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Wood Ducks and Bluebirds
It’s that time of year again. Time to clean out your Wood Duck and Bluebird boxes. In just a few short weeks the first Wood Ducks and Bluebirds will be returning to the northland and right now is the time to get ready for their arrival. Cleaning out your nest boxes sounds easy enough but there are a few things to consider before jumping out of your Lazy Boy and running out to clean your boxes. You will need the following items before heading out. Gloves, ladder, plastic bag, dust (particulate) mask, and a 3 inch putty knife. I start by using my ladder to carefully climb up to the Wood Duck nest box. Most nest boxes are located over or near water, so getting to them now before the ice melts make it a lot easier. Always use a dust or particulate mask to avoid breathing in the dust when removing the contents of the nest box. Mice often use these boxes during winter and these four footed creatures can carry several airborne nasty diseases. Position yourself upwind so when you are pulling out the nest material any dust and debris blows away from you. Gloves serve well to keep your hands warm and protected. I often find one or two infertile eggs remaining from last season. Be extra careful when removing these. If you’ve ever had one of these eggs break, you know what I mean. The smell of the rotten contents can be overwhelming. Handle these eggs with caution. This is where the plastic bag comes in handy. Remove and dispose of the eggs away from the nest box. You don’t want to attract raccoons and other predators with the rotten eggs. In addition to removing the infertile eggs, I always remove the soft downy feathers that line the nest box. The female woody will replace the feathers to cover her new clutch of eggs. If the woodchips at the bottom of the box are soiled, I often remove and discard the top layer. I have never found it necessary to remove all of the wood chips. Consider replacing all of the chips if they are wet or moldy. Before adding any addition wood chips I use my putty knife to scrape off any spider egg casings. The egg casings are the white fuzzy balls stuck to the inside corners of the box. Also make sure the wire that the young ducks use to climb out of the box is secured before adding the extra chips and closing up the box. Also, now is the time to make any necessary repairs to the box. Bluebird boxes tend to be a bit easier to clean out. First of all, you don’t need a ladder to reach the box and they rarely have any leftover smelly eggs to remove. However, if you left the Bluebird box closed all winter you might have to deal with mice. You’ll know if you have mice because you’ll find a large round ball of plant material for a nest and it will have a strong odor of urine. Don’t be surprised if a mouse jumps out at you either. All the same rules apply when cleaning out the Bluebird box as the Wood Duck. Wear a dust mask and gloves. I clean out all nesting material from my Bluebird boxes. I also remove the nesting material from the area near the nest box. The discarded nest material can attract predators to your Bluebirds boxes. I have lost too many baby Bluebirds to domestic cats and raccoons to loose any more. If your bluebird box is urine soaked from mice, I recommend leaving the door open for a couple weeks to dry out before closing. Also, consider installing a predator guard at this time. You don’t want to install these wire guards after the birds have moved in. This is also the time to consider adding some new nesting boxes. Why not greet your favorite birds this spring with some brand new nest boxes.
