By mid-summer, many birds exhibit less-than-stellar appearance. Juveniles have just left the nest and although their plumage is completely fresh, it may look drab compared to the feathers the bird will sport upon reaching adulthood. Their parents, having completed the stressful tasks of building nests and raising a new generation, now enter a state of molt to replace all or some of their adornment. Now is a fortuitous time for these mature birds to exchange old feathers for new—food is plentiful and the need to keep warm and fly long distances is at a minimum. Besides, they really don’t have to impress anyone with their beauty during summer vacation.
Following the break in the heat wave during recent days, activity at the headquarters feeders has increased significantly. We took notice that many of our guests are looking a little rough around the edges.
Having started their nesting cycle in February, most Mourning Doves including this adult male are nearly done molting by mid-summer. They are the exception.This juvenile American Robin has acquired its first full set of flight feathers and will, in coming weeks, begin replacing the spotted plumage to more closely resemble an adult bird.This adult male Northern Cardinal in worn plumage is still tending to the needs of fledged young, but is nevertheless in the early stages of molt.This juvenile Northern Cardinal will not only acquire brighter red feathers as an adult, but its bill will turn red as well.This actively molting Carolina Chickadee shows pin feathers in the wings and is balding rather profusely.This Blue Jay has gone beyond having its feathers ruffled, but it’ll be good as new by the time autumn migration rolls around in September.This drab brown bird is a juvenile European Starling. While its first set of feathers looks complete, it has a big problem. It lost its left eye and has trouble keeping up with a flock of its peers that have been roaming the area. A predator will quickly notice this young bird’s vulnerabilities.A juvenile Downy Woodpecker in a dull, streaky, almost dirty-looking, first plumage. Unlike the adult male which has a red patch on the back of its head, the juvenile Downy Woodpecker has a mottled red crown.An adult female Downy Woodpecker beginning to molt its heavily worn, year-old feathers.Mid-summer is prime time for discovering post-breeding wanders. These are birds that spend the time between the end of nesting season and the fall migration roaming the countryside and sometimes visiting areas outside their more traditional habitats and/or native ranges. For the past two days, this bird, a Hairy Woodpecker, has strayed from a mature woodland into urban environs to visit the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters. It’s our first record of one here.Not yet a lot of molt among the American Goldfinches. Why? Well, they’re late-season breeders and are only now in the midst of their nesting cycle. They begin shedding feathers and losing that brilliant color sometime in late August, just as the last of this year’s young are being fledged.
Think of all the opportunities mid-summer offers. It’s a good time to get outdoors to have a look at all the young animals that are exploring their world for the first time. Birds and other wildlife are at their greatest abundance of the year right now, so your chance to see new things is at its peak. And the phenomenon of post-breeding wandering always raises the possibility of a surprise or two—maybe even a rarity. Be cool and good luck!
It’s that time of year. Your local county conservation district is taking orders for their annual tree sale and it’s a deal that can’t be beat. Order now for pickup in April.
The prices are a bargain and the selection includes the varieties you need to improve wildlife habitat and water quality on your property. For species descriptions and more details, visit each tree sale web page (click the sale name highlighted in blue). And don’t forget to order packs of evergreens for planting in mixed clumps and groves to provide winter shelter and summertime nesting sites for our local native birds. They’re only $12.00 for a bundle of 10.
It’s the most desirable block in town, not because the houses are any different from others built during the post-war years of the mid-twentieth century, but because the first owners of these domiciles had the good taste and foresight to plant long-lived trees on their lots, the majority of them native species. Pin Oak, Northern Red Oak, Yellow Poplar, Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), Eastern Red Cedar, Eastern White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, Norway Spruce, and American Holly dominate the landscape and create excellent habitat for birds and other wildlife. These 75-year-old plantings provide an abundance of shade in summer and thermal stability in winter, making it a “cool” place to live or take a stroll at any time of the year.
Pickup on: Thursday, April 18, 2024 or Friday, April 19, 2024
Cumberland County Conservation District is taking orders for Common Winterberry, the ideal small shrub for wet soil anywhere on your property. To get berries, you’ll need both males and females, so buy a bunch and plant them in a clump or scattered group.To live for a century or more like this towering giant, a Pin Oak needs to grow in well-drained soils with adequate moisture. These sturdy shade providers do well along streams and on low ground receiving clean runoff from hillsides, roofs, streets, and parking areas. As they age, Pin Oaks can fail to thrive and may become vulnerable to disease in locations where rainfall is not adequately infiltrated into the soil. Therefore, in drier areas such as raised ground or slopes, avoid the Pin Oak and select the more durable Northern Red Oak for planting. This year, Pin Oaks are available from the Cumberland and Lancaster County Conservation Districts, while Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and York Counties are taking orders for Northern Red Oaks.The Cumberland County Conservation District is again offering a “Showy Northeast Native Wildflower and Grass Mix” for seeding your own pollinator meadow or garden. It consists of more than twenty species including this perennial favorite, Purple Coneflower.
Pickup on: Thursday, April 18, 2024 or Friday, April 19, 2024
The Eastern Redbud is small tree native to our forest edges, particularly in areas of the Piedmont Province with Triassic geology (Furnace Hills, Conewago Hills, Gettysburg/Hammer Creek Formations, etc.) Also known as the Judas Tree, the redbud’s brilliant flowers are followed by heart-shaped leaves. As seen here, it is suitable for planting near houses and other buildings. Eastern Redbud seedlings are being offered through tree sales in Dauphin, Cumberland, and Lancaster Counties.
The Yellow Poplar, often called Tuliptree or Tulip Poplar for its showy flowers, is a sturdy, fast-growing deciduous tree native to forests throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Its pole-straight growth habit in shady woodlands becomes more spreading and picturesque when the plant is grown as a specimen or shade tree in an urban or suburban setting. The Yellow Poplar can live for hundreds of years and is a host plant for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. It is available this year from the Lancaster County Conservation District.The American Sweetgum, also known as Sweet Gum, is a large, long-lived tree adorned with a mix of vibrant colors in autumn.Ever wonder where all the American Goldfinches and particularly the Pine Siskins go after passing through our region in fall? Well, many are headed to the lowland forests of the Atlantic Coastal Plain where they feed on an abundance of seeds contained in spiky American Sweetgum fruits. In the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley Provinces of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, American Sweetgum transplants can provide enough sustenance to sometimes lure our friendly finches into lingering through the winter.The American Sweetgum is a versatile tree. It can be planted on upland sites as well as in wet ground along streams, lakes, and rivers. In the beaver pond seen here it is the dominate tree species. This year, you can buy the American Sweetgum from the Lancaster County Conservation District.“Red-twig Dogwood” is a group of similar native shrubs that, in our region, includes Silky Dogwood and the more northerly Red-Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea). Both have clusters of white flowers in spring and showy red twigs in winter. They are an excellent choice for wet soils. Landscapers often ruin these plants by shearing them off horizontally a foot or two from the ground each year. To produce flowers and fruit, and to preserve winter attractiveness, trim them during dormancy by removing three-year-old and older canes at ground level, letting younger growth untouched.“Red-twig Dogwoods” make ideal mass plantings for streamside buffers and remain showy through winter, even on a gloomy day. They not only mitigate nutrient and sediment pollution, they provide excellent food and cover for birds and other wildlife. Both Silky and Red-osier Dogwoods are available for sale through the Lancaster County Conservation District as part of their special multi-species offers, the former is included in its “Beauty Pack” and the latter in its “Wildlife Pack”. The similar Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) is being offered for sale by the York County Conservation District.
