Posted on 03/05/2005 8:07:37 AM PST by sweetliberty
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As it turned out, the previous thread on this topic generated a lot of interest and several people recommended doing it as a regular thread, so here is the second installment.
How you go about creating a bird sanctuary in your yard, or outdoor space, will depend on a number of givens, some which can modified, and others over which you have no control. One of these is geographical location or climate zone. If you live in the Colorado Rockies, you are not going to attract Cardinals, no matter how many black oil sunflower seeds you put out, and if you're on a beach in Florida, it's a pretty safe bet that there will be no snow buntings visiting your yard, the cornucopia of insects notwithstanding. Of course, if global warming keeps encroaching on us, we may soon find Alaska overrun with Parrots and Flamingos, but, I digress.
Within any given area, there are a variety of habitats, so no matter what your specific location, it is possible to vastly increase the types and numbers of birds in your immediate environment by modifying your habitat to make it more bird friendly to a wider array of birds native to your region.
Another "given" is your available space. If you live in a cottage in the woods by a stream, you will obviously have a lot more options available to you than if you live in an urban apartment with nothing more than a small porch or balcony. Of course, I think the majority of us live somewhere between those extremes. The point is, even if you have nothing more than a porch, you can still make it bird friendly, thereby increasing your enjoyment of these highly entertaining creatures. If you don't even have so much as a porch, I would suggest moving!
The purpose of this thread is to share ideas for maximizing our outdoor spaces to make them appealing to birds and butterflies, to share our experiences and knowledge or expertise, photos and resources. The discussion is pretty free-flowing and may expand to include gardening, landscaping and related topics. The direction the thread takes will really be up to the FReepers who post on it. We can focus on a different topic every week or two, or just keep it open and casual, updating the thread periodically. The main thing is that we learn and have fun.
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Have you noticed that Cardinals are always the last birds at the feeders after sunset? I can go all day without seeing them, and just after sunset they arrive with their entire family to feed. Like clockwork. I've seen them out there when it was almost completely dark, taking advantage of the solar light feeder.
Yes. The Cardinals and the Hummers are always the last to go to bed. Sometimes I see the Cardinals other times of the day, and sometimes not. They are usually out early in the morning too.
Males migrate earlier than females, in both directions; some adult males start south as early as July. Our female breeding birds leave here (St. Louis) in September, with the young of the year following; the last juveniles depart abruptly at first frost (mid-October). By mid-November the fall migration is essentially completed throughout North America.
Looks like what I have left are females and juveniles. I suppose this means they will be moving away soon. 
I hope they will all come back next year.
I found a male Cardinal in the street near my driveway this am. He has a small amount of blood seeping from one eye and the eye is swollen. Apparently, he flew into a car. He seems sleepy but fairly strong. I picked him up and put him in a clothes basket in my backyard with water and sunflower seeds. I called every rehab I was referred to and was told they don't treat birds! I'm back at work now but when I get home, I'm not sure what to do.
Anybody have any experience caring for injured birds? My vet declined to help(think there is some law against them doing so).
I wish I had a helpful solution. See how he's doing when you get home. The best advice I have, which isn't the best you will get, is do what you can to keep him in a location where predators will, hopefully, not find him. Keep providing food/water. Some advice, that is what you are already doing.
It's one of those sad situations we get to see because we are always viewing nature. I can't stand this part of it. I hope someone can assist you. Good Luck Dysart. If you get a chance, let me know how it goes later.
Do you have a local Audobon chapter?
You can try this forum. I have read this forum for info. from time to time and maybe someone there will know what to do. There's also an emergency bird fact, just below the title of forum. It is basically what you are already doing.
http://nature.gardenweb.com/forums/bird/
This link you can search for local contacts for help.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~devo0028/contact.htm
I hope it helps. I hope he makes it. He looks good other than his eye. Has he attempted flying at all? Poor guy. :(
Sorry to say I'm rather clueless in the injured bird department.
So am I. I've been entertaining the idea of becoming trained to do wildlife rehab work because they clearly are in short supply and I seem to experience more than my share of rescue emergencies!
That would be awesome, if you became trained to do wildlife rehab work. Your right, they are in short supply. I quickly viewed the lists. By luck I find I'm fortunate to one near me. I was surprised there were not as many as I imagined there would be.
Oh, he was bleeding from his head area. I hope he is all right. He made it through the day so hopefully, it's not too serious. I hope you get to release him! You can take pictures for us, of Cardinal's release day. ;)
I'm glad squirrel made it across. For that would have been a bummer. You might have had to just turn around and go back, with squirrel. Could you imagine. LOL!:)
I meant to post to you sooner. I looked and looked in my book, I haven't figured out who this beautiful bird is. I give up. Who is it? :)
Awwww....poor thing.
I'm so glad you found somewhere to take him.
The camera I used for the hummingbird pictures was a Canon 20D, a digital camera. It allows for 8 meg jpeg pictures, so the amount of detail is great when I crop pictures. I used a Canon 100-300 mm zoom lens at the full 300 mm extension. The 20D multiplies the 300 mm by 1.6, so the lens was actually acting as a 480 mm lens. That is how I was able to get such enlarged pictures of the birds. Like looking at them through a pair of weakish binoculars.
I just got a 100-400 mm Canon image stabilizer zoom lens that I took on my West Texas trip. At maximum extension, the 20D camera converts the lens to 640 mm. I don't have enough experience with the lens to comment about it yet. It is a heavy lens but seems to take good pictures.
Here is a photo taken with the new 100-400 mm lens -- as near as I can figure the bird is an immature red-tailed hawk. Interesting that they can turn their head completely around to look behind themselves.
The original picture background is nowhere near as blocky as this tinypic version. Not blocky at all.
I thought that bird would be a puzzle. It was a female elegant trogan. They nest in southeast Arizona.
The male (nice red chest) had reportedly been at the nest earlier that morning but didn't show up while we were there. In fact, we didn't know there was a bird in the nest until it finally stuck its head out and posed for us.
What an excellent trip you must have had. When you have an opportunity, please post more pictures. :)
I have a love/hate relationship with the Hawks here. They return in fall. I love seeing them. What an impressive, incredible bird. I only wish they didn't do their hunting in my backyard. ;) I see mostly Sharpies and Cooper's. Last spring, we had a Red-tail fly through the yard. And Wow, what a sight and what a wing span. LOL! The Red-tails usual stick around the highways here.
I'm trying to improve my skills for bird Ids. The picture of the beautiful female elegant trogan, I would never have found that id. Sometimes, I still have a difficult time with simple Id's. Then there are those times, I surprise myself, getting a difficult one correct. I just have to keep working on it! :)
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