Bird Migration
By the time you read this, the annual spring bird migration will be well underway. Like water gathering behind a dam, each spring the dam (winter) breaks, and a flood of migratory birds wash over the frozen northland. Each bird in a race to return to the best breeding grounds. The avian (bird) world is much like the mammalian (animal) world. There are two main objectives in life. Find food and reproduce. Migration is the answer (for many species) to both of these objectives. Finding food is a constant in a bird’s life. Every day-all day-birds are in a constant search for food. When the food supply runs low or worst yet runs out, such as insects in winter, the birds are forced to migrate. Many species of birds are considered neotropical migrants. All of the swallows, including the Purple Martin are neotropical migrants. As I already mentioned, most species of warblers are, but some such as the Yellow-rumped Warbler are not. A species of hawk-the Broad-winged Hawk makes an annual trip to South America each year. One might think that our beloved American Robin is a true neotropical migrant. Even its scientific name Turdus migratoris indicates it’s a migratory species. However, it moves only far enough south to find food and never sees the tropical forests of Central or South America. It is still considered a migratory bird but it’s not a neotropicals migrants. Even the jewel of the prairie, the Eastern Bluebird only goes far enough south to get by for another winter. In fact, they don’t leave the northland until mid November and often return in the first couple weeks of March. The denizen of the grassland, the Horned Lark (North Americas only lark species) follows a similar pattern as the bluebird. It migrates back in mid February. None of these birds are neotropical migrants. Ducks such as the Wood Duck and Hooded Mergansers are like the robin and bluebirds. Each spring they migrate north just as the small ponds and lakes thaw. Sometimes they fly north searching for open water, and finding none will return back south only to try again in a couple days. My Wood Ducks usually show up the day after the ice clears from the pond outside my window. Most Bald Eagles are the same way. It’s not uncommon to see them standing around on the icy surface of a frozen lake in spring. Early migration usually results in securing the best habitat with plenty of food. Females seek out the males with the best territories thus the best food supply. A plentiful food supply means the baby birds will grow up quick and strong. Just by having the best habitat a bird insures a good food source and a chance at reproducing. You see, its all about food and reproduction. This spring get out to witness the flood of migrants because it won’t be long before they will be heading south again for another winter. Until next time…
Short-tailed Shrew
This winter I seem to be seeing more Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda) scurrying across the snow then I usually see. Even my daughter reported seeing one of these hyperactive shrews while out sledding the other day. The Short-tailed Shrew is an aggressive predator constantly on the move looking for its next meal. They are a thick and stocky animals with short legs and dark gray fur. They have a long narrow snout filled with needle-sharp teeth and tiny eyes. Their ears are hidden in their fur. They have an excellent sense of smell but poor eyesight. Their common name comes from the animal’s short tail. Most shrews have short tails but this species has a tail that is shorter than most. In fact their species name brevicauda is Latin and means brevis meaning short and cauda meaning tail. The Short-tailed Shrew is probably our most common and abundant mammal in the many parts of the country. It’s found in nearly every habitat. Population densities vary from year to year with populations soaring in some years and crashing in others. They have home ranges of only an acre or more. Territories will overlap and fighting between neighbors is usually short and non-lethal but fairly common. This tiny creature has an enormous appetite. It can eat half its body weight in meat each day. That would be like you and me eating 60 to 80 pounds of food a day. An adult short-tail weights in at .5-1 oz. As a predator the shrew is constantly on the hunt in order to eat. They usually are not scavengers but they will eat what they find. So a dead mouse could be fair game. They also eat insects which are in very short supply during winter so the shrew concentrates most of its time finding mice, voles and other small mammals. Since mice reproduce all year long, baby mice are a favorite food item for the shrew. All species of shrew are solitary but will seek out a mate for breeding and than return to a solitary lifestyle. Interestingly the shrew will fight with other shrew, sometimes to the death, to defend territories, food sources and to protect their young. Fights are loud affairs with a lot of scuffling. You can hear these fights from 10-15 feet away. They don’t last long, less than a minute, and usually don’t result in death but injuries are not uncommon. The shrew has very thick fur that ripples when the animal moves. This thick fur is key to winter survival keeping them warm and dry. Their fur also has a nap that runs both ways allowing them to move