Wildbird & Backyard - Newsletter

The Wildbird & Backyard Newsletter

Winter 2005

This season's articles (Excerpted from our printed newsletter):

The Brown Creeper
Feeder Frenzy: Hopper Feeders

The Brown Creeper

What is this brown 5-inch bird that scrambles over my tree trunks like a woodpecker? It's a Brown Creeper, a small songbird, well-camouflaged as it forages in a unique manner, creeping along tree trunks and branches, blending well and possibly difficult to spot. The creeping is usually in an upward spiral motion around a tree, then down to the bottom of the next to do upward spirals again. It is so protectively colored as to be practically invisible to its enemies and, though delicately built, possesses strong feet and claws. When threatened by a potential predator, they will freeze, often with outspread wings and remain motionless for several minutes. The sexes look alike, but the male is slightly larger and has a slightly longer curved bill. Brown Creepers do not appear in flocks, but as single birds or maybe pairs.

The Brown Creeper's favorite habitat is a coniferous area and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests. They breed from Alaska to Canada, south to the Great Lakes states and Connecticut. They are very noticeable anywhere there are large stands of dying timber, with the large peeling scales of bark that Creepers use to shelter their nests. They have been known to move into areas where trees have died from diseases like Dutch Elm disease or from flooding. Ranking high as "insect destroyers," they feed on minute insects, their eggs and larvae, moths, caterpillars, small wasps, scales and plant lice. They do eat small quantities of seed and beef suet.

Feeder Frenzy: Hopper Feeders

The traditional and attractive Hopper feeder is very popular and is a good choice when choosing a first feeder. As the name implies, a hopper feeder has box-like storage and a dispensing system through a gravity-fed slot that not only makes seed available for birds on demand but also has a roof to help keep seed dry too. This feeder type usually contains enough seed for several days and automatically delivers the seed to your birds.

Hoppers are attractive to most species of feeder birds, from small birds such as chickadees to large birds such as blue jays. The "feeding area" on hoppers varies with size. Those with larger feeding areas may be more attractive to cardinals. Hoppers come in many sizes; some have suet cages attached to their sides to offer more variety of food. They are made of wood or recycled materials, can be hung or pole mounted. Fill them with most seed; any variety of Wildbird & Backyard blends would be a great choice.