NEST BOX CHECK - MAY 8TH AND A BOLD JUMPER!

I made the rounds to the active nests on Friday afternoon. Here is what was going on.

LAB BOX #1

In Lab Box #1 the Brown-headed Nuthatches have a total of six eggs that are white with reddish brown splotches especially concentrated around the large end of the egg. They should be hatching in around a week.

LAB BOX #2

In Lab Box #2 the three Eastern Bluebird nestlings are fully feathered and getting big.  They should be fledging in the next two or three days.  The plastic nesting cup has a lot of what appears to be fecal debris around the edges.  I have not seen this before.

LAB BOX #4

In Lab Box #4 there appears to be a chickadee pie, divided into 5 wedges!  These little Carolina Chickadees have about ten days to go before leaving the nest.

LAB BOX #5

In Lab Box #5 I found the five eggs still unhatched eight days past the usual incubation period.  I had noticed some change in the coloration of the eggs a few days ago that was similar to a nest last year where the parent birds seemed to have disappeared during incubation.  On advice from a bird researcher at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, I removed the nest, cleaned out the nest box, and replaced the old plastic nesting cup with a new one on the chance that the bluebird pair will begin a new nest.  At the museum staff's request, I delivered the nest cup with the nest and four of the eggs to the lab facilities at Prairie Ridge EcoStation for potential examination by a new researcher who specializes in bird eggs.

I took one of the eggs to my lab for a close up photo.  You can see the demarcation line that corresponds to the air cell at the large end of the egg.  The area of the shell over the air cell is more like the original shell color.  The rest of the egg is a shade or two darker.  I opened the egg from the large end and could see a network of blood vessels just beneath the membrane.  When I further opened the shell I found a lifeless embryo that was developed enough to identify its eyes, beak, and very tiny legs and wings.   It is hard to know what caused the end of the development of these eggs, although we did have temperatures in the upper thirties at least twice during the first week after incubation would have commenced.

LAB BOX #6

In Lab Box #6 the Carolina Chickadee young are thriving. Two of the five immediately popped their beaks open hoping for insect meal.  The fledge date for this clutch is in about a week.  You can see the eyes beginning to open on these little birds.

LAB BOX #7

In Lab Box #7 our unknown bird (chickadee or titmouse, I think) has five eggs. Perhaps in ten days these eggs will have hatched and I'll see the parent birds flying to and from the box with food items.

SPECIAL SPIDER TREAT!!!

On Thursday I found a black jumping spider on a wall in the hallway that separates our Cytology Prep Lab from the Chief Medical Examiner's Toxicology Lab.  I scooped the spider up in a plastic lab bottle with lid and released it today while I was out checking nest boxes.  I placed it on a facility structure about 4 feet off the ground.  It immediately leaped to the ground, but I was able to get a few blurry pictures plus this decent one.  At home Friday evening, I zoomed in on this photo to admire the typical "sports car-like headlights" that all jumping spiders have for eyes.  But I was astonished by the metallic green jaws (chelicerae) between its pedipalps.  The pedipalps appear to be slightly "clubbed" at the ends.  If so, this would be a male spider.  I am seeking conformation on the gender.  But I did learn through Bugguide.net that this is a Bold Jumping Spider (AKA Daring Jumping Spider) with the scientific name Phidippus audax.  The big forward facing eyes are instrumental in their hunt for insect prey and also in the dances that this group of spiders employ in seeking a partner.  These spiders are not prone to biting humans and should be a source of interest not fear.  A new acquaintance on Facebook who is a retired park ranger wrote me that placing a mirror in front of a male jumping spider can produce an entertaining show.  The male jumping spider often puts on a display in an effort to scare away what he thinks is another spider of his species.

 

HOME BOX #1

In Home Box #1 there are five well feathered Eastern Bluebird nestlings.  You can see a little bit of blue in the wing feathers of the bird on the left (could be a male). They should be ready to fly by midweek.