The unique maroon flowers of the Common Pawpaw produce banana-like fruits in summer. These small native trees grow best in damp, well-drained soils on slopes along waterways, where they often form clonal understory patches. To get fruit, plant a small grove to increase the probability of pollination. The Common Pawpaw is a host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. It is available through both the Lebanon and Lancaster County sales.The Eastern Red Cedar provides excellent food, cover, and nesting sites for numerous songbirds. Planted in clumps of dozens or groves of hundreds of trees, they can provide winter shelter for larger animals including deer and owls. The Eastern Red Cedar is being offered for purchase through both the Lebanon and Lancaster County Conservation Districts.Care to try your hand at raising some chestnuts? Lebanon County Conservation District has hybrid American Chestnut seedlings for sale.Lebanon County Conservation District is offering Common Winterberry and Eastern White Pine during their 2024 Tree and Plant Sale. Plant them both for striking color during the colder months. Eastern White Pine is also available from the Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, and York County sales.
In addition to a selection of trees and shrubs, the Perry County Conservation District is again selling wildflower seed mixes for starting your own pollinator meadow or garden. For 2024, they have both a “Northeast Perennials and Annuals Mix” and a “Butterfly and Hummingbird Seed Mix” available. Give them a try so you can give up the mower!
Again this year, Perry County is offering bluebird nest boxes for sale. The price?—just $12.00.
Wait, what?,…twelve bucks,…that’s cheaper than renting!
The Buttonbush, a shrub of wet soils, produces a cosmic-looking flower. It grows well in wetlands, along streams, and in rain gardens. Buttonbush seedlings are for sale from both the York and Lancaster County Conservation Districts.
To get your deciduous trees like gums, maples, oaks, birches, and poplars off to a safe start, conservation district tree sales in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, and Perry Counties are offering protective tree shelters. Consider purchasing these plastic tubes and supporting stakes for each of your hardwoods, especially if you have hungry deer in your neighborhood.
Tree shelters protect newly transplanted seedlings from browsing deer, klutzy hikers, visually impaired mower operators, and other hazards.
There you have it. Be sure to check out each tree sale’s web page to find the selections you like, then get your order placed. The deadlines will be here before you know it and you wouldn’t want to miss values like these!
Since Tuesday’s snow storm, the susquehannawiildlife.net headquarters garden continues to bustle with bird activity.
Our Northern Mockingbird remains ever vigilant in its attempts to discourage American Robins and Eastern Bluebirds from feeding on the berry crop. Slowly, the latter species are winning the contest.A Carolina Chickadee carefully dissects a sunflower seed to snack on the nutritious kernel.This beauty shows us that yes, Red-bellied Woodpeckers do indeed have red bellies.Getting energized for a big move north, the robins keep on gulping berries.
Today, there arrived three species of birds we haven’t seen here since autumn. These birds are, at the very least, beginning to wander in search of food. Then too, these may be individuals creeping slowly north to secure an advantage over later migrants by being the first to establish territories on the most favorable nesting grounds.
This Song Sparrow is the first we’ve seen in the garden since sometime last fall. Is it working its way north or did it just come to town in search of food?Northern Flickers regularly spend the winter in small numbers in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. This is the first one we’ve had visit the garden since late last autumn.Fish Crows, seen here feeding on the fruits adorning an Eastern Red Cedar, have returned after being absent in our neighborhood since November. In coming weeks, both they and the more numerous American Crows that remained through winter will begin constructing nests in nearby trees.
They say the early bird gets the worm. More importantly, it gets the most favorable nesting spot. What does the early birder get? He or she gets out of the house and enjoys the action as winter dissolves into the miracle of spring. Do make time to go afield and marvel a bit, won’t you? See you there!
In mid-February each year, large numbers of American Robins descend upon the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden to feast on the ripe fruits that adorn several species of our native shrubs and trees. This morning’s wet snowfall provided the needed motivation for these birds and others to make today the big day for the annual feeding frenzy.
Early this morning, branches and limbs in the headquarters garden were loaded with clinging snow and more than one hundred American Robins.To have first grabs at suitable nesting sites, early American Robins are currently beginning to edge their way north. Spring migration is underway.The fruits of Common Winterberry are always a favorite of visiting robins.After selfishly guarding the garden’s berries through the entire season, our Northern Mockingbird finds chasing more than one hundred robins away from its food supply an impossible task.This and other visiting robins will strip the winterberry, cedar, American Holly, and other fruit-producing shrubs and trees within a day or two. To survive what remains of the season, our resident mockingbird will have to look elsewhere for provisions.Another American Robin devouring winterberry fruit.In addition to robins, there were, of course, other guests in the garden refuge on this snowy day.This Red-bellied Woodpecker tries to make sense of all the commotion.A pair of Carolina Chickadees established a family in the garden during the spring of 2023. At least five of the birds still stop by on a daily basis.As spring nears, our American Goldfinches are beginning to show a hint of their bright breeding colors.A Blue Jay peeks out from the cover of the Eastern Hemlocks.Our Carolina Wrens sing throughout the winter,……but today we noticed that this Mourning Dove has begun softly cooing to charm a mate……and the male House Finches are warbling away with the sounds of spring.With the local mockingbird busily harassing robins, our Eastern Bluebirds went unmolested long enough to stop by……for some raisins from their enclosed feeder.A showy male Eastern Bluebird on a snowy day in the garden. Spring must be just around the corner!
