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Wild Bird Center of Boulder Saturday Walks
 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 Bird Cams
One fun way to participate in the lives of local birds is by viewing Xcel Energy's
Web Cams
owl cam 
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Birding Community Bulletins
 National Wildlife Refuge Association
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Contact Information
Steve Frye, Owner . Wild Bird Center Boulder
1641-28th Street
Boulder, CO 80301
(303) 442-1322
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Join Us For Our First Annual
Sat, May 21, 2011
Helping Boulder's birds find a home.
Proceeds will support Bird Habitat Restoration at Walden Ponds.
Bring the entire family and raise funds for wildlife habitat while learning about Boulder's birds, plants and more!
Activities include:
- Fun environmental learning activities
- Meet Sophie the great horned owl
- More than 100 species of birds to spot
- Wildlife story teller at 10:45 am
- Prizes for top fundraising teams and individuals
- Food and Fun
- And More!
Walk with us on May 21, 2011 at Walden Ponds. Enlist your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to sponsor your effort to help Walden Ponds. You may walk on your own, join an existing team of walkers or form your own team. If you can't join us, but want to support Bird Habitat Restoration at Walden Ponds, participate as a Virtual Walker.
Registration inlcudes a free T-shirt!
Free water bottle to all participants who raise
$100 toward fundraising goal
Walk on the Wild Side
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Dawn Chorus Walk
Cottonwood Marsh at Walden Ponds Sat, May 21, 2011 5:30 to 8:30 am
Get an early start to Walk on the Wild Side by going on a walk to enjoy the  sounds and sights of the birds. There is really no birding substitute to an early spring morning-they are the best. Led by Steve Frye from the Wild Bird Center. For more information call the store at 303-442-1322. Please think of giving a small donation for this walk to help out the conservation efforts of Walk on the Wild Side. |
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Calling All Birders!
 We need some birders (with scopes) to help show people birds during Walk on the Wild Side. All you have to do is set up on the route and talk to the walkers about the birds at Walden Ponds as they come by. If you can help out please call the Wild Bird Center at 303-442-1322. This is great way to get people excited about birds and Open Space. |
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It's Possible to Lure
Western Tanagers
by Steve Frye
In late May and early June the Wild Bird Center receives many comments and questions about "a very colorful bird in my backyard." Some customers thought this yellow bird with an orange head, black wings and tail was an escaped pet bird. Charley Harper described them as looking like a highly embarrassed goldfinch.
In fact, the bird turns out to be a male western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana). The genus name refers to the state of Louisiana, named so because western tanagers were first reported by Lewis and Clark while exploring the western section of the Louisiana Territories.
This bird is a fairly common summer resident in Colorado's high country (5,800-9,000 feet). Female tanagers are pale yellow with darker yellow-green wings and face. Despite bright plumage, these tanagers are normally difficult to spot as they blend well with young leaves. Their song is a hoarse cheerily cheer-up.
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Western Tanager
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Western tanagers migrate north from the highlands of Mexico and Central America in May and early June. During migration they often stop in backyards and riparian areas before continuing their journey to conifer
and aspen forests of the Rocky Mountains. This period offers Coloradoans a good opportunity to see these colorful birds.
In Boulder County, western tanagers commonly breed in dry scrub and ponderosa pine habitats. They typically build nests 6 to 65 feet above ground in conifer trees at the fork of horizontal branches. Their nests are cup-like and constructed with twigs, rootlets, moss and hair. Females lay 3 to 5 eggs, which they incubate for approximately 13 days before hatching occurs. Nestlings are fed by both parents for 13-15 days before the young birds fledge (leave the nest).
Western tanagers may be spotted during feeding bouts while darting after insects, a behavior called fly-catching. The birds will fly off a perch, snatch an insect from the air and return to the same perch. During this feeding activity you may be able to observe a tanager for several minutes before being detected.
Another important component of the western tanager's diet is fruit. You may attract tanagers to your yard by planting cherry trees, as well as serviceberry, raspberry, and/or elderberry bushes. Their favorite garden fruit appears to be cherries. However, planting trees or shrubs may not be practical for everyone. You may want to attract western tanagers by providing them with grape jelly. This may be presented in a small dish or tin, or in a peanut butter and jelly feeder (yes, such things really exist). The peanut butter dispenser in the feeder may be used for extra grape jelly or for peanut butter, which will attract nuthatches, chickadees and woodpeckers. Other fruits that appeal to western tanagers include orange halves, chopped apples, sliced bananas and grapes. The orange halves may be mounted on an oriole fruit feeder or offered in a suet cage, along with other fruits. An oriole nectar feeder may also be used to attract tanagers, in addition to orioles and hummingbirds. Finally, customers report that western tanagers will occasionally visit their suet feeders at dusk for a bite of suet. It may therefore be worthwhile to maintain a suet feeder during the summer months to attract this bird. Orange flavored suet seems to be their favorite.
