This Month:

Field Trips
June Birdsong
Vines For Birds 

JUNE BIRDS

PILEATED WOODPECKER

The Pileated is our largest and strangest looking woodpecker and its undulating flight is unmistakable, flashing a white underwing pattern as it flies. If you see a large, mostly black bird with a brilliant red crest that looks like the comic-strip Woody Woodpecker, that’s your Pileated. They are resident birds in this area and are nesting in June.

 The call of the Pileated can best be described as a primordial scream. It has also been said to sound like a scolding witch, a laughing madman or a lost, tortured soul. It is loud and unmistakable. Since this woodpecker roams over such a large area, some think as much as 150 to 200 acres, perhaps the loud call is for long-distance communication between the sexes.

 The Pileated feeds mostly on carpenter ants that live in the central portions of large trees. They will also eat other wood-boring insects, fruits, nuts and suet from bird feeders. It nests in a hole excavated in a large, usually dead tree, 15-80 feet from the ground. The hole is generally oval in shape and they build a new nest every year. They do not carry any nesting material to the hole. 

If you are lucky enough to find a nesting pair, they are fun to watch and quite visible. The female usually lays four eggs and incubation is 15-16 days, shared by both male and female. They are extremely attentive to the nest and rarely leave it unguarded for more than a few minutes. When the nestlings are 15 days old they can climb to the nest entrance and stick their heads out. This is one of the most thrilling bird sightings – to see those fluffy new heads looking inquisitively out into the world. 

In 1999 there was such a nest in Charlie Bird’s yard and we were fascinated to see three baby Pileateds inquisitively poking their fluffy new heads out of the hole as if to say, “Hello, world, are you ready for us?”

BIRDSONG

PROTHONOTARY warblers tend to inhabit those dark, dreary, creepy places where only dedicated warbler watchers can find them. They like stream-side, damp habitat with overhanging limbs and flooded areas with standing water. But there are exceptions to the rule. Normally a cavity nester, it has been known to nest in Bluebird boxes and one spring a Prothonotary nested in Dr. Nelson Rose’s hanging planter on his porch.

 This striking warbler has a golden head, neck, breast and belly. Its wings and tail are blue-gray, the tail with patches of white. It is a relatively large warbler with a short tail and a long bill. It sounds exactly like a songbird should sound with a series of ringing tsweet, tsweet, tsweet notes, all on the same pitch. Its name comes from the title of church officials who wore yellow hoods.

VINES FOR BIRDS

For many years I have admired the beautiful Cardinal Climber Vine that grew on Linda Caroon’s mailbox on Silverbrook Rd. It is a vigorous, fast-growing, 8-10 ft. vine with deeply cut, palmlike foliage and masses of tiny, tubular, star-shaped blooms. It is extremely attractive to hummingbirds. A friend gave me a package of seeds from Shepherd’s Garden Seeds and I am trying to produce a vine for my garden. 

Many vines that grow wild here and are not invasive are very good for birds. They provide food , hiding places and nesting ledges for many songbirds. The Virginia Creeper, Trumpet Vine and the early blooming Carolina Jasmine are excellent to train on dead or living trees and they will not hurt the tree as Wisteria does.

FIELD TRIPS

We will plan to bird on Wednesday, June 28 and that will be our last venture until September. We take a little hiatus in July and August as the hot weather takes its toll on us and the birds. They molt and we sweat. They don’t sing and we yawn. Call me or e-mail at 249-2646; harbinger@cconnect.net if you would like to join us on the 28th. 

Don’t forget to look up!