effortlessly forward and backwards in narrow tunnels without turning around. Most amazingly the shrew uses ultrasonic sound for echolocation, just like bats. The echolocation detect objects, openings or if something is blocking their tunnels in the blackness of their underground world. The Short-tailed Shrew is also the only mammal with toxic saliva. The toxic bite helps to immobilize and kill its prey. The saliva is both a neurotoxin and hemotoxin, much like snake venom but the shrew cannot inject the toxin into its prey like a snake. It must chew the saliva into a wound in order for it to take effect so some believe it’s not much help to the shrew. It is also not powerful enough to have any affect on humans. The shrew has musk glands that exude an odor thought to repel some predators of shrews such as fox, coyote, and cats which often kill them but rarely eat them. The glands are probably used more for marking territories and sexual recognition than anything else. This winter keep your watchful nature eye to the ground for a fast moving dark object with a short tail. It just might be the Short-tailed Shrew. Until next time…
Snow
I am often asked about how the harsh winter weather is affecting the local birds and mammals, and this winter is no exception. So here is the answer. Harsh winter weather is good for some animals and bad for others. For small animals like mice, voles and moles, a harsh winter means a good life—under the snow. Living under the snow is called subnivean. And it’s a surprisingly comfortable for these small critters. Consider this, the temperature under the snow rarely fluctuates more than a few degrees and the cold biting winds never blow. Some plants stay green all winter under the snow providing a source of food for plant eating mice. In addition there are many seeds and nuts left over from last autumn that are easily accessible under the snow. In addition to comfortable living conditions and a good food supply, living under the snow pack also offers protection from predators like hawks, foxes and owls who have a hard time diving through the deep snow to catch them. What’s good for one animal is usually bad for another. It’s the balance of nature. If you dig down through the snow to the ground you will see several different types or layers of snow. At the top will be the light and fluffy snow. Midway down the snow appears like small clusters of ice—kind of like crushed ice. At the bottom near the earth, the snow turns into larger ice clusters—appearing much like the ice cubes in your freezer. The animals have no troubles tunneling through the jumble of ice cubes. It’s certainly easier than tunneling through frozen soil. The different layers of ice form due to the accumulated weigh of the snow above. As the snow piles up the weight of the snow compacts the snow beneath. When snow compresses, the individual ice crystals push against each other and melt slightly. The ice crystals stick together to form clumps of ice. Now, if you could measure the temperature in a cross section through the snow pack you would find that the coldest temperature would be just above the snow. Due to a very complicated process, much to lengthily to describe here, the snow looses radiant energy creating the coldest temperatures just a few inches above the snow. Above this layer of extra cold air the temperature warms to the ambient air temperature. That is why we don’t measure the air temperature next to the snow. Going down from the top of the snow pack the story is very different. Depending upon the depth of the snow (the deeper the snow the better the insulation and the warmer the ground temperature) the temperature increases, sometimes dramatically if the air temperature is very cold. At ground level the temperature is usually right around 32 degrees F. On a very cold night there can be a 30 to 40 degree temperature gradient from ground level to the air temperature above the snow pack. (None of this holds true if there is no snow or only a few inches.) Are you starting to see that a subnivean life under the snow isn’t so bad? Here is another interesting snow phenomena. Have you ever noticed how the snow becomes hollowed-out around the base of a tree trunk? Many people mistakenly believe that this is caused by the wind. Actually the depression is cause by melting of the snow, but not the melting your probably envisioning right now. During the day the sun emits a strong short-wave, non-heat energy that is absorbed by the mass of the trees. After the sun goes down the trees radiate back a long-wave heat energy that melts the snow directly around the base of the tree. But again, not a typical melting. (Right about now your probably wishing you paid more attention in your physics class). Anyway, the reason you don’t see water puddles in the bottom of the depression is the snow “melts” directly into water vapor in a process called sublimation. During sublimation, the snow “melts” or changes from a solid directly into water vapor and is carried away on the air. The air temperature never gets warm enough to allow the snow to change into water. The next time you are out shoveling the driveway think about all the little critters that are running around under all that snow and look for the depressions around the bases of your trees. There is a lot more to winter than meets the frozen eye.
