Young Chickadees!

We just checked are bird nesting boxes and we found 3 Baby chickadees! one was chirping and others were sleeping

Why Ducks And bats are useful

The reason bats are important is because they eat TONS of mosquito's and wood ducks and others eat algae

~info from my dad and knowledge of bats and ducks

Wood Duck Inasive species

The invasive species is the starling and the wood pecker


~info from http://www.cumauriceriver.org/

 The purple martin has a large head and thick chests,they also have pointy wings. The males are a bluish- black, the females are black on the back and the chest and the back of the neck are gray.

Wood Duck Predators

The wood duck predators are Owls, red foxes raccoons, snapping turtles, snakes and squirrels

~info from http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html

Why Do They Stay in nesting boxes

They stay in nesting boxes because they stay safe from predators it is also safe from elements.

~info from http://www.ducks.org/

Little Brown Bat Video

Here is a Little Brown Bat Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYD5gtFIT7U&feature=related

Is it native?!

  Is the purple martin is native? If you want to know, the purple martin is native.

Other Reasons Why The Wood Duck Population Is Decreasing

Some other reasons why wood ducks are decreasing is because most of them are being "exterminated". Another reason is that trees are being cut down and wood ducks live in trees.


~info from: http://southern.ducks.org/wood_ducks.php

Increacing purple martin, brown bats and wood duck population in our area.

The duck and bats are crusial to this area beacause the bats eat all of the mosquitos at night, so it lowers the population of mosquitoes. The ducks clean the pond of algea and other things like bugs and water pericites.

We should help increace the population by building nesting boxes, put out food for them and protect their habitat from preditors and deforistation.

 While in flight the purple martin eats insects, like the always annoying mosquito, but they like larger insects. If a purple martin is healthy there is no need of a bird feeder for this bird.

http://neun.com/martin/feeding.php

Screech Owl and Saw Whet Owl

The Screech Owl is a small, nocturnal, woodland owl. There are two color morphs, a gray phrase and a reddish brown face. They are found in virtually all kinds of habitats below 1500 meters elevation, in forests.


Screech owls are not migratory and often times a pair may keep the same nests in winter and summer. Females reuse nesting sites. These owls mainly fly, but also hop and walk.

Screech owls eat the most varied diet. It includes large insects, earthworms, amphibians, and leaf litter.

The Saw Whet owl is native to north America. It’s very small, short bodied, feather tailed, and rusty brown with a streaked chest.


These owls hunt almost entirely at night. Saw whet have great hearing and vision. This owl prefers deer mice, moles, jumping mice, and sometimes small song birds.

The Saw whet owl prefers to live in coniferous forest, but can also be found in Alaska, Southern Canada, Great Lakes, New England, Western US, and the highlands of Mexico.

Theses Owls have large eyes to see in the dim light. Owl skulls have a ring around their eyes, which gives the eyes protection. The ring doesn't allow the eye to move.

Wood Duck Nesting Competitors

The wood duck Nesting Competitors are purple martins, woodpeckers, chickadees, bluebirds and more this is why the wood duck population is dropping because other birds are taking their homes




~info from  http://www.avianweb.com/nestingboxes.html

Brown Bat Habitats

Big Brown Bats:

Big brown bats can be found in a number of rural, urban and suburban habitats, and roost in tree hollows, under rocky ledges and in a number of man-made structures. Little brown bats live in similar habitats, but will also roost in caves, mine tunnels and wood piles.

Little Brown Bats:

The little brown bat lives along streams and lakes. It forms nursery colonies in buildings. In the winter it hibernates in caves and mines.

The bird house update

   Today we checked our bird houses and in my bird house there was a tree swallow nest, by the looks of the nest I predict eggs within the next week or so.

Endangerment of Brown Bats

Big Brown Bats and Little Brown Bats are a least concern of becoming endangered.

