Swifts' nest for lunch?

Looking for a sure-fire investment? You could try swifts' nests. Apparently, nest prices rose from $30 per kilo in 1970 to $1,500 per kilo last year. It's about supply and demand. (Thanks to 10,000 Birds for the heads-up.)

Who eats a swift's nest? Many many people, in Asia mostly. I don't know, though, if this is what 'bird's nest soup' is all about. The Viet Nam News explains that “Swift nests are high in protein, low in fat, contain various amino acids essential to the human body and other beneficial substances”. You can read about it here:

http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Economy/214566/Birds-nest-industry-shows-swift-growth.html

I don't know what species of swifts are big business in Viet Nam but here in BC, we might see black swifts nesting if we happen to be in the vicinity of a cliff near a waterfall. Nesting is the only thing they do on land; everything else happens in the air, including feeding and mating. 

We're more likely, though, to see the Vaux's swift, a small cigar-shaped swift that arrives in BC in the spring and leaves in September. Although believed to breed in BC, only a few nests have ever been found, usually in human-made structures rather than tree cavities, their natural nesting site. 

If you have a photo of a Vaux's swift, I'd love to post it here ...   

Turkey in a hammock - and lots of other places too

At first I was enamoured of Gabriola's "wild" turkeys . ('Wild' is in quotation marks because I understand they are actually feral, not the true 'wild turkey'.) The first time a flock of nine visited our back yard, a couple of years ago, I ran for my camera, delighted, and took dozens of photos. I still have more photos of wild turkeys on my computer than of any other species.

Alas, the love affair has faded - mostly because of the amount of turkey poop they leave behind and the number of geraniums they eat. But I still like living on an island where wild turkeys so often rule the road - North Road, at least. And I admire their spunk. Whenever they fly over our fence for their early morning stroll through our garden, Dennis hauls himself out of bed, grabs a walking stick or an old broom - something to make him feel like the warrior he isn't - and shoos them back over the fence. But they're invariably back again the next day. Such persistence.

Here's to the turkeys!


Happy well-fed Gabriola turkeys.



Quite a specimen!



A whole lotta preenin' goin' on



Check out that plumage!



A wistful turkey hen?



Nap time!



What's a turkey gotta do around here to take a nap in peace?



Turkeys in the snow last winter



Up close & personal

 Got any Gabriola turkey stories you'd like to share?

Noteworthy Nests of Gabriola

During our first spring on Gabriola, in 2007, a family of dark-eyed juncos nested under the eave of our back deck, right over the hot tub. I had thought the parents would have preferred somewhere quieter to raise their babies. But maybe they decided the additional heat from the pool was worth any hassles? Whatever their decision-making process, I have to assume that the benefits outweighed the potential risks. It’s not like potential nest sites were few and far between! That nest placement piqued my curiosity, though, and I ended up taking the Cornell Lab of Ornithology online course, “Courtship and Rivalry in Birds.”

In that course I discovered that nest selection is an extremely risky business for a bird. In comparison (which is ridiculous, but fun), the selection of a house by a human is a snap. If you rent it, then wish you hadn't after a week, you give your 30 days notice and try again. And even if you buy it before discovering the walls are full of termites (or some equally distasteful scenario), the worst that can happen is you lose some money. But for a bird, selection of the wrong nest site, or the right site at the wrong time, can spell death. And often does.

When home is a sailboat

A couple of weeks ago Iaian and Kristin stopped by the bookshop to tell me about a nest in the boom of their sailboat at Pages Marina. The boat was for sale, and they wanted to do a little work on it, and they wondered what birds had decided to call their sailboat home and when they might leave.

 

Iaian and Kristin's sailboat - home of the nest. 


Good questions! Off I went to have a visit - camera, binoculars, and three ID books in hand. Unfortunately, I went in the heat of the afternoon, when mama birds slow down their feeding, and my patience ebbs. But I heard the babies peeping away. They appeared to be located in the middle of the boom, far from the entrance, and I thought about our violet-green swallows who spend much of their final few days taking turns sitting in the opening of the nest box. How would these birds be able to do that? Was that necessary?

The opening in the boom.
The nest is in the middle of the boom (we think) about where the FOR SALE sign is in the previous photo.

I focused the binos on the entrance to the boom, hoping to see the parent arrive with food. But it seemed that every time I looked away from the entrance (distracted by other birds!), the mother or father would slip in, laughing at my folly. In the end, however, I did manage to see both the male and female at least once and to identify the birds as tree swallows (tachycineta bicolor). 