Short-tailed Weasels
For the past year and a half I have been working on a new field guide about mammals. It’s a long hard process of writing and photographing. But in the end it’s always worth it. Over the years, each book I have written has taken me on a whole new adventure, and the mammal book hasn’t been any different. For this book, I have photographed massive bull Moose in Canada and Wyoming. I have waited in a camouflaged blind or sat in a deer stand 20 feet in the air for days waiting for a chance to photograph a White-tailed Deer. Before this book is done, I will have driven thousands of miles and taken thousands of photographs. Recently I had a chance to photograph a very interesting animal—the Short-tailed Weasel (Mustela erminea). Also called Ermine, the Short-tailed Weasel is a tiny bundle of energy wrapped up in a fur coat. It is one of the most wide spread members of the weasel family. It ranges all across the northland inhabiting open woodlands, farms, prairies, and even wetlands. Short-tails are only 10-12” inches long, including their tail, which accounts for almost half their length. During summer they are a rich shade of brown with a black tipped tail and white feet. During winter they turn as white as the driven snow but they retain the black tipped tail. In my encounter with the Short-tailed Weasel, I was amazed how fast its short legs carried it over just about any obstacle. Its small size allowed it to fit into the tiniest of cracks or holes, which is an advantage the weasel presses into action when chasing after mice, moles, shrews and especially chipmunks. Like all members of the weasel family the short-tail is a ravenous carnivore. They spend most of their waking hours dashing about in search of its next meal. Their eyes are often bigger than its appetite. It’s not uncommon for a short-tail to chase down and kill a Cotton-tailed Rabbit, which is several times its own size and weight. One time I watched a Short-tailed Weasel chase a rabbit for 20 minutes before capturing it. After pouncing on its prey it delivers a lethal bite to the neck, just at the base of the skull, to sever the spinal cord. They often lick the blood from the wound before eating. Underground dens are used mainly for birthing and raising young. After mating, males and females separate and the female raises a liter of 5-7 youngsters on her own. However it will also use hollow logs and other natural and human made cavities for its den. Males are not sexually mature until they are two years old but females are sexually mature at 6 months old (usually during their first summer). Mating of the Short-tailed Weasels is not for the faint-of-heart. Males often drag the females around by the scruff of the neck for several hours before copulating. Males will breed with more than one female along with any of her female offspring that may be accompanying her. No matter how young the offspring may be. Short-tailed Weasels live 3-5 years. Larger predators such as fox, coyote, bobcat and wolves pray upon them. The name Ermine is often used to describe them in their winter white coat and they are called Stoat during summer when it’s brown. If you ever get a chance to see one of these wonderful critters it will be worth your time and effort.
Endangered Species
If the term “endangered” means good, then I just returned from photographing a very good bird–the California Condor (Gymnogyps califerianus). The word endangered when used in conjunction with wildlife has been a hot button issue for many years going back to the snail darter and spotted owl issues. But today endangered can mean a lot in tourism dollars. Take the condor for instance. Thousands of people travel great distances each year just to get a glimpse of this very rare bird. My American Heritage dictionary defines, endangered as; faced with the danger of extinction. And the California Condor came perilously close to extinction about 20 years ago. In 1982 there were only 22 individual condors alive. Only nine of these were in the wild. The rest were in zoos. After several of the wild birds had died suddenly of unexplained causes, it was decided to capture the remaining wild birds and start a captive breeding program with the intent to release them back to the wild. Fortunately the condors had no problems breeding in captivity and ten years later (1992) the first of captive bred condors were released back to the wild in the hopes of establishing a stable wild population. The California Condor is the largest bird in North America. In comparison to the more familiar Bald Eagle, the condor is approximately twice the size and weight. An adult condor stands about 4 to 4.5 feet tall and has a very impressive 9.5-foot wingspan. On average they weight between 16-23 pounds but can weight as much as 30 pounds. Historically they ranged in a narrow band from British Columbia to Mexico along the mountainous west coast with a few scattered and isolated populations in other southwestern states such as Arizona. It is felt that there was never a large populations of condors and their declined was in conjunction with the passing of the large animals that roamed the earth before humans. Officially the reason for their decline is listed as “unsustainable mortality rate combined with a naturally low reproduction rate.” In the recent past, most deaths were from shooting, poisoning, lead poisoning and collisions with power lines. Combine that with adults that reproduce only one offspring every other year and you have a bad combination. Like other large bird species such as the Bald Eagle the condors don’t become sexually mature until they are 6 or 7 years