WindStar Wildlife Institute Blog

Are You Ready To Count Birds?

THIS YEAR'S Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is taking place February 16 to 19. Jointly sponsored by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, folks like you and me count birds and report the numbers.  Many thousands of counts are compiled instantly and shown on maps. It's all a lot of fun. If you'd like to check out the details, CLICK HERE.  (In fact, even if you don't want to participate in the count, go to the website anyway...it's a fun place to visit.  Happy New Year to everyone in the Windstar family!

Jack Lewnes
WindStar Master Wildlife Habitat Naturalist
Port Republic, MD

Red Cedars Ideal For Giving Homes To Wildlife

IMPENETRABLE, evergreen, native red cedar trees fence the perimeter of my property.

I no longer see school buses, waiting parents or the endless parade of traffic to the cluster of mailboxes at the street corner. (Eastern Red Cedar)

Birds nest, feed, perch and fly through the lush barrier. Rabbits burrow beneath and nibble at ground cover plants. Foxes, squirrels, Raccoons, coyotes, Bobcats and the odd bear wander through at will.

At the edge of the front lawn is a 10-year-old specimen that is dense and now about 20 ft. tall. This red cedar grew taller and faster because of nearby irrigation and humus-rich amended soil.

Festooned with a living garland of passionflower vine that bloomed all summer, it is now decorated with fluttering Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwing Butterflies laying their last eggs of the year. Perhaps the hatched caterpillars will overwinter in the dense layer of scalelike leaf litter under the cedar. Red cedar is the host plant for the caterpillar of the Juniper Hairstreak Butterfly that breeds in Citrus County.

Red cedar, Juniperus virginiana (formerly J. silicicola), is long-lived and may grow over 60 ft. high. Most scientists now consider southern and eastern red cedars to be varieties of the same species. Common names and nursery workers are hard to change. Erect and conical with low-growing branches, red cedar ranges throughout eastern North America from zone 3 to 9. Preferred exposure is full sun. It grows spindly with thinner density in part shade.

Tolerant of acid or alkaline soil with pH 5.0 to 8.0, it is salt-tolerant on the coastal plain. Cedars grow along the rocky shores of the barge canal and Withlacoochee River as well as in old fields and in deep sandy scrubland as long as the soil is well-drained.

Bark is reddish brown and exfoliates in shaggy, thin strips. Male and female cones are borne on separate trees. Having cones places red cedar among the gymnosperms with pine, cypress and coontie. Red and white cedar species grow naturally in Florida. Male cones are woody and yellowish while female cones are round, berrylike and dark blue.

Mature leaves are small and scalelike but crowded around the twigs and branches. Young leaves are prickly and sharp but will be shed as the tree gets older. Cedars in the nursery trade are commonly clipped to form a bushy cone shape. Home gardeners cannot maintain this practice so most red cedars are left to grow naturally with leaves right down to ground level. Let fallen leaves lie as a mulch so no weed seeds will sprout beneath your tree.

Even in summer when the sun is high there will be afternoon shade to the north of a mature cedar. Plant evergreen Encore azaleas to add a mass of spring, summer and fall color to your garden. Oakleaf hydrangeas will also grow well in a cedar's shade. Other companion plants include coontie, dwarf scrub palmetto, saw palmetto, Schelling's dwarf yaupon holly, fringe tree, camellias, needle palm, winged elm, redbud and dogwood trees.

The red cedars attract red Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yellow Warblers and a flock of other interesting birds. Add strings of popcorn and cranberries on your cedars. Hook on ornaments made of pinecones slathered with a mix of peanut butter, suet, cornmeal and oatmeal to provide a feast for your feathered friends. Cut a few branch sprays and tie with a festive bow to create an aromatic door wreath. Happy holidays and good gardening in the new year.

Jane Weber
Dunnellon. FL

Bows For Birds

I HAD a thought that follows along the line of using the left-overs of yarn/string for the birds in the spring to build their nests. I was wondering if the "curling" ribbon; the type that is narrow and if you pull it across the blade of scissors, will curl tightly, could be used for buildings nests. If so, just think how much is used during the Christmas Holidays in wrapping presents. You could put a note in all the neighbors gifts/mailboxes, etc. and ask them to save the ribbon for you. Then during those long cold days and nights, cut up the ribbon in four to six inch pieces, save for spring. Let me know your thoughts on this. I know the color dye will not bleed, but not sure if it would work.Thanks for all the wonderful articles you have given us this year. I enjoy each and every one.

