Winter Backyard Birding

Today turned out to be a huge day in my backyard! With the falling temperatures in the Louisville area, the birds had to find food and water! I decided to buy a birdbath heater this year, and I'm glad I did. It has performed very well thus far. This morning it was nine degrees, and although a great deal of it did freeze, there was a small area around the heating element that was open water. The birds really responded! I think they appreciated some fresh, non frozen water to drink!



Northern Cardinal (female)

European Starling

Mourning Dove

I happened to notice a very small bird very high in my Maple tree. When I got a closer look, I could see it was a Golden-crowned Kinglet! This photo is somewhat blurry, but it gives you an idea of what he looks like. He also moves around very fast and erratically. I believe he was coming to the Maple tree to drink sap that was seeping out of the branches. He would come to the Maple for a few minutes then fly off to a pine tree in the neighbors yard! He did this several times throughout the day! 

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Another highlight from the day was the Red-breasted Nuthatch! These guys don't usually come this far south, but with the finch irruption this winter, the Red-breasted Nuthatch, though not a finch, is also a species on the move. I started seeing him in late fall and haven't seen him very often since, but it is my guess that he needed to find another food source with the cold temperatures. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatch

A female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker spent most of the day in the Maple tree drilling sap wells. When another woodpecker would come near, she would chase him off. She didn't seem to mind other birds though. There were many birds and squirrels drinking from these sap wells, including the Red-breasted Nuthatch in the photo below the Sapsucker photo. 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-breasted Nuthatch drinking from sap wells

I have been having a Pine Warbler visiting my feeders since early December. I didn't know what it was for a long time, but I showed the pictures to some of the members of Beckham Bird Club and they felt it was a Pine Warbler. This is a rare bird to be in this area at this time of year. Most Warblers migrate to Central or South America! I am noticing that I usually only see him when it's very cold or very rainy. This makes sense to me, as Warblers tend to mainly eat insects. He seems to like the suet and the black oil sunflower seed!
If you would like to see some of my other pictures of the Pine Warbler, click here. 

Pine Warbler

I ended up seeing 23 different species in my yard today!

Posted in: Backyard Birding,European Starling,Golden-crowned Kinglet,Mourning Dove,Northern Cardinal,Pine Warbler,Red-breasted Nuthatch,Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers

Bird a Day: Pine Warbler

***NOTICE: Blogger has been down the last few days due to some server issues.  My blog posts from Wednesday and Thursday appeared and disappeared throughout the day.  They are both back online now as it seems Blogger has fixed its issues.  Just thought I would let you know in case you thought I was giving up on posting a new bird species every day!  I'm still at it!  :)

Pine Warblers are one of the few birds that hang around in Kentucky in the winter and subsequently are one of the first warblers to be heard singing in our area in spring.  They are aptly named because they are usually found in pine trees where they eat large quantities of seed.  They also are one of the few warblers to be found at bird feeders where they favor suet.  The male below was heard singing in a tall pine tree next to my parent's driveway.  I opened my iBird app for my ipod and played the Pine Warbler song.  After much trepidation he eventually dropped down to the branches above the ipod to investigate the rival warbler on his territory.  He was moving quick but I was able to snap this picture quick before he tired of the games and went back to the treetops.

Pine Warblers are yellow over most of the body with only the undertail coverts and bottom of belly white.  They have faint streaking along the flanks and two bright white wing bars.  Listen for a trill coming from the tops of pine trees but don't confuse the song with that of a Chipping Sparrow or Dark-eyed Junco, which can easily be done.

Posted in: Pine Warbler