Tree swallow. Photo by Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service.


Never having seen a tree swallow before, I went on to do some research and discovered all kinds of fascinating things about these birds. But that’s for another post. (Stay tuned.) Certainly, this was the most unusual nest site I’ve seen on Gabriola, but I could defintely see the value of the location, since most predators would be unable or unwilling to enter. 

Nest, nests, nests

This adventure got me to thinking about nests again. So I sent out a call to a few islanders for photos of their nests. Here are some of them: 



Baby hummers in a Gabriola nest. Photo by elen.



Empty robin's nest. Photo by Carol Martin.



Towhee nest. Photo by elen.

 

Violet-green swallow hatchlings ready for a mouthful - under the eave at FolkLife Village.





Violet-green swallows in our nestbox fitted with a camera so we could
spy on them all day long - and half the night!



It's not a bird nest but it's pretty spectacular! Taken in the 707 yesterday.
Do you know what it is? If so, please tell!

Junco nest in a fish! Photo by Dee Jacobsen.

Not a Gabriola nest, but definitely worth watching ...  

I hope you enjoy this video of bufflehead babies leaping from their nest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W7CmCT6Soc

Please send your Gabriola nest photos!
Do you have a photo of a nest you’re willing to share, and maybe a story to go with it? If so please send it to sharon9320@gmail.com. I'd love to add photos to this post until ALL the birds of Gabriola are represented!

Tawny's California Quail

Well, the three families of California quail don't actually belong to Tawny, but they've been visiting her yard, and she sent me these delightful photographs to share with you. (Thanks Tawny!) She estimates 14 young in all. California quail nests, usually placed on the ground in grasses or at the base of shrubs or trees, generally have 12-16 eggs. Some have been known to contain up to 28 eggs, though, as a result of ‘egg-dumping’, a practice where female quail lay eggs in nests other than their own. Maybe it's not so suprising, then, that sometimes several families of California quail get together shortly after the babies hatch and care for the young together, kind of kibbutz-style. Apparently, quail parents that raise their young this way tend to live longer than those that do not. I wonder if Tawny's quails are doing the group-parenting thing? 





Male California Quail - can you see the babies hiding under those colourful wings?
Photo by Tawny Capon





The babies venture out. Photo by Tawny Capon.

Incubation, usually by the mother, takes 18 to 23 days. The babies leave the nest shortly after hatching but stay with the parents on the ground for about 28 days.

California quail (callipepla californica) rarely move more than ten miles from where they hatch. And when they do move, they prefer walking and running to flying - unless there's a predator on their tail. Then they'll fly! In the fall they'll gather in coveys of up to 100 birds, where one 'sentinel' bird stands guard while the others eat for an hour or two before and after sunrise and sunset. Their diet is about 70% vegetarian.  

If they're calling one another, you can hear California quail coming long before they're in sight. In spite of their name, their most well-known call sounds like "Chi-ca-go!" You can hear this call plus three others at www.allaboutbirds.org. Search for California quail then go to the "Sound" page.

Off we go! Photo by Tawny Capon.

California Quail on Gabriola and around the world

Although there appear to be many families of California quail on Gabriola, they are considered an uncommon local resident in the southern Vancouver Island region. But clearly, they do live and breed here, as well as in the Okanagan Valley. Their habitat also includes certain parts of the western states (especially California), the Baja peninsula, Chile, and Argentina. And because these quail are a popular game bird, they were long ago successfully introduced to other parts of the world including New Zealand, Hawaii, and Europe. Every year between 800,000 and 1.2 million California quail are shot by hunters in California alone. In spite of this, numbers are not dwindling.



Male California Quail - in California.
Photo by Dave Menke courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service.


The head plume (aka topknot) of the California quail looks like a single large feather but is actually composed of six overlapping feathers. Dennis wonders what Mother Nature was thinking when she designed this. Any ideas?

Barred owl comes home to Gabriola

On May 1 a barred owl was discovered unable to fly in the vicinity of Fleet Road on the island. Thanks to two young people who discovered it and called GROWLS, the owl was taken to North Island Wildlife Recovery in Errington for care. While there, it became a mentor in the flight barn for some owlets who had lost their mother, so was kept a couple of extra weeks to provide this care and teaching.

