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

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I have had the pleasure of observing two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in the Maple Tree in my backyard! At first, I thought I was seeing just one, but upon viewing my pictures, I realized that one of them was a female (notice the white on the throat instead of red).

Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I first noticed the male sitting on the side of the tree, seemingly in the same spot for a very long time. Later, I realized that he had been drilling several small holes in the bark. I have discovered that those small holes are called sap wells, which the Sapsucker drills into the bark, then returns later to eat insects that have become trapped in the resulting sap!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (notice the sap wells that he has drilled in the bark)

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are a bird we will only get to see during the winter in Kentucky. They breed in the northern part of the United States and Canada, with a southern population in the Appalachians into northwest Georgia. So be sure and check your sap producing trees in the winter, you may just be surprised!

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Interesting tidbit: A group of Sapsuckers are called a "Slurp" of Sapsuckers!

Posted in: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers