Category Archives: Bird Behavior

Visiting Birds Find New Insect Snacks

Immature yellow-bellied sapsucker near spotted lanternflies, Frick Park, 6 Oct 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

8 October 2024

Bird migration was intense over Pittsburgh on Friday night, 4 October, when more than 20,000 songbirds flew south overhead. We saw the results on Saturday morning in Frick Park where a new cohort of species had arrived with good news: Some of them were eating spotted lanternflies!

The new species included ruby-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows, yellow-bellied sapsuckers and yellow-rumped (myrtle) warblers. The mix was quite a change from September’s warblers.

Most of the new arrivals were feeding on tiny insects but the juvenile sapsucker, pictured above, was attracted to sweet lanternfly honeydew on ailanthus trees. He was too young to have ever seen a spotted lanternfly but he was curious. “Are these edible?”

Immature yellow-bellied sapsucker looking at spotted lanternflies, Frick Park, 6 Oct 2024 (photo by Charity Kheshgi)

Yes.

Perhaps the sapsucker got the idea from a northern cardinal that ate a lanternfly further down the trail. (I don’t have a photo of that incident; this one is from iNaturalist, New York.)

Northern cardinal eating spotted lanternfly, NYC (Creative Commons photo by
matthew_wills via iNaturalist)

Olive-sided flycatchers eat spotted lanternflies, too, though they don’t contribute much in Pittsburgh because they are rare here.

Olive-sided flycatcher (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

However, when an olive-sided flycatcher was passing through Howard County, Maryland in early September Mei Shyong photographed it eating a spotted lanternfly. The thumbnail below is just a hint. Click here or on the image to see her photo at Howard County Concervancy on Facebook.

Bonding at the Pitt Peregrine Nest

Carla and Ecco pair pond at the nest, 4 October 2024 (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

5 October 2024

Though October is far from courtship season the Pitt peregrines sometimes meet at the nest to maintain their pair bond.

Yesterday Ecco initiated a bowing session and Carla kept it going for eleven minutes. This is a long session for the off season!

Pitt peregrine nest, 4 October 2024 (photos from the snapshot camera)

Sometimes it’s hard to find them perched at the Cathedral of Learning. It makes me happy to see them on camera.

When the Superb Lyrebird Sings

27 September 2024

When Australia’s Bowen Mountain posted a superb lyrebird video on Facebook it prompted me to look into what this bird is up to.

Male superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) are fantastic mimics who sing and shake their tail feathers to attract a female. Their elaborate tails normally stream out behind them, shown above, but during the courtship season in June to August the male throws his tail over his head like an umbrella and sings his heart out.

Male superb lyrebird singing (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Bowen Mountain shared this courtship song on Facebook, 9 June 2024: “Wonderful video of a Superb Lyrebird going full throttle near Crago Observatory on Bowen Mountain. Footage captured by keen native birdwatcher, 12 year old Jack Mitchell! Crank the volume!!!”

If the male’s song is pleasing, a female will show up to watch.

Male and female superb lyrebirds together (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

She doesn’t look for nurturing traits in the male, just great moves and a great song. Nest building and parental care are completely her responsibility.

The female lays one egg that takes 50 days to hatch and cares for her young until they are independent 8-9 months after they fledge. The young won’t be ready to breed until the females are 5-6 years old and the males are 6-8 years old.

With such long waits for everything from hatching to maturity, superb lyebirds live a long time if they can escape predation. Birds of the World reports that the oldest identifiable individual was 25–26 years old.

Fifteen years ago David Attenborough filmed an amazing lyrebird singing like a chainsaw. Considering the longevity of lyrebirds, this one might still be alive and courting today.

video embedded from BBC Earth

Hoopoe!

Hoopoe! (photo from Wikimedia Commons. Photo location not specified but this one may be African)

17 September 2024: Day 11, WINGS Spain in Autumn. On the plains east of Seville, then our tour concludes at noon in Seville. Click here to see (generally) where I am today. NOTE: This article was written in August.

Today is our last birding day in Spain and I’ve already seen four hoopoes.

Utterly unmistakable orange bird with zebra-striped wings, a Chinese fan of a crest (usually held closed, but often raised just after landing), and a rapier of a bill. Favors semiopen habitats such as heathland, farmland, orchards, grassy lawns, where it feeds on the ground, probing with its long bill for insects

eBird Species account: Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Hoopoes are large in my imagination — perhaps because of their crests — but they are only the size of American robins though their shape is very different. This video of captive hoopoes in Dubai shows their size relative to a human hand.

