Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Great Crested Flycatchers Build Nest in Owl Box



Great Crested Flycatchers have again begun building their nest in the Eastern Screech Owl Nest Box after waiting patiently for them to finish nesting. I believe the Flycatchers had to do a bit of cleaning and remodeling to remove the "Owl Funk" by covering the wood chips first with a layer of long-leaf pine needles! The Red Bellied Woodpeckers took a pass on the box.

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Great Crested Flycatchers Build Nest in Owl Box

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Blue Jay Imitating Red Shouldered Hawk Call


Blue Jay perfectly mimics the call of a Red Shouldered Hawk. Red Shouldered Hawk calls are common in the Backyard, but they are rarely made by real Hawks. Most are fake hawk calls made by impersonating Blue Jays, especially my hand fed Buddy Blue Jay. 

Blue Jays have a special alarm call and head bob when they are trying to alert others and frighten away a Hawk and they also dive bomb them as shown in this clip. There is history between them! There are a number of theories as to why Blue Jays do this, but in my backyard its all about food dominance by just a few Big Jays high on the pecking order - they know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes my trained Blue Jays makes the Hawk call while waiting for a peanut as in this clip and it may be sort of a possessive/territorial call that the guy with the peanut is off limits. They also seem to enjoy getting the squirrels upset by doing this - they clearly have a few steps on the furry mammals. Late in the clip you will see a Mourning Dove relaxing and preening while Blue Jays make Hawk Calls in the forest - Hawks eat Doves in the backyard so this Dove in the open somehow knows not to be alarmed as Hawks do not make any sound when hunting.  Listen closely and you'll hear the squirrels making panicky alarm calls as the Jays have them upset. I have a sneaky suspicion my Blue Jays enjoy this. Hawks do not call when hunting, they call mainly to communicate to each other. 

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Blue Jay Imitating Red Shouldered Hawk Call

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Red Bellied Woodpecker Eating Nectar of Giant White Bird of Paradise



Red Bellied Woodpecker feasts on the nectar of the Giant White Bird of Paradise - an amazing tropical plant that is over 20 feet tall and whose flowers dwarf this rather large woodpecker. They are able to grow this tall in Florida after several warm winters without a freeze. They are bird magnets at certain times of the year.

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Red Bellied Woodpecker Eating Nectar of Giant White Bird of Paradise

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Trained Gray Squirrel and Blue Jay Friends



Wild Gray Squirrels and Blue Jays training to wait for me to open the door in the morning to be fed peanuts. First I trained the squirrels to wait and come 

but it didn't take long for the extremely intelligent and observant Blue Jays who I occasionally hand feed to adjust their busy schedules and gatecrash the squirrel feeding session. It can get a little hectic for about 10 minutes in the morning, but they are a fun bunch to jump start the day. The entire family of squirrels and Blue Jays join in and for the most part its orderly. This is a recording of a mornings activity. See Hand Feeding my Blue Jay Buddy at:

Be extremely careful if you attempt to hand feed squirrels they are farsighted and notice their eyes are on the side of their heads and they will accidentally bite - notice that I only hold the very end of a peanut and keep my fingers away to make it easy to grab. I would suggest never extending an open hand with food in it to a wild squirrel! I also do not recommend over-feeding squirrels - just give them a bit to supplement their diets and maintain some discipline so they wont become dependent.


Trained Gray Squirrel

Squirrel Taste Test Challenge


Squirrels entered into a Backyard Taste Test Contest must choose between roasted unsalted peanuts and tree-ripened juicy sweet Loquats. Watch and find out what four out of five squirrels prefer!

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Squirrel Taste Test Challenge

Flock Of Grackles Takes Off



A flock of Common Grackles calling noisily starts to settle into an isolated bare deciduous Chinese Tallow Tree to roost for the night, but then think better of it. The American Robins and Mourning Doves lower in the tree ignore the panicky grackles and stay put.
This unique invasive deciduous tree is a magnet for birds - more on this tree in the future!
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Flock Of Grackles Takes Off

Monday, April 13, 2015

Pileated Woodpecker Pecking And Eating Ants


Close-up female Pileated Woodpecker pecking and eating Carpenter Ants. The largest of North American Woodpeckers - they use their large head and long necks like a hammer to amazing effect and the noise sounds like someone hammering in this close up video. Always exciting to see these impressive birds I was fortunate enough to hear this one and get close while being screened by heavy brush - only about six feet off the ground I was able to get eye-to-eye with this amazing bird.

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Pileated Woodpecker Pecking


Amazing Trained Hopping Squirrel



Run Squirrel Run. Squirrel only runs on stepping stones! My trained Gray Squirrel Buddy waits for me to open the back door each morning and then runs to get a peanut - always careful to stay on the path. He runs back and forth all the way for each peanut! One might say I have trained him well, but he is smarter than that - he has trained me! Filmed with a cell phone so a bit shaky in places. A more thorough training video is planned.

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Amazing Trained Hopping Squirrel

Blue Jay Couple Gathering Nest Material



Mating Blue Jay couple building a nest are gathering material over two days. Both parents participate in gathering material and building the nest. They are very slow and picky about what they gather and appear to give the subject great deliberation. Notice especially on the first half of the video that they each have different kinds of materials. They both give a barely audible contact chirp while they gather and are very careful about revealing the location of their nest. Typically flying a circuitous route back to the nesting site in case a predator is watching. They are extremely intelligent backyard birds.

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Blue Jays Gathering Nest Material


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Amazing Wild Baby Screech Owls Fed By Parents



Eastern Screech Owl parents feed wild caught food to the three owlets in the nest box. The owlets can now swallow entire frogs and lizards and have to fight for position at the entrance and in a manner seem to take turns eating, but have to be pushed out of the way at times. Watch for one owlet who doesn't like Cicadas and lets it go only to be attacked by it later! Highlights from the live broadcast of April 7th, 2015.  

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Wild Baby Screech Owls