Ann Wagner
Nashville, TN

Playing A Little Reindeer Game

DURING a Christmas party last week, a group of revelers broke out in song: "You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitzen. But do you recall, the most famous Reindeer of all ...?" (Caribou by National Conservation Parks Association)

The answer, of course, is Rudolph, the red-nosed Reindeer. But I focused on Donner. "It's Donder, not Donner," I thought.

So I googled "Donder" and entered a world of literary confusion.

In "A Visit from St. Nicholas," first published anonymously on Dec. 23, 1823, in New York's Troy Sentinel, Santa called to the eight Reindeer-- "Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen! On Comet! On Cupid! On, Dunder, and Blixem!"

"Dunder" and "Blixem" are Dutch for "thunder" and "lightning," so their use is appropriate. The question is how these names morphed to "Donner" and "Blitzen."

For 13 years after its original publication, "A Visit from St. Nicholas" was reprinted many times in newspapers and magazines, and its author was rumored to be Clement C. Moore, a Bible professor at New York's General Theological Seminary. Finally, in an 1836 reprint, Moore was credited as the author, and in 1844 he included the famous Christmas poem in a collection of his own works.

All the while, there were whispers that the true author of the poem was Henry Livingston, a New Yorker of Dutch descent. That "Dunder and Blixem" was a common Dutch exclamation at the time lends some credence to Livingston as the author.

In 1837 a version of "A Visit from St. Nicholas" appeared in which "Blixem" was changed to "Blixen" -- to rhyme with Vixen -- and Dunder became Donder. In Moore's 1844 book of poems, he adopted these changes, and it was that version that became the Christmas classic.

The evolution of "Donder" to "Donner" can be traced to the 1939 publication of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in which author Robert L. May made the switch. Ten years later, Gene Autry recorded the Johnny Marks song by the same name, and Autry, too, used the name "Donner." The rest is history.

So much for legendary Reindeer.

The question on everyone's mind in December is, are Reindeer real? The short answer is, yes.

In North America we call them Caribou. Europeans call them Reindeer. All populations, however, belong to a single species, Rangifer tarandus. They are large members of the deer family--much bigger than the White-tailed Deer. Male Reindeer weigh 275 to 600 pounds; females 200 to 300 pounds.

Caribou distribution in North America is limited almost exclusively to Canada and Alaska. European Reindeer roam northern Scandinavia and Russia. Much of the European herd, though, is domesticated as an important source of meat, milk and hide.

Unlike other members of the deer family, both sexes of Caribou grow antlers. Racks tend to be much larger than those of White-tailed Deer. Bucks shed their antlers shortly after breeding. Does retain theirs until spring calving. This gives pregnant females weapons to protect themselves from wolves and Grizzly Bears. (It also means Rudolph and the gang were girls because only females have antlers in late December.) Females also use their antlers as shovels to scrape away snow to find winter food. Both sexes often eat their own shed antlers because tundra soils contain so little calcium.

Caribou live in the arctic tundra and the surrounding coniferous forest. Woodland Caribou wander throughout the year in search of food, but they cover relatively small distances. Barren-ground Caribou, on the other hand, are noted for long-distance migrations across the frozen tundra. Because Caribou herds deplete the limited supplies of lichens, grasses, sedges and willow and birch browse, they move almost constantly in search of food. Some herds travel as far as 3,000 miles each year.

For protection against the cold, Caribou wear a coat of thick fur. Their fine, dense underfur is covered by a layer of coarse, hollow guard hairs. These outer hollow hairs insulate the body and improve the Caribou's buoyancy. Consequently, Caribou are excellent swimmers; they must be to negotiate the many rivers that cross their migratory routes. I doubt, however, that they are buoyant enough to fly.

Scott Shalaway
Cameron, WV

Native Plants Can 'Make' Your Habitat

WHEN ESTABLISHING a backyard habitat, providing plants that produce berries is essential.

Native plants, which have evolved with wildlife to provide optimum nourishment at specific times, should be considered first. The types of plants that are chosen will determine the species of wildlife that will be attracted to your yard. Plant a variety of species that bear fruit at different times of the year to provide food from early spring through the winter. (Highbush cranberry berries by Tom Patrick)

One of the most conspicuous plants with berries surviving through the winter and into early spring is staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). Why, when the berries persist all winter and are there for the birds to eat, are they still present in the spring? 

