Image courtesy of Rosemary Ratcliff at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
One of the largest birds in our area is the Great Horned Owl. I have often heard them at night, especially in the late summer, when they can be heard calling to their young (especially on foggy nights). It is a very distinct call, similar to "whowhowho-who-who-whoo." Sometimes they also fly into the yards late at night, where they can be seen perching on top of the tallest trees and even on street lights. I have also seen them on several occasions in the late afternoon, when I have walked through Mandan Park, and they have floated across the road in front of me like large grey ghosts.
National Geographic says mature great horned owls have a wingspan of up to 4.8 feet. Having seen them up close, I have no trouble believing this...their wingspan looked like it was 6 feet to me! I always experience a slight thrill of fear when I see them, simply because they are so large, although I have never had one threaten me in any way. In fact, they hardly seemed to notice me.
They always seem impervious to the human activity around them, especially when they are hunting or sitting high on top of a tree or a light pole. Even when we have pointed at them, and walked around trying to get a better glimpse of us, they simply ignore us (or at least pretend to!) The only time they seem reluctant to remain in my yard is when I let my very large dog outside, whereupon they usually will fly away.
Great Horned Owls are known for their hunting skills, and I have even heard about them preying on other large birds, but in this area, their favorite prey seems to be rodents. It is the only thing I have actually witnessed them preying upon in all the years I have lived near them. In spite of this, I still make sure to walk very close to my small dogs when I let them outside, just in case one of them happens to be lurking nearby!
Do you have any interesting information/stories to share about Great Horned Owls? If so, please leave a post!
Two Fawns by Mandan Park (filmed by SCB)
Some of the most popular backyards visitors in our area are the white-tailed deer that live in and around Mandan Park. They are numerous enough that we often see groups of them at dusk and even late in the afternoon, as well as early in the morning. Some of them have even been bold enough to jump my fence and come into my yard to eat my shrubbery (sand cherries seem to be a favorite of theirs).
I have read that deer like corn, and putting it out in the winter may attract them, but I have never had them come into the yard for it when I have put it out. Some of the neighbors put leftover apples out for them (which I have never actually seen them eat, but the apples do eventually disappear). Other people have put out salt licks, and they do frequently visit these.
There are deer feeders available at hardware stores (which I have periodically considered purchasing, and may end up doing someday soon). There is also grass seed available you can purchase and plant that they tend to favor (and which also tends to be healthy for them). I have also heard that deer absolutely love acorns (so if you happen to have an oak tree, you may be in luck!) The only drawback about feeding them is that they will sometimes dash across roads to get to urban backyards, causing numerous near accidents and some actual ones.
No matter when I see them, I am always pleasantly surprised. They are certainly one of the loveliest animals that live in the Mandan Park area, and one of the most exciting to see.
Blue Jay (Image Courtesy of Ron Bird at FreeDigitalPhotos.Net)
One of my absolute favorite backyard visitors is the Blue Jay. In spite of their aggression (yes, I have been attacked by them when passing too close to one of their nests) and their unsavory habit of stealing other birds' babies for food, I still love to see them, and their antics never fail to amuse me. My mother calls them "the big-mouthed" birds, and I have to admit that this description really does fit them.
Blue jays love sunflower seed. They love mixed nuts even more and peanuts in the shell are one of their absolute favorites. They are also fond of cat food, and when they find it scattered about, they will noisily call to all of their relatives until everyone has had a chance to get some. When they find peanuts, they are usually more discrete, knowing that everyone loves peanuts (especially squirrels)! Instead of their usual raucous cry, they will make a cry that, for lack of a better description, sounds almost like they are saying "toodle-doodle-do." In years past, when I would put the peanuts out for them, I would make my poor imitation of this call, and they would actually notice and come to get the peanuts. If I put the peanuts out at a set time, they would hide nearby and call each other in the same way to let each other know the peanuts were about to magically appear.
I have heard that blue jays will imitate the noises hawks make in an attempt to scare other birds away from feeders, and I can vouch for this, having heard them do this myself. When the other birds scattered in terror, they would swoop down, grab a mouthful of seed and hurry off.
