|
 At this time of year and in the colder months as
well, one of life’s simple pleasures comes from nature and God’s
creation. Those little winged friends that frequent our greenspaces
don’t care if we are wearing a mask, social distancing or if we’ve
had a haircut. What they mostly care about is food, water and
shelter. When they have all those things in your back yard, then
they will bless you with their songs, and fleeting glimpses at the
feeders.
According to the website “What birds are in my backyard” there are
several birds that frequent Illinois.
In the spring and summer these are the most common birds you will
find in our area.
1. American Robin (61% frequency)
2. Northern Cardinal (46%)
3. American Goldfinch (43%)
4. Song Sparrow (39%)
5. Mourning Dove (35%)
6. Indigo Bunting (32%)
7. Common Grackle (32%)
8. European Starling (30%)
9. House Sparrow (30%)
10. Barn Swallow (29%)
11. Gray Catbird (28%)
12. Blue Jay (27%)
13. House Wren (26%)
14. Black-capped Chickadee (23%)
15. Downy Woodpecker (23%)
16. Tree Swallow (22%)
17. Eastern Wood-Pewee (20%)
18. Cedar Waxwing (20%)
In the fall and winter look for these birds to come visit you if you
provide them with their essentials.
1. Northern Cardinal (44% frequency)
2. Dark-eyed Junco (41%)
3. Downy Woodpecker (36%)
4. House Sparrow (34%)
5. Black-capped Chickadee (33%)
6. European Starling (30%)
7. American Crow (30%)
8. Mourning Dove (28%)
9. Red-bellied Woodpecker (26%)
10. American Goldfinch (25%)
11. White-breasted Nuthatch (24%)
12. Blue Jay (24%)
13. House Finch (21%)
14. American Tree Sparrow (20%)
Often times, we hear birds before we actually see them. To get
started, you might want to support the birds that you already have.
Learning their distinctive sounds may help you.
We chose the following video because it has no narrative. It is
simply bird songs accompanied by photos. Also within the video the
creator includes the name of the bird and what food they are
consuming in the pictures.
In addition, the creator includes photos of male versus female of
several of the species. You will note that the males are often the
more colorful of the two while the female will be less flashy. This
is nature’s way of protecting the young. In many cases when a female
is raising her young, her male counterpart will serve as the
distractor from predators, while the female and her young blend into
the tree-scape.
Enjoy.
Identify Your
Common Backyard Birds – YEAR ROUND
Overall, wildlife populations in America are declining. This is due
in part to reduction of natural habitats as we see more urban sprawl
taking out woodlands and vegetation to make room for housing,
business and industry. Other causes for the loss of wildlife include
intensive farming methods, pollution and climate change.
To compensate for this, we need to do more to bring wildlife into
our residential areas as well as our parks and nature sites.
Creating an environment where birds feel safe and have available
sources of food and water will help re-build those populations.
Feeding the birds year round will keep them coming back to your
yard, and will help them multiply.
In the following video, the take away may be that a variety of birds
need a variety of feeders. Feeders are designed to allow the bird to
consume food in a way that is most natural to their wild habits. For
example, robins and turtle doves do not often eat from elevated
feeders. They prefer to eat with both feet on the ground. Scattering
seed can work, but if you want to keep seed contained, choosing a
plate style feeder that can be placed on the ground is the best.
This video also talks about nest boxes or bird houses. These are
great for the birds if you do not have a lush greenspace with a lot
of trees and shrubs.
CJ Wildlife:
Attract More Wildlife to Your Garden
While nesting boxes or bird houses will help provide shelter for
your back yard buddies. Birds won’t be naturally attracted to wide
open spaces. They seek areas where there are trees and other
vegetation they can use for roosting, sheltering, and as protection
from predators.
While you probably can’t plant a forest in your back yard there are
shrubs and bushes that will help attract the birds to your yard. An
example would be burning bush. Birds like this large shrub because
it provides very dense foliage.
And, even though you are providing food, birds also enjoy harvesting
their own meals from natural plants. Flowering plants such as
sunflowers, cone flower and black-eyed Susan are pretty flowering
plants that birds enjoy.
In the video below, we also learn that the cone flower and
black-eyed Susan are favored during the winter months, so leave the
flowers on the plants even though they have died down and this
winter the birds will take advantage of the seed heads to harvest
their own meals.