old. No one knows exactly how long a condor can live but it’s presumed they can live at least 40 years and maybe as long at 70. That means the most productive years of an adult condor would be in its twenties and thirties. Presently there are 199 total birds in the world. Eighty-one of these can be found in the wild (36 in Arizona and 45 in California). There are nine more waiting to be release. The California Condor was first placed on the equivalent of the federal endangered species list in 1967-six years before the official passage of the federal endangered species act in 1973. The goal of today’s efforts is to establish two separate populations with 150 birds each (total 300). Today you might see one of these wonderful birds by visiting the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona as I did. And with some luck they might even fly over your head giving you a view of their impressive size. Until next time…
White-tailed Jackrabbit
There are rabbits and then there are jackrabbits! And if you think there isn’t much of a difference, you need to take a second look. I am not talking about the fluffy Cotton-tailed Rabbit munching the tulips in your backyard. No, I’m talking about the monster of all rabbits, the White-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii). Despite its name, the White-tailed Jackrabbit is not a rabbit at all-in fact it is actually a type of hare. Rabbits and hares are closely related and are members of the same family (Leporidae, Rabbits and Hares). Both rabbits and hares have long ears and large powerful hind legs. Both have excellent hearing, outstanding eyesight. Beyond these basic physical similarities, rabbits and hares are very different animals. The White-tailed Jackrabbit is significantly larger then the Cotton-tailed Rabbit. Jacks stand up to 2 feet tall including their enormous 8-inch long ears compared to 12-16 inches for the cotton-tail. The average jackrabbit weights about 7-10 pounds while the smaller cotton-tail comes in at 2-4 pounds. Now here is the major difference between hares and rabbits. After mating in Feb and March, mother jacks don’t build a cozy nest chamber like the cotton-tail. Instead they give birth to 3 or 4 young right on the ground. And unlike the cotton-tail, baby jacks are born fully furred, eyes and ears open and have the ability to run within hours of birth. Compare that to cotton-tail babies that are born blind, naked and helpless and don’t leave the nest for several weeks and you can start to see the big difference between these two species. The jackrabbits main line of defense is quick identification of danger and speed. Keen eyesight and outstanding hearing alert them to any danger. They can run up to 40 mph for short bursts and leap 10-17 feet in a single bound. Not many predators can catch a jackrabbit at full speed. Another major difference between the jackrabbit and the cotton-tail rabbit is its pelage. Pelage is just a fancy word to describe its fur. Unlike the cottontail, jackrabbits change color in winter to a all white coat of fur. In summer jacks return to their brown or tan coat. This seasonal change is great camouflage and helps to avoid detection by predators. Female jackrabbits are slightly larger than the males. This is of special note because while it can be common in the bird world, it is very rare in mammals. Adult male jackrabbits are called bucks while the adult females are called does. Jackrabbits are strict herbivores eating green grass and other plants during the summer and eating dried grasses, twigs and berries during winter. Their digestive system is not very efficient and during the winter when their diet consists of margin nutritional food items such as twigs, the jacks will produce two different kinds of fecal pellets or droppings. The first type of fecal pellet is hard, dry and woody. These are passed normally. The second type of pellet is a soft, moist and green. These special fecal pellets are reingested (eaten again) in a behavior called coprophagy. This unusual behavior allows the food to pass through the digestive system a second time to extract every little bit of nutrition. Until next time…
Ruffed Grouse
Recently I had a wonderful opportunity to make an audio recording of the Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus). I had slowly and silently snuck up to within 30 feet of an actively drumming male grouse with my audio equipment. While I couldn’t see it very well, I could hear it and more importantly feel its unique drumming. That’s right, I said feel it. Before I could hear it, I could feel the first two or three beats resonating somewhere at the top of my neck near the base of my skull. I could actually feel the “thud, thud, thud” before my ears picked up the sound. It’s a feeling I won’t soon forget. Each spring, forest all across the northland echoes with the drumming of the male Ruffed Grouse. They will drum all year long, but is much more common in spring. Only male Ruffed Grouse perform this unique mating behavior which is use to attract females and to warn competing males to stay away. Males will drum from on top of a log, rock or any other perch that is 12-20 inches off the ground. The drumming sound is produced by the bird cupping its wings and using its strong breast muscles to propel its wings so incredibly fast they produce tiny sonic booms. The beating starts out slow and ascends quickly. Each series of drumming last only 5-7 seconds. Contrary to what was once thought, they don’t beat their wings against their chest or the log it’s standing on. The Ruffed Grouse is a large chicken-like, bird approximately 16-19 inches long. It