Blog for the Birds

Bird Crashes and Revives

Not all birds who crash into buildings die or become seriously injured.  This Cooper Hawk flew into a Bangor Maine office window and was able to be rehabilitated.  Coopers usually eat other small birds, but during the bird’s rehab, it was fed tasty mice!

Bird that crashed into window returns to wild after rehab

Photo Courtesy of Dunbar Gardens

Birds and Crabs get a break in NJ

New Jersey gave a boost to both the horseshoe crab and the red knot. The red knot relies on horseshoe crab eggs as an essential food.  The red knot visits the mid-Atlantic coast on its yearly migration.  This break came in the form of a law that will ban horseshoe crab harvesting such time as the crab and red knot populations return to normal level (that to be determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).

New Jersey protects crab to save rare shore bird

Will the Swallows stay on Capistrano?

There is already plenty of evidence that climate change is causing a lot of shifting in ecosystems.  Here, a swallow in the UK was monitored from November to the end of February where it staying in Cornwall.  Problem is, swallows in the part of the world usually migrate to Africa for the winter.  This past winter saw more and more stories like this and one has to wonder if the seasons are becoming blurred to our Avian friends?

Climate change confuses migrating birds

Downtown Lights Off - Saves Energy and Birds

Birds often fly into tall buildings and die or become severely injured as a result.  This is especially problematic in migration season. Minneapolis/St. Paul is taking a pro-active approach to this problem by asking building owners to turn off unnecessary lights after hours. This apparently makes the buildings less visible to the birds and therefore less of a hazard. As a side benefit, the building owners that comply with this get to see energy savings. Why aren’t all cities doing this?

What birds don’t see can’t hurt them (as much)

Do Owls have Bad Eyes?

The other day I was driving down a road in our neighborhood and a pigeon flew across my path.  I smacked it unfortunately.  I usually don’t bother slowing down (I was only going about 25 because it’s a residential street) because they usually get out of the way. Pigeons seem to be the slowest of all. Maybe this one just ate too much and couldn’t get out of the way in time? But Pigeons are tough birds; I looked back only to see it fly off after it gathered its composure. What about owls? I rarely see them let alone hit them. This truck driver reports hitting them on a regular basis and the explanation (part humor and part common bird sense) is really worth a read!

Even owls can be blind-sided

Bad Seed?

Have the birds in your yard been dying? Maybe it’s in the seed. Lloyd Shook of Lake Elsinore (CA), thinks it’s the seed he purchased from WalMart. He said some 50 birds got sick and died after eating the seed.  But he was unable to produce anything but accusations and WalMart is not paying him back.

Bird Man accuses Wal-Mart of selling bad seed

Golfer Uses Bird for Skill Practice

While filming a segment for a video, pro golfer Tripp Isenhour got annoyed at a red-shouldered hawk.  He used his skills to hit the bird and killed it. Unfortunately for him, he was charged with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird. I have often seen birds getting walloped on the golf course (mostly ducks and crows) but never intentionally.  In those cases, they’re just in the wrong place at the wrong moment in time. But in Tripp’s case, he used this skills inappropriately.

Golfer Faces Charges in Bird Killing