Have Fun Being a Bird Detective
Have fun being a bird detective
Being a bird detective might also interest you, by not only looking to the sky but also to the ground. Birds will leave lots of evidence that can lead you to detect certain bird behavior, habits, and identities. Looking for feathers on the ground that could have been lost during a fight or an attack might show certain damages to it, or molted feathers typically show wear on the vane.
You might encounter footprints on the ground in the dirt, mud or in snow which can reveal if the bird was hopping or walking. Footprints can also show if the bird was feeding at the time.
If you locate droppings on a post or tree stump, this will tell you that it is probably used as a regular perch, as a song-post, or to roost on. If you find larger bird droppings like pellets from an owl, you can carefully dissect them and maybe see what kind of prey this certain bird had for a meal through bones, bone fragments, a beak, fur evidence, and hard parts of insect’s bodies.
You might find an acorn or a nut wedged into a tree cavity, and that is evidence of birds lodging it in there before hammering out the seeds or meat. You might also find plucking posts which are evidence of birds of prey dismembering their meal. All these places you locate are definitely worth your time to visit regularly to view any new bird activities.
Also watch for birds like the nuthatch or a creeper searching for food in the rough bark of a tree trunk or branch, and after they have left you can use a magnifying glass to check out what kind of food they where feasting on. Next time you see a jay at your bird feeder snatching a peanut and flying away with it, it might be fun to try to find out where he is hiding them.
You can also keep a watch out on birds like the blackbirds, the robins, and the crows by locating accumulated bird droppings concentrated to one area and that should tell you where they roost at night.
Look out for nesting couples as well during nesting season; try to determine which one of them are building the nest, and which one is incubating the eggs which one brings the food and so on…
Maybe you would like to look into if the breeding was a success or not, how many eggs that hatched, was it less hatched eggs than last year due to harsher weather conditions this year. And after the birds have left their nests, you might find it interesting to check out the nests and the building materials that was used, the difference between one nest to another, and what kind of remains they hold. When you read about different birds in our section on BIRD PROFILES you can find out which birds built which nests.
Always remember to be extra careful when you do your research on your nesting garden birds, first comes the welfare of the birds. Even though the incubating bird does not leave the nest when you are there, you can attract predators that will destroy the nest. It is always best to keep a safe distance and away from that part of the garden until the young ones have left.
You can also investigate plant life which can give you great clues on where it has been bird activity. If you have a place like a fence where a whole lot of birds are perching regularly, you will find that the vegetation there where created form the droppings consisting of their favorite seed and weed seeds.
Here is an example of a bird timetable that might come in handy when you start your bird records:
May: First visit to nest spot (May 4th)
Collecting nest material (May 17th)
June: Feeding the nestlings (June 21st )
Some common daily bird behaviors that are also easy to observe are their singing, territoriality, courtship, flocking, foraging (finding food), bathing plus preening, and migration. There are of course a lot more bird behavior that are more in-depth and can be studied in books available at the library or in book stores.
