Hummmming Along at the Nature Preserve

When you come to Mahan Manor at the Nature Preserve, look at the garden right by the driveway. Several hummingbird feeders hang there, where they are a popular spot for our family of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Since the Ruby-throated is the only Hummingbird which breeds in eastern North America, this identification is pretty easy. The staff enjoys watching from the kitchen window as they zoom around, chasing each other away from the feeders, chirping and humming.

Scientists place hummingbirds and swifts in the same taxonomic order, the Apodiformes. The name means “without feet,” which is certainly how these birds look most of the time. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd think they don't have wings either since they can flap 53 times per second, making the wings pretty well invisible. The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping. The best it can do is shuffle along a perch. Nevertheless, it scratches its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird does not show a strong preference for any particular color of feeder. Instead, it prefers specific feeder locations. But Ruby-throated Hummingbirds prefer to feed on red or orange flowers, which is probably why the manufacturers make feeders red. Like many birds, they have good color vision and can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, which humans can’t see. Please don't use the commercial nectar mix with red dye. It's easy to make nectar yourself using 1/4 cup of sugar per cup of plain water.They love it!  The nectar needs to be changed often, especially if you have ants, and the feeder should be well scrubbed too.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers such as trumpet creeper, cardinal flower, honeysuckle, jewelweed, bee-balm, red buckeye and red morning glory, as well as at hummingbird feeders and, sometimes, tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. Their main insect prey includes mosquitoes, gnats, fruit flies, small bees and also spiders. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds sometimes take insects attracted to sap wells or pick small caterpillars and aphids from leaves.

Although hummers look as if they are drinking through a straw with those long beaks, they really don't. They lap up nectar with their tongues from flowers and feeders. A Hummingbird's tongue is grooved like the shape of a "W", and has tiny hairs on the tip to help lap up nectar. Its beak is generally shaped like any other bird beak, just longer in proportion to its body. The edges of the top beak overlap the edges of the bottom beak, and the bottom beak is slightly flexible.

The gorget is the red coloring on the throat of the males. Depending on the light, it sometimes looks black instead of red. This is an immature male who is just growing his red gorget. It looks like he has five o'clock shadow, doesn't it? Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds don’t stick around long. Pairs are together long enough for courtship and mating – just a matter of days to weeks. Then he’s off on his own, and may begin migration by early August. The female raises her family all by herself, making a nest the size of large thimble, directly on top of the branch rather than in a fork. It’s made of thistle or dandelion down held together with strands of spider silk and sometimes pine resin. She incubates the pea-sized eggs for about two weeks, and in another three weeks they are ready to leave the nest.

Like all hummingbirds, Ruby-throats are precision fliers with the ability to fly full out and stop in an instant, hang motionless in midair, and adjust their position up, down, sideways, and backwards with minute control. They dart between nectar sources with fast, straight flights or sit on a small twig keeping a lookout, bill waving back and forth as the bird looks around. Male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds aggressively defend flowers and feeders, leading to spectacular chases and dogfights, and occasional jabs with the beak.

Look how long her wings are when they are still!  Sometimes their eyes look like eyes on people painted in Egyptian tombs, with a large white space around the dark center. That effect is the result of white feathers around the small completely dark eye. Hummingbirds migrate to Central American by flying across the Gulf of Mexico in a 20 hour marathon flight. They do NOT hitchhike on the backs of geese, eagles or any other bird!

They will be leaving the Kentucky area before too much longer, so it is important to keep your feeders full of fresh nectar during September. Hummingbirds will not get addicted to a hummingbird feeder filled with nectar, and will leave when they need to. But a Hummingbird can double his/her weight before migration, so it needs a good supply of food before leaving on migration.

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Blackbird, Blackbird

Black Vultures

It's not easy to tell birds apart sometimes, especially if they are the same color, like black. There are some things to watch for which can help. If you see large birds circling in the sky like this, they are probably vultures, riding the warm air thermals. But how to tell which kind of vulture? There are two, you know. Click on the picture to enlarge it, and look at the wingtips on these birds - just a bit of white at the tips means they are Black Vultures.

