Download Bird Feeding the Natural Way

Bird Feeding the Natural Way
by Jenny Welch
Birding 101
A 5 part series co-sponsored by:
Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society and
Pine Lily Chapter of Florida Native Plant Society
Native Plants for Birds-Food and Habitat
Upland Habitats Module
Upland Hardwood Forest Communities
Dr. Martin Main, FMNP Program Leader
Ginger Allen, FMNP Program Coordinator
Department of Wildlife Ecology & Conservation
Southwest Florida Research & Education Center
University of Florida, IFAS
Birding 101
Objectives….
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Feb. 5, 2014
Class 1 Birding Basics, Optics,
Feeders and Field Guides
March 12, 2014 Class 3 Plants for Bird Habitat
March 26, 2014 Class 4 Migratory Birds
with special guest Matt Smith with
Live Bald Eagle from CBOP
April 2, 2014
Class 5 Florida’s Upland Birds
•Introduce team members
•Who are we?
•What do we do?
•Why we do it?
•Master Gardeners
•Master Naturalist
•Audubon Society
•Native Plant Society
•Sierra Club
•The Nature Conservancy
•Other environmental groups
• Learn to identify common birds
• Learn what birds eat what foods
• Learn what native plants to add
to your home landscape to
attract birds
• Learn what habitat to find birds
based on foods birds eat
• Learn how to be a better
consumer(spend $ wisely)
• Find places to go birding
• Learn about birding resources
• Meet others with similar
interests
• Get involved in the community
• Learn ways to help our
feathered friends (food, plants,
habitat, water, etc.)
Landscaping Backyards for Wildlife: Top Ten Tips for Success
Ten Tips for Landscaping for
Wildlife
All these tips are of value to wildlife, so they
are presented
in random order.
1. Limit the Amount of Lawn
2. Increase Vertical Layering
3. Provide Snags and Brush Piles
4. Provide Water
5. Plant Native Vegetation
6. Provide Bird/Bat Houses and Bird Feeders
7. Remove Invasive Exotic Plants
8. Manage Pets
9. Reduce Pesticide Use
10. Expand the Scale of Habitat
Mark E. Hostetler, Gregg Klowden, Sarah Webb Miller, Kara N. Youngentob
Hardwood Forests
•Ecology and descriptions of hardwood forests
• Representative examples
• Practical interpretive skills
•Ecology and descriptions of hardwood forests
• Representative examples
• Practical interpretive skills
Common Terms
•Hammock: an area higher in elevation than its wetter surroundings, characterized by hardwood forests of
broadleaf evergreens
• Hardwood: broadleaf trees such as oak, maple, walnut, and hickory Deciduous trees: lose leaves at the
end of each growing season
• Evergreen trees: needles or leaves remain alive and on the tree through the winter and into the next
growing season (persistent)
• Temperate climate: areas that freeze often enough that vegetation
goes into winter dormancy
• Subtropical climate: rarely or never freezes
• Ecological succession: a sequence of changes among species within
a community, theoretically ending in a stable, climax community
• Disturbance: an event, such as fire, that disturbs the existing
community and sets succession to an earlier stage of development
Forested wetlands (swamps)
There are different types of forested wetlands, but all have some similar characteristics:
dominated by woody (not herbaceous) plants fire is infrequent soils are saturated at least part
of the year
Swamp Habitat Major forested wetland types in Florida (defined by Florida Natural Areas Inventory)
Floodplain wetlands - also known as “river swamps”
- example: mixed-hardwood swamps (black water rivers)
- example: bottom-land hardwood swamps (alluvial rivers)
Basin/depressional wetlands - shallow depressions
- example: Green Swamp, Pinhook Swamp, cypress domes
Wet flatlands - flat topography, short hydroperiod
- example: hydric hammock, hydric pine flatwoods
Seepage wetlands - soils wet, often no standing water
- example: bayheads, willow heads
Wetlands vegetation: Herbaceous plants
Presentation objectives:
Ecology of herbaceous wetlands (marshes)
Practical interpretive skills
Representative examples of marsh plants vvv
Herbaceous wetlands (marshes)
There are different types of marshes, but they all have some similar characteristics:
dominated by herbaceous (not woody) plants.
