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Observing Bird Behavior

© Mary Casey

One morning my husband looked out of our bay window into the backyard and said, "What is that bird DOING?" I grabbed my steaming cup of coffee and peered out of the window at the chickadee he was pointing to.

The chickadee was flying from the bare branches of the tulip tree, under the deck, and over to the edge of the house. I couldn't see what the bird was doing near the house from the kitchen window, so I took the binoculars and went to the sliding glass door in the basement which overlook the patio. There was the tiny bird again. It was landing on the dryer vent, pulling out bits and pieces of dryer fluff and flying off into the trees. Why would a chickadee want dryer fluff?

Then it dawned on me. It was starting to collect materials for its nest. I remembered seeing small sections of moss missing from the ground near the side of the house, and recalled that the chickadees had made a nest from moss and dog hair I had left outside the previous spring. This year the building materials of choice seemed to be the moss and the dryer fluff!

Winter is a great time to observe bird behavior, like we did with our resident chickadee. Depending on where you live, the bushes and trees are bare, and the birds are easier to observe closely without the camouflage of the leaves. If you have placed your feeders where you can see the birds with the naked eye or with a good pair of binoculars, you won't even have to leave the warmth of your home to watch and learn about the birds in your backyard.

To start out with, pick a bird species you are familiar with, and one you are not. Pick birds who frequent your backyard daily, if you can. I picked the chickadee and the ruby-crowned kinglet to observe. I like to read the guidebooks for background information, and then take notes on 'my' birds for comparison.

I noticed that the chickadees are still traveling together in what I think is their family group; siblings from last year, and maybe their parents. I never see a chickadee alone, they are usually in a noisy group of four or five. They dive bomb the bird feeders around eight AM, much later than the cardinals, who appear before dawn, and much earlier than the fox sparrows who show up around lunch time. They eat together, one at a time, taking turns at the sunflower seeds or the suet. If they want to take a drink at the bird bath, they usually will land in a group and take dainty sips from the edge.