Bird of the Week: White-throated Sparrow

Our favorite bird this week is the White-throated Sparrow.

We see this bird twice a year as it migrates through in spring and fall. Like most birds, we hear it before we see it.

The White-throated Sparrow has a very distinctive call, with the first two notes clear and straight and one note apart on the scale, which is a followed by a slurred-stacato on the same note, repeated three times. When translated to English (haha), the call sounds like the bird is saying, "Old man, peabody, peabody, peabody." Others hear the words, "Oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada." I personally like "peabody," so I call them the "Mr. Peabody birds." Either way, it's easy to identify the call.

Like many of our native sparrows, White-throated Sparrows have beautiful feathers with easy-to-recognize markings. The name fits the markings! Many times, the name given to the birds doesn't match at all, but this time it does.

In the spring, White-throated Sparrows show up at our nursery just after the Juncos leave. The Juncos are our winter birds they stay until Spring, then migrate up to northern Canada to nest. The White-throated Sparrows also nest in Canada and Alaska. They winter in southern U.S. and Mexico. With their long migration, it's no wonder why they stay for two weeks at our place to recharge their batteries before they head to their nesting area!

In the fall, the White-throated Sparrows arrive before the Juncos and stay again for another two weeks. They don't call as often, but they still call -- probably to keep the flock together (we assume). After they leave, the Juncos show up and we know that winter is just around the corner.

These sparrows will readily eat sunflower seeds, but you'll only see them foraging on the ground. They'll scratch the soil and grass for things to eat: usually seeds and bugs.

To help these birds during migration, the dense shrub plantings in our garden provide shelter from predators, roosting places to rest during the day and night, and food sources. We also have ponds and bird baths for the all-important water. It's easy to make your garden attractive to birds by planting a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs, seed and flower-producing perennials and a bird bath.

Learn more about these wonderful birds at All About Birds, Cornell University Web site.

Bird of the Week: Robin

American Robin

Wow, spring is early this year!  It's forecast to be in the 60s all next week, which is crazy for Wisconsin.

In "normal" winters, the first sign of spring is seeing a Robin. Most people can recognize an American Robin -- the red breast of Robins is unmistakable. 

But, this year, I saw flocks of Robins all winter!  They rarely overwinter here in Wisconsin (at least in the olden days!).  It must be that if they can find enough to eat, they'll stick around.

Robins hang out in flocks throughout the winter and then go their separate ways to stake out breeding territory in the spring.  They're one of the first birds to start nesting in the spring and can raise two broods each season. 


Robin nest with blue eggs

Robin nests are made by the females out of mud and grass and have a deep grass-lined cup containing three or four blue eggs.  Watch for the broken blue eggs shells on your lawn during nesting season.  The parents dispose of them far away from the nests. 

It's common to find Robin nests in evergreen shrubs next to our houses.  They prefer evergreens for protection -- especially from cats.   A well-forked branch in a shrub or small tree is also a common place to find a Robin nest. 

But one year, a Robin insisted on building her nest on a tire of our old truck. The wheel-well provided good shelter. We couldn't drive that truck until the babies fledged!

When the young first leave the nest, they are very vulnerable to cat predation.  So be sure to keep your cats inside where they can watch the robins from a window. 

Robins are one of the first birds to start singing in the morning and the last to stop in the evening.   So, listen for them in the morning and at dusk. 

Robins eat insects and fruit.  The classic picture we all have in our minds is watching Robins hunting for worms on our lawns. They also like to eat grasshoppers, beetles, termites and other insects. 

In the winter, Robins live primarily on dried fruit, so be sure to have lots of shrubs and trees in your garden that retain the fruit all winter. Good choices are winterberries and crabapples. 

If you want to attract Robins to your back yard, here are some good plants for food and shelter for Robins: crabapples, dogwoods, elderberries, hackberry, hawthorns, sumac, serviceberries, wild cherries, wild grapes, wild raspberries, winterberries, viburnums, wild roses and evergreen trees and shrubs.

Spring Cleaning

It was 60 degrees outside for a week in mid March! That's crazy weather for Wisconsin. But, it made for a great opportunity to clean out the ponds.

Ick. Talk about pond scum! It really took some scrubbing to get the pond-scum smell off my hands!

But, it was so well worth it to see the clean ponds all ready for the frogs and toads. And it was important to get the water cleaned for the birds. The water attracts more birds than anything else in our garden. So, having clean water for them is super important, especially for the migratory birds. They really need water after their long migration.

Enjoy the photos!

Spring is here!

What a difference a week makes! Last week I was freezing, and this week, it got into the 50s and we had a thunderstorm -- in March!

With warmer temperatures and snow melting, it's time to clean out the bird houses. While I was outside, I heard a flock of migrating Sandhill Cranes overhead. What a rare treat to hear a flock of them. They're so rare.

And the Redwinged Blackbirds are back! They're the first birds to return each spring. Flocks of robins have returned also. But, the Cardinals knew that spring was coming. They've been singing for over a week now.

This is the best time of the year. It's so great to see the ground again and to hear the familiar songs of the birds.

Spring is here!

The Orioles are Back!!

The Orioles came back yesterday, April 30! That's one day earlier than last year. Here's a picture of a male Northern Oriole eating grape jelly at a feeder in our garden.



I heard a House Wren calling this morning, too. So, spring is really here.

For anyone interested in phenology, the Toads are really early this year. They usually don't start singing until mid May or later. This year, they're about a month early. Here's a photo of what they're up to in our pond. The eggs are the long, squiggly black strings.



The wildflowers are blooming early, too. Here's a picture of Bloodroot in bloom. It's one of the spring ephemerals. It blooms quickly and then the foliage dies back and the plant goes dormant in late June, only to remerge again the following spring. They're called "Bloodroot" because the inside of the root is red.