Black Vulture

Closer up, you can see that the Black Vulture has a black head, of course. They are smaller than the Turkey Vulture, with a short, stubby tail. Black Vultures are aggressive, and will steal a find from Turkey Vultures.

Turkey Vulture

A flying Turkey Vulture is much larger, and holds its wings in a shallow V shape called a dihedral. Also, you will notice the silver feathers on the underside of its wings. It's very distinctive. Turkey Vultures have a red head, which you will only see if it lands nearby. Turkey Vultures find a carcass by their sense of smell. Most birds have a poor sense of smell, but Turkey Vultures can smell a dead mouse under the leaves from 200 feet over the forest canopy. Oil companies in Texas would put the scent of a dead animal in their gas lines then look for circling vultures to find a leak in the line.

American Crow

OK, here's and important distinction. You see a big black bird in the sky. Is it a vulture or a crow and how can you tell the difference?  A vulture holds its wings out and soars without flapping much at all.  A crow flaps its wings pretty consistently to stay aloft. Crows used to be just country birds when I was a girl, but now they can be found all over town.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Once in a while that black bird in the air looks really huge, and it just might be a juvenile Bald Eagle.  Eagles take five years to develop their white head and tail. I once spotted an Eagle among a circling kettle of vultures!

Red Winged Blackbird

How about some smaller black birds? In the spring Red Winged Blackbirds are all over, singing conkoree as they defend their territories against other males! The red epaulet on the shoulder makes this identification easy, but sometimes you only see the yellow, and not the red. They are still adult male Red Winged Blackbirds, but they are being peaceful and non-aggressive, usually at a feeding area. The female looks like the biggest sparrow you ever saw.

European Starling

The European Starling is the most common black bird. They were first introduced to the United States in 1890.  Rumor has it that one hundred starlings were released in Central Park in hopes that all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works would become established in the New World.  In the case of the starling, the wish became reality.  In the intervening hundred years the starling population has grown to an estimated 150-200 million birds. European starlings are habitat generalists, able to exploit a large variety of habitats, nest sites and food sources.  They will eat almost anything, including a diverse array of invertebrates, fruits, and seeds.  In addition, they are lowland birds that do well in large open areas such as fields and marshes.  These traits, in combination with a long-standing ability to coexist easily with humans, has enabled them to take advantage of agricultural fields, livestock facilities, sewage treatment facilities, garbage dumps, cities and other human related sources of food and nest sites.  European starlings are highly colonial, gathering in huge flocks which may number in the thousands, to feed and roost.  They are aggressive and gregarious and easily compete with native birds for resources. 

Brown-headed Cowbird

Starlings may often be confused with Brown-headed Cowbirds. The Brown-headed Cowbird is a stocky blackbird with a fascinating approach to raising its young. Females forgo building nests and instead put all their energy into producing eggs, sometimes more than three dozen a summer. These they lay in the nests of other birds, abandoning their young to foster parents, usually at the expense of at least some of the host’s own chicks. Once confined to the open grasslands of middle North America, cowbirds have surged in numbers and range as humans built towns and cleared woods.

Common Grackle

Common Grackles are blackbirds that look like they've been slightly stretched. They're taller and longer tailed than a typical blackbird, with a longer, more tapered bill and glossy-iridescent bodies. Grackles walk around lawns and fields on their long legs or gather in noisy groups high in trees, typically evergreens. They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well, including garbage. In flight their long tails trail behind them, sometimes folded down the middle into a shallow V shape. Common Grackles appear black from a distance, but up close their glossy purple heads contrast with bronzy-iridescent bodies. A bright golden eye gives grackles an intent expression. You’ll often find Common Grackles in large flocks, flying or foraging on lawns and in agricultural fields. They strut on their long legs, pecking for food rather than scratching. At feeders Common Grackles dominate smaller birds. When resting they sit atop trees or on telephone lines, keeping up a raucous chattering.

American Coots

Yes, you can even find black birds on the water. Often mistaken for a duck, the American Coot is a common waterbird. Its all black body and white chicken-like beak distinguish this swimming rail from the real ducks. Although it swims like a duck, the American Coot does not have webbed feet like a duck. Instead of having all the toes connected by webs, each coot toe has lobes on the sides of each segment.

You can find many of these birds at the Nature Preserve, so keep your eyes open as you hike around!