While trimming the trees and shrubs in the susquehannawildlife.net garden, it didn’t seem particularly unusual to hear the resident Carolina Chickadees and Carolina Wrens scolding our every move. But after a while, their persistence did seem a bit out of the ordinary, so we took a little break to have a look around…
A scolding Carolina Wren……keeping an eye on something in the tree overhead.There, just ten to twelve feet away, was this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, perched quietly and having a look around.Hatch-year Cooper’s Hawks have yellow eyes that darken to red as the bird matures. The blood stains reveal that this bird, despite its young age, is a successful hunter.This individual seems to be particularly well nourished, showing early growth of a gray-and-black adult tail feather.Despite their continuous pestering, this Cooper’s Hawk showed little interest in the small wrens, juncos, and chickadees that harassed it. Larger birds, particularly non-native House Sparrows, are its quarry. Moments after this photo was taken, the pursuit was underway. To conserve energy and protect themselves from injury, predators target the vulnerable. The unwary, the injured, the diseased, and the weak among its prey species are the most likely to be seized. And thus, these raptors, while in the near term providing for their own sustenance and safety, assure the long-term existence of their species by helping to maintain a healthy population of their prey species.
Here at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, we are visited by Cooper’s Hawks for several days during the late fall and winter each year. The small birds that visit our feeders have plenty of trees, shrubs, vines, and other natural cover in which to hide from raptors and other native predators. We don’t create unnatural concentrations of birds by dumping food all over the place. We try to keep our small birds healthy by sparingly offering fresh seed and other provisions in clean receptacles to provide a supplement to the seeds, fruits, insects, and other foods that occur naturally in the garden. With only a few vulnerable small birds around, the Cooper’s Hawks visit just long enough to cull out our weakest individuals before moving elsewhere. While they’re in our garden, they too are our welcomed guests.
A glimpse of the rowdy guests crowding the Thanksgiving Day dinner table at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters…
A male White-breasted Nuthatch visits a peanut feeder……soon to be joined by a female White-breasted Nuthatch.A male Downy Woodpecker gets a bill full of suet.A Carolina Wren nibbles at a peanut.An Eastern Gray Squirrel stuffs itself on peanuts dropped by the birds.A territorial Northern Mockingbird stands guard over its supply of Common Winterberry fruit.To avoid the mockingbird’s aggression, the Eastern Bluebirds opted out of fresh fruit in favor of raisins offered at the feeders.This persistent American Robin has made an art of repeatedly sneaking in to quickly devour a few berries before being chased away by the vigilant mockingbird.After everyone has had their fill, Dark-eyed Juncos clean up the leftovers.
As the annual autumn songbird migration begins to reach its end, native sparrows can be found concentrating in fallow fields, early successional thickets, and brushy margins along forest edges throughout the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed.
A streamside thicket composed of seed-producing grasses and wildflowers as well as fruit-bearing shrubs and vines can be ideal habitat for migrating and wintering native sparrows.
Visit native sparrow habitat during mid-to-late November and you have a good chance of seeing these species and more…
The Song Sparrow can be found in woody brush and grassy margins from the shores of the Susquehanna all the way up to the ridgetops of the Appalachians.During the colder months of the year, the Dark-eyed Junco is a familiar visitor to bird-feeding stations. Where suitable natural cover is present, they regularly venture into suburban and urban settings.The White-throated Sparrow is commonly found in the company of juncos, but is generally less adventurous, being more likely in weedy fields near young woodlands than in suburban gardens.The Eastern Towhee is a large native sparrow most often found in early successional growth near woodlands. Look for them in utility right-of-ways.The elusive Fox Sparrow is a regular late-fall migrant. Few stay for the winter, but northbound birds can be seen as early as mid-February each year.
If you’re lucky enough to live where non-native House Sparrows won’t overrun your bird feeders, you can offer white millet as a supplement to the wild foods these beautiful sparrows might find in your garden sanctuary. Give it a try!
Our brightly colored goldfinches are gone for the year. No more Pennsylvania distelfinks glowing like bright-yellow Easter peeps on our feeders. Oh, the birds are still here mind you, but their sunshine-gold feathers are falling away. Because winter time is no time to show off. One must blend in and maintain a low profile to conserve energy and avoid trouble as rough weather arrives. So our American Goldfinches have commenced to molting—shedding their breeding plumes and replacing them with drab earth-tone shades for winter.
An adult male American Goldfinch losing its spectacular summer color and molting into less-than-thrilling winter feathers.This ratty-looking adult male American Goldfinch is rapidly replacing its showy breeding (alternate) plumage with winter (basic) plumage. A new set of wing feathers is readily visible.Juvenile American Goldfinches leave the nest with this first complete set of feathers. Soon, adult birds will be wearing a similar color scheme. Then, as spring approaches, they’ll all begin a gradual molt into the brilliant hues we all know and love.
Last October 3rd, a late-season Ruby-throated Hummingbird stopped by the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to take shelter from a rainy autumn storm. It was so raw and chilly that we felt compelled to do something we don’t normally do—put out the sugar water feeder to supplement the nectar produced by our fall-flowering plants. After several days of constant visits to the feeder and the flowers, our lingering hummer resumed its southbound journey on October 7th.
Fast forward to this afternoon and what do you know, at least two migrating hummingbirds have stopped by to visit the flowers in our garden. This year, we have an exceptional abundance of blooms on some of their favorite plants. In the ponds, aquatic Pickerelweed is topped with purple spikes and we still have bright orange tubular flowers on one of our Trumpet Vines—a full two to three months later than usual.
We checked each of our late-season visitors carefully to be reasonably certain that none was a stray western species of hummingbird. All appear to be female or juvenile “Ruby-throats”. If you have an abundance of flowering plants and/or you’re going to maintain your hummingbird feeders through the coming weeks, be on the lookout for western species. Most are more hardy than our Ruby-throats and some have remained in the lower Susquehanna valley through the winter.As is typically the case, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds quickly gravitate toward the tubular flowers of our Cuphea ignea, the Mexican Cigar. They find these showy plants to be absolutely irresistible.Mexican Cigar grows wild in parts of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s winter range. To them, it’s comfort food.We’re trying some new cultivars of Cuphea to see how they do. As this composite image shows, the hummingbirds won’t let our Bat-faced Cuphea (Cuphea llavea) alone. It’s another plant native to Mexico and Central America, right where some of our hummingbirds spend the winter.
Remember, keep those feeders clean and the provisions fresh! You’ll be glad you did.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will be migrating south through the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed during the next few weeks.While on their journey, they refuel by frequently visiting nectar-producing native wildflowers as well as garden specimens like this Mexican Cigar.Hummingbirds supplement their diet by visiting feeders filled with a mixture of sugar and water. If you’re feeding hummingbirds, or thinking about feeding hummingbirds, be sure to review the helpful tips contained in our post from August 5, 2022, “Two Feeders Are Better Than One”. Their health and your peace of mind may depend on it.