The fruit has almost no meat and is essentially just seeds covered by a thin hairy fuzz. How palatable is that?  By spring though, when some migrants are returning and other berries are unavailable, the sumac berries will finally be eaten. Frugivores such as thrushes, flickers and catbirds will be seen devouring the fruit. Natures design, with high acidity and low sugar, fat and protein present, allows the fruit to remain on the plant without rotting and provides food when none other is readily available.

By summer there are numerous plants that are fruiting. Some of the most common natives in the northeast are strawberries, serviceberries (Amelanchier), blackberries, blueberries and raspberries. These plants produce fruit at different times during the summer and each kind is available for only a few weeks at a time, because the summer fruits spoil very rapidly.

Many species of wildlife are reproducing in the summer and need these high energy and plentiful foods. Birds such as robins, catbirds, orioles, and mockingbirds seek out the fruits as well as mammals like the chipmunk, fox, Raccoon, and skunk, and insects such as butterflies, bees and moths will eat the rotting fruit as part of their diet.

One of the little known summer berry bearers is called mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus) . It prefers moist to wet boggy soils, but I also see it during midsummer hikes thriving on mountain slopes in Acadia National Park. The leaves are a matte gray green, but the brilliant red fruits on the female plant are spectacular with a lovely satin finish. Unfortunately, the fruits last only a week or two in the heat of  late July and are quickly consumed by the birds.   

During the early fall, plants having berries that start to ripen  include silky dogwood (Cornus amomum) red-osier dogwood (C. sericea), gray dogwood (C. racemosa), pin cherries ( Prunus pensylvanica), and many native viburnums . Often the birds waste no time in finding and eating these fruits.  There are some berries that ripen in the fall and then tend to persist on the plants further into the winter. Examples of these are the highbush cranberry (V.opulus), winterberry (Ilex verticillata), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) and the American bittersweet vine (Celastrus scandens).

Some of these berries may become more palatable to the birds after they have been frozen and thawed a number of times, but I think often it depends on the kind of birds present in the area and just how hungry they are.

One of the most sought after viburnums to wildlife is the arrowood (V. dentatum). The berries turn a dark blue and become very conspicuous due to their bright yellow stems. Robins, Blue Jays, grouse, bluebirds and Pileated Woodpeckers will often feed on the berries from early September through November. 

Generally by February, the remaining berries are dried out and will drop off if not eaten. Other viburnums, such as maple-leafed (V.Acerfolium) and nannyberry (V.lentago) have fruits that will persist through the winter and will feed Purple Finches, Blue Jays and crows. If there are any fruits left they will supply the spring migrants.

My favorite viburnum is witherod (V. nudum var cassinoides). This species likes wet soil and is often found in swampy areas. The fruits are approximately ½ inch in diameter and ripen successively so the fruits can be different shades on one shrub. During the fall the leaves change to wonderful colors between light pink to deep red. Berries quickly disappear by early autumn and I have yet to see who is eating them since the shrubs have been in my yard for under a year.

Highbush cranberry produce beautiful bright red berries in the fall. I have seen our resident chipmunk climbing the shrubs in search of berries. The fruit persists into the winter and is one of those plants whose berries may sweeten from freezing  and thawing. Cedar Waxwings and Bohemian Waxwings will often land  on a bush and devour all the berries in late winter.

Winterberry is often found on the edge of a wetland. The many bright red berries are also seen along highways throughout the winter. Robins seem to relish these fruits and a flock can descend on a clump and remove all the berries readily. Often, people will pick stems loaded with fruit for Christmas decorations .This potentially sets up a contest to see who will get to the berries first!

The leaves of northern bayberry often remain through fall and into winter, sometimes even into spring. On the previous seasons twigs, which are often hidden by these leaves, are small hard gray berries covered with a waxy costing and looking very unpalatable. But they must be nutritious, since by late fall or early winter, the berries on my bayberry are all gone.         

It is often confusing to distinguish between American bittersweet and Asian bittersweet (C. orbiculatus), but it is important to know the difference as Asian bittersweet is invasive. One of the best ways to tell them apart is to look for the narrow, pointed leaves on the American variety, with fruit at the end of the stem, rather than the rounder, fuller leaves on the Asian variety, with its fruit all along the stem. The berries of the bittersweet are prized by birds and I often find mockingbirds frequenting my window boxes where I have put the berries for holiday decoration.