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Native Grasslands

Kentucky’s native grasslands have almost disappeared by the 21st Century, but it is important to restore and protect these areas. Early settlers found vast forests, except in south-central and western Kentucky, where they rode for days on horseback without being able to see over the top of the grass.

Controlled Burn

The Indians had repeatedly burned the forests that once covered the region as a means to stampede and kill big game. These fires created an open savanna that in turn drew all types of wild game to feed off its lush grasses. Buffalo herds migrated eastward across the Mississippi to Illinois, and then to Kentucky. These herds came to the Barrens and multiplied, providing food and clothing for the Indians. Settlers found the treeless areas easy to cultivate. Originally the pioneers thought the treeless grasslands infertile because of the lack of forestation. They soon found the soil to be some of the best that they had encountered. Farms and communities soon began to cover the area.

Northern Bobwhite

Native grasses provide many benefits, such as shelter and nutrition to wildlife and birds, which non-native grass and crops do not. Native bunch grasses grow upright with spaces between each bunch. This growth form makes them ideal wildlife habitat—providing protective cover, quality nesting areas, and open travel lanes. In addition, once established, these grasses are more nutritious for wildlife than nonnative grasses such as fescue.  Animals commonly found in such communities include quail, deer, rabbit, turkey, migratory songbirds, and small mammals such as voles and mice. The rabbits and small mammals in turn attract larger predators such as fox, coyote, and raptors. 





Most of the grass we see today is not native.  We plant fescue and bluegrass in our yards, but bluegrass came from England. Native grasses include Indian grass, little and big bluestem, prairie dropseed, and side-oats grama.



Big Bluestem and Native Flowers

Native grass communities provide other environmental benefits, including filtering sediments and chemicals from runoff, dispersing water flow, and reducing erosion. Most native grass species develop a strong root system that contributes to an increase in soil fertility, recycling nutrients while alive and returning vital nutrients to the soil as the roots decompose.  They also recover quickly after fire or drought. Because many native grasses are adapted to survive in almost any soil conditions, they require no fertilizer or irrigation after planting. Thus, over the long term, planting native grasses and wildflowers can reduce maintenance costs.

Bobwhite Nest in Grass

Grassland birds adapted to these areas, and cannot live elsewhere. These birds eat a variety of foods found in the grasses ranging from grass seeds to crickets, grasshoppers and worms; and in the case of grassland raptors, such as the Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, small mammals such as meadow voles, small birds, and even small reptiles and amphibians.  Grassland birds nest on the ground rather than in trees, using the structure provided by grasses both for the construction of the nest and as cover from predators. Ground nesting behaviour leaves grassland birds vulnerable to disturbances such as mowing or haying during the breeding season.  Nest predation and destruction, coupled with loss of habitat, are causing grassland bird populations to drop without a good chance of recovery. 

Field Sparrow

After leaving the nest, and later in the life cycle, grasses provide these birds with cover and protection from prey as they often do not fly from a predator, but run through the grasses to escape danger. Native grasses growing in clumps allow these ground runners to escape through passages between the clumps. This Field Sparrow will perch on a waving grass stem to look around, then drop down into invisibility.

Dickcissel

Loss of habitat has lead to decline of grasslands bird populations by 60 to 80% in the last 40 years, according to the Audubon Society's recent list of  Top 20 Birds in Decline. Plowing the grasslands for crops, then planting one kind of crop (such as corn) in large areas, creates less diversity, food and shelter. 40 years ago, there were more pastures and fields that birds found acceptable. Since then we have turned farmland into industrial or residential areas, paving over much land entirely,  changing and redirecting the amounts of water available.


Invasive Johnson Grass

Invasive plants take over remaining space, grow faster than native plants, and inhibit the growth of native plants. Native animals do not eat these plants, so they spread even more, and the animals have less to eat. Fragmentation of habitat areas is a factor in the decline as well. Although grassland birds may use very small grasslands (under 40 acres, sometimes even under 10 acres) for foraging or other habitat needs, managing areas of at least 40 acres will provide most habitat needs for a diversity of grassland birds. The grass areas we have now may simply be too small for the birds to successfully breed and raise their young.

