August is a busy time for cicadas. Though there aren’t a lot of them this year, those that are here are busy mating and laying eggs for the next generation.
Did you know that cicadas lay their eggs under the bark of tree twigs? Eventually you can tell where they’ve done it because the leaves turn brown on the branch tips.
(photo of cicada on tree branch by John Tsui via Wikimedia Commons. photo of brown tree tips from Wikimedia Commons. Click on each image to see its original)
Dr. Edwin Rubel studies chicks’ ability to re-grow their hearing nerve cells. Univ. of Washington Dept of Medicine
20 August 2014
During a visit to an audiologist for a baseline hearing test I learned an awesome thing about birds.
This summer (2014) I had my hearing tested because I noticed I could still hear faint rustling sounds with my right ear but not with my left. For a long time my left ear has been slightly “less good” but this spring was the first time I didn’t have stereo for everything. I was looking in the wrong direction for the very quiet birds.
The hearing test showed that my right ear is still above average but I’ve begun to age and am slowly losing the high end of sound. My left ear has lost more than my right — hence the lack of stereo — but for a human I have good hearing. The sounds I’ve lost would only be noticed by a cat (or a birder). Since those sounds aren’t in the “human” range, the loss is not eligible for hearing aids.
But if I was a bird my body would correct the hearing loss.
Birds and humans hear via tiny “hair cells” that line the cochlea of our inner ear. They are not “hairs” at all but actually protein-filled protrusions that vibrate when sound reaches them, then transmit it electronically to the brain. Age, loud noises, toxins, and strong antibiotics can damage these cells. Mammals cannot regenerate the hair cells. Birds can!
I know there’s a family of American goldfinches nearby when I hear the call “beer BEE.”
Loud or soft, the accent is on the second syllable. Birds of North America Online spells it “bay bee”. I hear “beer BEE.”
The call is a warning to alert young goldfinches about a dangerous predator. Last Saturday (16 August 2014) I heard it repeated loudly for an hour while an immature Coopers hawk perched in my neighbor’s spruce tree. As soon as the hawk left the goldfinches stopped saying it.
Listen for the call and you’ll learn two things:
There’s a goldfinch nest or young nearby and …
There’s a hawk, cat or other danger in the vicinity.
August. The last month of summer. School starts next week in Pittsburgh.
This bird knows summer is almost over. By the end of the month he’ll leave for South America.
Do you know who he is? Do you know why he leaves so soon?
(photo by Dan Arndt, Creative Commons license on Flickr. Click on the image to see the original. Dan lives in Calgary and writes for two blogs: Birds Calgary and Bird Canada.)
Joe-Pye Weed is huge — 10 feet tall! — and stands out in any setting. Its small flowers are arranged in large dome-shaped clusters, 6 to 9 inches across, that give dramatic tops to these perennials.
Their size is amazing considering they achieve it in only four months. Click here for a view of the entire plant.
Two common species in our area, Sweet Joe-Pye (Eutrochium purpureum) and Spotted Joe-Pye (Eutrochium maculatum), are distinguished by the colors on their stems but they hybridize and mix it up.
So big and beautiful, I don’t care which one it is.
Yo, Joe!
(photo by Kate St. John, taken at Jennings Prairie, Butler County, Pennsylvania)
p.s. Read Marcia Bonta’s blog to find out why it’s called “Joe-Pye.”
p.p.s. The genus name only recently changed from Eupatorium to Eutrochium, another case where I prefer the old name.
The color of indigo buntings and mountain bluebirds, this butterfly is pretending to be something else.
Its name is “Red Spotted Purple” (Limenitis arthemis) — no mention of blue! — and its color mimics the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail. I suppose the orangish red spots on its underside gave it its name.
This one was mud-puddling with other butterflies at Jennings Prairie last weekend, but I ignored them because they weren’t this color.
Lest we think that peregrines are the only birds that fight, take a look at this slow motion video of dueling sharp-tailed grouse from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Though they don’t have meat-tearing beaks and sharp talons these grouse are doing some damage to each other.
You won’t see this in August, even if you’re at the northern grasslands they call home. Fighting is an activity that sharp-tailed grouse reserve for springtime courtship. The males gather at the lek (courtship stomping grounds) and mix it up to prove who’s best.
Last week Marcy Cunkelman found a cedar waxwing nesting in her garden. For other birds, this would be a very late nest but for cedar waxwings it’s right on time.
Waxwings build their first nests in mid June when other birds have already fledged young. They start late because their main food source is sugary fruit and that’s not available until mid-summer. Yes, waxwings eat insects (have you seen them fly-catching?) but they only feed insects to their young during the first 1-2 days of life. After that they feed them mostly fruit.
This early August nest is the pair’s second brood. In order to complete the cycle before the end of summer Mrs. Waxwing starts building her second nest before the first “kids” have flown, on approximately Day 10 of their 15.5 days in the nest. By the time she finishes building, her first kids are fledging and she’s laying eggs.
She’s able to do this because her mate does the vast majority of the feedings. He feeds her on the nest and he feeds the “kids” until 6-10 days after they’ve fledged. In August he’s one busy bird!
Cedar waxwings’ dependence on fruit makes them highly nomadic with little site fidelity. They’ll nest where there’s lots of fruit — cherries, dogwoods, raspberries, crabapples, honeysuckle and ornamentals — and won’t come back if it’s gone.
Marcy has plenty of fruiting trees and shrubs in her garden. The waxwings obviously love it.
On Sunday afternoon I received a text from Peter Bell, “Intruder at Pitt. On about 4th floor windowsill of Union. Dorothy and E2 are at top corners angrily e-chupping and diving.”
I live only 10 minutes away so I hopped in the car and went over to see.
As I waited for the light at Schenley Plaza I saw a solo peregrine flying eastward over Posvar Hall. I surmised that I’d missed them and I was right. Peter was waiting on the corner to fill me in.
Returning from a weekend trip, he’d gotten off the airport bus near Pitt’s Student Union and immediately heard unusual peregrine sounds. Peter looked up to see three peregrines on the building. Two angry birds had claimed the high ground. The third was in an uncomfortable spot on the 4th floor windowsill.
Peter happened to have his camera so he fired off as many shots as possible while the action unfolded. Ultimately Dorothy zoomed in and chased off the third bird (shown above). I arrived in time to see E2 bringing up the rear. Click on the photo to watch a slideshow of the action.
August seems an unusual time for an intruder but I know why she’s here. Dorothy is 15 years old and has many physical challenges. In March she laid only one egg, then became egg-bound. She survived by expelling the malformed egg, then started to molt early. Three months later Dorothy still looks very ragged, a sign that she’s not in good condition.
On camera at the nestbox she exhibits “tired” behavior. After 13 years of watching her, I now see her pausing in new postures as if she aches. In the slideshow the intruder looks sleek and nimble. Dorothy does not. Dorothy is challenged in more ways than one.
Under these circumstances, it’s obvious to other peregrines that Dorothy is not at the top of her form. Wandering female peregrines will try their chances to win the site. Sunday’s challenger flew away but she, or another, will be back. Dorothy will chase again but at some point a new female will return to the Cathedral of Learning and Dorothy will not.
This is not unusual or “terrible” activity. Chases and fights are the normal, natural way that peregrines insure strong birds own every site and produce healthy young peregrines for the future. Old humans fade away slowly, surrounded by family (or not). Old peregrines go out with a bang.
Here’s the fight sequence from Peter’s photos.
We are privileged to watch and learn.
(photos by Peter Bell)
p.s. Peter saw in his photos that the intruding female is banded. He couldn’t read the band but the colors are Black/Red.