(Info From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_brown_bat and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_brown_bat)

Little Brown Bats Diet

Little brown bats are insectivores, eating moths, wasps, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, midges and mayflies, among others. Since many of their preferred meals are insects with an aquatic life stage, such as mosquitoes, they prefer to roost near water. They echolocate to find their prey. Often they will catch larger prey with a wingtip, transfer it to a cup formed by their tail, then eat it - smaller prey are usually just caught in the mouth. They often use the same routes over and over again every night, flying 3-6 meters high above water or among trees. An adult can sometimes fill its stomach in 15 minutes; young have more difficulty. If they do not catch any food, they will enter a torpor similar to hibernation that day, awakening at night to hunt again.

(Info From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_brown_bat#Diet)

A Big Brown Bats Diet

Big brown bats are insectivorous, eating many kinds of night-flying insects including mosquitoes, moths, beetles, and wasps which they capture in flight. This causes the sudden, frequent changes in direction.

(Info From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_brown_bat#Diet)

Differences Between Big Brown Bats and Little Brown Bats

Want to know the differences between Big Brown Bats and Little Brown Bats? Here they are:

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Forearm — 1.34 to 1.61 inches (3.4 to 4.1 cm)
Wingspan — 9.02 to 10.59 inches (22.9 to 26.9 cm)
Ears — 0.55 to 0.63 inches (1.4 to 1.6 cm)
Foot — approximately 0.39 inches (1.0 cm); long hairs on toes extend beyond claws.
Color — Pale tan through reddish brown to dark brown, depending on geographic location. The species is a rich dark brown in the eastern United States and most of the West Coast. Fur is glossy and sleek.


Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Forearm — 1.65 to 2.01 inches (4.2 to 5.1 cm)
Wingspan — 12.80 to 13.78 inches (32.5 to 35.0 cm)
Ears — with rounded tragus
Color — From reddish brown, copper colored, to a dark brown depending on geographic location. This is a large bat without distinctive markings.

See the differences?

Eptesicus fuscus (Big Brown Bat)

Did you know a Big Brown Bat is also called a Eptesicus fuscus?

 

And here is its calling sound!

http://museumca.org/caves/sounds/brown.wav

Interesting Bluebird Cam

We Just Found a very interesting site of a bluebird nest cam

website: http://watch.birds.cornell.edu/nestcams/camera/view?cameraID=C100169

Big Brown Bats:

Big Brown Bats bodys are about 4 to 5 inches long and their wings are about 11 to 13 inches long. Big Brown Bats usually weigh 1/2 to 5/8 of an ounce and their fur is moteratley long and shiny brown.

The Purple Martin is actually not purple its actually mostly black and blue and a little bit of purple. =)

Updates on the Purple Martin Gourds

Today we checked the Purple Martin gourds and sadly there was nothing. :(

but anyways we could have Purple Martins come any time! :)

Big Brown Bats Video

Here is a video of some Big Brown Bats.

Check it out here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfw5mp-xQWw&feature=related

Wood Duck Behavior

"The wood ducks move rapidly and pecks on the waters surface it might dive down to the waters surface and grab water insects".

~info from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_duck/lifehistory

Little Brown Bats

Little Brown Bats:

In summer the little brown bat inhabits trees, bat houses, and buildings, usually choosing a hot attic, where nursery colonies of hundreds and even thousands form. Less frequently colonies form beneath tar paper, siding, shingles, or other similar sheltered spots,. In the west colonies have been found beneath bridges and in caves. Single males have been found in attics, behind shutters under bark, in rock crevices, behind siding and under shingles. Groups of males occasionally occur in caves.


In a summer colony the bats remain alert on warm days. In any large group a few are usually active, crawling about over the others and bickering. A colony can be heard as far away as 100 feet. Toward evening the bats become more active until a constant squeaking can be heard as they gather about the exits. They begin to emerge at late dusk. When there is water nearby, most of the bats head at once for the water where they begin feeding a few feet above the surface as they continue to disperse.


(Visit Web-page)

Wood Duck Nesting

Wood Duck nests are in nest boxes and in tree cavities. the egg color is or white its also very glossy and creamy color

~info from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guides/Wood_Duck/lifehistory#atfood

Wood Duck Food

"The wood duck's diet is acorns , seeds and water bugs"

~info from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/lifehistory

If you would like to here the sound the purple martin makes just go to the website listed below! Also you can go to different search engines to find pictures and more information about the purple martin!
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Martin/sounds