DID YOU KNOW…

 You can click on to enlarge each image if you would like a clearer view.

The word animal is derived from the Ancient Greek 

word Anima. It simply means soul.

I found these at Pinterest and enjoyed learning about the birds.

Did you know: the Chipping Sparrow’s song is one of the longest sustained trills 

in North American birdsong - a rapid, mechanical chip-chip-chip that can last 4 to 8

seconds without pause. It sounds almost like an insect. But here’s the remarkable 

part: researchers have found that neighboring male Chipping Sparrows match each

other’s trill rates over time. They learn to sound like their neighbors. The local dialect 

is real and it shifts with each generation.

My apologies to our international friends. I completely forgot to write down what was in the image so that you could translate it. My mind and my eyes were extra tired tonight and I rushed through to get this published. Racing brain-tired body, not a good combination, lol! I will add the words as I have the time.

Hello. I am the Dark-eyed Junco. Order: Passeriformes, Family: Passerellidae,

Genus: Junco, Species: hyemalis. You called me a ‘snowbird’ all winter. You were 

charmed by my slate-gray back and white outer tail feathers. You kept the feeder full.

I appreciate this. But now it is late April. I am heading north to breed in boreal forests

and mountain slopes. I did not come to say goodbye. I just…left one morning. That is

how I do things. See you in October (around the bird little arrows from left down point

to slate hood, pink bill, white tail feathers. On the other side white belly. In the box on 

the right: Common name: Dark-eyed Junco. Scientific name: Junco hyemalis. 

Length: 5.5 - 6.7 inches (14 - 17 cm), Wingspan: 7.5 - 9.8 inches (19 - 25 cm),

Diet: seeds, insects, berries. Habitat: forests, woodlands, fields and backyard feeders. 

On the right: sunflower seed, millet, corn, white proso millet.

What nesting costs her body. 8 species the bill nobody sees.The bird is an American Robin. 

The arrows on the right say, Immunity - suppressed during nesting. More vulnerable to 

disease. Flight Speed - slower when carrying forming egg. Hawk vulnerability. 

Lifespan - breeders live shorter lived than non-breeders. Reproduction costs.  The arrows 

on the left say Skeleton - calcium extracted for eggshells. Bones weaker by egg 3-4. 

Feathers - brood patch: bare skin, pulled out for heat transfer. Flight Speed - slower when 

carrying forming egg. Hawk vulnerability. What helps: Eggshell station = less calcium from her 

bones. Nesting material station = less energy searching. Food near nests = fewer trips, less 

predator exposure. Other species mentioned top left: Goose - body weight -25%. Raccoon:

weight loss while nursing. Top right: Cottontail: fur for nest lining. Fox: chest fur pulled for nest.

This is a replacement to the one that I had here before, and more accurate. 

Can you tell the males from the females at your feeder. Most people can’t and

You might be surprised which is which. The left side of the panel: Male Ruby-throated 

Hummingbird. Iridescent green crown. Brilliant iridescent red throat (gorget). White 

breast. Right-side panel: side now. Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Green 

crown (less iridescent). White throat (no red gorget). Green back (softer).

Square tail. Underneath the branch, in the first box - both sexes have: long,

slender bill. Rapid wings (blur when in flight). Tiny feet for perching.  The 

next box: Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris - arrives in

Spring. Loves flower nectar and small insects. The diagram of the Hummingbird

feeder on the left shows what we should give them - clear sugar water, never red.

In Native American culture, Hummingbirds are seen as healers and bringers of love, good luck and joy. 

A Duck can…eliminate 200 slugs per day on 100 square feet, walk between vegetables 

without scratching the soil, lay 200 to 300 eggs per year - larger and richer, control up to

500 mosquito larvae per day, fertilize 65 to 75 square feet of ground per month, produce

13 to 18 lbs. of manure per month, handle cold, rain and wet better than chickens.

THE BACKYARD SECRET EVERY BIRD WISHES YOU KNEW.

Your kitchen can save an entire nesting season. An eggshell is 95 percent calcium. Most 

females can’t find enough. A simple natural homemade shallow dish. Why birds need your help: 

 calcium in forest soils down to 70 percent since the 1970s. Fewer snails, fewer natural calcium 

sources. Modern yards = lower mineral availability. The eggshell station steps: save shells.

Bake at 250 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Crush to rice or pea size. Add to shallow dish. Refill weekly 

February to July. Zero cost, huge environmental impact. Who benefits: Robin, Chickadee, Bluebird,

Finch. Mothers seek calcium 2 to 3 weeks before laying. Impact: 12 eggshells a week can mean five chicks instead of none. Human relatables: this goes to waste in most homes. This becomes strong 

eggshells and healthy hatchlings. A tiny dish on your feeder can save a family of birds.

This  is a Brown Thrasher

‘The mockingbird gets all the  credit. But I know 1,100 different songs. MORE than 

any other North American bird.  I sing each one twice, and then move on. I never

Repeat a sequence. My concert lasts hours. And I wrote every song myself - I don’t 

copy anyone. But no one writes articles about me. Because I am brown. The most 

talented bird in America.’

