FOR THE BIRDS

April 1999

By

Helen O'Shea

Provincial and Territorial Birds

Newfoundland (Atlantic Puffin, Ptarmigan -provincial game bird), Nova Scotia (Osprey),

Prince Edward Island (Blue Jay), New Brunswick (Black Capped Chickadee ), Quebec (Snowy Owl), Ontario (Common Loon - under consideration), Manitoba (Great Grey Owl), Saskatchewan (Sharp Tailed Grouse), Alberta (Great Horned Owl), British Columbia (Steller’s Jay),Yukon (Raven), North West Territories (Gyrfalcon). The newly proclaimed territory of Nunuvit should soon have a territorial bird.

Out and About

Pauline Wadden from Catalone called me March 13 to report a Raven in her yard. He was eating grubs for about ¾ of an hour and then seemed to be bathing in the snow. He was on his back kicking his feet in the air and later was trying to bury himself deeper in the snow with only his head visible. Rose Anne Poirier heard a Common Loon at Catalone Lake on March 16.

March 22 Ian Harte reported 7 Bald Eagles at Catalone Lake. Rose Anne Poirier reported 8 Common Loons at Catalone Lake on March 26. They were cavorting in the water. I saw a pair of Ravens doing aerobatics at Peck’s Hill in Catalone that afternoon. Jimmy De Vries and Michelle Parsons reported a Raven at Mira last week.

On March 27 we saw 2 dozen Oldsquaw in Glace Bay Harbour as well as 2 Black-headed Gulls, a Double-crested Cormorant, Goldeneye, 2 Iceland Gulls, 3 Rock Doves, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 26 Herring Gulls, and a Ring-billed Gull. At Sydney there was a mature Bald Eagle near Jim Sampson Motors. At Dominion Sand Bar there were 20 Common Mergansers. At Morien Bar there were at least 400 Canada Geese and 5 Red-breasted Mergansers. At Mainadieu there was a female Goshawk.

Spring like conditions of 14 degrees and sun were the order of the day on March 28. Dougie Stevens reported 5 American Robins, 4 Common Loons, 3 Cormorants and a Bald Eagle at Catalone Lake. Colleen Rosta reported some of the birds she saw in East Bay including Mourning Doves and Blue Jays.

Mabel Wadden met me in the bank on April 9 and told me that she has had very few birds at her feeders and in her yard all winter. Suzanne Kelly reported something similar earlier this year. Cyneth Hutt called me on April 10 and told me that her daughter Bonnie Dalziel had a male and female Cowbird at her house. Bonnie called me later to say that she had finally seen 3 males and 1 female Cowbird travelling with a flock of Starlings

Just before the storm began on Saturday, April 10 we drove along the coast. In Little Lorraine there were 3 Red-breasted Mergansers and we watched the Gannets flying past the mouth of the harbour. In Baleine there were Red-breasted Mergansers, Black Ducks and a few gulls. In Main a Dieu there was one loon still in winter plumage and only 3 gulls. At Catalone lake we saw 6 Loons in summer plummage and 9 Great Black Backed Gulls. At Bateston there were 2 Ravens and 8 Grackles. Crows were everywhere.

Ring-Necked Pheasant

Michelle Parsons met me in the library on March 19 and told me that she and Chrissy MacKeigan had seen a male Ring-necked Pheasant walking across the highway between Truro and Halifax. Closer to home on April 7, I looked out and discovered a male Ring-necked Pheasant at eating seeds under my bird feeders. He was there for most of the afternoon and returned again on April 8. Philip and Linda Burke had the Pheasant in their yard as well. Philip says that it wasn’t disturbed by the the youngsters playing.. On April 8, Malcie and Donna MacDonald looked out to see the a male Pheasant scratching and pecking on their lawn. Cyneth Hutt called me on Saturday, April 10 to say that a male Ring-necked Pheasant had been at her place on Havenside from the afternoon on Friday until noon Saturday. I know that a pair of Pheasants have been at the Visitor Centre for a number of years and the male eats at Shirley and James Kennedy’s feeders. A male Pheasant has also been seen at the bottom of the Fortress Administration road. The question is, how many Pheasants are there around the harbour?

Here is some information about the pheasant. "The Ring-necked Pheasant was brought from Asia to Europe by the Romans, and from Europe to America in the late nineteenth century. It is now a popular gamebird. Pheasants enter yards in autumn and winter, especially in hard weather. The male usually has a harem of several female birds. PLUMAGE: The male is red-brown above with brown, black and white markings and has an iridescent green or purple head with red wattles and cheeks, a double crest and ear tufts, and a white collar. The female is mottled light and dark brown. The tail is carried vertically when running. FEEDING: Pheasants clamber in trees for buds and fruit and scratch on the ground for a wide range of foods, especially grain and seeds. Animal food includes insects, snails, worms, and occasionally small mammals and lizards. Grass, leaves, and roots are eaten in winter. Grain, bread and kitchen leftovers will attract pheasants." Robert P. Burton, National Audubon Society North American Birdfeeder Handbook, 1992 , p. 68.

