Bird Watcher News  August 7th, 2012
Local Bird News
Purple Martin
Purple Martins
are migrating south! They have favorite roost sites along the way where they will spend a few nights to rest before heading to their next stop. At some of these roost sites, birds number into the tens of thousands! If you missed the story about the large staging area in Virginia on our Facebook page
last week, check it out HERE!

During the past few years, one of these roost sites has been at the Mall of Georgia, in Buford. Numbers vary, but some nights a few dozen to a few thousand Purple Martins have been seen at dusk during early August. We will be watching for them again this year!

Watch for
Common Nighthawks flying overhead in the early evening also, especially over large parking lots with tall lights. These give the birds a great opportunity for catching moths on the wing to fatten up for their flight to South America!

Hummer open bill

Lately we've been getting lots of calls and questions about hummingbirds stuck in garages. Hummers are also on the move and during their constant search for food, they often mistake the red emergency garage door pull cords for feeders. The problem is that they often fly in and go up to "escape" and become trapped. The Bird Watcher wrote a clever and informative blog about this recently.
Click Here
to see what he had to say about it, or join the discussion on our Facebook page!

*************

Newsletter Lotto

 

The winning receipt

number for this period is

70082   

dated 7/28/2012

 

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If this number and date match your receipt, you are a winner! Bring the receipt in to any Bird Watcher store location to claim your

$100 Gift Card!!!

Receipts dated today through August 20th are eligible for the next drawing on August 21st.

Good luck!
Hi Birdwatchers!

Jane's cardinal
Jane Walker shared this photo of a bald cardinal at her feeder
Molt. All birds do it, but what the heck is it? Molt is the term used for the systematic way that birds replace their feathers. Scientific volumes have been written on the topic, ornithologists argue about it and bird banders spend years learning about it. Birds need healthy feathers for insulation, for flight and to attract mates. Most birds molt once a year, replacing their worn, dull and damaged feathers. Others, like goldfinches, molt twice a year. Some do not follow an annual cycle. It can be very confusing!

Many of you are seeing molt taking place in your yards right now! Bald-headed Cardinals are the most obvious ones, but Blue Jays, Brown Thrashers and Doves can all look funny during late summer. Most birds molt over a period of weeks and it's not very noticeable. But a few birds like Cardinals will molt quickly, often losing all of their head feathers at once, possibly due to parasites, poor nutrition, extreme heat or other environmental factors - no one knows for sure. It's quite possible that it is just "normal" molt for some birds.

So don't worry if you see a few bald Cardinals, or notice hawks or crows flying over with missing wing feathers. They will be good as new in a few weeks, and even prettier with fresh feathers! For more than you ever wanted to know about molt, check out the link to Cornell HERE!
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