May 17, 2001 - Focus's field guide to spring birdsThe Suffolk Times • May 17, 2001
Focus's field
ide to
springy birds
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
The female redwing is beautifully camouflaged to sit on her eggs in her reed -built nest. Here
you see her feeding her young. The male will vigorously defend his territory by flying up and
driving off all intruders.
IT'S HARD TO REALIZE THAT just a
week ago, Barbara and I were
strolling the boulevards and streets of
Paris. And then back home we were
greeted by the most wonderful, warm
spring weather. We had the best of
both worlds.
As I look
over the pasture Focus
from where I'm ON
sitting, off to
the left is a big NATURE
redbud tree by Paul
blossoming in Stouteuburgh
all its splendor.
It was iust a lit-
tie ousn years ago when Mr. Dart, my
chemistry and physics teacher in
Southold, graciously gave me my first
redbud. Alongside the tool shed is a
flowering peach. These flaming colors
against a background of evergreens,
coupled with the songs of birds, tell
me we returned at the right time of
year.
Our two cows are munching the
new green grass that spreads out like
a huge carpet around them. It keeps
them busy day and night. We no
longer have to give them hay, as
they'll be content until fall when the
green has left us. Scurrying amongst
their reet are tour or live cowbirds
picking up insects stirred up by the
grazing animals, hence the name cow-
bird. The female is the devilish one
that lays her egg in other birds' nests.
Cowbirds take no part in raising their
young. The problem with this arrange
ment is that the cowbird egg usually
hatches sooner than the host birds'
eggs and therefore when it hatches it
has a day or two's growth ahead of its
"siblings." In that way it hogs all the
food and from then on becomes the
dominant one, often causing the death
of the other nestlings.
Have you noticed how the gold-
finches have changed from their drab
winter color to their bright summer
colors? Sometimes we have as many
as six or eight of these cheerful little
black- and - yellow finches at our feed-
ers at one time. Remember, if you
want to attract oldfinches you should
buy one of the special upside -down
feeders that only goldfinches can feed
from. Another alternative is to buy
the little cloth sack with thistle feed
inside, but remember you open up
your feeding then to the little raspber-
ry- colored house finches, but then
that's not so bad.
Across the back of the pasture I
also see three barn swallows working
the fields. What a joy they are to
watch. One I believe is female with
two males chasing her. It's time to get
busy building her
feathered nest in my
barn. Years ago we
had many more swal-
lows in the air but
lately I'm seeing
fewer and fewer of
these graceful flyers.
My martin boxes .
(multistory nesting
boxes) that you
remember I put up
ahead of time to
attract these big
swallows went
unused again this
year. How discourag-
ing. .
Yet there are some
birds that seem to be
doing quite well. We
have catbirds around
and I hear the
repeated song of the
colorful black -and-
orange oriole who
will soon be building
its hanging nest. It
will probably use
some of the hair
from our cows to build with. I see a
clump caught on the fence where the
cow's tail hit and the hair was pulled
out.
Another voice I hear in the woods
in back of my house is that of the
crested flycatcher. I often have a pair
of these large, noisy flycatchers nest-
ing in my boxes. They are cavity
nesters, which means they have to
find an opening from a broken -off
limb or a discarded woodpecker homy
to build in. One of the interesting
things about the crested flycatcher's
nest is that this bird often uses a dis-
carded snakeskin in building its nest.
It has been speculated it wards off
predators. This bird's song cannot be
considered a very melodious one as it
is really a coarse call that often domi-
nates the woods.
Down at the pond the area is alive
with red - winged blackbirds. Wet,
soggy areas are where they can
always be found. It is where they
often build their woven nest amongst
the rushes and grasses. The female
makes the most perfect camouflage
as she sits on her nest with her mot-
tled, streaked body. Only the male
has the red epaulets. He uses them in
courting as he struts in front of the
female. The male is a gallant defend-
er of his home turf. Not only does he
chase other redwings out of his terri-
tory, but he'll rise to the occasion
whenever a crow wanders into the
area. Often you'll see these little
"blackbirds" attacking the big
marauding crows, and for good rea-
son. Crows like bird's eggs and they
are experts at finding even the best -
hidden nests.
Speaking of nest robbers, there is
another, smaller black bird with a long
tail, about half the size of a crow,
called a grackle. This bird is no slouch
when it comes to the robbing of birds'
eggs and young. And, like the crow,
it's often driven away by red - winged
blackbirds who know all too well that
their nests will fall victim to these
clever nest robbers.
The grackle is quite a handsome
bird if you get it in just the right light:
On its head and back you see irides-
cent, metallic purples and blues that
really make this bird quite stunning.
The grackle nests in colonies, usually
in evergreens, and we'll find them
using the cedar trees to nest in around
here.
Any of you who have gone south
for the winter have seen not only this
grackle but the boat - tailed grackle as
well. This is a noisy fellow that you
find around the shores and rivers and
it gets its name because of its extra -
large tail. When you see any of these
grackles up close you'll notice the
adults all have bright- yellow eyes.
Even though the grackles take eggs
and young of other birds, its large
pointed bill allows it to probe in the
ground for grubs and insects of all
kinds. They will eat anything that
moves: small snakes, frogs, and it even
loves fruits of all kinds and doesn't
pass up the table scraps that you
might throw out.
I have a classic picture of one
grackle eating a pancake we threw
out on our lawn. Mr. Grackle seems
to feel that he's king, for he walks
around as if he owns the place, and so
we have another bird that on one
hand is a nest robber but on the other
hand does a great deal of good by
devouring insects of all sorts. So keep
an eye out for that big black bird with
a long tail about half the size of a
crow that is commonly called the pur-