Your Birdbath Has Different Rules. Here’s Who Bathes How - and Who Just Wades

Tier 1 - Robin: The bath bully. Full immersion 20 - 30 seconds. Splashes everything off the 

rim, even juveniles. Tier 2 - Mourning Dove: Doesn’t bathe. Wades belly-deep for 10+ 

minutes. Holds bath by occupation, not aggression. Tier 3 - Blue Jay/Grackle/Starling: 

Progressive bathers. Step in, sink lower, splash retreat, repeat. Tier 4 - House Sparrow

Flock: Pile in 6-10 at a time. Dominate by mass for 2-3 minutes. Tier 5 - Chickadee/Wren/

Warbler: Darters. One-second full submersion. Repeat 4-5 times from a nearby branch.

Did you know? The Baltimore Oriole can taste the difference between natural grape

jelly and artificially flavored substitutes - and will abandon a feeder that uses imitation

flavoring - it has taste receptors tuned to specific sugars found in ripe fruit - This is why

real grape jelly works and 'grape-flavored' products often don't - The bird is not being

picky. It is being correct.

Did you know? The tufted titmouse is one of the few backyard birds that caches foods - 

carrying seeds one at a time from your feeder and hiding them in tree bark, crevices or

soil up to 130 feet away - it can remember hundreds of cache locations - and he's the

surprising part: it picks the best seeds first - Sunflower seeds before millet. Larger

kernels before small ones - It is running a quality-controlled pantry in your yard.

~Baeolophus bicolor~

I Am Not A Bully - Look Closer: Hawk Mimic: Copies Red-shouldered Hawk to warn

other Jays - Oak Planter: Caches up to 4,500 acorns per Autumn. Forgets enough to

grow forests - Structural Blue: Feathers scatter light. No blue pigment exists - Face

Memory: Recognizes individual humans. Remembers for years - I am loud. I am also

planting your woods.

He sings while sitting on his nest. The grosbeak ignores the rule. Most male songbirds

Never do this. The grosbeak ignores the rule. Male. Female - often mistaken for a large 

sparrow. Bill - heavy, pale, conical - built for cracking seeds. Shift Schedule - both

Parents incubate: female at night, male during the day. He sings the entire shift. The 

song gives away his nest. He sings anyway.

WHO’S AT YOUR FEEDER - AND WHAT THEY ACTUALLY EAT

I will start on the left hand side of the page first, going down. 

Cardinal: Black oil sunflower. Platform or hopper feeder. Blue Jay: Peanuts

in shell. Platform. Also eats acorns (plants 4,000 oaks/year). House Finches:

Nyjer (thistle) seed. Tube feeder. The red comes from diet. Downy Woodpecker:

Suet. Smallest woodpecker. Black and white. Mourning Dove: Cracked corn,

millet. Ground feeder. Won’t use a tube. (I am switching over to the top right now.)

Chickadee: Sunflower, suet, peanuts. Tube feeder. Caches food for later. Nuthatch: 

Suet, sunflower, peanut butter (please check on that as I was once told peanut butter 

could be a choking hazard for birds and needed to be carefully mixed with

seed). Walks DOWN the trunk headfirst. Tufted Titmouse: Sunflower, peanuts,

suet. Takes one seed, flies to branch, hammers it open. Goldfinch: Nyjer seed.

Tube feeder with small ports. Bright yellow in summer. Fightwreck (never heard of 

that one before and wonder if it should be Wryneck, a unique group of Old World

birds in the woodpecker family known for their ability to twist their heads almost

180 degrees when threatened: Nych (do they mean Nyjer?) primarily reside in

Europe, Asia and Africa. However, they are considered rare vagrants and have been

 spotted on very rare occasions in Western Alaska and sporadically elsewhere in North 

America (such as in the Aleutian Islands on the Bering Sea) as lost migrants.) won’t 

use a tube. Hummingbird: sugar 4 to 1 ratio. Red feeder. NO Red dye. Change every 

2 to 3 days. Quick tips: summer switch suet to mealworms. Winter add peanut butter +

Suet (please research this as heard it had to be carefully mixed with seed as though 

nutritious, it could be a choking hazard as mentioned earlier). I noticed a few 

discrepancies in this one so have tried to correct where I can.

6 Babies on the Ground - All of them are probably fine. 1. Robin - spotted breast,

Short tail. “Most common. Most rescued. Doesn’t need it.” 2. Cardinal - brown, streaky.

“Looks nothing like dad. That’s her.” 3. Bluebird - dull blue-gray, spotted. “Leaves

The box as a group.” 4. Wren - tiny, brown, active. “Already knows what she’s doing.”

5. Sparrow - streaky, ground level. “She blends in. Check before you step.” 

6. Starling - gray-brown. “The most obnoxious fledgeling. Parents look exhausted.”

Feathered and alert = leave it.

I slipped in a jigsaw puzzle from my iPad to finished off with.