Attracting western tanagers may not be an easy job, but the above suggestions should enable those in the appropriate habitat the thrill of observing these colorful birds.
All About Birds: Western Tanager Wikipedia: Western Tanager Youtube by edips: Western Tanager Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign: Western Tanager eBird: Western Tanager |
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New Seed Mixes
As many of you have noticed, we are selling three new seed mixes. Use the coupon in this newsletter (below) to try them.
Western Patio: This is a return to a no mess formula like the patio we sold a few years ago. It's a better mix because it does not include the nyjer seed. Nyjer is a fine seed, but in a mix I think it goes to waste and it makes it more expensive. Use this blend for all kinds of birds on platform, hopper, or tube feeders. It comes by the pound and in 20# bags.
Mountain & Plains: This is a new style mix for us. It is a no millet mix of both oil and striped sunflowers, safflower, peanuts, and cherries. This would be a great mix grosbeaks, finches, and jays on a platform or in a hopper feeder with a lot of tray space. It comes by the pound and in 20# bags.
Nature Cherry: No mess seeds and mixes are our best sellers. Nature Cherry adds another attractive seed blend to our patio, or no mess, mixes. As the name implies, this blend has lots of cherries so it's attractive to a wide variety including non-seed eaters like robins. It also includes sunflower chips, peanuts splits, and tree nuts. The cherries make it too chunky for a tube feeder, but it will work well in all others. It comes by the pound and in 20# bags.
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----- Coupon ----- Coupon ----- Coupon -----
Introductory Special
15% Off
Western Patio Seed Mix
Nature Cherry Seed Mix
Mountain & Plains Seed Mix
(Note: See the above article describing our new seed mixes) 
Visit our Online Catalog
To redeem this Coupon just visit our store or Call (303) 442-1322.
Not to be combined with other offers.
Offer expires 6/10/11.
----- Coupon ----- Coupon ----- Coupon ---
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 Ask Steve
Q: I have a really yellow bird in my yard. I think it's a Scott's Oriole. Is that right?
A. I was humbled this week by the call above. We get a lot of calls asking us to identify birds. Most are pretty simple, but sometimes we get stumped and sometimes we disagree about the identification. Scott's Orioles are a rare Front Range bird. In fact, I have never seen one in Colorado so I was skeptical. There are many pitfalls in the identification game. The most common pitfall is being seduced or overwhelmed by a single feature or color. This caller seemed overly focused on color. Color can be deceiving because it is so affected by light. I tried to suggest the bird was a first year male Bullock's Oriole. They are yellowish instead of the orange of a more mature bird. She said the black areas were all wrong for a Bullock's, but I wasn't going to go to Scott's just yet. Another pitfall seems to be that people are thrilled by what they are seeing and they want the identification to be equally spectacular. So they are often focused on more exotic species. You should always look through the more common birds for your area and rule them out before looking at the less likely candidates. I still didn't think it was a Scott's, but I was running out of choices. It is always a good idea, when you see a "new" bird, to let your eye travel around the bird and call out loud its features. Note all things even if they seem unremarkable, "black legs, long tail, no wing bars". This will help you identify the bird after it flies away, and it could mean the difference between a positive id and a bunch of choices. If it was a Scott's Oriole, I told her to call the Colorado Field Ornithologists and report the bird. They are the folks in charge of the state bird records.
A few hours later, a man came into the store with his camera. Bill called me over and said I would want to see this. There on the camera were several beautiful shots of a Scott's Oriole. This was the husband of the woman who had called me earlier.
With my doubt erased by the wonderful images, I thought about many things. We always say at the store, never say never and the birds don't read the books. Many odd things do happen in the natural world. That is why we are all intrigued by it. So when you do get a chance to see something unusual, get a good look at it, take note of it, and enjoy it because you may not get another chance. Keep those eyes peeled.
All About Birds: Scott's Oriole
Bird Cinema: Scott's Oriole |
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Thank you for all of your support from all of us at YOUR Wild Bird Center!
We couldn't have done this without you! Twenty-two 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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