Re: [cayugabirds-l] Crows like toad liver
We also have a pond with many (100) breeding American toads, and we've noticed crows lurking about, though we haven't actually observed predation. One possible reason for the crows' preference for the liver is that the parotid glands and skin of the toad produce bufotoxin, which may be poisonous, or at least distasteful, to them. They can probably largely avoid the toxin by feeding only on easily extractable morsels from the viscera, especially the liver. Lindsay Goodloe On 5/6/15 1:56 PM, Geo Kloppel geoklop...@gmail.com wrote: I guess it's an element of local Crow culture, maybe even limited to particular families who have toad ponds within their territories and pass the trick down the generations. -Geo Kloppel On May 6, 2015, at 1:31 PM, Melanie Uhlir mela...@mwmu.com wrote: Very interesting. But I'm sad about the toad slaughter. I'm glad I've never noticed this in person! I guess the toad populations are able to survive this seasonal devastation. Great White Sharks take advantage of seal breeding season in the same way. I think the sharks eat the whole seal though. Crows are gourmands. Or maybe there's a specific nutritional benefit to eating the toads' livers. On 5/5/2015 8:27 PM, Geo Kloppel wrote: I did a little reading on the subject, and it seems that Crows, being very intelligent, sometimes develop local traditions in which they annually take advantage of these pool parties to feast on toad livers. This has been happening for years at my pond! -Geo Kloppel -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Carolina wrens nesting in fuchsia hanging basket
I was interested in Dave Nutter’s recent reports on a pair of Carolina wrens that successfully nested in a hanging planter on his back porch. It was just a few days after his first report (7/18) that we noticed Carolina wrens carrying nesting material to a hanging basket of fuchsia suspended from a beam under the ceiling of our otherwise unenclosed back porch. By the weekend of 7/26-7/27, we suspected that they were incubating their clutch. August 10 was the first day we observed food being brought to the nest, but the eggs may have hatched a day or so earlier. My wife saw an adult bringing food to the nest early in the morning on 8/21, but the nest was empty by the afternoon, and so, to our great disappointment, we totally missed what we assume was the successful fledging of the young. We never peered into the nest (a domed structure with the entrance located on the side facing the backyard) to count babies, either. The nest location was about 10 feet from our back door and five feet from a kitchen window from which we could observe the activity. Since we spend very little time sitting on the porch, the birds took little or no notice of us and flew fairly directly to the nest when delivering food. We once heard them making nervous-sounding vocalizations when a seemingly oblivious chipmunk loitered for awhile on the ground under their nest location until we drove it away. My wife also once saw the wrens drive away a downy woodpecker that landed briefly on a post near the nest. Though we rarely heard the male giving its full song during the nesting period, at least one of the birds (the male?) spent an amazing amount of time (especially in late morning and during the afternoon) repeating monotonously the brief slurred trill call that is one of the wren’s common vocalizations. It gave this call from many locations close to our house, but perhaps its favorite calling perch was the handle of our lawn mower, which was for some days parked on our porch about ten feet from the nest. We believe that the frequency of calling increased as the fledging date approached; if so, it suggests that the vocalizing was directed mostly at the nestlings. Perhaps some learning of the call goes on at this period. We’ve hardly heard this call, or any other, since the young (presumably) fledged. Over the many years that we’ve lived in our South Hill house, we’ve occasionally had house wrens and chickadees nest in the hollow top of a post at the corner of the porch, but having any bird make a nest in a hanging basket was a first for us. The poor fuchsia plant showed signs of getting very thirsty as the nesting period progressed, but it survived (albeit with no blooms at this point). We are wondering how frequently hanging baskets (or other planters) are utilized by Carolina wrens (or any other species) as nest sites. Two instances in Ithaca in the same season might suggest that it’s not a rare occurrence, but I can’t recall any other reports in previous years (which, given my memory, proves nothing). Perhaps this post will spur some recollections of others. In any case, our wrens have made this a fun and memorable summer for birds even though we’ve seldom gotten out in the field. And a couple of other thoughts. For decades, we’ve had house wrens nesting in our backyard in bird houses that we’ve provided. The last wren house fell apart a couple of years ago, and we have not replaced it. So now we have no house wrens, and for the first time (to our knowledge) we‘ve had a pair of Carolina wrens nesting around the house. Is this a coincidence, or do these wrens exhibit interspecific territoriality (I haven’t researched this point in BNA)? Also, last winter was the sort of brutally cold season that is supposed to result in high mortality on Carolina wrens, yet we had a pair around our feeders all winter—perhaps the same pair that nested here this summer. Have others noticed any decrease in the Carolina wren population this year? If not, perhaps feeders are mitigating the losses that this species formerly suffered during harsh winters. Lindsay Goodloe -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re:[cayugabirds-l] Accipiter eating bats
