I have always believed in the wonder of our own backyards. I may have traveled far from home to find new birds, but I learned so much about bird behaviour when I looked out from my own windows. Our backyard was not imposing or large. It was a square of lawn with four large evergreens, a 90-year-old apple tree and a few shrubs. Yet, I had been awed by fallouts, which filled my evergreens and yard with dazzling warblers. I had watched courtships and seen territories defended. I saw harried parents feeding hungry young and then seen those same fledglings trying to figure out my feeders. I had raptors create panic in my yard. One winter morning a Northern Saw-whet Owl snoozed peacefully in the apple tree.
Nowadays not everyone lives in a house or has a yard that is bird-friendly. We live in a high-rise condo now. I thought I would like to share with you some articles about our former backyard.
I have always loved this time of year (doesn’t everyone?). Our ancient apple tree was covered in beautiful pale blooms. All the bushes and perennials came back to life. And, the birds were looking for mates. I had a pair of resident Northern Cardinals. In the spring they were very good about keeping other cardinals out of the yard. Usually, another bird would be chased off and that was all that was needed. However, one year a male intruder would not be intimidated by the resident male. I had never seen birds brawling, but that was what those two did. When singing and chasing didn’t work, they threw themselves at each other and wrestled on the ground. Then, they started ripping out each other’s breast feathers. Finally one gave in and left the yard.
Male Baltimore Oriole
Male cardinals weren’t the only ones to have fights in my yard. One day I heard a thud against my kitchen window. I looked out and saw a stunned male Baltimore Oriole on the ground. Another male oriole had been chasing him and caused this bird to hit the window. The aggressor didn’t stop with just knocking out his rival. He pounced on the stunned bird, pulling at its tail and pecking it repeatedly on the head. I went out to rescue the hapless bird, but when I got out to the backyard the aggressor was gone. I placed the victim in a bush so it could recover. By the time I was back in the house and looking out my window again, it had already flown off.
Female Northern Cardinal
I have watched and listened to a courting female cardinal. I had read that cardinals duet and will sing the same song back to each other. I couldn’t see the male, but he had the female’s attention. He would sing and she did repeat the exact same song. You could see how excited she was; her crest was erect, her eyes were bright and she was practically quivering. She finally disappeared into the bushes to join her mate.
I loved to listen to the Downy Woodpeckers courtship drumming in the spring. However, one woodpecker made a more lasting impression on me. One morning I was sitting in the kitchen when I heard what sounded like construction work coming from above. It sounded like someone was drilling on our roof. I opened up an upstairs window, looked out and startled a male Northern Flicker. Thankfully, that was enough of a scare to keep him away permanently.
Our yard had feeders and a birdbath. That was enough to attract a male Red-winged Blackbird (featured in picture at top of article). He claimed the main feeder as his personal property. He would scream his konk-kree, flare his epaulets, and land on the feeder. He would chase all the regulars away from the feeder. This was not a not an optimum territory, so it took a couple of years before he had a female Red-winged Blackbird show up in our yard. After that, we had two or three males every spring and a few females would show up as well. I never knew what I would see in courting behaviour outside my window.
Note: All photos are from Wikipedia Commons, an online source of copyright-free photos: Red-winged Blackbird (in Toronto) by Rhododendrites; Northern Cardinal by Matt MacGillivray from Toronto; Baltimore Oriole by Mykola Swarnyk from Toronto.
This is the kind of post I wish we had more of – straightforward observation in a familiar location.