Big Bluestem and Goldenrod

Creasey Mahan is working to restore the native grasslands on the Preserve at Meadowlark Meadow. Grasslands are being planted with native grasses and wildflowers. The primary grasses are prairie grasses, known as “warm season” or “bunch” grasses. All of these grasses provide food and shelter for wildlife, and help retain water in the soil and prevent erosion.

Black-eyed Susans

Native wildflowers have been added to Meadowlark Meadows to provide food for wildlife and add a scenic quality to the grassland. Primary wildflowers are black-eyed Susan, partridge pea, Illinois bundleflower, common and butterfly milkweeds, purple coneflower and New England aster.

Partridge Pea

If you build it they will come, or so we hope.  By planting native grasses and managing them to control invasives, we hope to encourage these declining birds to live on the Preserve where we can all enjoy them. As you walk across these areas at the Preserve next year, keep your ears open for the song of Eastern Meadowlark, Field Sparrows, and maybe the more rare Dickcissel or Grasshopper Sparrow.

Naturally yours,

~denapple and Tavia

Empty Nest

Robins: 4 Eggs, 4 Weeks from Fred Margulies on Vimeo.

An American Robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November. From that point on, about half of the robins alive in any year will make it to the next. Despite the fact that a lucky robin can live to be 14 years old, the entire population turns over on average every six years.

Females build the nest from the inside out, pressing dead grass and twigs into a cup shape using the wrist of one wing. Other materials include paper, feathers, rootlets, or moss in addition to grass and twigs. Once the cup is formed, she reinforces the nest using soft mud gathered from worm castings to make a heavy, sturdy nest. She then lines the nest with fine dry grass. The finished nest is 6-8 inches across and 3-6 inches high. The process from egg laying to fledging lasts about a month.

The parents feed their chicks 3-4 bites every 30 - 60 minutes, and robins often raise more than one brood during the season. I've seen studies which conclude that the red inside the chick's gaping mouth, along with the "feed me" chirp, stimulates the adults to feed the babies.  This is lucky for birds since they foster chicks which aren't their own quite easily.

She does look surprised to find the chicks have left the nest, doesn't she? I enjoyed this great summary of the effort the birds put into raising their young and hope you enjoy it too.

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Happy Ending for Tortoise

It's always nice to have a happy ending to a story, and here is ours. The sulcata tortoise who appeared in a ditch at the Preserve this week has officially been named Radar because of the pink flag we put on her back so she won't get lost again. Although Buddy Freckles did not like her walking around his kitchen at first, they have become tolerant of each other.

Mike and Radar

Our calls to the Kentucky Herpetological Society were answered by one Mike Connor, an officer of the  Society who rescues snakes and turtles. He is our hero, since he does this out of the kindness of his heart. He already has three sulcata tortoises, so Radar will be joining a family.

Alfred, Althea, Radar and Tulip

In fact, Radar not only found a new home and new family, she learned to speak English and type to send emails, all in one day!  Here is the message we received from her:

Hi everyone, thanks for all your help finding me a new home. I just got unpacked and met my new family. Dad, Alfred is little ruff around the edges and thinks I need some sun to put some color in my shell but I think we’ll be getting along. Mom, Althea is cool! Not much on conversation but she knows the best grasses to munch on and I have a little sister named Tulip. It’s going to be fun being a big sister.

Terrapin Station

We live in a place called Terrapin Station. I don’t know what a terrapin is. It must be like a tortoise. Mom said it’s named after some Thankful Dead people’s song. There is also this big green and white thing I was told it’s a pond for people. People are weird. Anyway got to go, supper is growing. I’m sending some pictures.

The family portrait gives you a good idea of the size these animals can get, but I bet they'll grow even larger before they are through. Radar does look a little pale compared to the others, but with good care and sunshine, she'll do well.

Alfred

Radar asks a good question though.  What is the difference between  turtle, terrapin and tortoise?  According to PetEducation.com, if it has a shell and is a reptile, then it is going to fall into the order Chelonia, which includes 244 different species. For most Americans, the term 'turtle' describes the Chelonians that are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The term 'tortoise' describes a Chelonian that lives primarily on land. 'Terrapin' can describe some freshwater or saltwater turtles, but is a term not often used. In general, tortoises live on land and eat a primarily vegetarian diet, and turtles live in or near the water and eat a meat-based diet or a combination of meat and vegetation. Scientists believe that turtles first appeared during the Triassic era, making them as old as the dinosaurs!


