Welcome to
"Boulder Backyards"
Wild Bird Center of Boulder adheres to a strict privacy policy that means your information will not be shared, sold, or otherwise distributed. If you do not wish to receive any further eNewsletters with Offers and Resource information, click the "SafeUnsubscribe" link at the bottom of this page. We value your relationship!
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bird watchers (that's us)
Wild Bird Center Saturday Walks:
From 7:30 am (promptly)
to 9:45 am (approximately)
Every Saturday year-round.
Every last Saturday of the month we travel further afield than normal
and return a little later.
Call for more info: 303-442-1322
Birdwalks
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Wild Bird Center
of Boulder
Quick Links
Xcel Energy BirdCams
One fun way to participate in the lives of local birds is by viewing Xcel Energy's
Web Cams
owl cam
eagle cam
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Woodlink Bat Box
Several folks have asked about bat box plans as we head into the worst part of the year for West Nile Virus. Our simple fence picket bat box plans are now available on our web site for you to download and build. Of course, we sell bat boxes already made for those of you who don't want to build your own.August is not a bad time to put up a bat box. They probably will not occupy the box this year, but at least they will get a chance to investigate it this year making your chances to occupancy greater next spring.
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Congratulations to the
Such Brothers!
Joel & Marcel Such
The current issue of the Boulder Bird Club News has a great article about two local teens and their passion for birds. This is a great, hopeful story. You can also visit their blog about birds at suchboys.blogspot.com. Their blog has lots of great
stories, illustrations, and photos from the boys. Keep up
the good work!
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| What to do with Baby Birds?
Every summer people have situations involving baby birds or injured birds. Our July 08 Boulder Backyards eNewsletter
gives more specifics about what to do in the Ask Steve Section (reprinted here). Check out our Archived eNewsletters for lots of helpful information on many subjects.
If you have questions about finding baby/injured birds visit the Greenwood Wildlife Website. The Wild Bird Center recently donated $250 to help continue the good work done at Greenwood.
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ea
Nature Photography
by
Wendy Marie Stuart
"Common Goldeneye"
Visit our store to see a gallery of Wendy's matted and framed prints
and greeting cards for all occasions or
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Photo Credits
"Joel & Marcel Such" by The Suches
"Common Goldeneye" by Wendy Marie Stuart
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Thank you!
on our
20th Anniversary
from all of us at YOUR
Wild Bird Center! We couldn't have done this without you! Twenty years is a long time in anyone's book and we owe our success to you -- our customers, compatriots, fellow birders, and friends. A hearty thank you to you all!
Steve, Wendy, Marlene, & Bill
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Contact INFO
Steve Frye, Owner
Wild Bird Center Boulder
1641-28th Street
Boulder, CO 80301
(303) 442-1322
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The Horsehair Bird
The dapper little chipping sparrow Spizella passerine, was originally given the species name socialis by famous ornithologist Alexander Wilson because of it's willingness to nest and live close to people. This sparrow likes to nest near forest edge habitat so as the North American landscape has been changed by humans, the chipping sparrow has benefitted from more appropriate nesting habitat created by the clearing of forests. This social sparrow can be found all across North America.
chipping sparrow
We have a lot of chipping sparrows which nest up the foothills and mountains here in Boulder County. They usually nest in a large conifer out at the end of a branch. While they prefer a large conifer, they nest low to the ground with 62% of all nests below six feet off the ground and only 13% above 11 feet up. Some 'chippies' will even nest on the ground protected by cover above.
Female chipping sparrows gather all of the nesting material, however, the male often accompanies the female on gathering forays. No doubt to keep the female from straying beyond the territory (if you know what I mean). Their nests are typical songbird nests constructed with grass, small twigs, and rootlets and lined with soft grasses and hair. What makes a chipping sparrow nest unique is that it is always lined with horsehair when available. This is why they get the nickname horsehair bird. Their attraction to horsehair is so strong that researchers use it to selectively mist net chipping sparrows and not other species. A simple plume of horsehair is all that is needed to attract the chipping sparrows into the nest for banding.
Four eggs are typically laid in the nest after completion. Incubation of the eggs usually ensues one day before the last egg is laid. This is an unusual incubation strategy for a songbird. Usually all songbird eggs are laid before incubation. This would ensure synchronous hatching (i.e. all of the eggs hatching at once). Asynchronous hatching, like that of the chipping sparrow, means the birds hatch at different times. This, of course, gives rise to nestlings of different sizes. Often times the youngest ones do not make it to fledging because of being out competed for food by larger siblings, pushed out of the nest, killed by the parents and fed to the other nestlings, or just plain siblicide. In good food years, all of the nestlings make it to fledging 12-14 days after hatching.
Vocalizations in chipping sparrows are rather undramatic compared to the rest of the sparrow world. Donald Borrer, who studied chipping sparrow songs states, "songs of the chipping sparrow have been described as a simple trill or rapid series of notes, all on one pitch, and of a dull and unmusical quality. The only variations mentioned are in speed and in the number of notes in the song. Chipping sparrow songs are generally simple trills. The individual phrases of the song contain from one to three slurred notes. The slurring is usually quite rapid, in some cases over an octave or more in 0.01 seconds; it is this rapid slurring of the notes that gives the song its dull and unmusical quality. The notes are usually clear, but in a few songs each phrase contains a buzzy note. The note may be up-slurred or down-slurred (or both); the phrases in most songs contain both up-slurred and down-slurred elements. Very little variation, never more than a few thousandths of a second, was found in the length of different phrases in the same song. The number of phrases in the songs studied varied from 9 to 72, and averaged 33.3. A few songs whose phrases were two- and three-noted had the last phrase incomplete."