Fire is typically an important natural disturbance that rejuvenates wetlands and prevents succession to
woody species.
Marsh soils are saturated with water (or flooded) at least part of the year.
Differences in marshes are due primarily to hydroperiod and secondarily to soil and fire pattern
Major marsh wetland types in Florida (defined by Florida Natural Areas Inventory)
Differences in topography, hydrology, and soils result in different types of wetlands
Floodplain wetlands - associated with flowing water, periodic flooding and drying of flood plain
- examples: Kissimmee River, St. John’s River floodplain
Basin/depressional wetlands - shallow depressions in landscape, typically enclosed basin, may be very
large or very small
- example: Paynes Prairie (north-central Florida), ephemeral ponds
Wet flatlands - flat topography, poorly drained, associated with overland flow (sheet flow)
- examples: marl prairie, wet prairie, flatwoods ponds
Seepage wetlands - wetlands maintained by saturated soils from seepage, typically small
example: pitcher plant seepage slope, steep heads
Upland Pine Communities
Pineland habitats are characterized by the presence of pines, the composition of which
varies with geography and hydrology.
Common Terms
•Angiosperm: flowering plants; seeds enclosed in an ovary
• Gymnosperm: plants with seeds on open scales, usually
cones, such as the pines, spruces, cedars, and cycads
• Conifer: mostly evergreen trees and shrubs bearing true cones
• Pine: conifers of the genus Pinus
• Pyrogenic: flora and fauna with adaptations to fire
• Serotinous cones: require heat from fire to release seeds
• Variety: botanical term for subspecies of plant
• Endemic: species occurs naturally only in a specific area
• Succession: gradual change in plant community
• Ecotone: transition zone between different habitats
Insect-eating Birds
Birds catch insects in midair and forage for them on tree bark, leaves, twigs, and stems, and in leaf
litter. Insects attracted to necklace pod, salt bush, and coffee attract many insect-eating birds. Some
insect-eaters will visit feeders for suet and peanut butter mixtures.
Many birds who do not typically eat insects as adults feed them to their young because insects
provide more nutrition for growth.
Entire diet is insects
Chuck-will’s widow
Yellow-billed cuckoo
Blue-gray gnatcatcher
Purple martin
Common nighthawk
Whip-poor-will
Can we name some
native plants that
bring in native
insects for birds to
eat?
Most of their diet is insects………
Northern Flicker
Orange-crowned Warbler
Great Crested Flycatcher
Northern Parula
Eastern Kingbird
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Meadowlark
Yellow Warbler
Baltimore Oriole
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Screech Owl
Eastern Phoebe
Downy Woodpecker
Tree Swallow
Pileated Woodpecker
Summer Tanager
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Red-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-throated Vireo
Some of diet is insects……….
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Bluebird
American Kestrel
Northern Bobwhite
Wood Thrush
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Towhee
Northern Mockingbird
Blue Jay
Scrub Jay
Red-bellied woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Northern Cardinal
Barn Owl
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Brown-headed Cowbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
American Crow
Fish Crow
Chipping Sparrow
Purple Finch
Goldfinch
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown Thrasher
Common Grackle
Ruby throat hummingbird
Cedar waxwing
Many native plants provide fruit and berries, including hackberry, hawthorns, hollies, mulberry, palms,
persimmon, red cedar, blackberry, blueberry, elderberry, grapes, greenbriers, marlberry, wax myrtle, and
Virginia creeper.
Most of diet is fruits and berries……….
Gray Catbird and Cedar Waxwing
Some of their diet is fruits and berries……
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Bobwhite
Mockingbird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Northern Cardinal
American Robin
Brown-headed Cowbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
American Crow
Fish Crow
Goldfinch
Boat-tailed Grackle
Cedar Waxwing
Brown Thrasher
Common Grackle
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Barn Owl Gray and Catbird
Nuts are provided by oak and hickory trees. Peanuts, cracked walnuts, and cracked pecans can be offered in a feeder.