HOME BOX #2

In Home Box #2, the Brown-headed Nuthatch babies are getting their "shark-tooth" shaped beaks!  If you look closely, you can count all six nestlings.  It will probably be near the middle of the month before these birds take flight

HOME BOX #5

In Home Box #5 the Tufted Titmouse nestlings are definitely hungry.  Here you can see five of the six mouths wide open.

When I opened the box, one of the nestlings was away from the other five in this very spacious nest box that was intended for Great Crested Flycatchers.  Before I moved the little titmouse back closer to its siblings, I just had to hold its warm little body in my hand for a few seconds.  It had no problem begging for food from this big old fuzzy fellow.  Sorry, I've got no mealworms on me at the moment!

Saturday morning I put out some mealworms in the terracotta saucer on the deck railing.  The Tufted Titmice were the first to arrive!

HOME BOX #6

In Home Box #6 the four Eastern Bluebird nestlings have plenty of feathers  They are just a a few days behind the nestlings in Home Box #1.  These babies seem have experienced parents.  They both dive bomb me whenever I check the nest. Neither of them are reluctant to grab mealworms from a clay saucer on the deck rail even when I'm nearby.

I hope to have more pictures next weekend!

LAB NEST BOXES ON MAY 3RD

On Sunday May 4th I drove over to the lab to check the eight nest boxes there. Here's what I found.

LAB BOX #1

The Brown-headed Nuthatches in Lab Box #1 have filled out their nesting to a total of six eggs.  I look forward to seeing this bunch hatch.  It is in a location where I can invite a few folks to see the little ones when they hatch.

LAB BOX #2

The early nest of Eastern Bluebirds in Lab Box #2 holds three young birds that are about 10 days old.  Two of the eggs in this nest did not hatch. You can see slivers of those eggs at 12 o'clock and 4 o'clock. The nestlings' wings are covered with feather sheaths that are showing little puffs of feather at their tips.  This stage always reminds me of paint brushes.

LAB BOX #4

The mother Carolina Chickadee in Lab Box #4 stuck tight to her nest on May 3rd as I peeped in.   I closed the box promptly to give her the privacy she deserves

A day later on May 4th I checked again and found that five of the six babies had hatched.  I will go back in a few days to see if the sixth egg was viable.  Four of the five popped open their little beaks when I did a little "pishing".

LAB BOX #5

The Eastern Bluebird eggs in Lab Box #5 still have not hatched.  I am concerned that this nest has failed for some unknown reason.  I plan to contact a friend at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences about how to proceed.  Most likely, I will remove the entire nest and replace it with a new nesting container in the hopes that this pair will try again.  I may open one of the eggs to see if there is any evidence that the eggs were ever fertile.

LAB BOX #6

The Carolina Chickadees in Lab Box #6 near the loading dock hatched on May 3rd. All five babies are active and responded to my "pishing".  I like the green fibrous stuff that a parent bird added to the nest cup.

LAB BOX #7

Much to my surprise Lab Box #7, which has been empty for the past two seasons, suddenly has a complete nest in it. The nest cup was covered over, but I gently laid the camouflage back and was able to observe two speckled eggs.

I'm not sure yet what is nesting here, but I'd guess another chickadee nest or perhaps a Tufted Titmouse.  I'll keep an eye out as this is an easy box to check on my way home in the afternoons.

MAY 2ND ADULT BIRDS

The weather was quite pleasant on May 2nd, so I opened the windows to the "bird room".  This way I could photograph birds at the feeders without the distortion of the windows' glass.  

CAROLINA WREN

One early visitor came right on inside the room for mealworms from the uncovered plastic mealworm storage container on the table.  It was a small, but big voiced Carolina Wren.  The powerful "tea kettle, tea kettle, tea kettle, tea!" of the Carolina Wren makes it sound much larger.  Here is one of the wrens checking over the hundreds of mealworms available.

A little closer look is in order.

OK, the perfect mealworm is selected.  Or is that two?

Now it's time to check out and head for the nest that the wrens must have nearby.  I have yet to locate it.

