Chipping Sparrow

Well sticking with the format, the chipping sparrow came out on top this week. Remember to place your vote in the side bar poll for the bird you would like to see covered next. Even if your bird does not have enough votes for this week, I do count the votes for a bird the following week. The Indigo bunting and rose-breasted grosbeak each have one vote this week being applied from people who voted for them last week.

Before starting this weeks bird I want to update you on the birds of interest in my back yard this past week. There were two events that were pretty cool. I thought my black-capped chickadee's left the nesting box for another nesting site. Well I quit paying attention to the box and noticed increased activity again a couple of weeks back. This week I noticed 2 chickadee's going in and out of the box and I noticed one taking small worms back each time. I assumed it was the male feeding the female as she sat on eggs. I waited until yesterday and decided to open the box and check the condition off the eggs. Much to my surprise there was 4 little chickadee's in the nest with full feathers. Two of them flew out really fast. I closed the box and chased them down. Both were returned to the nest and mom was right back in the box taking head count and making sure all was well. I watched her and dad feeding them all day today and I always see a little head looking out the box waiting for food. If I had to guess I think they'll be out of the box and on their own sometime this week. It was really cool to hold the 2 babies. They have the full colors but are about a third of the size as a full chickadee.

I also had a magnolia warbler visit the yard yesterday. I was in the back yard washing and refilling hummingbird feeders when I noticed it in a branch above my head. The color on him was spectacular and he stayed around for about 10 minutes bouncing between the tree and bushes. I would like to see what really visits the yard while I'm not home. I work a mid-day shift so I really do not get a chance to see many birds except on the weekends. Oh well I'm fortunate to get allot of birds so I always stand a chance of seeing something different. But now to the chippy.

The chipping sparrow is a common garden or yard bird that can often be seen feeding on dropped seeds beneath feeders. Its diet consist of insects and seeds and I have found that white millet in a ground feeder really draws them in. As a matter of fact the chipping sparrow is one of my favorite birds during the summer and a main reason I keep a ground feeder filled with the white millet. If you do invest in a ground feeder I recommend getting one that is covered if you live in a place where rain and snow is common, if not you'll be throwing away seed after every rain and also the seeds start sprouting.

As you can see from the picture they are a small (5") gray brown sparrow with a clear gray breast, rusty crown and white eyebrows. They have a black eye line and thin gray to black bill. The wings have two faint wing bars. The female is the same as the male and the juvenile is similar to the adult except it has a streaked breast and lacks the rusty crown. The name comes from the males slow "chip" call. Often you'll hear people just refer to them as a chippy.

They use a cup style nest that the female builds and is usually placed in low dense shrubs and is almost always lined with animal hair. They will usually produce 2 broods per year. They lay between 3-5 eggs that are blue green with brown markings. The incubation period is 11-14 days and the female incubates. Once hatched the fledgling stage last 10-12 days and both parents feed the young.

They do migrate for winter and their migration is complete to southern states, Mexico and Central America. Also they migrate at night in flocks of 20-30 birds. You can often see them gathering in large family groups to feed in preparation for migrating.

To sum them up they are a wonderful little bird that is really one of the better looking sparrows. They are easy to attract and really need no special feeders to attract them. If you feed birds in your yard just look on the ground below feeders and your likely to see one. They can be very unafraid of humans allowing you to approach closely before they fly away. The next time your watching birds in your yard keep an eye on the ground for these wonderful little birds.

The Baltimore Oriole

Finally managed to attract a Baltimore Oriole to the yard this year after three years of trying. As you can see from the picture I was also lucky enough for it to be a male. Unfortunately there was no female so he did not stick around longer than a day, but it was a great day.

I saved the votes from the previous week and the oriole came out on top with three vote. The 2 votes that the chipping sparrow received will be added to next weeks total.

I was under the impression that you would need an open area near some woods in order to attract them. I live in a populated urban area and had given up on getting them after not seeing even one in three years. The large number I saw last week while bird watching and talking to a lady who said she lives in an urban area and gets allot of them convinced me to give it another try. I put the orange half's out on Monday and the handsome fellow in the picture showed up on Wednesday.

If you want to try and attract them to your yard, they eat insects fruit and nectar. The bird in the picture would hang from my hummingbird feeders and drink away. They sell oriole feeders at bird stores and even Wal-Mart. The nectar is also sold only colored orange. You can just use the recipe I put up on the side bar and it will work as well. The best feeder I've found looks just like a feeder for a hummingbirds with some added features. It has a flat tray which holds nectar. The top has dimples where you can put grape jelly. (they also love grape jelly) and the hanger that screws into it is pointed so you can add an orange half as well. It truly is an oriole's dream. You can also just put an orange half on a fence, tree or post as I did, if you have a picnic table out back it will also work, just be aware that the orange half's do attract ants.

The male is easily distinguished from the female. He is a bright flaming orange with a black head and black extending down the nape of the neck on to his back. He also has black wings with white and orange wing bars. He has an orange tail with black streaks and has a grey bill and dark eyes. The female is a pale yellow with orange tones, grey brown wings, white wing bars and dark eyes. The juveniles look the same as the female.

The oriole is a bird that does migrate. It's migration is complete to Mexico, Central American and South America.

It builds a pendulous nest that the female builds. They produce 1 brood per year and lay 4-5 bluish eggs with brown markings. The incubation period is 12-14 days and the female incubates. The fledgling stage is 12-14 days and both parents feed the young.

