Lee Ann van Leer
Forum Replies Created
-
Hello Jonquele, Thanks so much for your observations, thoughts, and your concerns about the placement of cardinal nests. I wasn't sure what you meant by "fully populated landscape". Did you mean populated by people, cats, other birds, or other cardinals? It sounds like you were trying to help the cardinals out by moving their nests. I have good news on several fronts for you in that you need not worry about where the cardinals place their nests and can leave them where they build them. First good news, birds nesting adjacent to a lot of human activity is not necessarily a bad thing and might even mean less chance of nest predation if the predators are leery of areas with lots of humans. Here is an informative article about what to do if the situation arises again. There's A Bird Nesting Near My House. What Should I Do? A study on cardinal nesting you might be fascinated to read Cardinal Nest Sites and Nest Predation. The study concluded that proximity to human activity had no effect on the success or failure of of nests. Interestingly, they also found no correlation between nest concealment or visibility and success or failure of a nest, nor did the accessibility of the nest affect the success of a nest. Therefore, what we might perceive as a bad nesting location may actually be a good nesting location for the bird. That is good for all of us to know, so we know that the best and most legal thing to do for native bird species is to leave their nests or partial nests right where they are. I hope this alleviates anyone's concerns about where birds are locating their nests.
-
The size difference between male and female is so slight that even the crow experts don't always guess the sex correctly just by visual characteristics. Size can be deceptive and feathers can be fluffed up or smoothed down variably by a bird. So the only reliable way to sex crows is by DNA. Thanks for asking about this.
-
Crows will use bird baths or other sources of water to moisten their food. They may be moistening it not only for themselves but also for food they are bringing to the nest either for the female that is sitting on the nest or for food brought to the babies. Food brought to the female on nest or the nestlings needs to have enough moisture so the recipient isn't getting dehydrated. They might also use a bird bath wet or dry as a 'food prep" spot. Besides moistening food there, they might use it as a place to perch and crack a nut and more.
-
Hello Michelle, What you are witnessing is called "anting". Please read this article about it. Anting behavior. Anting- Some species of birds purposely stand on ant hills and rub the formic acid the ants are secreting and on themselves. It is thought to be an insecticide to protect them from feather mites or the secretions may have other benefits as well perhaps killing fungus, bacteria, etc.
-
Hello Peggy, Thanks for the interesting information from Maine. I found out from the instructor
<<All states have realized that testing mosquito pools is a cheaper and more accurate way to find WNV outbreaks than testing dead birds. In the beginning we knew nothing and were trying everything.>> I hope the stopping of testing dead birds now in your area makes more sense now. Thanks for bringing this up.
-
Hello Cherie,
The hook often seen at the tip of crow bills is too feeble to be used the way a shrike uses its bill. Crows peck with their lower mandible, not the entire bill. A persistent crow might make a hole in a dead squirrel, but it’s just a small hole and won’t help the crow get much meat.
The fact you are remembering from our All About Birds page is thisDespite its tendency to eat roadkill, the American Crow is not specialized to be a scavenger, and carrion is only a very small part of its diet. Though their bills are large, crows can’t break through the skin of even a gray squirrel. They must wait for something else to open a carcass or for the carcass to decompose and become tender enough to eat
-
Some species of birds will harass any other bird they feel is a threat to themselves, their nest, or their offspring. This harassment increases during the breeding season.