Bird Table News

This is an unusual post from Bird Table News

I have been to a funeral today of someone who  I knew when we both started familes together at the same time.

The birds were still singing, the sun was still shining, the countryside still looked lovely and green and I thought how we can all draw comfort from nature

Listening to the wild birds singing I thought what a soothing and centering effect the singing has.  It can link us  to the world of nature that surrounds us.

The seasons keep turning and that is what life is all about.

What we do when we are here on this lovely planet earth is up to us, but we should not forget that we are only here temporarily and  it is the earth itself that sustains us.

Maybe our ancestors understood it more than I do because they lived closer to nature than we do.

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I have received comments from so many different areas.

It really is interesting, but also a little worrying as if a bird has white feathers there is usually is, or has been something the matter with the bird..

  here are some of the sightings from different parts of the USA -

J from Manahawkin, JN 
“I have a common crackle with white tail feathers at my feeder right now.  I’ve also spotted a common grackle with white tail feathers and a white band around the neck!”

W from Alvin, Tx,
I live in Alvin Tx and have seen a black bird inback yard every day with 2 white tail feathers.  I am 59 and this is my first”

F from Area not known
On May 4th, 2009 at approximately 4:15 PM
To all who have seen the Whitetailed Blackbird, he/she. .  My wife told me of seeing the bird in our small maple tree recently.  Yesterday, while I sat looking through the websites for blackbirds with white tails, Carolyn, my wife, softly spoke my name several times.  I got up and went to the front door and Carolyn said for me to look in the top of the tree.  Excitely, I turned and made for the camera.  I shot ten photos and all but one took well enough to show the white tail feather and several profiles appear to indicate it is a blackbird, i.e., head and beak shape and body color.  It seemed excited that I wanted to take it’s picture and so it did several poses; opened it’s wings and changed from front to rear views allowing for great photos of the single cented white tail feather.  This is the first of this breed I have seen in the south east or south west or mid west. 

Mary – Williamsburg
I saw a white tailed blackbird at my feeders today.  It also had a white area on the back of the neck.  I live in Williamsburg va

David, Lascassas Tn
Wife called me to window.  We watched birds at feeders. Interesting there was a blackbird with one white feather among allthe other black birds.  I am 61 and have never seen one.

H, Willoughby Ohio (NE of Cleveland)
18 April 2009 
I just saw a blackbird with a white tail.  Down the centre was a narrow line of black but the rest of the tail was white.  The bird was the size of a grackle

S from East Central Iowa,
We live in East Central Iowa.  I have seen, in the past couple warm seasons, a similar bird.  The one here seems to similar in size to a grackle.  It also has the iredescent colors and black, but the tail feathers are completely white.

I have been trying to photograph it but it disappears like a ghost.  There is usually only one and it only appears in spring and summer.  Must be a smart bird!  Just saw it today 4/22/09 and am actively watching for it.  We do have a wetland not more than 100 yards from our home, city habitat and farmland everywhere.  It get good photos I will try to post them somewhere. 

A - 
I have seen a black bird with white tailfeathers in my backyard – noticed it about 3 weeks ago – thought at first someone had glued a white tongue-depressor or something to his tail, but no, his tailfeathers are long and white – saw him take off a short while ago and amp; he spread his tail feathers – definitely feathers.  Went through my bird book and came up zip?????

B from Maryland
My dad saw a black bird with white tail feathers at his feeder.  He has never seen it before and it has not come back yet.  He lives in southern Maryland

H - 
I’ve noticed a medium sized black coloured bird witha  single white tail feather in my back garden.  The tail feather seems to be completely white both from the top and the bottom.  It has been around a few times this spring.  I also noticed it last spring but never see it in the summer, fall or winter.  Any idea what it is?

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• H only sees it in Spring
• S only sees it in Spring and Summer

•  W from Alvin, Tx is 59 and has never seen one before”
• D from Lascalles  is  61 and has never seen one before.

I think the bottom two notes are a little worrying as they imply that seeing a white tailed blackbird  is something new.  White feathers could be a sign that birds are lacking in bird vitamins.

I wonder if lack of good quality food is one of the reasons.

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If you would like to chat about it and other things in my new birdtable news forum please click the link below.  Don’t expect thousands of people.  It’s quality not quantity!   I’ve just started it so no- one knows about it yet!  Be one of the first to give it a try.  What have you to lose.

http://birdtablenews.com/forums/

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Wildlife-Friendly Plants: Make Your Garden a Haven for Beneficial Insects, Amphibians and Birds

 Plants and gardens can help birds and wildlife so much.  Why not give it a try.

BUY NOW!!

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White tailed blackbird – a photograph 

Have you seen a white feathered blackbird like this?

Have you seen a white feathered bird like this

 A lot of people are telling me they have seen white feathered blackbirds and I wondered if they were like this bird.

The white feather could be  “leucism” or partial albinism,  This is a condition where single feathers or patches of feathers are lacking their normal pigment. 

It has been connected with lack of correct food.  I wondered if this was connected with climate change or with lack of habitat. 

 In the meantime -

CLICK HERE TO READ OF REASONS WHY SOME BIRDS HAVE WHITE FEATHERS.

It seems , whatever the reason, there is something wrong for a blackbird to have any white feathers.  I will see what else I can find out.

