DAVE'S BRAIN TODAY...
Fall Migration
Fall birding can be a really fun time to see birds you normally don't see, as they are migrating through. Keep your feeders full and plenty of water in the bird bath. Many birds this time of year especially the females look the same. If you can get a picture of them it makes it easier to ID them. A little hint, I keep my patio door open, screen closed, and I talk to the birds... they will get more use to you. This makes it much easier to take pics of them. Making sure you keep food for them to eat as they travel through will keep plenty of birds to view. I get a nice mix of no waist bird seed and add more peanuts. The amount of birds I'm still getting is amazing
Happy Birding!!
NHS PRO STAFF
DAVE MAYEAU
Our NHS Onsite Birding Pro
Come on into the store and pick his BIRD BRAIN.
Let's Get Started...
Get a bird feeder, go where the birds are.
LOOK, LISTEN & PAY ATTENTION.
When bird watching there are some things that will help you in identifying what you just saw.
First what size was it? Sparrow, Robin, Crow, Mallard, or Heron?
What color was it? Black and white, brown with stripes on its head, yellow with gray on its wings, or blue and black?
What was it doing? Was it on the ground, in a tree, at your feeder, flying, or swimming?
These couple of things will help you narrow down what you saw. Size, color, and activity are crucial in determining what the bird is. Some birds don’t like to be down low; others do. Some birds eat bugs, others eat seeds. The more you pay attention to all the details of what you saw, will help you identify your newfound bird.
As you look and see more things you will find that you will understand more things and in turn you will see more things. You will learn new behaviors of different types of birds. And then you’ll be hooked! Happy Watching!
PRO TOOLS
Resources to get started...
BIRD SPOTLIGHT
Northern Wisconsin Species...
Courtesy of AllAboutBirds.org
RARE
Ovenbird
(Passeriformes)
OVERVIEW
The Ovenbird's rapid-fire teacher-teacher-teacher song rings out in summer hardwood forests from the Mid-Atlantic states to northeastern British Columbia. It’s so loud that it may come as a surprise to find this inconspicuous warbler strutting like a tiny chicken across the dim forest floor. Its olive-brown back and spotted breast are excellent disguise as it gleans invertebrates from the leaf litter. Its nest, a leaf-covered dome resembling an old-fashioned outdoor oven, gives the Ovenbird its name.
COOL FACTS
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The Ovenbird chants 4 to 6 of its song's tea-cher phrases per second. Each tea-cher is made up of 3 to 5 separate notes. The number of notes in each part of the phrase and how they're sung are highly variable from individual to individual.
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Ovenbird studies have helped scientists understand the effects of logging and habitat fragmentation on migrating songbirds.
UNCOMMON
Black and White Warbler
(Mniotilta varia)
OVERVIEW
One of the earliest-arriving migrant warblers, the Black-and-white Warbler’s thin, squeaky song is one of the first signs that spring birding has sprung. This crisply striped bundle of black and white feathers creeps along tree trunks and branches like a nimble nuthatch, probing the bark for insects with its slightly downcurved bill. Though you typically see these birds only in trees, they build their little cup-shaped nests in the leaf litter of forests across central and eastern North America.
COOL FACTS
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Black-and-white Warblers have an extra-long hind claw and heavier legs than other wood-warblers, which help them hold onto and move around on bark.
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The Black-and-white Warbler is the only member of the genus Mniotilta. The genus name means “moss-plucking,” a reference to its habit of probing bark and moss for insects.
COMMON
Belted Kingfisher
(Megaceryle alcyon)
OVERVIEW
With its top-heavy physique, energetic flight, and piercing rattle, the Belted Kingfisher seems to have an air of self-importance as it patrols up and down rivers and shorelines. It nests in burrows along earthen banks and feeds almost entirely on aquatic prey, diving to catch fish and crayfish with its heavy, straight bill. These ragged-crested birds are a powdery blue-gray; males have one blue band across the white breast, while females have a blue and a chestnut band.
COOL FACTS
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The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly colored than the male.
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Belted Kingfishers wander widely, sometimes showing up in the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii, the British Isles, the Azores, Iceland, Greenland, and the Netherlands.