The Bird Feeder - part III

At times many species of birds come together to share the space in peace. This birch is their favourite perch and a great lookout. It is often possible to see the House Finches, Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches sharing the birch with Northern Flickers and even with noisy Steller's Jays.

Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus

American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis
This finch will turn lemon-yellow in spring.

House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus
The male's red colour advertises his healthy state to a potential mate.
The intensity is related to the quality and abundance of food.

Steller's Jay, Cyanocitta stelleri  moved in from higher elevations for the winter. I read somewhere that these noisy birds move in flocks of 10 or more birds but that is not our experience. We usually see two or three during the fall and winter. In summertime they move into the woods somewhere higher up. It is quite amusing to watch them as they collect and stash away their seeds and nuts. They arrive and stuff their gullets with seeds to a bulging point. Then they fly away to store their treasure in a secret place - often under a bush where it is going to get covered by a thick layer of snow!  In most cases however, they store their food up in the trees and, in the winter, relying on their memory, they re-visit hundreds of locations where they hid the food. How, after such long periods of time and after using so many locations they can find their cache is beyond me. Luckily, I can rely on a variety of supermarkets rather than on my poor memory for my winter survival. Otherwise, you would never read this blog.

Busy, pre-winter time.

Periods of peaceful coexistence on the birch tree do not usually last very long. The weary birds keep an eye out for any movement, their numbers and behaviour helpful in detecting any danger. It takes one of them to freak out and in a split of an unnerving second they all take flight and head for a cover.

Their panic is often without a merit and seems to be a complete waste of energy.
But when the birch tree becomes abandoned and the birds are nowhere in sight we better look around, chances are that there could be a special visitor nearby. An American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos (or two) will make the little guys take off, but the birds will soon return. When the times get tough, the crows too, will explore the feeder and its vicinity. They are smart creatures, extremely aware of their surroundings and here in the countryside they (unlike their town dwelling, garbage picking cousins) will never allow me to get close to them .
I took this photo through our kitchen window - even so, they registered and, right took off.

If there is a Northern Shrike nearby, the small birds will disappear without a trace, and for as long as the shrike is in its hunting mode, all will be quiet around the yard . 

Fortunately for the birds, the shrike never stays long here - for a couple of weeks, maybe three at the most. It pearches high  on a tree every second day and then it is gone.

But the shrike's disappearance does not mean that the birds are home-free. 

Once in a blue moon, other, special visitors check in.  

Two winters ago a Hawk Owl,  Surnia ulula (what a great sound to its Latin name) 

settled on the very top of a young Douglas Fir surveying the grounds. The small birds are in a habit of mobbing owls but we have not witnessed this behaviour.

Hawk Owl hunts during the day and although it prefers to eat mice and voles, birds are also on its menu. 

It will swoop down on them from its perch where it sat motionless like a fluffy statue. Like all the owls, this one too has a great advantage when it comes to sitting still and yet, looking about. Its cervical vertebra, muscles and blood vessels are  is adapted in a way that allows the bird to turn its head in about 270 degrees each to either side! 

In addition the owl's plumage is also built in a special way helping to reduce the noise, that why its flight is "deathly" quiet. So when an owl swoops down it is usually too late for its prey before it realizes that a big trouble is on its way.

"Our" Hawk Owl visited for about a week. It occupied the birch tree where it sat patiently watching the space below. 

It might have been a scurrying mouse or an unwary bird, foraging on the ground that made it to swoop down on its silent wings. Too focused on taking a picture, I did not have time to check out if the hunt ended in success. The owl disappeared behind the shrubs giving me no further chance.

Hawk Owl stayed with us for a couple of more days before it moved on. 

It seems that our birch tree was only a stopover on its way to better, rodent-richer grounds.

And the birds? I found them hidden in the bushes, relying on camouflage and general confusion. 

Everything was quiet there, nobody moved, nobody made a sound. I happened to be only meters away before I noticed them at all.