Hoopoes were named for their song …

… and are so eye-catching that humans have both revered and feared them. Hoopoes were sacred in Ancient Egypt and a symbol of virtue in Persia yet harbingers of war in Scandanavia and foreshadowers of death in Estonia. Was it the hoopoe’s behavior that prompted these opinions?

Hoopoes nest in cavities where the female lays 2-12 eggs that hatch 24 hours apart in the order they were laid. The nestlings can therefore range in age from 1 to 12+ days old but the youngest don’t last long.

Eurasian hoopoe chick looking out of nest hole (photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Early warning, folks. Some gruesome news ahead.

A March report at Science.org describes how researchers in Granada Province observed a gruesome behavior in hoopoe families that is quite unusual among birds.

In the first of two studies, Juan José Soler at the Experimental Station of Arid Zones in Spain showed that “hoopoe mothers frequently feed younger chicks to older chicks. And he suspected that hoopoe mothers laid extra eggs with the intention of using the hatchlings as food.”

The second study bore this out. In settings where food was plentiful during egg laying female hoopoes laid more eggs and later used the youngest chicks as food for the older ones. Interestingly, nests with high cannibalism fledged more chicks that those without.

Beyond the strangeness (dare I say horror?) of cannibalism offered by one’s mother is the fact that hoopoes do not have beaks and claws equipped to kill small birds. “That might be why, says Soler, mother hoopoes often grab the unlucky chick and shove it into the mouth of an older chick, which swallows it whole.” — Science.org.: Watch Out! This colorful bird raises a nest of cannibals.

This behavior may sound familiar to those of you who remember the peregrine mother nicknamed Hope who nest at Pitt 2016-2019. Every spring Hope killed and ate one or two of her chicks and offered them as food to the older chicks. Now that I know of the hoopoe’s unusual behavior, perhaps Hope should have had extra o’s in her name –> Hoopoe.

Read more about the studies at Science.org.: Watch Out! This colorful bird raises a nest of cannibals.

p.s. Despite the strangeness, I still like hoopoes.

In UV Light This Bird Can Glow Red

Male great bustard working up to a display (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

16 September 2024: Day 10, Fuente de Piedra, Osuna, and the plains east of Sevilla, WINGS Spain in Autumn Click here to see (generally) where I am today.

One of the target species during our tour’s final days is a very large bird that lives on the steppes and grasslands of Spain. The great bustard (Otis tarda) is the most sexually dimorphic of all birds in terms of size. The males can weigh as much as 42 pounds, are the second heaviest flying bird on earth(*), and average 2.48 times the weight of females. They also stand 3+ feet tall so if one’s out there in the grass we should be able to see it.

Unfortunately the colorful range map below is a bit misleading. The great bustard (Otis tarda) is Endangered and in low numbers everywhere except Spain. According to Wikipedia, “More than half the global population is found in central Spain with around 30,000 individuals.” Some locations in Europe have as few as 100 to 1,000 birds.

Range of the Great Bustard (map from Wikimedia Commons)

Great bustards are famous for their courtship displays. In March the males gather on a lek to joust and puff their feathers.

Females are attracted by features of the display that we humans cannot hear or see. For instance, bustards make low frequency sounds that carry a long distance in open country. Perhaps she hears him from far away.

Female great bustard (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Bustards’ ability to see UV light plays a part in their courtship. The males’ reddish/brownish feathers contain a pigment called porphyrin, chemically related to hemoglobin, that shows intense red fluorescence under ultraviolet light, as seen in an experiment below.

Experiment showing fluorescence of porphyrin (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

When a male great bustard fluffs his throat feathers the females see bright glowing magenta in UV light.

Porphyrin pigment breaks down during exposure to sunlight so this feature is lost in older feathers as male breeding plumage ages. By the time the glow is gone, the males don’t need it. Courtship is over until next year.


(*) p.s. The heaviest bird capable of flight is the Kori bustard.

Flamingo Flamenco

Flock of greater flamingos (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

13 September 2024: Day 7, at the Strait of Gibraltar, Tarifa, WINGS Spain in Autumn
Click here to see (generally) where I am today.

In Spanish the word “flamenco” is both a male adjective meaning “Flemish” and the name of the bird “flamingo.”

Several hundred years ago the term Flamenco was also used to identify the Romani people (Gitanos) of Spain, mistakenly identifying them as German/Flemish.

In the late 17th century the Gitanos in Andalusia developed a music and dance art form based on the folkloric music traditions of southern Spain. When this art form became famous it was called Flamenco.

So now we are in Andalusia, home of the real Flamenco. Video is from the 2016 Flamenco Festival at New York City Center.

video embedded from NYCityCenter on YouTube

We won’t see a flamenco performance on our birding trip but we have seen greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus). Lots of them! They live year round in southern Spain.

