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Welcome to BirdTracks®
Online!
An email newsletter from
Wild Birds Unlimited
for February 2005.
In This
Issue:
- Bird of the
Month: Woodpeckers
- Products for Attracting
Woodpeckers
- A Bird In The Hand
- Count the
birds Feb. 18-21
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Woodpeckers - Bird of the
Month
The Red-headed
Woodpecker (shown here) is the size of a jay and has
a striking appearance. It ranges throughout the eastern half
of the US. The Red-headed
Woodpecker lives in open country with groves of dead and dying
trees.
The Hairy
Woodpecker is found throughout most of North America.
Using its long, sticky tongue, it probes into the hiding
places of beetle larvae and ants, while also enjoying other
natural foods such as tree sap and poison ivy
berries.
Red-bellied
Woodpeckers live in bottomland woods, preferring
woods along rivers and streams, as well as in old oak and pine
woods - wherever there are large old trees. The Red-bellied
Woodpecker is a beneficial bird who consumes large numbers of
grasshoppers, ants, and wood-boring beetles, as well as other
insect pests.
All three varieties will come to
your backyard feeder for suet, sunflower seeds, cracked corn,
fruit, and peanuts.
Woodpeckers excavate their own
nesting cavities, and some will use a nest boxing while others
will not. These three woodpeckers use man-made habitats more
often than most. Woodpeckers are reported to use nesting boxes
as winter roosting places in colder weather, even if they do
not nest in them, so it is good to put up a nesting box even
in the fall.
One of the best things you
can do for woodpeckers as well as many other species of bird
is to delay removing old, dead trees, or dead branches. These
provide insects and nesting places.
Woodpeckers prefer to
eat: Suet, Peanuts, Seed
blends.
Woodpeckers will eat from: Suet
feeders, wooden hopper feeders, peanut
feeders. | |
Products to attract and enjoy
woodpeckers
Suet in a
suet
feeder is often an easy way to get started. You may also
offer
peanuts
from a peanut feeder. Try the BirdSong IndentiFlyer and
choose from the many excellent field guides available to best
enjoy and identify woodpeckers. Visit your
local
Wild Birds Unlimited store for the best advice on
attracting woodpeckers. | |
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Pathways
To Nature® Travel Log - A Bird in the
Hand
 How long do
birds live? How much do they weigh? Where do they
migrate to and from? How long does it take them to
migrate? All good questions, and all answered as a
result of bird banding studies undertaken by
organizations such as the PRBO
Conservation Science (formally known as Point
Reyes Bird Observatory), located in Stinson Beach,
California.
Each year, the ornithologists
at PRBO band about 2,500 birds, and now, thanks to
a $30,000 grant from the Pathways
To Nature Conservation Fund, visitors can
learn all about the process at the renovated
banding station and visitor's center.
When
you hike along the "netting trail," you'll see the
mist nets used to safely capture birds. Once the
birds are gently removed from the nets by
experienced handlers, you'll return to the banding
lab, where you can watch staff measure, weigh,
age, and identify and release birds unharmed. Each
bird receives a tiny metal leg band, inscribed
with a unique number and instructions as to where
to send information on the bird when it is
recaptured. Seeing wild birds up close is an
exciting experience, and you'll be able to learn
first hand how scientists study birds.
Be
sure to hike the nature trail to search for
specialties of the coastal scrub forest, including
Bushtit, Wrentit, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and
many others. To learn how to attract birds to your
own property, be sure to check out the native
plants that landscape the area surrounding the
visitor's center.
How birds migrate remains
puzzling, but groups such as PRBO are learning
more each day. Come visit and see for yourself how
these scientists are unraveling one of nature's
greatest mysteries.
For more information,
visit:
http://www.prbo.org/cms/index.php .
The Pathways
To Nature Conservation Fund is a partnership
between Wild Birds Unlimited stores and the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund
environmental education and wildlife viewing
projects. We encourage all of our customers to
visit these incredible places. Your patronage
helped make these projects
possible!
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This is a Pathways To Nature® Travel
Log | | | |
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Don't forget to count the birds February
18-21!
Now in its eighth year, the Great
Backyard Bird Count attempts to obtain a snapshot of bird
activity throughout North America. Scientists use the
information gathered to study bird population trends and
migration patterns. Researchers combine the data collected
nationwide and use it to help with bird conservation
efforts.
Cornell Lab of
Ornithology and National Audubon Society manage this event,
and Wild Birds Unlimited is proud to sponsor the GBBC. For
more information about the event, scheduled for Feb. 18-21,
access www.birdsource.org/gbbc or stop by a participating Wild
Birds Unlimited
store. | |
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Wild Birds Unlimited® has more
than 300 locations across North America. For more than 20
years, the company has specialized in bringing people and
nature together by providing expert information and offering
an exclusive line of products designed specifically for the
backyard birdfeeding hobby. The company is committed to
educating the public about the importance of preserving
natural wildlife habitats.
Pathways To Nature® Conservation
Fund: All Wild Birds Unlimited stores donate a
portion of proceeds to this fund to support education,
conservation and wildlife viewing projects at wildlife
refuges, parks, sanctuaries and nature conservancies
throughout North America. More information is available
at
http://www.pathwaystonature.com
.
We Bring People and
Nature Together®
For a
Wild Birds Unlimited store near you,
call (800)
326-4928 or access
Store Locator.
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you for subscribing to our BirdTracks Online email
newsletter!
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