Best wishes to Radar in her new home!

Naturally yours,

~denapple

News on the Tortoise

One of the herpetologist contacted yesterday says that this is a sulcata tortoise from northern Africa. Obvious it was acquired as an exotic pet, and either escaped or was released at the Nature Preserve. Once again, the Internet is a wealth of information, particularly http://www.sulcata-station.org/ and http://www.anapsid.org/sulcata.html.  Here is the best advice:

Please, do your research before you bring home a sulcata tortoise. Like most exotics, these are not easily-kept pets. These tortoises get VERY large, VERY quickly, and they can live well over 50 years. They DO NOT hibernate in winter so you must keep them warm, feed them, and clean up after them year-around.

Reptile rescue organizations nationwide are overwhelmed with rescued sulcata tortoises. If you don't plan to keep the tortoise forever, don't get it in the first place.

Sulcata tortoises evolved in the semi-arid regions of Africa just south of the Sahara Desert. Their digestive tracts have evolved to handle low-nutrient, high-fiber foods like dry grasses and weeds, which are the only sources of nutrition for much of the year in that region. The best way to feed a tortoise is to provide it with a safely-enclosed yard or pen where it can graze on a variety of grasses, grass hay, and certain safe edible weeds like dandelion, plantain, and chickweed. Upon realizing this, many new tortoise owners freak out and reply, "But we live in (somewhere with cold and snowy winters) and it's impossible to let him out to graze!" Specimens can easily reach 24 - 30 inches long, weigh 80 - 100 pounds, and live to be fifty years old.

Since it's the middle of summer, we let her go out in the fenced back yard today, and you can see how she enjoys eating grass in the warm sunshine. David fastened a pink flag around her shell so we can find her when she wanders off.  We have not determined who she belongs to yet. However, the Kentucky Herpetological Society meets next week, and we hope to get some advice from them. They do work to find homes for reptiles that have been abandoned by their owners.

Naturally yours,

~denapple

Mystery Tortoise

At today's summer camp session, David Wheeler, one of our top-notch groundskeepers and knowledgeable about almost everything, walked up to the campers with a large tortoise in his hands. We are in the process of laying water lines in various places around the grounds, and David found it trapped in the ditch, unable to climb out.  "It's a gopher tortoise," David announced confidently.

We all examined it carefully, taking photos, and watched it move through the grass when we put it on the ground. You expect turtles and tortoises to be slow animals, but this one is a real speedster, especially since it just wanted to escape from us.

The front legs look like flippers at first, but closer examination shows sharp nails, and extra edges useful for digging, while the back legs resemble elephant legs and feet.

The bottom of the shell, called a "plastron" was smooth and flat, so this one is a female.  The male's plastron is concave, so it can climb up on the female's back for breeding without tipping off. Look at the distinct, almost rectangular markings.

She seems to have a hook on her mouth that looks like fangs, but I don't think there is such a thing as a vampire tortoise!  All through the examination, she moved her legs, trying to get away from us. David washed the mud off with a hose, and released her in our fenced in yard behind Mahan Manor, and 15 minutes later, I was unable to find her.

The Internet is the first place to research a new animal before putting a post on the blog, right?  Gopher tortoises are native to Florida, and other states in the far south, and they are actually on the endangered species list!  Wait a minute.  What would one be doing in Oldham County, Kentucky???  If someone had it illegally and released it, we shouldn't just let it crawl off on the preserve.  We don't have the right habitat for it, and how could it possibly survive a Kentucky winter?  David found her again, and we put her in a box for a more thorough identification. 

In fact, one of our volunteers, David Singewald, is a marine biologist, so we put him on the job.  (And he thought we only wanted him to mow the grass!)  Photos of our mystery tortoise are on their way to herpetologists around the country. If, in fact, this is an endangered gopher tortoise, we need to get it to the proper authorities so it can be placed in the right habitat.  So stay tuned.  We'll let you know as we learn anything more about her.

Naturally yours,

~denapple