What the Heck Are You Doing Down There

8/9/2019 What the Heck Are You Doing Down There

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WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU

DOING DOWN THERE?

A Birds Eye View of Urban Habitat

By Marianne Dawson


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Who Am I?

Marianne Dawson

Fourth year in SFU Biology

Trained bird bander

Passionate about birds


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Wonderful BC birds

More birds breed in BC than in any other province!


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The State of Things

All these birds have to go somewhere!

Some species are in local decline

House wren

Chipping sparrow

Ruby-crowned kinglet

Golden-crowned sparrow


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Migration

Most BC birds are onlyhere during the breeding

summer They fly up from the

Southern US and Mexico


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Whats So Threatening?

Patchy habitats

More human development can widen the

spaces between parks The birds cant be found in high enough

densities to breed


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Patchy Habitat


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Invasive Species

Migrating birds can beoutcompeted for nest spots, food,and other resources

Invasives stay over the winter andcan get first pick of breeding areas


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Meet the Invasives

Rock Pigeon

THE FACTS

Hails from Europe Clif-nesting

Scary red eyes


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Meet the Invasives

European Starling

THE FACTS

Hails from Europe, Asia, Africa Cavity-nesting

Very, very loud


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Meet the Invasives

House Sparrow

THE FACTS

Hails from Europe Nests everywhere,including stolen nests

Permanent resident Aggressive competitor

Innocent-looking


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How to Get Birds

Birds have basic needs Food

Water A home

To attract birds to your yard you haveto meet all of these needs to someextent


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Which Would a Bird Choose?

Variety, variety, variety!

VS.


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Habitat Overview

Ask yourself, What will ______ providefor the birds?

Trees

Shrubs

Ground plants

Open areas Flowers


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Mimicking

Research what birds in naturalenvironments need and mimic in your

yard

Let it grow! All the time

Over fall and winter

Imitate scrufy brush with Christmas trees

Dead is okay


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A Home

The plants that you include set thebasis for birds you will get

Medium to tall trees

Shrubs and bushes

Vines and flowers

Grass and leaves


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Levels


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A Few Good Trees

Rocky Mountain Juniper

Native to southern BC

Doubles as a tree and shrub

Good for nesting

Provides juniper berries for food

Looks good in a garden


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A Few Good Trees

What birds can I get with a juniper?

Chipping sparrow

Song sparrow

Evening grosbeak

Cedar waxwings

A whole host of warblers


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A Few Good Trees

Pacific Dogwood

Native to BC

Medium to tall tree

Good for nesting

Berries for food

Is beautiful


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A Few Good Trees

What birds can I get with a dogwood?

Song sparrow

Hermit thrush

Northern flicker

Downy woodpecker

Brown thrasher


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A Shrubbery

Flowering currant

Native to BC Fast-growing

Berries for food

Hummingbirds love the flowers


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A Shrubbery

What birds can I get with a currant?

Rufous hummingbird

Annas hummingbird

Cedar waxwing


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How Low Can You Go?

Crimson columbine

Native to BC Perennial

Supplies food for hummers

Beautiful and unique


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The Lowest of Low

Kinnikinnick or Vancouver Jade

Native to BC Groundcover

Can be draped over walls

Berries for food

Nesting site for small birds


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The Lowest of Low

What birds can I get?

For berries:

Cedar waxwing Hermit thrush

Brown thrasher

Evening grosbeak


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The Lowest of Low


For seeds:

Black-capped chickadee Dark-eyed junco

Spotted towhee

Chipping sparrow


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The Lowest of Low


To nest:

House wren House finch

American robin


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Sustenance

Now that your yard has the perfectplants, the birds are hungry!

There are tons of diferent types offeeders and food options


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What Feeders Where?

Feeders are best placed in planttransition zones

Where trees end and open area starts

Keep feeders in an open spot but close

to a safety tree or shrub


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And Now, the Feeders

Hopper feeders

PROS

High diversity of birds

Ground feeders

Perching feeders

CONS

Easy access for squirrels

Large birds push out small birds


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Tube feeders

PROS

Small birds can feed in peace

Hard for squirrels to get into

CONS

Lower diversity of birds


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Globe feeders

PROS

Attracts small, clinging birds

Hard for squirrels to get into

CONS

Lowest diversity of birds


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Breaking Tradition

Seed inside a hollow log for groundfeeders

Sprinkle seed in and around a log pile

Place seed on a large outdoor table orplywood sheet


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What Food?

Diferent seed will attract diferentbirds

Black-oil sunflower seed High bird diversity

Suet

Insect-eating birds

Millet


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A Drop to Drink

Small birds need a lot of water

A House wren can lose 37% of body

weight in water each day Seed eaters need more water than insect-

eaters


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Water on a Pedestal

The key features of a water bath are:

Less than 8cm deep and only fill with

5 cm of water Rough surface on bottom for grip

Perching ledge

Basin is secure on pedestal

Clean the basin!

Sound of running water


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Water Where?

Similar to feeders, place water bath in theopen but close to a safety tree or shrub

A wet bird is a vulnerable bird


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Home Sweet Home

Bird boxes may attract birds to nest

Black-capped chickadees

Wrens

Nuthatches

Swallows


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Home Sweet Home

Specialty boxes are needed for some birds

Northern flickers

Wood ducks American kestrels


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Home Sweet Home

To promote natural nesting:

Put out small twigs and sticks in your yard

Keep a small muddy area Put out clumps of yarn no longer than 20cm


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The Bad in Life

Exotic plants with berries spread likewildfire

Out-compete native plants

Japanese barberry


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The Bad in Life

Squirrels are clever and can find waysof getting into that feeder


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Squirrels

The dome is supposed toprevent squirrels fromreaching the feeder


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The Bad in Life

Predatory birds might be attracted to abirdy backyard

Sharp-shinned hawk

-Hawks have to eat too

-Its a part of nature


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Cats

Who, me?

Cats kill hundreds of millionsof birds each year


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Debunking the Myths

Cats do kill birds, even when they arenot hungry

Yes, even your cat

Cats do not have to be outside to be

happy They are pets, not a natural part of nature


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The Cat Solution

Cats can be kept inside from birth

A large window is all the outside they

need


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The Cat Solution

If your cat is used to being outside:

Use a screened porch

Use an outdoor cat cage


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The Cat Solution

Walk your cat!

There are many

books on leashtraining for cats


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If Hes Just Miserable

At the very least limit outdoor time towhen birds are least active:

Winter months At night

When it is very hot


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What Else Can I Do?

Project FeederWatch Run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Gather data on winter feeder birds

Nature Vancouver Rare Bird Alert Report rare birds seen in Metro Vancouver

Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

Vancouver Avian Research Centre Learn to identify, extract, and band birds!


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Thank You!

The birds will be grateful

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What the Heck Are You Doing Down There