Go west, young bird

Go west, young bird

  It was a snowy and windy morning. Approximately 50 redpolls rose from the feeders in my yard, flew high into the sky, fought the wind for a moment, and then went where the wind took them.

  A chickadee called its own name and then whistled "Spring's here."

  The redpolls returned.

Q and A

  Janet Eastvold of Hartland asks how to discourage a cardinal from fighting with its reflection in windows? Windows can be enemy territory for cardinals. Birds, fueled by hormones, attack windows that mess with their minds and make them feel territorial. Birds are unable to perceive the difference between a reflected image and a real bird. A cardinal engages in beak-to-beak combat with himself. He becomes his own worst enemy. Since the birds in the window won’t leave, the cardinal prolongs the fight. This window battle usually lasts a week or two, but occasionally a bird will attack those mirrored images for months at a time. Remember, "testosterone" is just "testy" with more and different letters. It’s typically the male that battles the glass with the female acting as an enabler, but she will take a shot at her image, too. Robins and cardinals are the most likely to do battle with a Pella or a Marvin, but a diverse group of birds will attack windows--including pheasants and turkeys. I recommend patience and empathy. If you can break the window shadowboxing pattern for at least a week that should give the bird enough time to forget about his enemy in the glass. The reflection needs to be blocked from the outside. Covering the inside of the window does nothing more than to enhance the reflected image. Drawing the blinds or pulling the curtains close exacerbates the problem because it makes the window a better mirror. Cover the outside of the glass with cardboard, paper, soap, painter's plastic drop cloth, or plastic cling wrap. This will make Martha Stewart shudder like an earthquake, but it removes the reflection. This doesn’t always eliminate the behavior. The bird may search for and find imaginary opponents in other windows. I have had birds scrapping with the mirrors of cars. The birds rarely do themselves any great harm. Putting out a replica of an owl doesn’t work.

Nature lessons

  The brighter red a cardinal male is, the higher his reproductive success will be and the more effective he'll be at holding preferred territories. The cardinal’s color is related to what he’s been eating. When a female sees a bright red male, it’s a signal to her that he is healthy and has a good territory.

Doodlebug

  I have always wanted to visit Nameless, Texas. I’m not sure if I would like to go to Uncertain, Texas.

  I was certain I was outside a Texas city that had a name when I found small funnel-shaped dimples in the sand. I grabbed a twig and gently stirred it around one of the impressions as a friend from Texas chanted, "Doodlebug, doodlebug, come out of your hole. Your house is on fire, and your children will burn."

  A little beastie appeared, a larval antlion. Made many times larger, it would be a perfect creature for a sci-fi movie. It looks like a tiny turtle with large, extended jaws. Mark Twain included one in his novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "Doodlebug, doodlebug, tell me what I want to know!"

  The burrowing of a doodlebug created the dimple in the sand. It sat buried at the bottom of the imprint. If an ant or other small insect walked by, it would slip on the sand particles and tumble into the abyss. There, it would fall prey to the jaws of a hungry doodlebug.

Thanks for stopping by

  "There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation."--W.C. Fields

  "Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life. And when you feel better about life, your life is better."--Art Linkletter

  "This dirty puddle used to be pure snow. I walk by it with respect."--Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

DO GOOD.

©Al Batt 2013