 |
| Eastern Bluebird with Nesting Material Dreamstime Click pic to enlarge |
Investigate Songbirds and Their Habitat
| Click on the topics below to learn more! | |||
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Alabama's Songbirds | Bird Adaptations | Habitat Needs | Interesting Facts |
| Alabama's Songbirds | |||
| Alabama's Ornithological Society has documented 420 species of birds in our state! | |||
|
158 of these regularly breed in Alabama
174 regularly overwinter in Alabama 80 migrate through Alabama 3 are extinct, two are extirpated (no longer occuring in our state but may occur in others), and four are non-native species (do not occur here naturally) |
|||
| Songbirds: | Birds of Prey: | ||
| Birds that sing a musical song
Also called "perching birds" because their feet are adapted for them to perch on branches They have three toes pointing forward and one toe pointing backward, providing balance while they perch |
Birds that hunt other animals such as small mammals, reptiles, fish, and other birds
Often called "raptors" Hawks, falcons, eagles, osprey, and vultures Owls are nocturnal (active at night) |
||
 Blue Jay
Wikimedia – Darren Swim Click on image to enlarge it |
 Bald Eagle with Talons Out
flickr – Andy Morffew Click on image to enlarge it |
||
| Click on the names of the animals to learn more about some of the most common backyard songbirds in Alabama: | |||
| American Robin | Blue Jay | Carolina Chickadee | Carolina Wren |
| Cedar Waxwing | Eastern Bluebird | House Finch | Mourning Dove |
| Northern Cardinal | Northern Flicker | Northern Mockingbird | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | Tufted Titmouse | ||
CLICK on the bird to read more about each species listed above
|
|||
| There is a variety of animals you may find in and around your songbird garden.
In addition to birds, this includes butterflies, like the Monarch or Black Swallowtail.You may also find bees, like the Eastern bumble bee, pollinating the flowers planted in the habitat.You may also find other insects in the moist soil or mulch like little black ants, pillbugs, and red wigglers. |
Eastern Bumble Bee |
||
| Feathers: | |||
| Adaptation | Advantage | Type of Bird | |
|
1) Bright Plumage
|
Attracts females during courtship and mating | Some male birds | |
| 2) Dull Plumage | Aids in camouflage while nesting | Some female birds | |
| 3) Change of Plumage with Seasons |
Dull plumage provides camouflage in winter, and bright yellow plumage attracts mates in the spring | Goldfinch | |
 Female Northern Cardinal
flickr – lalo_pangue Click on image to enlarge it |
 Male Northern Cardinal
flickr – naathas Click on image to enlarge it |
||
| Beaks: | |||
| Adaptation | Advantage | Type of Bird | |
| 1) Thick & pointed | Breaks and probes the bark of trees looking for insects | Woodpecker | |
| 2) Large & hooked | Tears flesh of prey that it eats | Hawk/owl/falcon | |
| 3) Short & cone shaped | Cracks seeds and nuts for food | Finch | |
| 4) Long & slender | Probes flowers for nectar it eats | Hummingbird | |
| 5) Short & pointed | Works like tweezers to grab insects hiding in bark | Nuthatch | |
| 6) Flat & wide | Helps catch insects in air during flight | Flycatcher | |
 |
 Acadian Flycatcher
Wikimedia – William H. Majoros Click on image to enlarge it |
||
| Wings: | |||
| Adaptation | Advantage | Type of Bird | |
| 1) Fringed at tips | Silent flight | Owl | |
| 2) Large and broad | Aids in soaring while hunting with caught prey | Hawk | |
| 3) Tapered | Fast flight to catch insects and escape predation | Flycatcher/Swallow | |
| 4) Short, blunt | Eratic flight, quick maneuver to escape by zig-zagging | Chickadee | |
 Owl Feather
flickr – Robert Pruner Click on image to enlarge it |
 Barn Swallow
Wikimedia – dori Click on image to enlarge it |
||
| Feet: | |||
| Adaptation | Advantage | Type of Bird | |
| 1) Webbed | Aids in swimming | Duck | |
| 2) Claws | Grasping when hunting prey | Hawks/owls/falcons | |
| 3) 3 toes foreward and 1 behind |
Perching on branches | Cardinal | |
| 4) 2 toes foreward and 2 behind |
Holding on to side of trees and climbing side of trees |
Woodpecker | |
 Woodpecker Feet
flickr – Josh More Click on image to enlarge it |
 Duck Feet
flickr – barockschloss Click on image to enlarge it |
||
| Habitat Needs | |
| Your songbird garden includes food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young for a variety of songbirds. |
|
| Food: | |
| Songbirds eat berries, seeds, and nuts from native trees, shrubs, grasses, forbs (wildflowers), and vines. Those same plants attract insects for the birds to eat. You may also have bird feeders with seed, nuts, suet, sugar water, and fruit. |
 (Native) Cedar Waxwing Eating Berries |
| Water: |
 Birds Drinking
Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it |
| Songbirds need fresh water to drink.
In the wild they may find this in a creek or pond, but in your outdoor classroom you may provide a bird bath or water garden. |
|
| Shelter: | |
| Songbirds will take shelter in native plants such as trees or shrubs in your outdoor classroom.
You may also provide bird houses in which they take shelter. |
 Bird Nest |
| Places to Raise Young: | |
| The same bird houses that provide shelter also provide a place to roost, or raise young.
Songbirds will also nest in natural openings of trees or perched on branches in your outdoor classroom. |
|
| To see a list of plants most commonly found in an outdoor classroom songbird garden, CLICK HERE! |
|
| Interesting Facts | ||
| #1: | Alabama’s state bird is the Northern Flicker, also called the “Yellowhammer”. | |
| #2: | There are nearly 20,000 species of birds in the world! |
 Northern Flicker |
| #3: | Typically, male birds are the ones that sing.
They use songs to attract mates and announce their territory. |
|
| #4: | The songs of many bird species are very complex and can contain dozens of notes per second.
Songbirds may take as many as 30 mini breaths per second to keep up the tune. |
|
| #5: | Individual songbirds of the same type or species in the same area have differences in their songs.
This is similar to how humans that speak the same language have accents based on which region they are from. This allows a bird to recognize other birds as neighbors or strangers. If a stranger bird is heard, territory must be defended. |
|
| #6: | Just like humans, baby birds have to listen to adults singing to pick up on the “language."
They aren’t born knowing their population’s songs. |
|
| #7: | If a bird migrates (moves from one place to another as a group) between different continents, it knows the songs of the birds around it in both places. | |
| #8: | A lot of birds, such as mockingbirds and thrashers, sing the songs of these other species as well as their own.
This means that some birds can sing thousands of different songs. |
|
| #9: | Different species of birds require different amounts of food based on their body size.
For example, a large raven may only eat a small amount of its body weight per day. But a hummingbird can consume its body weight in sugar water or nectar every day! That’s in addition to as many as 2,000 tiny insects! |
 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Wikimedia – Dick Daniels Click on image to enlarge it |
| #10: | Predation, or hunting, by cats is the number one direct, human-caused threat to birds in the U.S. and Canada.
In the U.S., as many as 2.4 billion birds are killed by cats each year. To read more about the impact cats have on birds, CLICK HERE! |
|
SOURCES
 |
||
|
|