Bue Jays are especially fond of peanuts. Make sure you offer them in a place out of reach of squirrels or provide
enough for both birds and squirrels.
Most of diet is
nuts/acorns……….
Blue Jay and Scrub Jay
Some of diet is nuts……..
Northern Bob White
American Crow
Common Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
Northern Flicker
Brown Headed Nuthatch
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Towhee
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Florida scrub
jay stashing/
hiding his
acorn for
later.
Blue jay with
acorn
Honey, where
are you with
dinner?
Important seed plants include grasses such as muhly, lopsided indian grass, fakahatchee grass, pines,
elms, asters, native sunflowers, tickseeds, bidens alba, liatris, and goldenrod.
Most of diet is seeds……… Some of diet is seeds…………
Red-Winged Blackbird
Northern Cardinal
Northern Bobwhite
American Crow
Painted Bunting
Fish Crow
Brown-headed Cowbird
Northern Flicker
Common Ground Dove
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
Scrub Jay
Rock dove
Eastern Meadowlark
Goldfinch
Brown Headed Nuthatch
Boat Tailed Grackle
Tufted Titmouse
Common Grackle
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Northern Parula
Savannah Sparrow
Orange Crowned Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-Rumped warbler
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-cockaded Woodpecker
DAISY FAMILY (COMPOSITAE)-Asters, Sea Ox Eye Daisy, Bidens Alba, Thistle, Coreopsis, Mist
Flower, Purple Cone Flower, Blanket Flower, Blazing Star, Silk Grass, Goldenrod, Florida Paintbrush,
Black-eyed Susan, Sunflowers-Narrow Leaf Sunflower, Dune Sunflower, Rayless Sunflower and
others.
Bird food goldfinches, indigo buntings, sparrows
Coreopsis seeds: songbirds
Goldenrod seeds: pine siskins, yellow-rumped warblers
Rudbeckia seeds: many birds
Sunflower seeds: blue jays, bobwhites, Carolina chickadees, doves, meadowlarks, nuthatches,
pine siskins, red-bellied woodpeckers, sparrows, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, yellowrumped warblers
Butterfly larval food: Dainty Sulphur, Pearl Crescent
Asters: American Painted Lady
Thistles: Little Metalmark
Yellow thistles: American Painted Lady
Butterfly nectar food: Buckeye, Dina Yellow, Florida White, Mimosa Yellow, Monarch,
Pearl Crescent, Phaon Crescent, Silvery Checkerspot, Snout, Viceroy
Spanish needles/Bidens Alba: Amethyst Hairstreak, Barred Yellow, Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak,
Cassius Blue, Ceraunus Blue, Fulvous Hairstreak, Great Purple Hairstreak, Great Southern White,
Gulf Fritillary, Julia, Lyside Sulphur, Martial Scrub-Hairstreak, Miami Blue, Pearl Crescent, Queen,
Sleepy Orange, Southern Hairstreak, Sweadner's Juniper Hairstreak, Tiny Hairstreak, White
Peacock, Zebra Longwing
HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY (CAPRIFOLIACEAE)
Bird food
Coral honeysuckle nectar: hummingbirds
Coral honeysuckle seeds: bobwhites, cardinals, goldfinches, pine siskins, purple finches,
sparrows
Elderberry fruit: blue jays, bluebirds, brown thrashers, cardinals, catbirds, cedar waxwings,
indigo buntings, kingbirds, mockingbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks, song sparrows, whitebreasted nuthatches, woodpeckers, many others
Viburnum berries: blue jays, bluebirds, brown thrashers, cardinals, catbirds, cedar waxwings,
flickers, mockingbirds, sparrows, vireos, yellow-rumped warblers, game birds
Butterfly larval food Viburnum: Spring Azure
Butterfly nectar food Coral honeysuckle: several species
Viburnum: Southern Hairstreak, White M Hairstreak
Wildlife food
Viburnum berries: small mammals
Wildlife shelter
Viburnum: good cover and nesting sites
Grasses (POACEAE)-Muhly, Bluestems, Sea Oats, Lovegrass, Maidencane, Lopsided Indian Grass
Bird food: bobwhites, coots, doves, dabbling ducks, purple gallinules, soras, songbirds, whistlingducks, tufted titmouse,
Butterfly larval food: Maidencane: Southern Pearly Eye
Wildlife food: rabbits, white-tailed deer
GREENBRIER FAMILY (SMILACACEAE)-Smilax-Catbrier Smilax laurifolia
Bird food: Fruits eaten by bluebirds, catbirds, cedar waxwings, crows,
mockingbirds, robins, thrashers, thrushes, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, others
Wildlife food: Fruits eaten by many small mammals; foliage browsed by white-tailed deer.