Notice the moves these flamingos make during their courtship dance. (Click here to see on YouTube.)

(video embedded from BBC America)

The flamingo moves are explained in the video below. I am especially fond of the Wing Thing. (Click here to see on YouTube.)

(video embedded from the Smithsonian Channel)

The fact that the same word is used for both the bird and the dance makes me wonder: Where did the human dance moves come from? Did we adopt them by watching flamingos?

Cormorants At Work

Fisherman with two cormorants to go fishing in China (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

2 September 2024

In the Great Lakes region fishermen complain about double-crested cormorants competing with them for fish and demand that they be killed but in other countries fishermen work with cormorants to catch the biggest fish.

Cormorants naturally hunt and catch fish underwater. Those who fish with cormorants train them to bring large fish back to the boat by placing a loose snare around their necks that allows them to swallow small fish but not large ones. When they bring a large fish back they are fed small fish as a reward.

The origins of cormorant fishing are obscure but the practice is still used today in China, Japan, Peru and Greece, though mainly for the tourist industry. Only in southwestern China is it still employed commercially.

The species of cormorant used depends on what is native to the area. In China, the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). In Japan, the Japanese cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus). In Peru, the neotropic cormorant (Nannopterum brasilianum).

Watch cormorants at work in southwestern China.

video embedded from Great Big Story on YouTube

Seen Last Week

Wingstem in bloom, curled pistils and a tiny ant, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

1 September 2024

Welcome to September! Here are a few things seen last week when it was still August.

At top, a tiny ant explores for curling pistils on blooming wingstem in Schenley Park. Below, a funnel spider web awaits an unwary flying insect. I could not see the spider in the hole but I’m sure he’s there.

Funnel spider web on a shrub, 29 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

In case you haven’t noticed, the Upper Ohio valley is in a drought. (Click here for the drought map of 27 Aug 2024.) Plants in Schenley Park were drooping last week. Did last night’s rain perk them up? See the latest map from US Drought Monitor at UNL.

Wilted leaves in the drought, Schenley Park, 30 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

On Friday evening there was a double rainbow though I did not notice the faint second rainbow (upper left corner) until I looked at my photo.

Faint double rainbow in Pittsburgh, 30 August 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

In late August and early September, hundreds of migrating chimney swifts pour into this chimney at dusk. Our local crows find it fascinating so on Tuesday 27 August they perched around the top of the chimney and waited for the swifts to pour in. (They look like pegs on top of the chimney.) The swifts refused to go through that gauntlet. The crows had to leave before the show began.

American crows staking out the chimney swift chimney , waiting for the swifts to drop in, 27 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

There are certainly fewer spotted lanternflies this year than last in my city neighborhood. These two photos give a look at the many in 2023 versus few in 2024 on a South Craig Street sidewalk. Some of you missed this excitement last year and are experiencing it now. 😮

  • Spotted lanternflies at RAND Bldg, 11 Sep 2023

And finally, on the night of August 27-28 an unusual wind gust toppled the potted plants on our roof. No harm done. They were just sleeping.

A strong gust of wind on the night of August 27-28 knocked over the potted plants, 28 Aug 2024 (photo by Kate St. John)

Adapting To The Heat

Song sparrow bathing (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

29 August 2024

It’s been another hot week with muggy high temperatures and more to come. Birds are adapting by bathing, hanging out in the shade, and avoiding activity during the worst part of the day.

Some birds who live where it’s hot and dry have adapted their bodies to help them cool off. Read about their special air conditioner nasal passages in this 2017 article.

p.s. Yesterday morning when it was 84°F and felt like 86°, Ecco took a sun bath to heat his feathers and force out the parasites. Aaaaaaah. And then he adjourned to the shade to preen them away.

Ecco sunbathes in the heat, 28 Aug 2024, 11:07am (photo from the National Aviary snapshot camera at Univ of Pittsburgh)

How Birds Deal With Heat: Manipulate the Feathers

Song sparrows: warm in October, cold in snowy March (photos by Steve Gosser)

15 August 2024

Here’s a little Before and After exercise that spans five to six months. Observe birds who are in your neighborhood all year long. Song sparrows and cardinals are two good choices.

  • Before: On a hot day in August notice how plump or thin the birds are. Even better, take a picture of a bird in the heat.
  • After: On a cold day in winter, again notice how fat or thin the birds are. Take a picture of the same species out in the cold.

The song sparrows above were photographed by Steve Gosser on a warm October day and on a snowy day in early March.

Spoiler Alert! Here’s what you’ll see.

This vintage article is 7 years old.