BIRDS
"Then all the nations of birds lifted together
the huge net of the shadows of this earth...."
the huge net of the shadows of this earth...."
The Exceptional Hummingbird
The Americas are host to the 350 species of hummingbirds in the world. They weigh between two and twenty grams and can consume about twelve times their own body weight in nectar every day. Hummingbirds have the greatest range of colors of any bird species: instead of pigment, their feathers are comprised of cells that reflect light in a manner like that of glass beads.
These remarkable birds can endure extremely difficult conditions. Calliope Hummingbirds migrate almost three thousand miles to the northern United States with the ability to battle hurricane-force headwinds and survive on insects until the snow melts and the flowers bloom. In South America, hummingbirds can survive in the frigid conditions of the Andes by going into a state of torpor. The heart rate of a hummer in torpor ranges between 50-200 beats per minute while a Blue-throated Hummingbird's heart can beat as much as 1,260 times per minute when active.
Hummingbirds can fly upside down and backward and are able to hover in front of a flower even in rainy and windy conditions. Their wings beat 90-100 times per second, and even more during courtship flights. Proportionally, hummingbirds have the largest pectorals of all birds and an unusually high number of mitochondria in their cells, creating the energy needed to power their acrobatic abilities.
The Wonder of Birds by Jim Robbins was published by Spiegel &Grau in 2017.
These remarkable birds can endure extremely difficult conditions. Calliope Hummingbirds migrate almost three thousand miles to the northern United States with the ability to battle hurricane-force headwinds and survive on insects until the snow melts and the flowers bloom. In South America, hummingbirds can survive in the frigid conditions of the Andes by going into a state of torpor. The heart rate of a hummer in torpor ranges between 50-200 beats per minute while a Blue-throated Hummingbird's heart can beat as much as 1,260 times per minute when active.
Hummingbirds can fly upside down and backward and are able to hover in front of a flower even in rainy and windy conditions. Their wings beat 90-100 times per second, and even more during courtship flights. Proportionally, hummingbirds have the largest pectorals of all birds and an unusually high number of mitochondria in their cells, creating the energy needed to power their acrobatic abilities.
The Wonder of Birds by Jim Robbins was published by Spiegel &Grau in 2017.
Anna's Hummingbirds Lose Their Cool During the Arctic Blast
During this period of below-freezing temperatures, the Anna's Hummingbirds in our vicinity seem even more belligerent than usual. Three feeders are outside while one is inside thawing before it is rotated outside again. The male hummers protest furiously when I approach "their" feeder to change it but are much more aggressive towards each other.
There are almost constant confrontations and pursuits as birds seek to stake a claim on a feeder and females are not spared from this competition. Yesterday two males repeatedly attacked each other, spiraling upward and striking each other, and then rising higher again and again to attack each other. The females will sometimes feed together at the same time, but this grudging accommodation does not usually last very long.
There are almost constant confrontations and pursuits as birds seek to stake a claim on a feeder and females are not spared from this competition. Yesterday two males repeatedly attacked each other, spiraling upward and striking each other, and then rising higher again and again to attack each other. The females will sometimes feed together at the same time, but this grudging accommodation does not usually last very long.
Winter Warrior
Held in orbit by a bright red bowl,
The top punctuated by six uniform holes
(a faked field of flowers with
slush as frigid as an Arctic sea),
the small bird sits, head swiveling,
waiting for his familiar enemies.
Arrayed in iridescent armor, a miniature knight
with a taste for sugary gruel--
fierce, sloe-eyed, resentful--
his glazed red throat reflected on a sharp tiny beak,
the fluffed-feathered sentry rattles a warning
that the prize is his, and his only.
Ownership is ordeal by brawling--
long-ranging chases through aqueous skies
bold body blows and near-misses,
swerving and diving,
an agile maniac issuing chastising cries--
whatever is needed to push the neighbors aside.
One long last drink before retreating at dusk,
hot heart surrendering, frantic pulse calming,
weighted between life and death, squeezed by the cold,
he lapses into silence--a complete reversal of roles--
until finally a shudder along the horizon
rouses the warrior to a new day's sweet rising.
Nancy Christiansen
The top punctuated by six uniform holes
(a faked field of flowers with
slush as frigid as an Arctic sea),
the small bird sits, head swiveling,
waiting for his familiar enemies.
Arrayed in iridescent armor, a miniature knight
with a taste for sugary gruel--
fierce, sloe-eyed, resentful--
his glazed red throat reflected on a sharp tiny beak,
the fluffed-feathered sentry rattles a warning
that the prize is his, and his only.
Ownership is ordeal by brawling--
long-ranging chases through aqueous skies
bold body blows and near-misses,
swerving and diving,
an agile maniac issuing chastising cries--
whatever is needed to push the neighbors aside.
One long last drink before retreating at dusk,
hot heart surrendering, frantic pulse calming,
weighted between life and death, squeezed by the cold,
he lapses into silence--a complete reversal of roles--
until finally a shudder along the horizon
rouses the warrior to a new day's sweet rising.