Enjoy your habitat by incorporating native plants that have evolved over the years to synchronize with the needs of wildlife.  That is nature's design!

Jan McIntyre
WindStar Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist
Bar Harbor, ME

Rising Tide of Invasive, Exotic Species

IN THE United States and around the world, invasive species are a major cause of species endangerment and extinction, second only to habitat loss.

In recent years, thousands of nonnative animals and plants have entered the United States. Roughly half of the native animals and plants on the U.S. endangered list are at least partly threatened by these invaders, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Dale Hall, the agency's director, puts invasive species as the No. 1 environmental threat to the United States today. Exotics, he says, "can push out native species, alter habitats, transmit foreign diseases and parasites, and cause food-chain disruptions."

The expanding, global trade in exotic animals as pets only feeds the problem. In 2005, there were more than 210 million animals imported to the United States for zoos, exhibitions, food, research, game ranches and pets. The imports included 203 million fish, 5.1 million amphibians, nearly 1.3 million reptiles, 259,000 birds and 87,991 mammals.

Only wild birds, primates and some cud-chewing wild animals are required to be quarantined upon arriving in the United States. The rest slip through with no disease screening, except for occasional Agriculture Department checks for ticks.

Since 2000, slightly more than 1 million pythons of varying types have been imported by the United States for commercial sale, the Fish & Wildlife Service says. Nearly half of those imports are sent to Miami International Airport, which receives dozens of foreign shipments a day.

Once nonnative species get loose in the wilderness, it costs a lot to control them, and even more to eradicate them. According to a 1999 Cornell University study, the United States spends on average $137 billion a year trying to limit damage done by invasive species.

Todd Lewan
AP National Writer

Helping Birds Survive Winter Cold

WITH our help,our feathered friends have a better chance of surviving the frigid temperatures that are common here in the Northeast.

By providing food such as seeds, suet and dense conifers for proper cover, birds can deposit a fat layer during the day and then have a protected place to sleep during the night when temperatures dip to 0 degrees C or below.

It has been found that chickadees, who don't migrate and are present all winter, actually enter a state of torpor during times of dwindling food supplies or when the nights are unusually cold. Torpor is a heat-conserving strategy whereby the body temperature of the chickadee is lowered at night . (Black-capped Chickadee)

During the day, the normal active body temp is 42 degrees C, and with adequate sources of food, fat is deposited continually. If the nights are not too cold, chickadees can maintain that 42 degrees C body temp just by shivering the whole time while sound asleep.
However, if the night temps fall to 0 degrees C or lower, the fat reserves built up during the day are not enough to get them through the night if they continued to regulate the same normal daytime body temp.

It was discovered through studies at Cornell University that during these very frigid nights, the chickadees survived by lowering their body temp to approximately 30 degrees C. Along with constant shivering, this enabled them to get through the night with the fat reserves they had accumulated during the day.

If a severe blizzard were to occur during the night and into the next day to prevent adequate food intake, even with a lowered body temp the fat reserves were not adequate to get them through. But, by finding a secure spot out of the wind, such as a tight cavity, or in dense conifers, then considerable energy could be conserved A chickadee with its very dense plumage, can fluff out and tuck its heads under its shoulder feathers to protect the eye and bill area where most of the heat loss occurs, thus increasing its chance of survival.

I like to make a birdie pudding, very high in fat, for the birds in the winter to help them in depositing body fat. Fat has more than twice the caloric content per unit weight than carbos, and birdie pudding with lard and peanut butter, supplies that fat. Spread it on a tree trunk, on pine cones that can be hung on trees, or in a suet log.The birds will relish it and enable them to survive those blistery winter nights.

Birdie Pudding Recipe
Melt 1 lb box of lard over low heat in a large saucepan.
Remove from heat when melted and immediately add 1 cup of peanut butter.
Stir til melted, then add 1 cup oatmeal,1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup dried bread crumbs and 1 cup flour. Other ingredients, such as bird seed, raisins or sugar can be added if desired.
Pour in a container and let cool, stirring a few times to keep ingredients mixed while it cools.
Cover and keep at room temperature until serving.

Jan McIntyre
WindStar Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist
Bar Harbor, ME

Mealworms Not Fun For Minnesota Man

I JUST spent the scariest week of my life with breathing shortness (I could barely walk to the next room without running out of breath)

Turns out I had a severe and COMMON allergic reaction to my sons mealworm farm.