Don’t want to feed suet to the birds around your home during the blazing heat of summer? Well, you might be glad to know that peanuts offered in one of these expanded metal tube feeders make a great substitute. They provide a nutritious supplement to naturally occurring foods for nuthatches, chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Blue Jays, finches, and woodpeckers including this Red-bellied Woodpecker. Secured to a vertical length of wire hung from a horizontal tree limb, these feeders have proven so puzzling to the squirrels at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters that they no longer make any effort to raid them. Though marketed primarily to dispense suet nuggets, powder-coated metal mesh feeders can be used for sunflower seeds too. This juvenile House Finch plucks the black oil variety from one of the tubes in our garden. Seeds that fall are quickly scarfed up by ground-feeding species including Northern Cardinals, Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus), and frustrated squirrels. Fewer seeds are lost if the larger varieties of sunflower such as “grey stripe” are used.
Are you participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend? Have you seen a Red-breasted Nuthatch at your feeders? If not, then maybe you should see the post from earlier today so that you might order some White Pine and Eastern Hemlock trees to spruce up the habitat around your pad and improve your chances of seeing them and other interesting winter birds in coming years.
The annual arrival of hoards of American Robins to devour the fruits found on the various berry-producing shrubs and trees in the garden at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters happened to coincide with this morning’s bitter cold temperatures. Here are photos of some of those hungry robins—plus shots of the handful of other songbirds that joined them for a frosty feeding frenzy.
American Robins consuming Common Winterberry fruits.One of between one hundred and two hundred American Robins seen feeding on berries at susquehannawildife.net headquarters this morning.A Dark-eyed Junco searching the ground for seeds.An American Robin in the boughs of a “Hollywood Juniper”, a cultivar of the Chinese Juniper (Juniperus chinensis ‘Torulosa’, also known as J. c. ‘Kaizuka’).A Carolina Wren on the peanut feeder.An American Robin searching for fallen berries beneath a holly.A female Eastern Bluebird.An American Robin takes a break from the buffet.A Carolina Chickadee preparing to pluck a sunflower seed from a tube feeder.American Robins feeding on “Hollywood Juniper” berries.One of two Red-breasted Nuthatches spending the week at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters.A male Eastern Bluebird among the crowd in the garden’s trees.An American Robin and Common Winterberry, a native deciduous holly.A Carolina Wren investigates a tree cavity, a potential nest site in coming weeks.
Snow days are often good days to keep an eye on the bird feeders for something unusual. Today was no exception. Two Red-breasted Nuthatches including this one were attracted to a tube full of peanuts and to the abundance of cones on the Eastern Hemlocks at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters. During autumn migration, Red-breasted Nuthatches can be somewhat common in our region but they rarely stick around, preferring instead to spend the winter in southern pine forests.
Carolina Wrens can be attracted to your garden by offering peanuts, mealworms, and suet. They are especially fond of brushy hedgerows, woodpiles, and rock walls where they forage for wintering spiders and insects. The Carolina Wren sings throughout the year, its loud “chickory-chockory-chickory” can brighten an otherwise gloomy day.
Those bluebird feeders with a one-and-a-half-inch entrance hole seem like a great way to offer supplemental foods like mealworms and raisins while excluding invasive European Starlings and other large birds from gobbling up all the expensive fare. But do they really work? Well, have a look for yourself…
An Eastern Bluebird eating mealworms in a homemade feeder with a one-and-a-half-inch entrance hole at each end.A female Eastern Bluebird inside the feeder enclosure.A male Eastern Bluebird inside the feeder enclosure.Mealworms drawing a crowd.Mealworms “To Go”. The lid on the far side of the feeder is hinged for cleaning the interior and filling the petri dish with fresh provisions.
There you have it. Feeders like this one are available commercially, so you don’t have an in-house wood butcher to get one. We’ve heard a rumor that Santa makes them too!
Our cute lovable chickadees are resident birds, remaining in the same general area throughout the year, often throughout their lives. In the Mid-Atlantic States, there are two species. The tiny Carolina Chickadee is at the northern limit of its geographic range in the Piedmont Province of southcentral Pennsylvania. The slightly larger Black-capped Chickadee is a year-round resident mostly to the north of the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed. Within the Susquehanna basin, an intergrade zone of the two species occurs in the mountains and bottomlands of the southern portion of the Ridge and Valley Province just to the north of the Pennsylvania cities of Carlisle, Harrisburg, and Lebanon. The range of the Carolina Chickadee, as well as the hybrid zone, has gradually crept north during the last fifty years—as much as twenty or thirty miles—while the range of the pure-bred Black-capped Chickadee has simultaneously withdrawn almost entirely from the lower Susquehanna, particularly in the valleys.
Every few years, presumably when their numbers are too great for the sustenance available from the wild food crop in their home range, Black-capped Chickadees invade the more southerly range of both Carolina Chickadees and the hybrids in the intergrade zone. This appears to be one of those years. Black-capped Chickadees are working their way south and showing up at feeding stations stocked with sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, and/or peanuts—sometimes in flocks numbering five to ten birds or more.
Let’s take a closer look at the two species…
In the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed from the Great Valley (Cumberland/Lebanon Valley) south into Maryland, the Carolina Chickadee is the resident species of “tit”.The Black-capped Chickadee, usually a resident of highlands to the north of the lower Susquehanna valley, is slightly larger than the Carolina Chickadee. The most conspicuous difference is the extensive amount of white in the “black-cap’s” wings, both on the edges of the flight feathers and on the set of coverts at the “shoulder”. Black-capped Chickadees often appear longer tailed and bigger headed than Carolina Chickadees and the edge of the black bib is often more ragged. The buffy wash on the flanks is usually more noticeable on the Black-capped Chickadee than on a Carolina. Hybrids from the intergrade zone, having a varying blend of characteristics, are more difficult to identify.
Not only is now a good time to carefully check the chickadees you see, but it’s an opportune time to watch for other invaders from the north, specifically the “winter fiches” including Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, Red Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), and White-winged Crossbills (Loxia leucoptera). During recent weeks, each of these species has been reported by observers at hawk-counting stations on local ridgetops, an indication that they too are experiencing inadequate food resources in their home ranges.
So, as winter approaches, you’ll want to keep an eye on those feeders—and don’t forget to keep an ear on the pines and hemlocks. The rewards could be many!
White-winged Crossbills during an invasion of the lower Susquehanna region in February 2009. Previously unnoticed in the shade, the sounds of their bills crunching the cones led to the discovery of this female (left) and male (right) among a small flock of six crossbills found feeding on Eastern Hemlock seeds at ground level.
Like a flycatcher, the petite Ruby-crowned Kinglet sometimes darts from its perch in pursuit of airborne insects. More frequently, you’ll see them quickly searching twigs and foliage for tiny invertebrates to snack upon. Though common in woodlands during autumn migration, only a few will remain for winter, mostly in the vicinity of pines and often in small flocks with other small birds such as chickadees and Brown Creepers. During freezing weather, kinglets probe beneath peeling bark and chunks of rotting wood for overwintering insects, including their eggs and larvae. On rare occasions, they will visit bird feeding stations to nibble on suet.
