Sparrow clan deserve more respect

White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrow Photos: Charles Brandt.

How often have we heard the phrase, “Oh, it’s just a sparrow,” when out on a bird-watching foray? As a species, the sparrow doesn’t get much respect. In truth, they are runts, small in stature (ranging in size from 11 cm (4.5 in.) to 19 cm (7.5 in.), with unremarkable brown and gray plumage.

One bird book describes them as “a generally dull-looking lot,” while other guides just dismiss them as LBBs (little brown birds). Thankfully, however, these little towhee relatives more than make up for their drab appearance with their beautiful songs, and these great little singers bring much joy whenever they’re about.

Within the sparrow family, the crowned sparrows are arguably the most beautiful, with smart head stripes that make them look “well-coiffed”. The White-crowned sports a white and black striped crown, while the Golden-crowned bears a yellow stripe with broad black band. Identification of these two sparrows is shockingly simple.

Another gorgeous sparrow is the aptly-named Fox Sparrow, sooty chocolate above with rusty tail and smart beast streaks shaped like inverted ‘V’s. The species name derives from the ‘foxy’ red coloration of eastern and northern birds.

Let’s not forget the little Song Sparrow with its dark breast spot … almost where its heart might be. On the West Coast, this is the most common, year-round sparrow, and they keep busy raising three or four families each season. This kind of productivity bodes well for continuing melodic enjoyment.

Three other sparrows found on the West Coast include Lincoln’s, Savannah, and my own personal favourite, the Chipping Sparrow, with its splendid rusty-red crown. But what of the (far too common) House Sparrow….an Old World sparrow not closely related to native sparrows. Much to the detriment of native species, this unwelcome immigrant competes aggressively for nest sites and displaces many desirable species.

One further note that may take some by surprise…the prolific Dark-eyed Junco is a member of…you guessed it…the sparrow family!

Canada’s native sparrows should be treated like royalty, and provided with food, drink, lodging (well, soft nesting bits), and every kindness that a bird might desire. Our country's wild bird populations are taking a nosedive, and there may come a day in the not so distant future when even sparrows will no longer be around.

E-mail Christine at: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.

Shake-a, shake-a golden tail feather

Golden stripes distinguish the Pine Siskin – a small finch.
Photo Charles Brandt.

The first time I heard pine siskins, I knew I’d be smitten for life. A loud buzzing series of distinct, rising “zreeees” caught my attention and I looked up to see a large flock of them feeding at the top of a nearby coniferous tree. It’s almost as if they’re all asking the question, “Whazzup” over and over again.

Pine siskins (Carduelis pinus) tend to travel in flocks, and their combined song, once heard, is unmistakable. Few things cheer the air like a flock of siskins twittering high in the treetops, singing their zippy little tune. And it’s just a thrill to see dozens of them crowding a birdfeeder while staying just a bill’s length away from one another.

Pity this dowdy little finch, which is all too often mistaken for the slightly larger sparrow. True, its allover streaky brown colouration tends to toss it into the LBB category (little brown bird), with one exception – dashing yellow stripes on wings and tail.

In birding, when in doubt, check the bill. Members of the finch family have large upper and lower mandibles with a pointed tip, the better to open and feed on seeds, a favoured food.

When the seed supply is plentiful, the rather erratic siskins may stay the winter, although some flocks do migrate, and sightings can be scarce. These social birds form winter flocks of 50 to 1000, and fly in swirling formations similar to waxwings. The flocks break into pairs only to breed.

In mating season, siskin pairs feed each other with tender gentleness, and the male’s colouration brightens considerably, the better to attract a mate, which is the way with almost all avian species.

Spotting a swirl of siskins and hearing their chatter makes any day brighter. Attract fascinating pine siskins with a niger (thistle) feeder, where they may join a flock of their finch cousins, the colourful goldfinches, house finches or purple finches.

E-mail Christine at: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.

Spend Easter in an Eagle's nest!

Click on this link to watch amazing LIVE video streaming from an actual Bald Eagle's nest in Decorah, USA. See the parent eagles tend to the nest, and feed their three little hatchlings. Spellbinding.

http://www.farmyou.com/falcon_cams/index.html

Photo: Jim Dubois.

Earth Day, Friday, April 22, 2011

Earth Day, 2011

April is a special month for our planet as the world prepares to celebrate Earth Day on Friday, April 22. The first Earth Day was held in 1970 in the United States, and is now considered the start of the modern North American environmental movement. A host of modern challenges must have been unimaginable at the first Earth Day, held 41 years ago. This year marks the 41^th annual event...now world-wide.

Mention ‘hybrid’ and most envision hybrid vehicles –one viable path towards a greener future. The technology is simple: add an electric motor and rechargeable batteries to the conventional gas engine—and increase efficiency up to 50 percent.

