My grandson informed me recently that bird nests are nurseries and not houses. If that’s true, then where do birds sleep? I mean the birds that visit my bird feeders, not ducks or herons or roadrunners. And if your answer is that they perch in trees, then why don't they fall off when they sleep?
—Patty J., Columbia, Missouri
Across much of the United States, some birds always seem to rush nesting season; they can be heard singing even as February snow flies. The northern cardinal leads the pack of early singers, closely followed by the tufted titmouse and chickadees.
Don't worry: Sexual dimorphism is G-rated. It means that males and females of a species look different. Dimorphism means "two forms." Cardinals are a great example: Adult male cardinals are bright red; females are a warm brown.
What makes a woodpecker a woodpecker? Certainly their behavior is an identifying characteristic: Most forage for insects on the trunks and branches of trees, and drill holes to get to prey or sap within; they drum with their bill; and they nest and roost in cavities they have excavated. But woodpeckers also have unique anatomical adaptations to their ecological niche.
When summer's last blossom is a memory, and the music of bird song has been replaced by the drone of tired autumn insects, your thoughts may turn to the long winter ahead. Now is the time to improve, enhance, and expand the attractiveness of your property for birds and other wildlife. Here are 10 easy steps to help you get ready for winter.
I love woodpeckers and have managed to attract five woodpecker species to my backyard here in Kentucky. At my feeders they eat peanuts and suet and sunflower hearts. I know their natural food preferences are wood-boring insects, which they dig after with their chisellike bills. My question is this: How do they keep from knocking themselves out when they pound on a tree trunk repeatedly? Do they get concussions? Headaches?
—SIMONE, MUDLICK, KENTUCKY
My girlfriend lives in a apartment complex next to a river where there are lots of ducks. The management of the complex left the following note on the exit doors of the complex:
"ANGRY BIRDS!! The angry birds are back!! Please be careful!! These birds are protected, so we cannot injure them. They like to come at your head."
Is this an Alfred Hitchcock movie come to life? What kind of birds are these and why would they attack?
—Nervous Boyfriend (Dennis B.) Waukesha, Wisconsin