Having arrived yesterday during a break in the storm, this Ruby-throated Hummingbird spent a rain soaked fourth of October feeding on nectar among the abundant blooms covering the Mexican Cigar plants at susquehannawildlife.net headquarters. When the remains of Hurricane Ian finally depart the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed, it’ll resume its flight to the tropics for the winter. And yes, October is late for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds in our region. Throughout autumn, each passing day increases the likelihood of a hummingbird found here being one of the hardy species from western North America, so look carefully at any you see this fall.
A female Zabulon Skipper visits a cluster of Pickerelweed blossoms. The Zabulon Skipper is a small butterfly of our streamsides, riversides, damp meadows, and other moist grassy spaces. The Pickerelweed is an emergent plant of lakes, ponds, and wetlands. Add it to your next project to improve water quality and help pollinators like the Zabulon Skipper. You may even attract a hummingbird or two!
Over the coming six weeks or more, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will be feeding throughout the daylight hours to fuel their long migration to the tropics for winter. With plenty of adult and juvenile birds around, it’s the best time of year to get a better look at them by putting up a feeder.
You may already know the basics—hang the feeder near flower beds if you have them, keep it filled with a mixture of one part sugar to four parts water, and fill the little ant trap with fresh water. And you may know too, that to provide for the birds’ safety you should avoid hanging your feeder near plate glass windows and you should keep it high enough to avoid ambushes by any predators which may be hiding below.
Now here’s a hummingbird feeding basic (a bird feeding basic really) that you may not have considered. For every hummingbird feeder you intend to have filled and hanging in your garden, have a second one cleaned and air-drying to replace it when it’s time to refill. Why? Sugar water, like bird seed when it gets wet, is an excellent media for growing bacteria, molds, and other little beasties that can make birds (and people) sick. In the summer heat, these microorganisms grow much faster than they would in the wintertime, so diligence is necessary. Regularly, on a daily basis ideally, each feeder in your garden should be taken down and replaced with a clean, dry feeder filled with fresh sugar water mixture. The cleaning process should include dumping of the feeder’s contents followed by a thorough scrubbing with soapy water to remove any food residues that, if left remaining, can provide nourishment for growing bacteria. Next, the feeder should be rinsed with clean water to wash away soap and debris. You can sanitize the feeder if you wish, but it is more important to allow it to air-dry until its next use. Depriving mold, bacteria, and other microbes of moisture is a critical step in the process of eliminating them as a health hazard.
A Note of Caution: To avoid cross contaminating the utensils and space you use for preparing and serving meals, it’s important to have a separate work area with brushes, buckets, and other equipment dedicated only to bird feeder cleaning and drying.
Dish-type hummingbird feeders are easy to clean and fill. They dry quickly to eliminate microbial reproduction.
So, let’s review. If you’re going to have a hummingbird feeder filled with nectar hanging in your garden, you need a second one—clean, dry, and ready to replace it.
A hummingbird feeder hanging in the garden and a clean replacement air-drying.
If you’d like to attract more than one hummingbird at a time to your garden, you may want to place a second feeder where the territorial little bird claiming the first as its own can’t see it. Then you’ll need four feeders—two hanging in the garden and two that are clean, dry, and ready to be filled with fresh sugar water to use as replacements.
Two hummingbird feeders hanging in the garden and two replacements cleaned and air-drying.
If you’re in a rural area with good habitat, you may have four or more feeders around your refuge. You’ll need a replacement feeder for each.
Four hummingbird feeders hanging and……four replacements cleaned and air-drying.
Remember, keep your feeders clean and filled with fresh nectar and you’ll be all set to enjoy the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds of late summer. Then watch closely for the cold-hardy western species that visit the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed beginning in October. The occurrence of at least one of these rarities in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed each autumn is now something of a regular event.
This morning, our pair of Eastern Bluebirds (female lower right, male’s feet just barely visible atop the petri dish inside the feeder enclosure) led their offspring back to the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters for a visit to the mealworm feeding station, which they promptly emptied. Exactly fourteen days ago, these four young, plus one not visible in this image, fledged from the nest box located less than twenty feet away. They’ve been under the constant care of their parents ever since.
You’ve heard and read it before—native plants do the best job of providing sustenance for our indigenous wildlife. Let’s say you have a desire to attract hummingbirds to your property and you want to do it without putting up feeders. Well, you’ll need native plants that provide tubular flowers from which these hovering little birds can extract nectar. Place enough of them in conspicuous locations and you’ll eventually see hummingbirds visiting during the summer months. If you have a large trellis, pole, or fence, you might plant a Trumpet Vine, also known as Trumpet Creeper. They become adorned with an abundance of big red-orange tubular flowers that our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds just can’t resist. For consistently bringing hummingbirds to the garden, Trumpet Vine may be the best of the various plants native to the Mid-Atlantic States.
The showy bloom clusters of Trumpet Vine are irresistible to Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.
There is a plant, not particularly native to our area but native to the continent, that even in the presence of Trumpet Vine, Pickerelweed, Partridge Pea, and other reliable hummingbird lures will outperform them all. It’s called Mexican Cigar (Cuphea ignea) or Firecracker Plant. Its red and yellow tubular flowers look like a little cigar, often with a whitish ash at the tip. Its native range includes some of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird’s migration routes and wintering grounds in Mexico and the Caribbean Islands, where they certainly are familiar with it.
This morning in the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters garden, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird seen in the following set of images extracted nectar from the Mexican Cigar blossoms exclusively. It ignored the masses of showy Trumpet Vine blooms and other flowers nearby—as the hummers that stop by usually do when Cuphea is offered.
Some garden centers still have Mexican Cigar plants available. You can grow them in pots or baskets, then bring them inside before frost to treat them as a house plant through the winter. Give the plants a good trim sometime before placing them outside when the weather warms in May. You’ll soon have Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visiting again for the summer.
Despite being located in an urbanized downtown setting, blustery weather in recent days has inspired a wonderful variety of small birds to visit the garden here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters to feed and refresh. For those among you who may enjoy an opportunity to see an interesting variety of native birds living around your place, we’ve assembled a list of our five favorite foods for wild birds.
American Goldfinches in drab winter (basic) plumage visit the trickle of water entering the headquarters pond to bathe and drink. In addition to offering the foods animals need to survive, a source of clean water is an excellent way to attract wildlife to your property.
The selections on our list are foods that provide supplemental nutrition and/or energy for indigenous species, mostly songbirds, without sustaining your neighborhood’s non-native European Starlings and House Sparrows, mooching Eastern Gray Squirrels, or flock of ecologically destructive hand-fed waterfowl. We’ve included foods that aren’t necessarily the cheapest but are instead those that are the best value when offered properly.