Nancy Christiansen
Thick-billed Parrots
I first encountered a flock of Thick-billed Parrots in a pine forest high in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. Amid their exuberant calls, the birds shredded the pinecones, letting the remnants fall to the forest floor. Beginning at the bottom, the parrots would tear apart the pinecones, extracting each seed in turn until they reached the top of the cone. The birds finally flew off, flashes of green against the blue sky.
Seized from smugglers, these birds were part of an effort to reintroduce the parrots to the mountains of southeastern Arizona in the 1980s. I remember reading later that the birds made a tour of Arizona's mountains in pursuit of pine nuts but, unfortunately, they fell prey to predators such as the Northern Goshawk. The last bird was seen in 1995.
When I later visited the San Diego Zoo, the Thick-billed Parrots seemed to be the loudest birds of all the species in the exhibit: their calls can be heard over a mile away. Along with San Diego Zoo Global, organizations such as Pronatura, Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico's National Commission of Protected Areas and National Forestry Commission, Arizona Game & and Fish Department, Sonoran Joint Venture, American Bird Conservancy, World Parrot Trust and others have cooperated to save the parrots.
The wild population is located in a 6,000-acre area of pine forest in the Madre Occidental Mountains of northern Mexico, even though their range once stretched from the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico to Venezuela. Now fewer than a thousand breeding pairs survive. Hunting, logging, disease, climate change, and birds being caught for the pet trade are the causes for the decline in numbers. Logging has been halted at their nesting site, nest boxes have been installed, and the health risks posed by parasites are being studied. The warmer and drier conditions caused by climate change have increased the number of parasite fly larvae that impact the chicks.
You can read about the conservation efforts on the websites of the San Diego Zoo, Sonoran Joint Venture, and the American Bird Conservancy.
Seized from smugglers, these birds were part of an effort to reintroduce the parrots to the mountains of southeastern Arizona in the 1980s. I remember reading later that the birds made a tour of Arizona's mountains in pursuit of pine nuts but, unfortunately, they fell prey to predators such as the Northern Goshawk. The last bird was seen in 1995.
When I later visited the San Diego Zoo, the Thick-billed Parrots seemed to be the loudest birds of all the species in the exhibit: their calls can be heard over a mile away. Along with San Diego Zoo Global, organizations such as Pronatura, Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico's National Commission of Protected Areas and National Forestry Commission, Arizona Game & and Fish Department, Sonoran Joint Venture, American Bird Conservancy, World Parrot Trust and others have cooperated to save the parrots.
The wild population is located in a 6,000-acre area of pine forest in the Madre Occidental Mountains of northern Mexico, even though their range once stretched from the southern mountains of Arizona and New Mexico to Venezuela. Now fewer than a thousand breeding pairs survive. Hunting, logging, disease, climate change, and birds being caught for the pet trade are the causes for the decline in numbers. Logging has been halted at their nesting site, nest boxes have been installed, and the health risks posed by parasites are being studied. The warmer and drier conditions caused by climate change have increased the number of parasite fly larvae that impact the chicks.
You can read about the conservation efforts on the websites of the San Diego Zoo, Sonoran Joint Venture, and the American Bird Conservancy.
Short-eared Owls
In the winter of 2021, I stopped at twilight to watch the birds in a Skagit county field. A Short-eared Owl swooped down to harass a Northern Harrier and the harrier took off, chasing after the owl. Later a harrier and an owl attacked each other, intertwining the talons of one foot with the other bird's, tumbling downward but then separating and flying off before they would have hit the ground.
Short-eared Owls have a distinctive style of flying, close to the ground with slow wingbeats. They hunt in open country and over marshes, favoring twilight hours but also hunting at night and dawn. In winter, they roost communally on or close to the ground.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife considers the bird a "Species of Greatest Need" and that the owls are believed to be "experiencing a range-wide, long-term decline in North America, although the nomadic tendency of the species makes detecting long-term trends difficult."
Short-eared Owls have a distinctive style of flying, close to the ground with slow wingbeats. They hunt in open country and over marshes, favoring twilight hours but also hunting at night and dawn. In winter, they roost communally on or close to the ground.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife considers the bird a "Species of Greatest Need" and that the owls are believed to be "experiencing a range-wide, long-term decline in North America, although the nomadic tendency of the species makes detecting long-term trends difficult."
Birds are a part of our landscape even when they cannot be seen. Concealed by foliage and shadows, camouflaged by feathers mimicking their surroundings, migrating at night, living underground or far out at sea, or soaring overhead, they can escape our notice. Often it is their calls or songs that announce their presence.
Some bird species are limited to a particular habitat or even to exploiting a particular plant, while others travel vast distances, even circuiting the Pacific Ocean. Many birds in the tropical regions migrate north in spring to take advantage of the longer daylight hours to raise their young. To explain the disappearance of swallows during the winter in Europe, it was commonly believed in the sixteenth century and beyond that swallows buried themselves in the mud at the bottom of lakes or in riverbanks before appearing again in spring. This belief was also prevalent during Aristotle's time.