EASTERN BLUEBIRD

Of course one of my favorite birds to watch is the Eastern Bluebird.  With two bluebird nests in the yard, each male is busy trying to keep the other bluebird pair away from the mealworms.  But eventually both pairs get their share.  It is interesting to watch these beautiful blue males allow wrens and titmice to feed on mealworms at will, but object when either of the bluebirds from the other pair approach.

Wow, what a magnificent and stately bird.  Watch out, there go those sneaky mealworms heading over the edge of the flower pot saucer!




Here is the female Eastern Bluebird.  Right down the center of her tummy, you can make out a vertical slot where her brood patch is located.  This is a bare area of skin on her abdomen that she uses to keep her eggs warm during incubation and to keep her developing young snug during the first several days after hatching.

I refilled the suet feeder last week to supplement the adult insect-eating birds while they are hunting live insects for their babies.  The bluebirds are taking advantage of this additional supply of energy food.

Male bluebirds are very attractive birds and their behaviors are enjoyable to watch.   

RED-BELLIED WOODPECKER

This handsome Red-bellied Woodpecker visits the suet feeder occasionally.  He also spends plenty of time checking out the overlapping bark on trees in the area looking for insects and spiders.

Now this is a mouthful of suet!

DOWNY WOODPECKER

This female Downy Woodpecker also visits the suet feeder. She is about the same size as the bluebirds.

Woodpeckers have a toe arrangement that is different than most of the songbirds which have three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward.  The Downy has two toes pointed forward and two pointed to the back which helps them in maneuvering around on the bark of trees.

GRAY CATBIRD

The Gray Catbird migrates south in winter while its kin, the Northern Mockingbird and the Brown Thrasher, remain here year round.  These three species are "mimids" that mimic the songs of other birds.  Typically mockingbirds repeat other birds' songs in at least a triplet, while brown thrashers sing doublets of each call before moving on to the next.  Catbirds usually repeat each call just once which gives their song a very rambling nature.  They also have a "mew" call that sounds much like a kitten's.  Gray Catbirds are a uniform slate gray with a black skull cap.

It is nice to see the shy catbirds return in the spring.  There have been a pair visiting the suet feeder and also picking up morsels from under the feeders.  I suspect they may have a nest in some thicket nearby, but I have yet to locate it.  The Gray Catbird has a rusty patch beneath its tail that you can see here.  

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

The acrobatic White-breasted Nuthatch is a common visitor to seed and suet feeders year round.   They have an impressive beak made for probing under the bark of trees searching for insects, but can also hammer the dickens out of sunflower seed that they often stash in nooks and crannies of trees for later retrieval.

This is a typical pose of the White-breasted Nuthatch, with its head pointed down.  I love to hear their lively "yank, yank, yank, yank" nasally call.

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER

This dazzling male Yellow-rumped Warbler has been coming to the suet feeder recently.  He has transformed quite a bit since the winter when there were ten or more at one time frequenting the feeders.

This member of the wood warbler tribe has a large patch of black feathers on his cheek and another surrounding his bright yellow shoulder splotch. There is a streak of yellow on his crown as well as the definitive yellow rump patch that gives these birds their common name.

Wood warblers are primarily insect eaters.  Their sharp thin beaks are well adapted to catching these food items.  In the east, this species was formerly named Myrtle Warbler because of the large numbers of wax-myrtle berries (also called bayberry) they consume.  Most other warblers are not able to digest these waxy berries.  The Yellow-Rumped Warbler's ability to strip off the waxy coat during digestion actually aids in the germination of the wax-myrtle seeds later.

The male Yellow-Rumped Warbler has a bright white throat and belly in his summer plumage.

BABY BIRDS IN OUR NEST BOXES

I visited the Home Boxes around lunchtime today (May 2nd). Hope to go over and check on the Lab Boxes tomorrow.

HOME BOX #1

I found the Eastern Bluebird eggs in Home Box #1 freshly hatched on the evening of April 24th.  One of the eggshell halves was still in the nest.