Bread, “bargain” seed mixes, and cracked corn can attract and sustain large numbers of House Sparrows and European Starlings. Both are non-native species that compete mercilessly with indigenous birds including bluebirds for food and nesting sites. Though found favorable for feeding Northern Cardinals without attracting squirrels, the expensive safflower seed seen here is another favorite of these aggressive House Sparrows. Ever wasteful, they “shovel” seed out of feeders while searching for the prime morsels from which they can easily remove the hulls. Trying not to feed them is an ongoing challenge, so we don’t offer these aforementioned foods to our avian guests.
Number 5
Raw Beef Suet
In addition to rendered beef suet, manufactured suet cakes usually contain seeds, cracked corn, peanuts, and other ingredients that attract European Starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels to the feeder, often excluding woodpeckers and other native species from the fare. Instead, we provide raw beef suet.
Because it is unrendered and can turn rancid, raw beef suet is strictly a food to be offered in cold weather. It is a favorite of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and many other species. Ask for it at your local meat counter, where it is generally inexpensive.
Raw beef suet is fat removed from areas surrounding the kidneys on a beef steer. To avoid spoiling, offer it only in the winter months, particularly if birds are slow to consume the amount placed for them. If temperatures are above freezing, it’s important to replace uneaten food frequently. The piece seen here on the left was stored in the freezer for almost a year while the rancid piece to the right was stored in a refrigerator at about 40 degrees Fahrenheit for just two months. You can render raw beef suet and make your own cakes by melting it down and pouring it into a form such as cupcake tin. But do it outdoors or you’ll be living alone for a while.A female Downy Woodpecker feeds on raw beef suet stuffed into holes drilled into a vertically hanging log. Because they can’t be cleaned, log feeders should be discarded after one season. Wire cage feeders though, can usually be scrubbed, disinfected, dried, and reused.Pesky European Starlings might visit a raw beef suet feeder but won’t usually linger unless other foods to their liking are available nearby.This male Downy Woodpecker has no trouble feeding on raw beef suet packed into holes drilled into the underside of this horizontally hanging log. Starlings don’t particularly care to feed this way.Unusual visitors like a Brown Creeper are more likely to stop by at a suet feeder when it isn’t crowded by raucous starlings, House Sparrows, and squirrels. This one surprised us just this morning.Below the feeders, scraps of suet that fall to the ground are readily picked up, usually by ground-feeding birds. In this instance, a male Eastern Bluebird saw a chunk break loose and pounced on it with haste.
Number 4
Niger (“Thistle”) Seed
Niger seed, also known as nyjer or nyger, is derived from the sunflower-like plant Guizotia abyssinica, a native of Ethiopia. By the pound, niger seed is usually the most expensive of the bird seeds regularly sold in retail outlets. Nevertheless, it is a good value when offered in a tube or wire mesh feeder that prevents House Sparrows and other species from quickly “shoveling” it to the ground. European starlings and squirrels don’t bother with niger seed at all.
Niger seed must be kept dry. Mold will quickly make niger seed inedible if it gets wet, so avoid using “thistle socks” as feeders. A dome or other protective covering above a tube or wire mesh feeder reduces the frequency with which feeders must be cleaned and moist seed discarded. Remember, keep it fresh and keep it dry!
Niger (“thistle”) seed is very small, so it is offered in specialized feeders to prevent seed from spilling out of oversize holes as waste.An American Goldfinch in winter plumage feeding on niger seed from a wire mesh feeder. By April, goldfinches are molting into spectacular breeding feathers. Niger seed can be offered year-round to keep them visiting your garden while they are at maximum magnificence.American Goldfinches in August. This tube feeder is designed specifically for goldfinches, birds that have no difficulty hanging upside down to grab niger seed from small feeding ports.During invasion years, visiting Pine Siskins favor niger seed at feeding stations.Like goldfinches, Pine Siskins are quite comfortable feeding upside down on specialized tubes with perches positioned above the seed ports. Seeds dropped to the ground are readily picked up by ground-feeding birds including Mourning Doves and Dark-eyed Juncos. Periodically, uneaten niger seed should be swept up and discarded.
Number 3
Striped Sunflower Seed
Striped sunflower seed, also known as grey-striped sunflower seed, is harvested from a cultivar of the Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same tall garden plant with a massive bloom that you grew as a kid. The Common Sunflower is indigenous to areas west of the Mississippi River and its seeds are readily eaten by many native species of birds including jays, finches, and grosbeaks. The husks are harder to crack than those of black oil sunflower seed, so House Sparrows consume less, particularly when it is offered in a feeder that prevents “shoveling”. For obvious reasons, a squirrel-proof or squirrel-resistant feeder should be used for striped sunflower seed.
Striped sunflower seed.A male House Finch and a Carolina Chickadee pluck striped sunflower seeds from a squirrel-resistant powder-coated metal-mesh tube feeder.An American Goldfinch in winter plumage finds striped sunflower seeds irresistible, even with niger seed being offered in an adjacent feeder.A Tufted Titmouse visits a feeder stocked with striped sunflower seeds.Northern Cardinals readily feed on striped sunflower seeds, especially those that fall from our metal-mesh tube feeders.An Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has no choice but to be satisfied with striped sunflower seeds that spill from our wire-mesh tube feeders.
Number 2
Mealworms
Mealworms are the commercially produced larvae of the beetle Tenebrio molitor. Dried or live mealworms are a marvelous supplement to the diets of numerous birds that might not otherwise visit your garden. Woodpeckers, titmice, wrens, mockingbirds, warblers, and bluebirds are among the species savoring protein-rich mealworms. The trick is to offer them without European Starlings noticing or having access to them because European Starlings you see, go crazy over a meal of mealworms.
Dried mealworms can be offered in a cup or on a tray feeder. Live mealworms need to be contained in a steep-sided dish, so they don’t crawl away. Unless you’re really lucky, you’ll probably have to place your serving vessel of mealworms inside some type of enclosure to exclude European Starlings.A male Eastern Bluebird tossing and grabbing a dried mealworm.A female Eastern Bluebird with a dried mealworm.A pair of Eastern Bluebirds. The value of mealworms is self-evident: you get to have bluebirds around.
To foil European Starlings, we assembled this homemade mealworm feeder from miscellaneous parts. The bluebirds took right to it.It frustrates the starlings enough to discourage them from sticking around for long.If you’re offering dried mealworms, a source of clean water must be available nearby so that the bluebirds and other guests at your feeder don’t become dehydrated.
Number 1
Food-producing Native Shrubs and Trees
The best value for feeding birds and other wildlife in your garden is to plant food-producing native plants, particularly shrubs and trees. After an initial investment, they can provide food, cover, and roosting sites year after year. In addition, you’ll have a more complete food chain on a property populated by native plants and all the associated life forms they support (insects, spiders, etc.).