Birds need to communicate many things with their vocalizations. Some birds like robins have a great variety in their vocalizations which can signal warnings, announce territory, and many more pronouncements, but how does a bird like a chipping sparrow with little variation in vocalization communicate a variety of messages? Part of the answer is in how many phrases are uttered and how quickly they are delivered according to work done by Wan-Chun Liu and Donald Kroodsma. They found that males sing long slow songs from the center of their territory when they first return to their nesting grounds. After the females arrive, they start to sing before dawn and deliver rapid, short songs at their territory boundary with other chipping sparrows. Once the chipping sparrows have paired up, the males stop daytime singing altogether.
Another type of vocalization given by many birds are flight calls. The chipping sparrow has a distinct sharp, pure-toned call which rises in pitch but only lasts about 50 milliseconds. In the southern Rockies this is one of the most common nocturnal migrant calls heard. Ted Floyd, author of the "Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America," recently wrote about nocturnal chipping sparrow calls in the latest edition of the Boulder Bird Club Newsletter. The end of July and the beginning of August are great times to listen for the chipping sparrow winging itself south to Mexico and our southern States at night.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology -- "Chipping Sparrow" Profile
eNature.com -- "Chipping Sparrow" Profile
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Mix It Up in August
Get 15% Off Any Mixed Bird Seed!
Frequent Feeder Credits Still Apply
Just Some of Our Selections, below
Basic Mix, Chickadee Cheer, Petersen Patio,
Rocky Mountain Munch, Supreme Blend, Tree Nuts
. . . . . and more!
  
Click to see "Bird Seed" products on our new Product Catalog
Mention CODE WBC0831. Call (303) 442-1322 or bring in to redeem. Some restrictions may apply. Not valid in combination with other promotions. Expiration date: 8/31/09.
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Coming Events
End-of-Month Birdwalk, Sat, August 1
This month our extended End-of-the-Month Walk will be in search of shorebirds. With all the water this summer there's no telling what will show up. We will carpool at the normal time of 7:30am from the Wild Bird Center. We will return about 10:30 or 11:00am. If you have any questions call the store at (303) 442-1322.
Water Garden Tour, Sat & Sun, August 8-9 
A self-guided water garden tour of north Denver, Boulder, and Longmont sponsored by Rocky Mountain Waterscape (303) 666-5430 will be held on the 8th and 9th of August. Proceeds go to benefit the Birds of Prey Foundation. If you are thinking about adding a water feature to your yard, this is a great way to see a variety of gardens. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Wild Bird Center.
Wonderland Lake Bird Surveys
A group of people concerned about the bird population around Wonderland Lake are starting up some bird surveys. If you would like to participate please contact Juli Bratun at bratunj@yahoo.com. Juli is also interested in getting input from people knowledgeable in bird survey techniques and project design. |
 Ask Steve (originally published in July '08 Issue)
Q: We just found a baby bird, what should we do to help it?
A: In most cases, just leave it alone and make sure no obvious threats like cats, dogs, or cars are lurking nearby.
Most baby birds that people are concerned about have already fledged (left the nest). These birds are about the same size as their adult parents and are fully feathered. However, they still look a little dopey like most baby birds. Unless injured, these birds fare far better if left alone for their parents to tend to. It takes a few days for baby birds to coordinate flight, get their strength up, and to figure a few things out. This means they spend a lot of time on or near the ground. Does that mean that they are "safe"? No, like all animals, baby birds face daily threats. Some people are concerned that the baby has been left alone. The parents are nearby hunting for food to feed the young and they will respond if the baby is threatened. If you watch the baby bird too closely, the parents may not approach their young to feed them because they don't want to give away its location. Give them some space and everything will work out fine. However, if the bird needs to be moved for its own safety because it is too close to a busy road, bird in handfor example, either herd the bird away or if you can just pick it up gently and move it close by out of danger and the parents will find it. Most birds cannot smell worth a darn so don't worry about your scent scaring off the parents.
If the baby bird is not fully feathered and you can reach its nest, simply pick up the baby and return it to the nest. If you know its nest but cannot reach it, you can make a nest and put it close to its real nest and the parents will take care of it there. A simple way to make a nest is to use a small strawberry container and line it with a rag. Wire that nest in a tree or under the eave near its nest.
baby robin
 If the bird is injured or you have no idea where it came from (and the bird is not feathered), then the best strategy is to call Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at 303-823-8455. Put the bird in a small container in a dark place which will calm it down until you can get it to Greenwood.
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Wild Bird Center of Boulder
Catalog Web Site
We continue to add products to our Catalog Website for our Boulder Store. It should be completed soos. While we are under construction, we invite you to check it out at www.WBCBoulder.com. For all you locals who get seed delivered, you can use the site to figure out an order and delivery charges. Feel free to email us or call (303) 442 1322 with your product questions.
Click Here To View Our New Product Catalog
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