Hybrids occur in nature as well. Hybridization is the process of interbreeding between individuals of different species (interspecific) or genetically divergent individuals from the same species (intraspecific).

Hybrid animals are cross-bred between animals of similar genetics. Dogs and wolves crossbreed rather freely, resulting in a dog-wolf hybrid. Less frequently, when a grizzly mates with a polar bear, a grolar/pizzly hybrid is produced, although the two animals normally avoid each other in the wild.

Plants hybridize more often and more successfully than animals do. Humans use intraspecific hybridization (between strains of a single species) to develop high-yielding crops or bigger, better flowers (although it’s sad that the scent has all but been bred out of greenhouse roses). Some 90 percent of today’s corn is of hybrid origin.

Earth Day provides Earthlings an opportunity to honour and help the planet. If joining a trail clean-up seems like hard work (in truth, it is), then a simple nature walk might be an option. The humble Prairie Crocus will soon be popping out all over Calgary hillsides, and finding them is a thrill worthy of Earth Day.

HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYONE!

Easter lilies: wild and free

Wild lilies in time for Easter

Photos: Brian Kyle.
Since ancient times, poetry, literature and mythology have been infused with references to white lilies. The stunning petals symbolize life, purity, and hope – Easter’s spiritual essence – while the bending golden anthers flood surroundings with sunshine.

So while florist shops brim with lilies of every stripe and hue, Mother Earth did it first, still does it best…and all for free.

On Canada's west coast, April’s wild woodlands have burst into bloom with showy Western Trilliums (Trillium ovatum) –of the lily family. A large and majestic plant, which can rise to 20-45 cm (8-20") in height, the trillium boasts one solitary three-petalled white flower that ages to a regal magenta.

“Trillium” derives from the Latin for three; the plant bears leaves, petals and sepals in whorls of three, reason enough for its nickname “Trinity” flower. Likewise, the Latin species name "ovatum" refers to the trio of egg-shaped leaves.

Trilliums and ants wouldn’t normally be mentioned in the same breath, yet ants play an important role in helping trilliums proliferate across the forest floor. The flowers attract ants with their perfume, and ants then carry away the nutritious seed, to eat the oil organ containing unsaturated fatty acids. This arrangement works wonderfully well for plant and insect.

Trilliums prefer semi-shade and tend to have wet feet so look for these glorious beauties in moist forests, seepage areas or alongside streambanks and riversides.

At this time of year, fawn lilies, both white and pink, often grow alongside trilliums. This spectacular springtime species can form carpets in shaded woodlands where soil conditions are optimum.

White fawn lilies (Erythronium oregonum), while smaller than the trillium, are nevertheless great natural beauties, with six striking white petals curved upwards, and six golden stamens dangling like shiny bells.

Celebrate nature's gift of wild lilies, wherever they grow in your area.

Colt’s prance beside Calgary’s rivers

In early spring, Palmate Coltsfoot blooms before the leaves unfurl. Photo Jim Dubois.

In early April, Mother Earth hosts a race alongside melting rivers and streams. Depending on one’s powers of observation, it’s the deftly-hidden sprint to become Calgary’s first blooming wildflower.

Most folks who guess “Prairie Crocus” will correctly identify one of the race’s front runners. Fluffy and soft (like a bunny) and glowing in Easter mauve, Calgary’s wild crocus is undeniably the season’s first-noticed wildflower on south-facing hillside parkland.

But head down to the river and look a bit closer, lower to the ground, in bogs, meadows, damp seepage areas and rich streamside soil, to find another contender. Posing pretty in Easter shades of ivory and mauve, coltsfoot (colt’s foot) is the more delicate of spring’s two front-runners, and one with a captivating genealogy.

The ample blooms provide some of the first springtime nectar for bees. The blossom resembles a heavy clustered flower-head, replaced in autumn by a flattened ‘dandelion’ puff. This native perennial is unique in that the flowers usually appear – and wither away – even before the leaves unfurl.

Long ago, First Nations people gathered fresh coltsfoot stalks as a spring vegetable. Steamed, with a pat of butter, salt and pepper, its smell and taste resemble celery or asparagus.

Various species of this circumboreal plant existed in ancient Europe, where it was called coughwort or butterbur. Imaginative early botanists thought coltsfoot leaves resembled horseshoes … thus the common name. So useful were the leaves, flowers and roots that French pharmacists painted ‘Pas d'âne’ blossoms on their signposts.

Scientific analysis confirms zinc, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, and tannin (an antiseptic) in coltsfoot, and it’s a potent ingredient of some cough syrups and herbal teas. Bees love it, butter improves it, our ancestors smoked it, and coughs may be cured with it, making coltsfoot an all-in-one wildflower, vegetable, medicine and tobacco!