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Here is a short eye to eye video of garden birds

The starling in the centre is easy to identify.  I’m finding it hard to name the other garden birds that pop in and out of view, especially the bird on the right of the video where you only see it’s beak. 

I left this recorder going for 20 minutes.  For 18 of these minutes I have rooks pinching all the food.  It was only for about two short minutes that the smaller birds got a look in.

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CLICK HERE TO SEE A  CAGED BIRD FEEDER THAT WILL KEEP THOSE ROOKS OUT  OUT

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The following is a diary entry from  my diary in 2007.  It traces what happened to one Tawny Owl that visited our garden

TRISHA’S DIARY ENTRY FROM 19 MAY 2007 TO 22  MAY 2007 -

A Tawny Owl

 19th May 2007

At 6am this morning there was an owl sitting on a plastic duck near our garden pond. I didn’t see it at first .

20 May 2007 . Sunday

Tawny owl still visiting us. It sits so still on the ground in a corner of the garden that is sheltered and near a garden pond. It has it’s eyes closed. It is so wonderful to be near such a wild bird. It sits there for ages before it flies away. But we have a feeling this can’t be right.

21nd May. Monday.

Owl still here at times. We have been able to get really close to it today. We think it only has one eye. How sad is that. The owl is ill. We think there are flies on the eye What has happened to this creature?

We have rung the RSPCA and have had a word with someone local who has an owl sanctuary. We now think the owl is not eating or drinking at all. We put some cooked chicken out for it but the other birds grabbed it and the owl stumbled under a hedge. We realise something must be done. We have contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

It is early evening and we are waiting to hear from the RSPCA.

What brought this owl to our garden. I like to think it found peace and sanctuary here. There must be a reason it chose to sit on the grass in a corner of our garden, in the shade, near water rather than out in the fields around here. I hope it found peace here.

The RSPCA are treating it as an emergency and are coming out tonight (8 pm) Thank goodness for the RSPCA.

There is a feeling of sadness in the air. It is affecting us all. We’ve been drawn into the world of nature.

Tawny owl has gone. (I have started to call it Tawny). Taken into care by the RSPCA.

The RSPCA Inspector was very professional. He crawled into the hedge, followed Tawny along the hedge and brought it safely out. He held it gently.

The good news is that we were wrong about its eye. Tawny has not lost an eye and there are not any flies in Tawny’s eyes either. Both eyes are healthy. It seems if we had left it in the garden it would have starved to death. Tawny Owl had been flying about but did not have strength to catch anything to eat, so was getting progressively weaker.

6am 22 May.

It seems so strange not to be looking out for the owl. It is only Saturday when we first saw it flying about in it’s own domain and sitting at our pond. Over the last few days we had seen it more.

I must admit at one point we thought it was getting an easy meal of fish from our garden pond. Tawny has been using our garden as a sanctuary. The strange thing is that the small birds were flitting about frightened of the owl, but it was the owl that needed help. The small birds were healthier than Tawny. Nature, birds and animals affect us, I have become concerned about this tawny owl.
The RSPCA are going to ring us in a day or two to let us know how Tawny has come on. If he gets better we have asked if they will bring him back here and we will put up an owl box. Tawny has been taken to an owl sanctuary and they will give him food and, if needed, antibiotics. We may never know what made him ill.

We see birds flit about all day and don’t know the trials and tribulations they face in the wild. That is why I can’t understand people who let their cats out on a night in the knowledge that the cat is actually killing birds all night long.

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19 May 2009

We found out afterwards that Tawny Owl had come to our garden for sanctuary.  The RSPCA said if it had sheltered in the nearby trees then crows and rooks would have sensed he was weak and would have attacked him.  The same goes if he had been in the open fields.  He would have been spotted as being weak and helpless

My only guilt is that we did not ring the RSPCA as soon as we spotted him., but the first time we saw him we did not know he would return.  We did not believe he would return.

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Usually more swallows have arrived back at this time of year.  Swallows  often follow the cows as the cows walk to and fro from the milking parlour. 

It was a windy day when I took this video which is why there is so much noise.  It is the wind howling round the busbi camcorder

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Evening primrose for Goldfinches.

Evening Primrose is a really good plant for wildlife. 

Buy a small package of evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) seeds. 

Birds that eat evening primrose seeds are-

• Greenfinches
• Goldfinches
• Siskins

  The first year there are green leaves which change colour in the Autumn.

In the following Spring stems grow to four feet (or more).  There are leaves, then large buds that open in the evening from the beginning of July.  They open until the frosts arrive.

If the plants are left lots of seeds are produced in September.  The pods at the bottom ripen.  This is when the goldfinches arrive.

There would be plents of seeds for many goldfinches until December / January time. 

This is a bienniel plant so it has to be sown for two years in succession.

After that the falling seeds will give enough plants to grow for the following years.

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I usually feed the birds before I have my own breakfast.

This is because from my kitchen window I can see a variety of birds flitting on and off  the empty hanging and ground feeders.  

Today it has made me think how we take food for granted and how a lot of natural bird food, such as berries, are ruled by the seasons (as is our food) 

It’s a good job people put bird food out as often the seasons are not kind to birds and wild animals alike.  Last year there was a 38% drop in the breeding of some birds.  I hope this doesn’t happen this year.

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