In your garden, a Northern Mockingbird may defend a food supply like these Common Winterberry fruits as its sole means of sustenance for an entire winter season. Having an abundance of plantings assures that in your cache there’s plenty to eat for this and other species.The American Goldfinches currently spending the winter at our headquarters are visiting the feeders for niger and striped sunflower seeds, but the bulk of their diet consists of tiny seeds from the cones on our Eastern Hemlock trees. At night, birds obtain shelter from the weather by roosting in this clump of evergreens.While the Eastern Bluebirds visiting the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters are fond of mealworms, the bulk of their diet here consists of these Common Winterberry fruits and the berries on our American Holly trees.Cedar Waxwings are readily attracted to red berries including Common Winterberry fruit.Migrating American Robins visit the headquarters garden in late winter each year to devour berries before continuing their journey to the north.
Your local County Conservation District is having its annual spring tree sale soon. They have a wide selection to choose from each year and the plants are inexpensive. They offer everything from evergreens and oaks to grasses and flowers. You can afford to scrap the lawn and revegetate your whole property at these prices—no kidding, we did it. You need to preorder for pickup in the spring. To order, check their websites now or give them a call. These food-producing native shrubs and trees are by far the best bird feeding value that you’re likely to find, so don’t let this year’s sales pass you by!
Right now, White-throated Sparrows are arriving for the winter throughout the lower Susquehanna valley. They are common inhabitants of brushy fields and woodlot edges. “White-throats” are a bit fussy about spending time in suburban gardens, not liking things overly “tidy”. They are often seen feeding upon weed seeds near or on the ground and can be attracted to white millet and cracked corn scattered atop a short stump or flat boulder. Listen for the male’s song, typically heard beginning in the spring ahead of and during migration back to the breeding grounds, a whistled “old-sam-peabody-peabody-peabody” that they sometimes can’t resist practicing on a sunny winter day.
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a familiar woodpecker-like songbird of deciduous forests, parks, and wooded suburbs. It frequently descends the trunks of trees head first while searching the bark for insects. Nuthatches visit feeding stations stocked with cracked corn, sunflower seeds, suet, or peanuts.
A Pileated Woodpecker devours the dark blue berries of a Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica). The Black Gum, also known as the Black Tupelo, Sour Gum, and Pepperidge, sports crimson leaves in the fall to attract birds to its fruit, thus assuring distribution of its seeds. In 2021, the fruit is so abundant that it has outlasted the foliage, much to the delight of resident and migrating birds.
Dark-eyed Juncos, the easiest to identify of our native sparrows, are arriving throughout the lower Susquehanna valley for winter. Formerly known as Slate-colored Juncos, they are sometimes called “snowbirds”. Juncos like brushy habitat with an abundance of small seeds for food. This one is munching on white millet scattered atop a large boulder. Pines and other evergreens provide roosting sites for stormy nights.
On a snowy winter day, it sure is nice to see some new visitors at a backyard feeding station. Here at the susquehannawildlife.net headquarters, American Robins have arrived to partake of the offerings.
American Robins feed on peanut hearts and chopped apples.
For this flock of robins, which numbered in excess of 150 individuals, the contents of this tray were a mere garnish to the meal that would sustain them through 72 hours of stormy weather. The main course was the supply of ripe berries on shrubs and trees in the headquarters garden.
Their first choice—the bright red fruits of the Common Winterberry.
American Robins strip the fruits from a Common Winterberry.Eat fast or lose your turn.Irresistible crimson delights.Cedar Waxwings get their share too.Robins will linger until nightfall to feed on winterberries.
After cleaning off the winterberry shrubs, other fruits became part of the three-day-long feast.
Robins eating Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum opulus) fruits.The blue-gray berries of junipers are attractive to robins, waxwings, and bluebirds.The American Holly (Ilex opaca) is a favorite of berry-loving birds. Its evergreen foliage provides cover and roosting sites for wintering birds.
Wouldn’t it be great to see these colorful birds in your garden each winter? You can, you know. Won’t you consider adding plantings of native trees and shrubs to your property this spring? Here at the susquehannawildlife.com headquarters we mow no lawn; the lawn is gone. Mixing evergreens and fruit-producing shrubs with native warm-season grasses and flowering plants has created a wildlife oasis absent of that dirty habit of mowing and blowing.
You can find many of the plants seen here at your local garden center. Take a chunk out of your lawn by paying them a visit this spring.
Want a great deal? Many of the County Conservation District offices in the lower Susquehanna region are having their annual spring tree sales right now. Over the years, we obtained many of our evergreens and berry-producing shrubs from these sales for less than two dollars each. At that price you can blanket that stream bank or wet spot in the yard with winterberries and mow it no more! The deadlines for orders are quickly approaching, so act today—literally, act today. Visit your County Conservation District’s website for details including selections, prices, order deadlines, and pickup dates and locations.
Evergreens like this Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) are essential to the survival of many species of wintering birds. Plant evergreens in clumps, the bigger the better, to provide birds with thermal protection against the cold winds of winter nights.County Conservation District Tree Sales offer bare root evergreens like this Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) in packs of five or ten. Buy a bunch. Spend this year’s lawn treatment money on them. Then, get them planted immediately after pickup in the spring and in a few years you’ll have a nice grove of evergreens for wildlife habitat, a wind break, or a privacy screen.Groves of mixed evergreens among deciduous woods, grasslands, farmlands, or suburbs are ideal cover for wintering wildlife. These stands attract many species of migrating and nesting birds as well. Seen here, left to right, are Eastern White Pine, Norway Spruce (Picea abies), and Eastern Red Cedar. Though not a native species, the Norway Spruce is frequently used for conservation and ornamental plantings in the northeastern United States due to its appealing attributes and lack of invasive characteristics.Feeding wildlife is great fun. But remember, if you’re running a hotel for animals, you’ve got to offer more than an after-dinner mint to your tired and hungry guests. Let’s get planting!
County Conservation District Tree Sales
Consult each County Conservation District’s Tree Sale web page for ordering info, pickup locations, and changes to these dates and times.