Wildlife shelter: good cover and nesting sites
GRAPE FAMILY (VITACEAE)-Native Grape/Vitis rotundifolia and Virginia Creeper/ Parthenocissus
quinquefolia
Bird food: Fruits eaten by blue jays, bluebirds, brown thrashers, catbirds, cedar waxwings,
chickadees, downy woodpeckers, finches, flycatchers, mockingbirds, nuthatches, robins, rosebreasted grosbeaks, sparrows, tree swallows, thrashers, titmice, vireos, warblers, wood thrushes,
woodpeckers, others
Wildlife food Grapes: coyotes, foxes, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels
Wildlife shelter Grape vines: good cover
BIGNONIA FAMILY (BIGNONIACEAE)-Cross vine/ Bignonia capreolata Trumpet vine/Campsis
radicans
Bird food
Cross vine nectar: hummingbirds
Trumpet vine nectar: hummingbirds
Wildlife food: Cross vine foliage: white-tailed deer (winter)
Best Shrubs and Small Trees for Birds………
Bayberry, Blueberry, Beautyberry, Blackberry, Coffee, Elderberry, Florida Privet, Fringe
Tree, Hollies, Sea Grape, Wax Myrtle, Native Viburnum, Fetterbush, Wild Olive.
Best Trees for Birds………….
Cabbage Palm, Hackberry, Hawthorn, Hickory, Magnolia, Oak, Persimmon, Pine,
Mulberry, Southern Red Cedars, Sweet Gum, Wild Cherry, Wild Plum, Elm.
What Bird Eats What?
Woodpeckers…………
Northern Flicker-ants*, other insects*, fruits, nuts, seeds, blueberry, hackberry,
hawthorn, oak, palms, pine, red cedar, sea grape, viburnum, wild cherry
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-sap*, insects*, fruit, hackberry, holly, maple, pine, red cedar
Downy Woodpecker-insects*, fruit, nuts, hickory, hophornbeam, oak, sea grape, Virginia
creeper,
Hairy Woodpecker-insects*, nuts, fruit, oak, pine, pond cypress
Northern Flicker-ants*, other insects*, fruits, nuts, seeds, blueberry, hackberry,
hawthorn, oak, palms, pine, red cedar, sea grape, viburnum, wild cherry
Pileated Woodpecker-insects*, nuts, seed, fruit, elderberry, greenbrier, magnolia,
mulberry, Virginia creeper
Red-bellied Woodpecker-acorns*, fruit*, insects, seed, bald cypress, bayberry,
beautyberry, blackberry, blackgum, cabbage palm, elderberry, elm, grape, greenbrier,
hickory, holly, maple, mulberry, pine, oak*, persimmon, pine, red cedar, sea grape,
sunflower, Virginia creeper, wax myrtle, wild cherry
Red-cockaded Woodpecker-insects*, seeds, fruit, bayberry, magnolia, pine*
Red-headed Woodpecker-insects, nuts, fruit, beautyberry, beech, blackberry, blackgum,
elderberry, grape, greenbrier, hickory, magnolia, mulberry, oak*, sea grape, wild cherry,
wild plum.
Don’t forget to supply clean water…………
Other animals you may attract once you design a native habitat to attract
birds………………..the acrobatic squirrel.
The majestic swallowtail kite
Beneficial
Non-venomous
snakes
Cute bunnies
The flying Flowers/butterflies