has a group of black feathers on either side of the neck that extends outward like a fur collar when displaying. These feathers are called the ruff and hence its common name. The genus name Bonasa is from the Latin bonasum, meaning “bison” (supposedly the drumming sound resembled the pounding of many bison hoofs). Its species name umbellus comes from the Latin, meaning ” parasol”, presumably from the shape of the birds fanned tail or maybe from the raised ruff. Both sexes have a well-defined crest, which it can raise and lower at will. The crest is a tuft of feathers on top its head similar to a Northern Cardinal. Males have a small orange to red patch of skin just above the eyes, called a comb, which is more evident in spring. They also have long tails they can raise and fan like a turkey Ruffed Grouse are polygamous. Males will drum to attract as many females in his territory. After a brief sexual encounter the female will make a nest on the ground often at the base of a tree or under a shrub. Nests are usually within a mile of the male’s territory. She will lay one tan egg with brown spots each day until she has a full clutch of 10-12 eggs then she will start to incubate the eggs all at once. If she started incubating right after the first egg was laid the eggs wouldn’t hatch all at the same time. This is very important because the young need to hatch simultaneously. The reason for the simultaneous hatching is, all of the young need to leave the nest within hours after hatching. The young birds are able to fly short distances within two weeks. All grouse have large feet with four toes. The front three toes are connected by a small amount of webbing (semi-palmate foot). The hind toe is very short and high up on the leg. Feathers cover the legs down to the toes. Grouse also have small finger-like membranes called pectination along each toe. The pectination membranes act like snowshoes helping the grouse walk on top of deep snow. Until next time…
Whooping Cranes
Most people are familiar with the stately Sandhill Crane. However, are you aware that we have a second crane species in North America-the Whooping Crane. Of the 15 species of cranes in the world, the Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is the rarest of all cranes. Cranes exist on five of the seven continents of the world. (Only Antarctica and South America don’t have any crane species). And the crane family is one of the most threatened families of birds in the world. Compared to the Sandhill Crane, the Whooping Crane is easy to identify. It is an all white bird with jet-black wing tips. It also has a striking bright red crown and face with a large, dull yellow bill and very long black legs. The Whooping Crane is the tallest bird in North America. They stand five feet tall and have a seven to eight foot wingspan. Their wingspan is equal to or slightly longer than the more familiar Bald Eagle. Despite their large size, they only weight about 10 to 15 pounds. With their extremely long wings, the whooper can fly up to 50 m.p.h.. To take off, they typically run into the wind with their wings outstretched. Whooping Cranes fly with their necks outstretched straight in front. Compared to the Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, which hold their necks in an “S” pattern while in flight. In addition the crane has a distinctive wing beat. Their down stoke is slow followed by a quick “flicking” up stroke. Cranes often fly in a V formation but they also soar on thermals (updrafts of warm air) that can lift them to altitudes as high as 3,000 and 5,000 feet. Once they reach this altitude they glide forward, slowly losing altitude, looking for the next thermal to repeat the ride over again. Whooping Cranes become sexually mature at 4-6 years of age. They can live 25 or more years and it’s believed that they will mate for life. A mated pair will hold and defend a territory of 30-50 acres. Once established the pair will construct a shallow nest on the ground where the female will lay only two eggs. Both parents will take turns incubate the eggs for approximately 30 days. Usually both eggs hatch but rarely do both chicks survive. Hatching coincides with the emergence of insects. Like many bird species, insects make up a large part of the diet for the growing and developing young cranes. Chicks are cinnamon brown at birth, which helps to camouflage. They start to get their white feathers in the second and third year. They need to grow quickly in the first summer to be strong enough to make their first autumn migration. Young cranes learn the migration route by following their parents. After returning with their parents the following spring they join bachelor flocks of non-breeding birds until they are old enough to breed. During the mid 1800’s the Whooping Crane population was estimated to be 700-1500. Their numbers dropped dramatically in the late 1800’s due to loss of nesting habitat and unregulated hunting. By 1938 only two small flocks remained and by 1949 only 15 birds remained in one flock. Ambitious recovery efforts were started in 1954 when the breeding grounds of the remaining few wild cranes was discovered in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Many years and much effort later, in the fall of 2001, the first flock of reintroduced Whooping Cranes departed Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin and began a 48 day, 1,218 mile migration to Florida. The flock spent the winter on the Gulf coast and this spring the small flock safely made the return flight to Wisconsin giving hope that someday the Whooping Crane will no longer be an endangered species. Until next time…