Springtime fantasies of little colts prancing along a riverbank should be enough to coax anyone outside to look for these wildflower front-runners, but don’t delay, as they’ll soon disappear beneath their own canopy of dinner plate-size leaves.

Palmate-leaved Coltsfoot is found along Montgomery Flats, while Arrow-leaved Coltsfoot grows in Fish Creek and Glenmore parks.

E-mail: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.

‘Nature deficit’ rears its ugly head

It’s spring break for many students – a whole wonderful week with time to explore. Time, also, for a reminder that Mother Earth is, has been, and always will be, a primary source of learning material for every age.

There’s bark to feel and weather to observe; jackrabbits to chase and birds to count; animal tracks to discover and photograph. In short, all manner of learning (disguised as fun) can be found out-of-doors.

Whoever said that schoolwork has to be done inside? Let Mother Earth be the classroom. Most classroom topics can be taught from an environmental perspective.

Research suggests that educating outdoors promotes self-esteem and responsibility, conferring many academic benefits by stimulating, inspiring and improving motivation. When walls are gone, student attitude and work gains energy, releasing creativity and imagination.

Ever since Richard Louv wrote his groundbreaking work: Last Child in the Woods (2005), society has been alerted to saving children from ‘nature-deficit disorder.’ Louv cautions us to think carefully about children’s connection with the natural world…or lack thereof.

His book directly links the absence of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation to some of the most disturbing childhood trends: the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. This was the first book to bring together a body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults.

The younger generation, increasingly plugged in to electronic devices, may be tuning out the out-of-doors to their great disadvantage. Surveys show that today’s kids know little about nature, an undeniable problem tied to social and cultural values.

The internet, ipods, blackberries, and TV seduce us with quick fixes and instant gratification. Technology makes information access easier … but this electronic savvy comes at the detriment of healthy self-actualization.

In this age of pagers, instant messaging, and cell phones, the precious time for free, natural and adventurous play has been lost. Louv explains that the way children understand and experience nature has changed radically within the space of a few decades; today’s youngsters know about global warming and other threats to the environment, but their physical contact with nature is on the wane. Today’s younger generation has come to think nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear or to ignore.

Video games, keyboards and remote controls will never replace insects, animals and hands-on experience with nature. Increasingly, as ‘nature deficit’ rears its ugly head, we all need to increase our exposure to nature.

Adults who guide children towards a relationship with nature will help them find joy and solitude in the outdoors and a sense of purpose. Experiencing, knowing and thereby respecting nature leads to an understanding of the Earth and the systems that support our very lives.

E-mail Christine at: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.

Nesting songbirds needs snips of ribbon

With each passing day, the outdoor airwaves fill with ever-increasing levels of birdsong as our avian friends commence another breeding season. In early spring, American Robins and other backyard birds are far more interested in hauling beaks-full of dried grass than juicy worms.

Most songbirds build a new nest every season, using it solely to lay and incubate eggs, and raise young. Once the last fledgling leaves the nest, it is often abandoned, but birds may re-use bits and pieces for new nests. Eagles, however, refurbish their nests every year, resulting in some heavy, deep twig structures. One such nest, at 36-years old, weighed two tons.

Most songbird nests resemble rounded cups or bowls, with twigs, grass, leaves or other coarse vegetation chosen for the outer layer (dry grass is in high demand come springtime, so for the health of the birds, avoid lawn chemicals). Softer materials like feathers and moss will line the cavity interior for insulation and cushioning, and silky, sticky, stretchy spider webbing is often the glue holding everything together.

Providing an assortment of bird-friendly material is a simple way to encourage backyard nest-building and involve the whole family in a fun nature activity.

Once, I watched spellbound as a neighbour ran about her yard tossing feathers from an old pillow, and lo and behold, a bumper crop of songbirds chose her trees and shrubs for nest construction.

Wire suet holders or open-top plastic berry baskets make ideal containers to stuff with soft material like dog fur, horse hair, wood shavings, string, yarn, ribbon, cottonwood fluff or cattail down.

Birds’ sense of sight is highly acute, and they’re drawn to bright colours. Try cutting bright fabric scraps into one-inch strips. Cut everything into 4-inch lengths to prevent entanglement, and nix dryer-lint, which hardens like cement.

An abundance of trees and shrubs will provide birds with safe nest sites, hidden from view. Simple nesting ledges made of scrap wood may attract robins, swallows and rock doves. Remember to fill an old garbage pail lid with mud which the birds use like cement.

It’s springtime, so let the little ones run riot and deck the yard with ribbons and yarn. The ultimate reward will be seeing how avian ingenuity includes man-made material when fallen leaves reveal secret nesting sites come autumn.

E-mail Christine: wildernesswest@shaw.ca.