After 3 hospital visits, I was properly diagnosed and treated with steroids, I am still a bit short of breath but improving. I should note, I do not have asthma, and have never smoked. Tonight I am doing research on this and find it very common. I also found your website stating mealworm demonstrations are part of your curriculum. I am not sure I am ready to set out on a campaign to educate the world. But, I felt when I saw your website I owed it to people to at least share this info. with someone.

You may want to read http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13994811
or search Google for mealworm allergy or mealworm asthma. It's up to you if you pass this info. along to anyone.

I feel better knowing I have shared it.

Jon Van Buren
Arden Hills, MN

Feds Reject Cerulean Warbler Protection

THE PLIGHT of the disappearing Cerulean Warbler, a bright blue migratory songbird, is not grave enough to warrant protection as a federally threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In a decision this week, the agency acknowledged that the numbers of warblers summering in 33 states in the eastern and southern United States and wintering in South America have declined as much as 70 percent since the 1960s. However, the agency said, "We do not believe this species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future" and therefore was rejected for the second time since 1994 for listing as threatened and protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The Cerulean Warbler remains protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, under which "you can't kill it, steal its eggs or destroy its nests." A "threatened" designation, however, could elevate the warbler's plight into consideration for federal permitting of such things as clear-cut timbering and mountaintop mining.

And that would "step on some political toes." The primary threat is loss of habitat--mature deciduous forests, particularly in a core area for breeding on the Cumberland Plateau in eastern Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, southern and western West Virginia, southeastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania. Logging, urban development and most recently mountaintop coal mining are usurping the turf of the 4.5-inch-long, three-tenths of an ounce Ceruleans, who like to nest high up in the trees and dine on the insects that would defoliate the hardwoods.

Mountaintop coal mining and valley fill operations in Kentucky and West Virginia alone could cost the species 1.4 million acres or 10 percent to 20 percent of its core range by 2012, the Fish and Wildlife Service decision said. The agency also said the bird's wintering grounds in the northern Andes of South America, some 2,500 miles to the south, also are diminishing in part because plantations there are converting from shade-grown to sun-grown coffee.

Dozens of rejected protection articles cross our desks annually.  But, this one is so important we felt you should know about it. The Cerulean Warbler is championed as "a species we want to save" by numerous environmental organizations. What do you think?

Tom Patrick, President
WindStar Wildlife Institute

Trap/Neuter/Release Feral Cats Questioned

FIRST, the solution to feral cat overpopulation has to be driven by logic and science and a real humane concern for these cats, not by emotion alone as it is now here is San Francisco.

I acknowledge that there are people out there willing to do the TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) work, but there are not enough of them (as they would lead you to believe) to make TNR the only permitted solution (as they would like it to be). All TNR programs need independent oversight and guidelines specifying that where the cats are returned is safe for them and that property owners are in agreement with their return. And there has to be a real guarantee that the cats will receive care for the rest of their lives; which requires a time commitment that will span years. And there should be proof of financial ability of a caretaker to take care of 20, 30 or more cats for 10 or more years. And caretakers should be responsible for a back-up plan for when they are absent for whatever reason.

If a caretaker drops out and leaves their cats unattended, then I feel strongly they should be charged with animal abandonment. I think if the hardcore TNR folks were actually required to sign commitments and required to report on all the cats they “manage” and were actually held accountable, you would see a very real reduction in force.

I also think that TNR colonies should not be allowed in wildlife sensitive areas. TNR advocates will argue that “we don’t make the colonies; they exist wherever we find them”. But that is not true. Colonies are formed wherever there is a consistent and reliable food source, otherwise the cats move on until they find those conditions. They go where the food is, and if it is moved, they will follow.  But feral cat caretakers like wildlife areas because they are out of sight of most prying eyes.

At the same time, I feel the wildlife community could do more to help resolve the problem than they currently are offering. That assistance could be in the form of organized volunteer groups helping trap cats and assisting in finding/making available suitable and sustainable relocation areas where possible. Getting in there and getting their hands dirty along with the TNR folks would do a lot to help bridge the differences between the two parties. There is a lot of work to be done.

And as opposed as some people are to euthanasia, it is an unfortunate fact of life until a miracle birth control solution drops from the sky. My experience has taught me that euthanasia is a far more humane end for some of these cats than the ends through which I’ve seen them suffer as a result of TNR.

J.R. Yeager
Commission of Animal Control and Welfare
San Francisco, CA