Grandma Pearl's Backporch: American robin

Showing posts with label American robin. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Anting: Ancient, Mysterious Bird Ritual

What do robins, marigolds, cigarette butts and ants have in common?

Male Robin hunting, possibly for ants?
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Add to this list: lemons, limes and mothballs. Any ideas?

Lemons, limes and marigolds grow in a garden, are all natural; but then what about the cigarette butts, mothballs and ants. Any guesses yet?

I won’t keep you wondering any longer. All of these seemingly disjointed objects are used in a mysterious ritual known as “anting”. What in the world is “anting”, you ask?

You know, for as long as I can remember, when referring to people who are less than average in intelligence, the phrases ‘bird brain’ and ‘feather brain’ are routinely employed. The birds and I take exception to this! In fact, birds often demonstrate their aptitude for performing tasks, playing with found objects, and using tools!

Blue Jays are noted for using ants to spray their feathers; and they love to eat the little critters as well!
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Anting demonstrates just such a use of ‘tools’. Birds use live ants to ‘squirt’ formic acid onto their feathers. There are a couple of theories as to the real purpose of “anting”, which is used by over 200 species of birds. Some believe it is a form of prey preparation. Birds somehow realize that before consuming them, it is best to empty the poison sac the ants carry in their abdomen. By squeezing the ant in just the right place, birds avoid damaging the ‘crop’ or nutritious abdomen, and a possible painful attack from the business end of the ant’s pincers. When the ant feels the ‘pinch’, its defense system goes into ‘red alert status’, and out from its poison sac comes formic acid. After combing its feathers, the bird can then safely enjoy a tasty ant hors d’oevre!

There are 2 schools of thought on the reason behind the ritual of 'anting'. Food preparation and natural insecticide. Read more . . .

Grandma Pearl

American Robin

Blue Jays, Clever Mimics

Amish Bird Houses

Friday, April 5, 2013

A Walk in the Woods in New York State in Early Spring

Robin's nest in pine tree
Photo by Grandma Pearl

The sun is shining brightly and the temperature has finally climbed above the freezing mark! So this morning I have decided to take a walk in the woods. In a pine tree along the way I spotted a bird's nest. This was constructed of mud and grass, about 5 1/2" to 6" deep and about 6 feet off the ground. I wasn't able to see inside, but here are a couple of pictures I snapped. By the way, it belonged to a robin that was perched nearby!

Robin's nest from another angle--couldn't quite see inside the nest.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Robin perched in a nearby tree watching me!
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Further along I spied a deer peeking at me through two oak trees. It's a young one: I suspect about 2 years old maybe. It has lost it's winter coat, so that's a good sign that spring is really finally here.

Young deer peeking through 2 oak trees.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

The leaves are crunchy because we have yet to see much rainfall. It's great to see there's no more snow, though!

Squirrel nest high in oak tree.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Junco foraging in leaf litter for bugs.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

There's a male junco foraging in the leaf litter for bugs. I've seen them grab a leaf with one foot and then hop up and backwards, taking the leaf with them and causing it to turn over. They are crafty insect hunters!

There goes a squirrel--

Too fast for me to catch with the camera, but I can see an old squirrel nest up high in a tree. It has autumn leaves in it, so I suspect it was used at that time.

Junco checking out the dead grass for insects and their eggs.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

And there's another junco in a grassy area. They like to look for juicy caterpillars to feed to their young. I think it's a little too early in the season for that to be the case here, though.

I found an interesting rock that doesn't look like anything else around here. I wonder where it came from? It's yellow and has a chalky look and feel.

Yellow, chalky rock; the gray rocks below are more typical of this area.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Sunlit forest floor; some old leaves are still hanging on from last year; there's an evergreen forest in the distance.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

On the way back to the house now, and the birds are very active at the feeders. Chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches are happily zooming back and forth. There's a nuthatch on the ground under the feeder. I don't believe I've ever seen them do that before. They're usually on trees and the feeder hanging upside down!

Nuthatch foraging on the ground.
Photo by Grandma Pearl

Grandma Pearl

Little Devil Downbirds

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!

On this overcast Easter Day my birds are busily flying back and forth to and from the feeders; chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, woodpeckers, juncos and blue jays, as well as red polls and gold finches. I can't wait for the gold finches to shed their winter coats and don their bright yellow sunshine feathers.

Goldfinches on Tube Feeder
photo by Grandma Pearl

Yes, spring is on its way even if the temperature is below average and the sun chose not to shine today. The birds seem not to care a bit. The robins are calling for rain, which is in the forecast by the way; the nuthatches are combing the trees and the Little Brown Creeper haltingly works its way upward, spiraling around the tree in search of a juicy meal.

I heard the dawn chorus yesterday morning, for the first time this year. I'm thinking the birds know something I don't, so my hopes are for a real change in the weather coming soon!