" A general dispersal of pheasants away form wintering areas and out over favorable breeding habitats occurs in late winter and early spring. This dispersal is in part caused by the increasing aggression among males. Territories are established in early April. At this time males that may have tolerated other males in their area during winter chase out all other males when they see them. Older males return to the territories they occupied in previous years. These areas are near where they winter . . . Territories are about 3 to 9 acres in size and contain both open ground with available food and areas of cover. . . First year males that try to establish territories are usually forced by older, more dominant males into marginal habitats. Most males do not establish territories until their second year; instead, they remain non-territorial floaters moving widely about. Stokes Nature Guides, A Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume 3, 1989. Pp 210-211

Around the Harbour - Happy St. Patrick’s Day

On March 15, Susann Myers reported that 2 White-throated Sparrows and a Song Sparrow have been in her yard most of the winter

On St. Patrick’s Day I saw 5 Common Grackles were in a tree by the home of Rannie Butts. Sheila and Tom Fudge saw a Dovekie in the Havenside Barachois on March 16 when they went to look at the boat. It was the first sighting made by them in that location. It was gone on March 17. There were 35 Rock Doves (pigeons) flying over the home of Sonny Grey and 20 Mourning Doves at the home of Sandy Anthony and Peter Chiasson. Doug Pearl reported 500-600 Eiders off White Point. Pearl and Winston Magee saw 5 Red-breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, and the mature and immature Black-headed Gulls at the Fortress Barachois on March 17.

Pearl’s Yellow-rumped Warbler was back on March 18 eating flies at the side of her house. Anne O’Neil saw a mature Bald Eagle flying over the bottom of the Administration Compound Road on March 19 while she was on her way to work in the morning. Susann Myers reported Kittiwakes and Cormorants on the islands at the mouth of Louisbourg harbour.

Ella Blagdon called me on March 21 to say that she has a pair of sparrows that nest in her bird house every year. For three days the week before she saw a starling dragging at nesting material in the bird house. The starling was probably trying to steal the sparrows nesting material rather than find some of his/her own.

April 3 Susann Myers reported flocks of Mergansers, Bufflehead and Goldeneye in Louisbourg Harbour.

Sheila Fudge showed us a Sparrow bird house in the wall of a real house across from the Town Hall.

April 5, Pearl Magee reported her Yellow-rumped Warbler still around. The 27.5 cm of snow has led to an increase of the birds at her feeders. She has 2 Pine Siskins, 20-30 Dark-eyed Juncos, Purple Finch & numerous American Goldfinch. On March 29 she saw 2 Red-winged Blackbirds at Albert Bridge.

Susan reports that there are Red-necked Grebes at Kennington Cove and that Bill Bussey has a male Snow Bunting in summer plummage. Bill saw 12 Robins on route 22 between the Administration road and the Royal Battery and on April 9 watched a female Harrier gliding over St. Richard’s cemetery in the park. On April 8, Doug Pearl reported Northern Gannets heading north along the coast.

My last trip around the town and harbour for this edition of the Seagull was on Saturday, April 10. The most common bird that day was the Red-Breasted Merganser of which there were 66. Sixty of these Mergansers were in the Fortress Barachois along with 7 Buffleheads, 5 Great Black-backed Gulls and 5 Black Ducks. There was a cormorant off the Royal Battery. Driving around the loop past the park administration building we saw 5 Robins, 5 Blue Jays, Juncos and a number of Boreal Chickadees. At the Havenside Barachois there were 14 Black Ducks.

Fox Sparrows

Gwen Lunn is attributed with the statement that there are always Fox Sparrows in Louisbourg by April 4. THAT WAS THE DAY I SAW MY FIRST FOX SPARROW OF THE SEASON. I now have 4 Fox Sparrows. Pearl called on April 7 to report 3 Fox Sparrows. Susann Myers had one appear on April 8.

Bird Factoids from the Internet via the Globe and Mail

A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why. A ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

The longest-recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds. And, by the way, the state bird of Rhode Island is the Rhode Island Red chicken.

Along the Coast on the first day of Spring

March 21 we saw 3 pair Bufflehead and 10 American Black Duck at Gerrat’s Brook Barachois. We also observed a 19 Common Mergansers and a Common Loon at Little Lorraine. At Mainadieu we saw 6 White-winged Scoters, 3 Ravens, a Loon. At Catalone Gut there were 7 Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Crows. At Havenside Road there were 34 American Black Duck and 5 Oldsquaw off the Government Wharf. 100 Starlings were on the United Church lawn. At the Fortress Barachois there were 2 Oldsquaw, 8 Red-breasted Mergansers. At Big Lorraine we saw either a Red-tailed Hawk or Northern Harrier. It swooped down into the trees before we could get a long look.

Pearl reported that Flora Gardiner of Horne’s Road observed a flock of crows squawking in her back yard and noticed that they had a fox crouched in her yard. He turned around and went back into the trees. Were they guarding their nesting territory or their lunch?

New Arrivals at my feeder

3 Cedar Waxwings arrived on March 18 to eat rose hips from a backyard bush. The Raven appeared on March 26 and my first Song Sparrow this year on March 28. Now I have two. Three Common Grackles arrived on March 31. Four American Robins arrived with the snow on April 4 along with a Fox Sparrow. The Pine Warbler returned on April 5 as well as 6 Evening Grosbeaks. On April 6, an American Tree Sparrow arrived and is still here. The one Pine Siskin that has been around for much of the winter came back on April 8 after being away for a week or so.

The branches of my Maple tree that fell during the ice storm were taken away on April 9. It will be interesting to see how this influences the bird population in my yard. Already there are fewer Mourning Doves since they do not have a place to perch.

Longevity Records for Wild Birds

Maximum age in years—American Crow-15; American Robin-14; Atlantic Puffin-34; Bald Eagle-28; Barn Swallow-16; Black-capped Chickadee-12; Black-headed Gull-32; Blue Jay-18; Canada Goose-23; Common Grackle-20; Double-crested Cormorant-23; Guillemot-32; House Sparrow-13; Mourning Dove-19; Osprey-32; Red-winged Blackbird-16; Ruby-throated Hummingbird-6; Song Sparrow-10; Starling-20; Teal-20. David M. Bird, The Bird Almanac: The Ultimate Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World’s Birds, Key Porter Books, 1999, pp. 267-68.

Remember to contact me with your sightings at 733-2873

Helen O’Shea

Extracted from © The Seagull, Helen O'Shea, For the Birds

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