Blue jays will also gang up on hawks in their family groups, gathering in various parts of the area where the hawk is and literally yelling at it until the hawk get tired of it and leave (whereupon the blue jays will pursue it and continue to make yell at it anyway).
I often wonder why I like them so much in spite of their awful behavior, and have to concede at least part of it must have to do with their looks. On winter days, their plumage is like a little bit of blue sky, and can brighten even the gloomiest weather. When you add their often comical antics into the mix (they are one of the few birds that literally make me laugh), you get an irresistible combination. No wonder they are one of everyone's favorite backyard visitors.
Cope's Gray Tree Frog (Filmed by SCB) In the Mandan Park area, it isn't just birds we hear singing in the trees. At night, we also hear the frogs singing, and yes, they really are in the trees!
When I first heard the frogs at night, I actually thought they were birds, and couldn't figure out why they would be making so much noise in the dark. Several years later, my sister found a tiny frog on top of her door, hunting mosquitoes, and when she looked it up on the Internet, she found out it was a tree frog.
Cope's Gray Tree Frog is native to Nebraska, and is usually found near wooded areas where there is water. They lay their eggs in shallow ponds or pools. The frogs that sing at night are actually the males, who sing in a chorus.
When I first began listening to the frogs and figured out what they were, I really only noticed them in my ash and hackberry trees. This summer, however, I have heard them all through my yard, and we have even seen them in the front of the yard, on the lilac bushes. Needless to say, this makes mowing interesting. Sometimes when the bushes get shaken, it appears to be raining frogs...which makes the mowing a very delicate operation indeed.
Most of the best years for frogs have, perhaps not surprisingly, been some of the best years for mosquitoes, as well. I used to wonder what kind of benefit mosquitoes could possibly bring, especially when I was swatting and slapping at them, but the preponderance of frogs in a bumper mosquito year almost makes the mosquitoes more tolerable. These frogs also eat grasshoppers, crickets, moths and flies.
If you would like to have tree frogs in your yard, there are 2 things that should do the trick...trees and bugs! Leaving a little water out might not hurt, either!
White Breasted Nuthatch at Feeder (Filmed by SCB)
One of my favorite birds (that fortunately remains in this area year round!) is the white-breasted nuthatch. These extremely interesting (and very smart) birds are a common visitor to bird feeders, especially feeders containing seeds and suet. They are not only pretty, but fun to watch, being some of the most acrobatic of backyard birds. Nuthatches can perform the most amazing feats with the greatest of ease, including running and jumping backwards, racing down trees headfirst and even hanging upside down from practically any surface. The sounds they make are unique, as well...a very rapid and faintly nasal eh-eh-eh. Males and females have an identical appearance. In the winter, nuthatches will often travel with chickadees, titmice and Downy woodpeckers.
If you would like to lure these very interesting little birds to your yard, here are some tips to help you do so:
Food
Nuthatches like sunflower seed, safflower seed, suet and even peanuts (which they will not hesitate to grab even when other, larger birds are around). They are also especially fond of ants! Years ago, there was a colony of carpenter ants in my ash tree, and the nuthatches were constantly hanging out in it. Eventually I hung a hummingbird feeder in front of it, which the carpenter ants simply loved, and would travel to it in hordes...until the nuthatches noticed. Every night, there would be numerous ants milling around, and in the morning, there would not be a single ant left! If you would like to get rid of your ants once and for all, don't buy a pesticide...just attract nuthatches to your yard!
Habitat
Nuthatches like to hang out in any and all trees (probably at least partially because of the bugs!). The more of them you have in your yard, the more likely you are to have nuthatches drop by.
Nuthatches are very friendly, and don't seem to mind any other birds (or dogs, or squirrels, or even people, for that matter!). Unlike many of the other little birds, nuthatches are not easily intimidated, and will even peck back at sparrows who peck at them. They are often one of the first bird species to notice a new feeder, and thus may be one of the first birds to visit your yard if you hang out a new one!
Do you have a tip for attracting nuthatches? If so, please leave a comment!
No discussion of feeding birds would be complete without discussing the ever present and always ingenious squirrels who never fail to raid any and all bird feeders that have not been squirrel proofed. I have never tried to prevent squirrels from getting into my feeders, because I never expected to succeed, and I actually enjoy watching them. I have tried offering them alternative food sources, as various publications recommended, but all this accomplished was to attract more squirrels.
Squirrels like every type of bird food I have put out except for thistle seed. They like all other types of seeds, nuts, suet, peanuts and even jelly. They can access any type of feeder, whether it hangs by a string, hangs upside down or sways violently whenever something bigger than a bird touches it. They can even access feeders that sparrows have a hard time getting to, with occasionally disastrous results. If a feeder is too hard for them to reach, they simply destroy it and eat everything that was in it, leaving the debris to be picked up by the unfortunate individual who tried to outsmart them. Their solution for feeders on strings is the same...they bite through the string so that the feeder crashes to the ground and they can raid it.
I'm not the only person in my neighborhood who gets a little weary of their greediness. There is a blue jay family on my block that for years would visit my yard, especially when I put peanuts out. Each time a squirrel would take one and prepare to bury it, they would come up behind him, grab him by the tail and pinch him in an effort to make him let go of it. While this tactic never succeeded in causing the squirrel to actually lose his peanut, it did slow him down a tad.
If you would like squirrels in your yard, the only really necessary step to take is that of hanging out a feeder...of any kind! They like trees to run up if danger threatens, but fences, power line poles and roofs will do just as well in a pinch. Sometimes they can be persuaded (briefly) to leave the birdseed alone if you put out corn cobs for them, but usually, as I mentioned above, this just leads to more squirrels. My solution has been to sit back and enjoy them...and buy a little more birdseed and suet the next time!
There are many different types of woodpeckers in the Omaha/Mandan Park area, including the Red-Headed Woodpecker, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker and the Downy Woodpecker. Of all of these, the Downy is the smallest, and also, at least in my experience, the friendliest. They are the only woodpeckers I feed who will actually come to eat when I am sitting nearby (albeit after several nervous glances and some slight hesitation).
Male Downy Woodpeckers have a bright red spot on the back of their heads. This is the easiest way to distinguish between the males and the females, who otherwise pretty much look alike. In the winter, Downy Woodpeckers tend to group up with birds of other species, including titmice, chickadees and nuthatches, so if you see one of these birds at your feeder, the others may very well be nearby.
If you are interested in attracting these very pretty (and engaging) little birds into your backyard, the following tips are helpful:
Filmed by SCB
Habitat
Downy woodpeckers love insects, and the more trees you have with insects on them, the more likely they are to hang around. They are especially fond of ants and other wood burrowing insects, so having them in your yard serves a practical purpose, as well! Sometimes they do leave marks on the bark of my Bradford Pear Tree, but the tree thus far at least has not exhibited any ill effects from this.
Food
Aside from bugs, of course, there are some other foods that these little woodpeckers are especially fond of. They like sunflower seeds, they like peanuts, and they love suet! They are the most common visitors at my suet feeder, and are so proficient at extracting the suet that other birds will shadow them and pick up what they drop onto the ground (especially sparrows!). They like all kinds of nuts, but tend to be a little shy, so never really seem to get their share of these when I put them out.
Keep in mind that if you do put nuts out, you will attract other birds who are fond of them, especially blue jays! I love blue jays, but really do not want them in my yard during the breeding season because of their unfortunate appetite for other birds' babies. Therefore, I only feed them in the fall and the winter.
Another visitor who adores nuts, of course, is the squirrel, so I try not to put nuts out during the spring and summer for the same reason (squirrels also have an unfortunate tendency to raid birds' nests).
Putting suet out in the winter will attract even more Downy's, because there are less available food sources, so if you are thinking of feeding them, the upcoming months are a good time to start! Another plus about suet feeders is that they leave no mess! There are various types and flavors of suet, ranging from orange to berry to peanut and even bug, and they are commonly available in hardware stores and many grocery stores. All of these are equally popular with the woodpeckers.
Remember to hang your suet feeder upside down, or the starlings will come and clean it out in a matter of hours!
Do you have at tip about attracting or feeding Downy woodpeckers? If so, please leave a comment!
