gimme an hour, okay?”

I got to work and ran over to Auntie NuNu’s house. I asked NuNu if I could borrow her tablet. Auntie NuNu said sure and got it all set up for me. Then I went to my parents’ place and set the tablet up in Louisa’s room.

“That’s not a cockatoo,” Louisa whined miserably.

“I told you I wasn’t bringing you one, silly. But this will be fun. I promise.” I kissed my sister’s feverish forehead and told her to watch the screen.

“What is this? This stinks!” Louisa screeched as we watched an empty bird’s nest wave around a little in the breeze.

“It’s the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest Cam! We can birdwatch right here in your room! This is awesome. Trust me. Two Bald Eagles live here,” I said as I pointed at the screen. “Just keep watching. The eagles are fixing their nest up and preparing for the arrival of some new chicks. They’ll be home again soon, I swear.”

The livestream was, admittedly, pretty dull just then as the eagles were not home. The show doesn’t get really good until the chicks hatch and as of now the eggs haven’t even been laid. But it was birdwatching and we were in her room. Louisa harrumphed then watched the screen.

Alas, it was a while before anything of interest happened. Then one of the eagles finally came home with a fish and settled down to eat it. I looked over at Louisa to see what she thought now that one of the birds was home, but she hadn’t noticed. Louisa had fallen to sleep.
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.
The Carnivores – Part Two

February 5th, 2019

As promised, I went to Auntie NuNu’s to try to see the bird of prey she claims is menacing her little dog, Ava. My strategy was simple: I took Ava out into the yard to act as bait. While we waited for a bird of prey to show up, I tried to enjoy what is left of the formerly-fantastic birding in Auntie NuNu’s garden.

Ava spent the whole time we were outside terrorizing house sparrows. As soon as she scared one off, the puppy was off like a shot to chase another one. Occasionally Ava sat on the grass to catch her breath, her pink tongue lolled out of her mouth and panting. But even then she did not stop hunting – it seemed to me I could see her mind working to figure out how to get up into the tree branches in order to continue the chase.

We were outside for quite a long time without seeing any birds of prey. But then, at about 4 pm, I saw a red-shouldered hawk soar into view. I wondered if that was the bird Auntie NuNu was worried about as I watched it fly right on by. That was the only action I have to report.

I informed NuNu that if she was worried about that bird, there was no need. My understanding is that red-shouldered hawks cannot carry more than their own body weight, which is a mere 1.5 pounds. Ava may have been an appropriate dinner for a red-shouldered hawk when she was closer to newborn status, but she now weighs ten pounds, which is too much for the bird to be able to fly off with.

I have no way of knowing if the red-shouldered hawk I saw is the bird Auntie NuNu is worried about. Perhaps the next time I go to her house I will see another kind of bird of prey. I will let you know if I do!

XOXO,
Bernice
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?
Giraffe’s Eye View

January 8th, 2019

I am sure it will come as a huge surprise that I find baby birds absolutely adorable. I know… I know… kittens, puppies, hatchlings: it’s so unusual to find these creatures cute! I am a real outlier here, folks!

I am sixteen feet tall, did you know that? My height gives me a big advantage when it comes to finding and observing baby birds. I am often able to see right into nests. Some birds build their homes way too far up in the treetops for me to see into, but an awful lot of birds build at or below my line of sight.

The other day I stopped by a pine tree some blue jays nested in last year. The nest is still there, though it is not occupied at the moment. I wonder if the blue jays will return in the Spring? I’ll keep you posted!

Last year the mama blue jay laid four speckled eggs in early May. I stopped by every day for almost three weeks to see if the chicks had pecked their way out of their shells yet and then one day they finally did! There were four naked, shaky, teensy baby birds huddled together where the eggs had been.

The mama and papa brought food to the nest many times a day to feed the hatchlings. Blue jays love nuts and insects. I watched the papa feed his chicks a few fat caterpillars one day.

Blue Jays grow quickly. After a few weeks their feathers grew in and the hatchlings were easily recognizable as the blue jays they were. They all left the nest three short weeks after they hatched. But what a glorious three weeks those were! I was lucky enough to be able to watch them grow into strong birds who were ready to spread their wings and fly.