On April 28th the little four day old bluebirds have doubled in size and are showing a lot of fuzzy down and the beginnings of feather tracks along their flipper-like wings.

On May 2nd these little guys are now eight days old.  Their eyes have not yet opened, but you can see the development of the feather tracks along the crown of their heads and down their backs.  The feather sheaths along the back edge of their wings are developing nicely.

The tip end of my index finger gives an idea of how much these babies have grown in the past 8 days.  You can also see the ear canal openings on at least two of the five nestlings.

I recently found a supplier for some nice lively mealworms to put out for the adult bluebirds to share with their babies (wrens and titmice are stopping by, too).   RedHen is a strong advocate for environmental conservation, and uses her yard to grow all sorts of edibles.  She is also a public school resources person who teaches students the importance of the four R's of Environmental Conservation: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink (Re-purpose).  In addition, she teaches them how to make what she calls "Black Gold", (rich, black compost to use in gardening) by employing earthworms to breakdown fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen.

(link to the 4 R's of Environmental Conservation)

I opened some of the windows in our little "bird room" for a while this afternoon so I could take a few pictures of songbirds at the feeders.  The plastic container in which I am storing the bulk of these scrumptious little mealworms was sitting uncovered on the table near an open window.  After being out of the room for a few minutes, I came back to find one of the mother bluebirds perched on the container's edge selecting the juiciest worms for her babies.

I also tried out the video feature on the new camera.  Here is that beautiful female Eastern Bluebird waiting for me to leave the "bird room" again.

HOME BOX #2

On April 28th the Brown-headed Nuthatches in Home Box #2 hatched.  There were six little eggs just the day before and I am pretty sure there are six little hatchlings somewhere in this pile of avian tininess.  They are smaller than my thumb nail. 

On May 2nd these little guys are four days old and they are not shy about asking to be fed.  The adult nuthatches are shuttling back and forth to take care of these six siblings.

Their yellow gapes are trimmed with white borders to give the adult birds good targets for placing food items in the darkened cavity of the nest box.

 There are definitely six little beaks (or parts of beaks) visible in this picture.


                     

HOME BOX #5

May 2nd appears to have been hatching day for the young of the Tufted Titmouse pair that nested in my "big" Great Crested Flycatcher nest box which is mounted on a ten foot pole.  As we look out from the windows of our back bedroom, the box is rather hidden from the view by the leafy branches of a Winged Elm, so I had made my earlier supposition of which species had built this nest on its composition.  I assumed from the mossy material I had encountered in Carolina Chickadee nests over the past years that this was a chickadee nest.  Just a few days ago as I tapped on the pole before lowering it to check the nest's contents, I thought I caught a glimpse of a White-breasted Nuthatch fly from the box.  Well, today it was obvious that it had been a titmouse pair all along.  The parents are coming to the deck for live mealworms to supplement their hatchlings' diet.

This little titmouse has its head up and mouth open, ready for the next morsel from mother or father bird.

I can count at least five hatchlings, but I am hoping there is a sixth underneath as the mother bird laid six eggs.  I should be able to tell next week when I check on the nest again.

HOME BOX #6

The Eastern Bluebirds in Home Box #6 probably hatched early on May 28th.  I visited in the late afternoon and all four chicks look pretty dry.  Both parent birds dive-bombed me pretty strongly during the 20 or 30 seconds I was at their nest box. Adult birds do "love" their babies!

On May 2nd the four little four-day old bluebirds are all snuggled in.  They have a solid pair of parent birds watching over them and keeping them well fed.

 This picture was taken a few seconds later with no flash.

This is a Male Eastern Bluebird at one of the saucers I placed on the deck railing today to "hold" live mealworms.  I see two trying to escape!  This male is a brave individual who has dive-bombed me so closely when I was checking his nest that I could feel the wind from his wings.

This is the female Eastern Bluebird mate to the male bird above.  She often carries more than a few mealworms in her beak at a time to feed her four babies.