Naturally
Feeding more than two birds with one seed, I put out sunflower seeds. Chickadees and blue jays were the first to the trough. When I see a chickadee, the whole world becomes a chickadee. The bird causes me to become lost in the moment. A chickadee may eat 35% of its weight each day and a blue jay only 10%, but they both need more calories on colder days than on warmer ones. As I watched a blue jay do blue jay things, I realized that “blue” doesn’t do the handsome bird justice.
My wife named her Tula, but the yard turkey (a wild turkey hen) doesn’t care. I watched the turkey chase the crows, rabbits and squirrels about the yard. Turkey hens gone wild! She’s serious about her one-turkey stampede. The squirrels climb trees to end the pursuit; the rabbits hop away as fast as they can go. Crows appear to take it as a game of tag in which they will never be it. Male crows are generally slightly larger than the females. It was a chilly day, so the turkey preened and used all 5000-6000 of her feathers. A Canada goose wears 20,000 to 25,000 feathers. When the turkey is in a particularly foul fowl mood or a fowl foul mood, she even chases the starlings.
Q&A
“Why don’t turkey vultures stay here all winter?” Why doesn’t your brother-in-law Herb stay here all winter? Herb needs to go to the Lower Rio Grande Valley and learn how to make stained glass windows. There are likely turkey vultures in that class with Herb. I kid because I love. Turkey vultures migrate to avoid challenging environmental conditions and resource limitations. Herb does something similar. Birds require more energy to maintain their body temperature when it’s cold. Food resources become scarcer in the winter, forcing turkey vultures to move southward where it is easier to survive. They are scavengers that feed on the carcasses of animals. In winter, reptiles, amphibians and some mammals hibernate or go into torpor, which means there are fewer food sources for vultures. The vultures return in the warmer months when carrion doesn’t freeze. The increasing deer populations and the rising number of vehicles on highways help turkey vultures, as the combination of deer and cars leads to more road kill for more vultures to dine on. If road kill went unfrozen during the frozen part of the year, vultures might stay here in the winter. The Cherokee Nation called them "peace eagles" based on their resemblance to an eagle from a distance and the fact that they don’t kill their prey.
“I know a barred owl’s call is described as “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” What does a great horned owl say?” The mnemonic of a great horned owl’s hooting is, “Who’s awake? Me, too!” The female’s voice is higher in pitch than the male’s.
“Is an opossum the Irish cousin of a possum?” I’ll ask one and get back to you on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Why would a bird sing in the winter?” To declare and defend a feeding territory. They may sing to communicate with others or to express vitality and energy. As the days lengthen, which signals the approach of the breeding season, they sing to attract mates and as part of the courtship process. I typically hear the black-capped chickadee singing a clear, sweet, whistled “fee-bee” or “sweet-ie” starting in January. If the bird sings “Spring’s here,” it’s speculating at that time.
“What is the function of the gold dots on a monarch chrysalis?” They could act as camouflage by reflecting the colors of the surroundings, breaking up the shape of the pupa or resembling dew droplets. They may act as a warning coloration or filter the wavelengths of light that might be harmful to the monarchs.
These and them
I enjoyed reading “Birding a Cornfield County” by a friend named Wayne Feder of Blue Earth. It’s a lovely book chronicling the author’s “Year of the Bird” in Faribault County in 2018.
Mario Benassi of Haines, Alaska, showed me his red-tailed hawk, Gavilancito, which he explained meant “little hawk” in Spanish. Mario is a falconer who uses his 2.6-pound raptor to hunt rabbits, grouse and ducks for Mario’s winter table.
I enjoyed visiting with Jim Wright of New Jersey, who, with Scott Weston, coauthored a swell book titled, “The Screech Owl Companion,” everything you need to know about these beneficial raptors. And then some.
Thanks for stopping by
“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.”―Leonard Cohen.
“We need laughter in our lives. Laughter is carbonated holiness. It’s like the cavalry arriving to help us get our sense of humor back.”—Anne Lamott.
Do good.
©️Al Batt 2023
Tula the wild turkey’s class yearbook photo. She was active in Turkey School. Cross country, Choir, Ag (specializing in shelling corn and manure handling), Primary Preener at the Class Play and Folk Dance (her turkey trot brought the house down). She was voted Most Likely to Catch a Squirrel. Photo by Al Batt.