From what I've read, the red-tailed hawk occurs in Central America but not in South America. When I was growing up in the 1950s, I was a big fan of Disney's True Life Adventure films, one of which was The Living Desert. Though it's been about 60 years since I've seen the film, I have a clear memory of a sequence in which a red-tailed hawk dove through a flying mass of bats that were either just departing from or returning to the cave in which they roosted by day. As I recall, the red-tail eventually caught a bat after repeated failures. I'm sure an accipiter could have done better! Lindsay Goodloe I think one of the BBC specials shows red-tailed hawks catching bats. Big bats, in South America...I think. David Diaz Tburg, NY On Aug 10, 2014, at 8:51 PM, Kevin Loope kj...@cornell.edu wrote: Sitting on my porch at around 8:15 this evening, I noticed a silhouetted accipiter (female sharp-shinned or male cooper's?) atop the utility pole in the TCAT parking lot in Varna. It was pulling apart what I thought was a small bird, but when it tossed it off and flew away I found the fresh remains of a bat (mostly wings) at the base of the pole, plus the remains of at least two more bats that were slightly less fresh. Do they hawk the bats in flight?? What a remarkable feat that would be! Anyone ever witnessed it? Cheers, Kevin Loope -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Cooper's hawk on Ithaca Commons
At 2 PM, my wife and I started to leave the Ithaca Commons via the alley located next to the Home Dairy building when an accipiter flew towards us through the alley and landed on the Home Dairy sign that arches across the alley entrance. It perched for several minutes, fluffed up against the bitter cold, but quite content to be observed by us and a few other folks from very close range (about 10 feet). Eventually it flew back down the alley, landing for a few moments on the ground in the passage way, before veering off to the left (east) at the far end. Recalling that a sharpie had been seen in this area during at least one recent winter and thinking that it looked pretty small for a Cooper's hawk, I at first thought that it was a large female of the former species. But after studying it for awhile, we concluded that, on the basis of the sharp contrast between the dark cap and the much paler nape of the neck, it was almost certainly a small male COOPER'S HAWK. If anyone else has observed a small accipiter in that area recently and come to a different conclusion, feel free to chime in. In any case, it was a real treat to see the bird so close for so long-certainly our closest look ever at an accipiter. Lindsay Goodloe -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Danby Shrike: No, Northern Harrier: Yes
Robin and I looked for the Danby Northern Shrike between 1:30 and 2 PM today without success. Possibly the stiff breeze and/or the time of day had caused the bird to seek cover. But we were delighted to have excellent views of a handsome male NORTHERN HARRIER as it flew low over the field with the hay bales, occasionally alighting briefly. In the vicinity of the intersection of E. Miller and Nelson, we also saw a distant corvid, which, based on its soaring, dipping flight behavior, large size, and a tail that at times looked longer and more wedge-shaped than a common crow’s, we tentatively identified as a COMMON RAVEN. Lindsay Goodloe The Northern Shrike posted by Eric Banford is still around. I stopped at the intersection of E. Miller Rd and Nelson Rd just before 10 this morning to get some looks. As Eric posted, the bird is frequenting the tops of the round hay bales. I watched as it caught what appeared to be a caterpillar or worm-like larvae and flew to the top of a bale, where it flailed it's prey against the bale a few times before eating it. This bird is very cooperative, staying in one place for a few minutes at a time, so would be a good subject for photography. Previous sightings of shrikes for me have been only brief glimpses as the birds only popped into sight for moments before disappearing, so this was a great chance for me to note the field marks and observe its behavior. It seemed to prefer the second row of bales west of Nelson and north of E Miller (near second telephone pole S of the intersection), and also the few well aged bales on the south side of E Miller in line with those others. -- asher -Never play it the same way once. -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME Rules and Information http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES Subscribe, Configuration and Leave http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm Archives: The Mail Archive http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html Surfbirds http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds BirdingOnThe.Net http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ ! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Purple Finch- Richford