The oriole has a great song and I've always heard them before I've seen them. Their song is similar to the American robin but just a little different. If your familiar with the sound of a robin and hear something that sounds close but is not quite right, keep your eyes open as there's a chance it's an oriole. Once your familiar with it you'll have no problem identifying when they are around. I've read they often return to the same area each year, so once you have them coming in there's a good chance you'll get them to return next year. I can not say that this is correct as this is my first year getting one, however I will have oranges and grape jelly all over the yard next spring and I'll be able to give my opinion then. They are also some of the last birds to arrive here in Ohio (May) and one of the first to start migrating back out in the fall. (September)

I hope this posting helps motivate you to search out the Baltimore oriole. There are few birds that can match its color and beauty. If your not getting them yet in your yard, check your local bird store or park and see where you'll be able to locate and see one. Once you see your first, you'll have all the motivation you need to try and have them visit your back yard.

I've posted which birds I've spotted visiting my yard this past week in the side bar and will continue to do this weekly. Based upon where you live, it may help you identify where a certain species of bird may be during the migration. Also The vote will be reset for next weeks bird and the chipping sparrow already has a 2 vote lead from last week. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing more on a different bird next weekend.

Red-Winged Blackbird

Sticking with the wishes of the voting, the red-winged blackbird won by one vote. As promised that will be this weeks topic.

First I want to start by saying that me and my wife went bird watching yesterday. After a trip 90 minutes west, we were at Magee marsh. This is listed as a top spot in the United States to watch the spring migration. The only reason we went was to see a Scarlet Tanager like we saw last year. Well we did not see that but every bird nut in a 100 mile radius was there. So after a few birds we have already seen and fighting the crowd we decided to go to a place that is 7 minutes from our house. Only now it's 97 minutes after the trip west.

Once we got there we were amazed by the number of Orioles we saw. She had to call work before we started and while standing next to her there 25 yards in front of me in a bush was a male Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. We're there 5 minutes and already it beat the other place. She got off the phone and we start a slow walk on a trail through the woods that eventually leads to wet lands. We looked up and one of the Bald Eagles that nest there was soaring high over head. As I watched him my wife pointed into a tree and said "that Cardinal sounds strange." With out even lifting my binoculars I could tell it was the Scarlet Tanager we wanted to see. As many times that we had been to this place we never saw one. He stayed for a while and let us enjoy him on an open branch. We went another 20 yards and there was the female Scarlet Tanager 5 yards away. She did not have a care in the world and stayed there even longer than the male. In order to save time and get to the blackbird I'll finish by saying I saw my first Prothonotary Warbler as well as watched a Sandhill Crane sitting on a nest. She finally stood up and there were the two largest eggs I've ever seen. I'll have to cover the rest of the walk in another post.

I did see plenty of Red-Winged Blackbirds. It amazes me how different the male and female look. The male has its familiar flame red shoulder patch bordered in yellow, the female brown above and heavily streaked below with a buff to white eyebrow. Their song is a dead give away. If your familiar with the bird you know it well, if not try doing a google search for a sound byte of it. It truly is one of the nicest songs during the spring and summer.

The red-winged blackbird is a sure sign of spring when they return to the marshes here in NE Ohio. There have been reports of flocks of up to 100,000 birds. I'm not sure how they came up with that number but it's pretty incredible. The males are the first to return and they defend their territory of 1/8 - 1/4 acre by singing from the tops of surrounding vegetation. I witnessed this several times yesterday. Males repeat their song from the tops of cattails while showing off their red and yellow wing bars. Females will then choose a mate and will usually nest over shallow water in a thick stand of reeds or cattails. They build a cup style nest and usually have 2-3 broods a year. They usually lay 3-4 eggs which are greenish blue with brown markings. The incubation period is 10-12 days (the female incubates) and the fledgling stage is 11-14 days and both parents feed the young.

As for food sources they eat insects and seeds. They will come to feeders alone or in flocks that are filled with either cracked corn or some seed mixes.

As far as the migration is concerned, it's a complete migration to southern states, Mexico and Central America.

I hope this helps those of you that have the right habitat in your are and they visit your yard. They truly are a spectacular bird and one to enjoy during the spring and summer. I'll update the poll for next weeks bird and will start by letting you know that the Baltimore Oriole is up 2 votes already from last weeks poll. My goal is to cover the birds which the readers of this blog most want to see. Thanks for stopping by and I'll have anew post sometime next weekend.

After Some Soul Searching Here's my conclusion

After sitting back a week and deciding what direction I would take concerning the blog, I came up with the following conclusion.

I put up the recommended site meter and the hits are less than impressive, definitely not enough to post more than once a week. I realize I do not make the blog circuit but my life allows little to no time for that. I also realize I'm tapping into a subject that is not as popular as some.

However there are several people expressing their desire to see the blog continue. I've always had the state of mind that if I can help or touch just one person in a positive way then it's worth my time.

With that being said, this is what I came up with. From this date forward I will post on a bird or something relating to birds once a week. The post will be put online either Saturday or Sunday of each week. If for some reason I will not be able to make that time frame I will post on Friday giving the date I'll be posting next. I will still try to keep it in that weeks time frame. If there are any subjects or birds you would like to see a post on simply drop me an email at ohiohunter@windstream.net. I'll also try to keep a poll up asking which bird you would like information on in my next post. The poll will only run from Sunday - Wednesday so I'll have enough time to get the information and post it. If there are no responses I'll pick the topic my self.

I'm going to give this a 3 month trial and see how it goes. If visitors are up and all is going well I'll continue it. If it drops I'll revisit the idea of shutting it down. Thanks to all of you that posted encouragement to keep this up and running. It was heart warming and gave me the boost needed to continue. My next blog will be Saturday or Sunday May 3-4. I'll put up a poll with a list of birds tonight and it will run through Wednesday evening. You should have an idea of what's next based upon the poll. Thanks again for the encouragement and I'll do my best to make the post informative as possible.