The video also talks about water features. Birds enjoy baths and
they like moving water. Fountains can be purchased with pooling
effects that will permit the birds to have that favored environment
in your back yard.
Attract Birds
to Your Garden: Everyone Can Grow a Garden 2019 #31
[to top of second column] |
Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are fascinating little creatures that most of us long
to see frequenting our back yards. They little birds flit around
with such speed that often times the only time you get a good view
of one is when they are at their feeders, or playing around a plant
in your garden.
Hummingbirds begin arriving in central Illinois mid
spring, in May and June. While these are migratory birds, they have
excellent memories of the gardens they have visited, and will return
year after year, if you provide them with their necessities.
Hummingbird nectar mixes can be purchased in a variety of stores, or
you can make your own. Here’s a caution though. If you make your
own, do not use red food coloring, it is not healthy for the birds.
Mix four parts water to one part sugar, heat until sugar dissolves.
Don’t boil the mix as that will thicken it. Let cool completely then
fill your feeders with the clear liquid. While the hummingbird is
reported to be attracted to red, this can be accomplished in the
color of the feeder or by doing something very simple, like tying a
piece of red ribbon around the feeder. Also, don’t fill the feeders.
Store the extra nectar in the fridge for refilling later. The reason
you don’t want to fill your feeders is that the nectar needs to be
changed every few days to avoid spoilage that could harm the birds
and even cause them to leave your lawn. Filling feeders creates
wasted product that must be poured out when you change it out for
fresh.
The following video will give you a little insight as
to how to bring hummingbirds to your lawn with flowering plants.
The take away from this video is that hummingbirds prefer plants
with trumpet shaped flowers. While this video is made in Idaho, you
will recognize these plants as ones that also grow in Illinois. In
addition, we noted that the creator said the flowers don’t
necessarily have to be red to attract the little creatures. Another
take away from this video is that hummingbirds are territorial and
will defend their feeders. The more feeders you have the more
hummingbirds you will attract. Also, space the feeders so that they
are not all visible from one viewpoint.
Another interesting fact from this video, Hummingbirds enjoy mint.
So mint plants will also make them very happy to return to your
garden year after year.
Five plants
that hummingbirds can't resist
Mark McDonald with Illinois Stories did a 30-minute feature on a
hummingbird festival held in the Decatur Rock Springs Conservation
area. It’s about bird banding, but it is fascinating to watch just
for fun.
Illinois
Stories Decatur Hummingbirds WSEC-TV/PBS Springfield
Cardinals, Chickadees and Blue Jays
Cardinals, Chickadees and Blue Jays are also popular birds in our
area. These birds enjoy a variety of foods and have some interesting
quirks about them.
One belief that is somewhat misleading about Blue Jays is that they
are bullies. Blue Jays are not bullies in most cases. They are known
to be fearless and will defend themselves viciously against
predators, but they don’t often chase away other birds.
Jays are also birds that travel with buddies. As we watch the birds
in our back yard, we note that more often than not, a single jay
will arrive in the morning and check out the food status. If he is
happy with what he sees, he spends several minutes “talking” about
it. Then, seemingly from nowhere, all his buddies will arrive and
they will dine together.
We enjoy watching the jays and on one morning got to see a
particularly quirky behavior with one jay and a bowl of peanuts in
the shell. We put peanuts in the shell in a bowl feeder. The jays
will come to the feeder, choose a nut and take it away to a nearby
tree. What we enjoyed the most was the day we had the picky jay. He
came to the feeder got a peanut and flew away. In a few minutes he
brought the peanut back! He put it back in the bowl and chose
another.
In all, watching and caring for birds can be a very enjoyable
activity that can be shared. Young and old alike can become
interested in watching the birds when they know what they are and
why they are part of our environment. Growing a garden to attract
the birds, providing water and shelter will make you their personal
superhero this summer.
Just for your enjoyment, we including the following ‘fun fact”
videos about birds you will find in our region. Enjoy.
10 Fun Facts
About Blue Jays | Noisy, Beautiful, Interesting
10 Fun &
Interesting Facts About Northern Cardinals
10 Fun Facts
About Chickadees | Smart, Tough, & Friendly
|