We also had a male purple finch visiting our feeders at our house on South Hill on Thursday morning, I think the first we’ve had in several years. Lindsay Goodloe On 4/1/11 9:47 AM, Susan Fast sustf...@yahoo.com wrote: Me too. One singing in Brooktondale this morning.S. Fast From: bounce-13035435-9286...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-13035435-9286...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Kevin J. McGowan Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 8:55 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: RE: [cayugabirds-l] Purple Finch- Richford I wonder if some just came in. I had a Purple Finch singing outside the Lab when I came in this morning. Kevin From: bounce-13033424-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto:bounce-13033424-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of David McCartt Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 8:48 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L; cny-naturalhist...@darkstar.cortland.edu Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Purple Finch- Richford Hi All, We had a single female PURPLE FINCH this morning at the feeders. First one I've seen since last October. Good Birding, David McCartt Tubbs Hill Rd. Richford -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] King eider at Myers Point
As late as 3:15 PM, the king eider was still present where Dave Nutter reported it earlier today: south of the marina at Myer's Point. Lindsay Goodloe -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
Re:[cayugabirds-l] Pileated Woodpeckers
Meena’s comments on pileated woodpeckers in suburban and urban areas reminded me that I found one (vocalizing frequently) in a tree in a parking lot next to Risley Hall on the Cornell campus one morning during spring break, probably March 24. (Risley is just north of the Thurston Ave. bridge over Fall Creek.) I can hardly recall this species being reported before from the central campus/residence hall area. But perhaps I am just forgetful or unobservant (both true). Lindsay Goodloe On 4/18/10 9:03 PM, Meena Haribal m...@cornell.edu wrote: I recently seem to be seeing Pileateds in suburban and urban areas. Today I was driving on Spencer road when I saw a Pileated fly on to a tree near the car wash. Recently, I have seen Pileateds from the bus in East Ithaca area, one at the junction of Honness and Pine Tree Road, one on Synder Hill Road, one on Snyder Hill and Sky Vue road. Looks like they are moving into more populated area. A dead trunk on maple on my driveway is being excavated buy a woodpecker. There is big hole and large chunks of wood on the driveway. Don’t know who is doing it. I know Red-bellied is around the yard whole lot of time. I will keep watch. A robin has built a nest in my yews, must be the same female who used to attack me in my garden last year. I was standing in the living room inside the house and male saw me and started giving alarm call. She popped out of the bush to check out the intruder or danger. In Mundy the Pileateds are nesting in a large Sycamore this year. A few days ago, I saw a male drumming on a dead trunk. When I looked at him, I found that the lower part below the lower beak was all red, I thought he was bleeding after drumming :)) So I looked at him with my binoculars that is when I realized that it was his plumage! I had never seen this character! I came back and checked the field guide to see that the red is nicely depicted in the book! After seeing the picture, I felt a little embarrassed that I had never seen this character in last 16 years! But hey that shows there is lots to learn about everyday subjects! Meena Haribal Ithaca NY http://haribal.org/ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[cayugabirds-l] Rough-legged hawk near Sandbank Road
Here’s another sighting of a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK near the intersection of Sandbank and W. King Roads. This one was a light-phase individual that flew almost directly over my car at 11:45 this morning as I was driving north on W. King toward Upper Buttermilk State Park about 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Sandbank and W. King. It flew in a more or less westerly direction over the open field adjacent to this section of W. King. I turned around around and drove back toward and down Sandbank Road but was unable to relocate the bird. Lindsay Goodloe -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