Last evening, the now-healthy owl was returned to Gabriola for release. (The Ministry of Forests, Lands  and Natural Resource Operations prefers that all rescued and rehabilitated animals are returned to the habitat where they were found.) Members of GROWLS were informed of the pending release and many showed up to celebrate the owl's release back to the woods where it came from.

Waiting for the owl on Fleet Road.

Before the owl was released Andy said a few words in celebration, Jean read a poem for the owl, and Liz Ciocea read the following words:

Owl you have travelled far. From being found in the road injured, cold and confused, rescued by kind and caring people. Other kind folks took you to a place where you were healed and made well. Then owl you stayed on awhile to help some wee owlets who had lost their mother and lost their way. Now you are home, free at last to fly silently through the forest. Fly well, fly free brave Owl



Iain and Andy prepare to release the owl.

Owl heading for the forest. Photo by Tawny Capon.

"Wow. I remember this!" Photo by Tawny Capon.

"It's good to be home again!" Photo by Tawny Capon.



(Forgive all the blatant anthropormizing. I seem unable to resist.)

Safe in a tree! Photo by Tawny Capon.

Barred owls are very common on Gabriola. Their "Who, who, who cooks for you all?" song is unmistakable. In the spring, during mating season, you might hear the sound of barking and whooping and hollaring in a tree near you. If so, it's probably a barred owl or two involved in ensuring the continuation of the species.

Sign petition to prevent hunting of sandhill cranes!

An eight member commission of Kentucky's Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources have passed - unanimously - a proposal to allow hunting of sandhill cranes. The proposal now goes to the US Fish and Wildlife Service for approval or denial. The public - and that's the public from ALL OVER THE WORLD - is invited to make comments until August 1 - just 13 days away!

Sandhill Crane. Photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Sandhill Crane is not common on the Pacific Coast, but can be seen during fall migrations. It can be mistaken, especially in flight, for both the very rare whooping crane and the Great Blue Heron.

Here are two quotations about the Sandhill Crane from Birds of Coastal BC by Nancy Baron and John Acorn:

"Although never abundant on the coast, Sandhill Cranes are a thrill to see, whether in the air or on the ground in an open field."

"Cranes mate for life reinforcing their pair bond each year with an elaborate mating dance. It has often been equated with human dancing, but the comparison seems forced until you see the real thing. Only the right dance steps, by each bird in turn, will take them to the next step in their courtship."

For background information go to today's entries at 10000birds.com (see link under Blogs I Enjoy). Or go directly to http://kyc4sandhillcranes.wordpress.com/

Here's the petition site:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/sandhill-cranes-new-plan/

Please forward this information to friends who might be interested. If you have a facebook account, please let your friends there know.

Turkey vulture in the tunnel

As my daughter, Brie, (visiting from Vancouver) and I drove toward Silva Bay Sunday afternoon, we spied a BIG bird on a branch hanging out over the tunnel. The sighting necessitated a stop, a turn-around, and a disembark. Luckily, we had Brie’s Canon with the zoom lens with us so she was able to get some pretty good shots of the bird, which turned out not to be a big owl as I had initially guessed as we drove by, but a turkey vulture! I have seen a vulture perched only one other time, in Mexico, so was enthralled looking at his very ‘unusual’ (many would say ugly) bare-skinned face that is, indeed, reminiscent of a turkey.

Turkey vulture in the tunnel. Photo by Brie McInnes.

Even though its face is one that only its mother would love, the turkey vulture (cathartes aura) has other important redeeming qualities. It is graceful in flight as it soars on wind currents, rarely flapping those long wings. And do you know what it's doing as it soars the skies? Sniffing out carrion. Unlike almost all other birds, the turkey vulture has a highly developed sense of smell that allows it to smell dead animals on the floor of the forest. This under-appreciated bird, garbage-eater extraordinaire, cleans the forest of dead mammals and invertebrates, helping to keep the ecology in balance. Seems fitting that its Latin species name is cathartes, meaning ‘purifier’.

Sometimes it can be challenging to tell a turkey vulture from an eagle as they soar overhead. Here are three clues: 1) The turkey vulture holds its wings tilted up just a little, forming a slight V-shape. 2) The turkey vulture teeters from side to side when flying at low altitudes.  3) The turkey vulture's outer underwings are lighter in colour, sometimes looking white, grey, or even silver in the sunlight.

The turkey vulture does have one habit that’s a bit of a turn off, though: it defecates on its own legs in order to cool down. Well, I guess you do what ya gotta do ...