Blog for the Birds

Looking for Good Birding Trail in NY?

If you live in the Great Lakes region of upstate New York or southern Ontario, you might enjoy the Seaway Trail along the St. Lawrence Waterway.  The Seaway Trail is an 834 Km (518 mile) trail featuring a wide variety of bird habitats. Educational kiosks are being implemented this summer.  This region is especially good for birding due to its bio-diversity; the forests, grasslands and shrubby habitat provide a stopover for a colorful array of birds including sparrows, cuckoos, warblers, orioles and thrushes.  Free maps are available for download (in PDF format) from their website (below).

Seaway Trail Website

Attack of the Red Winged Blackbird

Or at least a particular one in Chicago. Named ‘Hitchcock’, this bird will attack anyone who comes near its nest.  It’s fond of human hair by the way and is especially not fond of bicyclers.

Jerk Bird Attacking People

Photo By Hart Curt

St. Paul Dealing with Pigeon Problem

With a plan that has the blessing of PETA, the officials in St. Paul are implementing a contraceptive plan to reduce pigeon populations. The contraceptive, OvoControl-P, prevents bird eggs from hatching and will be mixed in with feeder food dispersed throughout the problem areas.

St. Paul Using Contraceptives to Control Pigeon Population

Pet Smart’s Legal Woes Continue

Last September, the De La Garza family bought a cockatiel from Pet Smart.  Unfortunately, the pet was contaminated with the bacterium chlamydophila psittaci. This causes psittacosis, AKA parrot fever.  Joe De La Garza died, and his daughter became very ill but has recovered.  Now the family is after Pet Smart for negligence.

Family Blames Pet Bird for Killing Father, Putting Daughter in Coma

Missouri Rest Stops get Bird Houses

S & K Manufacturing donated purple martin and bluebird houses to 19 rest areas along Missouri interstate highways.  This will ensure people who stop there will have plenty of birdwatching to do.  Especially during Purple Martin season.  You have a few more months to see the Martins by the way - they will head south again toward the end of September. Oh and a side benefit to the travelers: the birds eat insects. The Purple Martin especially loves mosquitoes. No wonder we love those martins!

Missouri rest areas provided with bird houses

Bird Dropping Facials?

We love birds but generally we don’t like it when one of them drops their waste on our heads, much less our faces! Well, now there is a bird dropping facial - oh boy. A certain spa in New York (where else?) called Shizuka calls the treatment the Geisha Facial which of course sounds much better than what it really is: nightingale droppings!

Bird-Poop Facial New Trend In Skin Care

Man Teaches Heron to Fly

Isn’t this backwards? Didn’t humans learn flight principles from birds?  Now Gary Zammit of Cornwall, UK turned that around and taught an orphaned Heron how to fly.  He did this by running alongside it, flapping his arms, and squawking (like a Heron I guess). Eventually, the Heron caught on and now flies on his own.

Man teaches bird to fly

Israel’s new National Bird

It’s the Hoopoe!  After an exhaustive process, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel determined the Hoopoe was the right bird for Israel. According to President Peres - 500 million birds pass through Israel’s skies annually. He wasn’t referring specifically to the Hoopoe, but that’s a lot of bird for a country with a small land mass.

Hoopoe Israel’s new national bird

Don’t be too Quick to Rescue that Nest

What do you do when you see an ‘abandoned’ birds nest?  The first thing is not to assume it’s abandoned.  The parent bird may just be off foraging for food or may be nearby. This article recommends spending at least an hour nearby checking to see if the parent returns.  Other tips for dealing with the nest are also found in this article.

Seemingly unattended birds may not be abandoned

Lost Parrot Blabs Name and Address

And doesn’t stay lost for long!  If you have a talking bird, what’s a good thing to teach it?  The name and address!  That’s what the Nakamura family of Tokyo did.  And when the bird became lost, it had no problem rattling off its name and address to veterinary staff (who were then able to reunite it with the family).

Lost bird speaks name and address to get home