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| "Fuzzy Beak" the Bull Mills Yellow-throated warbler |
Hanging out with birders gives us a whole new perspective on nature. On a wildflower walk we can recognize birders as they are looking up when everyone else is scanning the ground. They can frequently recognize a bird by its movement or behaviors - think of watching a robin's distinctive hopping around the yard.
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| A beak full of fuzz |
We were sitting on our deck with Charley and Lisa when a small bird flew onto a tree trunk. I figured it was one of the chickadees from the feeder but they immediately identified it as a Yellow-throated Warbler,
Setophaga dominica. I needed binoculars to confirm that the small black and white bird indeed had a yellow throat.
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| Looks like Home Depot to this warbler- Charley Burwick |
It spent several minutes each trip working on one section of the trunk.
With magnification we could see a piece of string wrapped around the trunk. The bird was tenacious in attempts to get the string free but each time had to be satisfied with a few strands of nylon. You can watch the tug-o-war in
this video.
Birds are very resourceful in selecting nesting materials. Man made materials are found increasingly in some bird nests as they move into the suburbs and find less nesting material in our mowed yards and manicured shrubs. Even cigarette filters are incorporated in some urban nests and conceivably they could deter mites as discuss in a
previous blog. We will be discussing bird nests in a future blog.