Cumberland County Conservation District Tree Seedling Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Pickup 1 P.M. to 5 P.M., Thursday, April 22, 2021, and 8 A.M. to 2 P.M., Friday, April 23, 2021. https://www.ccpa.net/4636/Tree-Seedling-Sale
Lancaster County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders (hand-delivered to drop box) 5 P.M., Friday, March 5, 2021. Pickup 8 A.M. to 5 P.M., Thursday, April 15, 2021. https://www.lancasterconservation.org/tree-sale/
Lebanon County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Thursday, March 11, 2021. Pickup 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Friday, May 7, 2021. https://www.lccd.org/2021-tree-sale/
Perry County Conservation District Tree Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Pickup 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., Thursday, April 8, 2021. www.perrycd.org/Documents/2021 Tree Sale Flyer LEGAL SIZE.pdf
York County Conservation District Seedling Sale—deadline for prepaid orders Monday, March 15, 2021. Pickup 10 A.M. to 6 P.M., Thursday, April 15, 2021. https://www.yorkccd.org/events/2021-seedling-sale
Thoughts of October in the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed bring to mind scenes of brilliant fall foliage adorning wooded hillsides and stream courses, frosty mornings bringing an end to the growing season, and geese and other birds flying south for the winter.
The autumn migration of birds spans a period equaling nearly half the calendar year. Shorebirds and Neotropical perching birds begin moving through as early as late July, just as daylight hours begin decreasing during the weeks following their peak at summer solstice in late June. During the darkest days of the year, those surrounding winter solstice in late December, the last of the southbound migrants, including some hawks, eagles, waterfowl, and gulls, may still be on the move.
The Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus), a rodent-eating raptor of tundra, grassland, and marsh, is rare as a migrant and winter resident in the lower Susquehanna valley. It may arrive as late as January, if at all.
During October, there is a distinct change in the list of species an observer might find migrating through the lower Susquehanna valley. Reduced hours of daylight and plunges in temperatures—particularly frost and freeze events—impact the food sources available to birds. It is during October that we say goodbye to the Neotropical migrants and hello to those more hardy species that spend their winters in temperate climates like ours.
During several of the first days of October, two hundred Chimney Swifts remained in this roost until temperatures warmed from the low forties at daybreak to the upper fifties at mid-morning; then, at last, the flock ventured out in search of flying insects. When a population of birds loses its food supply or is unable to access it, that population must relocate or perish. Like other insectivorous birds, these swifts must move to warmer climes to be assured a sustained supply of the flying bugs they need to survive. Due to their specialized food source, they can be considered “specialist” feeders in comparison to species with more varied diets, the “generalists”. After returning to this chimney every evening for nearly two months, the swifts departed this roost on October 5 and did not return.A Northern Parula lingers as an October migrant along the Susquehanna. This and other specialist feeders that survive almost entirely on insects found in the forest canopy are largely south of the Susquehanna watershed by the second week of October.The Blackpoll Warbler is among the last of the insectivorous Neotropical warblers to pass through the riparian forests of the lower Susquehanna valley each fall. Through at least mid-October, it is regularly seen searching for crawling insects and larvae among the foliage and bark of Northern Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) trees near Conewago Falls. Most other warblers, particularly those that feed largely upon flying insects, are, by then, already gone.The Blue-headed Vireo, another insectivore, is the last of the vireo species to pass through the valley. They linger only as long as there are leaves on the trees in which they feed.Brown Creepers begin arriving in early October. They are specialist feeders, well-adapted to finding insect larvae and other invertebrates among the ridges and peeling bark of trees like this hackberry, even through the winter months.Ruby-crowned Kinglets can be abundant migrants in October. They will often behave like cute little flycatchers, but quickly transition to picking insects and other invertebrates from foliage and bark as the weather turns frosty. Some may spend the winter here, particularly in the vicinity of stands of pines, which provide cover and some thermal protection during storms and bitter cold.Beginning in early October, Golden-crowned Kinglets can be seen searching the forest wood for tiny invertebrates. They are the most commonly encountered kinglet in winter.The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a woodpecker, is an October migrant that specializes in attracting small insects to tiny seeps of sap it creates by punching horizontal rows of shallow holes through the tree bark. Some remain for winter.The Yellow-rumped Warbler arrives in force during October. It is the most likely of the warblers to be found here in winter. Yellow-rumped Warblers are generalists, feeding upon insects during the warmer months, but able to survive on berries and other foods in late fall and winter. Wild foods like these Poison Ivy berries are crucial for the survival of this and many other generalists.American Robins are most familiar as hunters of earthworms on the suburban lawn, but they are generalist feeders that rely upon fruits like these Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) berries during their southbound migration in late October and early November each year. Robins remain for the winter in areas of the lower Susquehanna valley with ample berries for food and groves of mature pines for roosting.Like other brown woodland thrushes, the Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) is commonly seen scratching through organic matter on the moist forest floor in search of invertebrates. Unlike the other species, it is a cold-hardy generalist feeder, often seen eating berries during the southbound October migration. Small numbers of Hermit Thrushes spend the winter in the lower Susquehanna valley, particularly in habitats with a mix of wild foods.Due to their feeding behavior, Cedar Waxwings can easily be mistaken for flycatchers during the nesting season, but by October they’ve transitioned to voracious consumers of small wild fruits. During the remainder of the year, flocks of waxwings wander widely in search of foods like this Fox Grape (Vitis labrusca). An abundance of cedar, holly, Poison Ivy, hackberry, bittersweet , hawthorn, wild grape, and other berries is essential to their survival during the colder months.Red-breasted Nuthatches have moved south in large numbers during the fall of 2020. They were particularly common in the lower Susquehanna region during mid-October. Red-breasted Nuthatches can feed on invertebrates during warm weather, but get forced south from Canada in droves when the cone crops on coniferous trees fail to provide an adequate supply of seeds for the colder fall and winter seasons. In the absence of wild foods, these generalists will visit feeding stations stocked with suet and other provisions.Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus) were unusually common as October migrants in 2020. They are often considered seed eaters during cold weather, but will readily consume small fruits like these berries on an invasive Mile-a-minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) vine. Purple Finches are quite fond of sunflower seeds at feeding stations, but often shy away if aggressive House Sparrows or House Finches are present.
The need for food and cover is critical for the survival of wildlife during the colder months. If you are a property steward, think about providing places for wildlife in the landscape. Mow less. Plant trees, particularly evergreens. Thickets are good—plant or protect fruit-bearing vines and shrubs, and allow herbaceous native plants to flower and produce seed. And if you’re putting out provisions for songbirds, keep the feeders clean. Remember, even small yards and gardens can provide a life-saving oasis for migrating and wintering birds. With a larger parcel of land, you can do even more.
GOT BERRIES? Common Winterbery (Ilex verticillata) is a native deciduous holly that looks its best in the winter, especially with snow on the ground. It’s slow-growing, and never needs pruning. Birds including bluebirds love the berries and you can plant it in wet ground, even along a stream, in a stormwater basin, or in a rain garden where your downspouts discharge. Because it’s a holly, you’ll need to plant a male and a female to get the berries. Full sun produces the best crop. Fall is a great time to plant, and many garden centers that sell holiday greenery still have winterberry shrubs for sale in November and December. Put a clump of these beauties in your landscape. Gorgeous!
