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CROZET gazette
NOVEMBER 2013
The Blue Ridge Naturalist © Marlene A. Condon | marlene@crozetgazette.com
The Natural World Is an Open Book That Anyone Can Read About the middle of April, just after the azaleas have begun to bloom in our area, you can expect to spot a male rubythroated hummingbird. The males leave Central America before the females to head into the United States and Canada, where they seem to follow the northward progression of azalea bloom. Many folks immediately put up sugar-water feeders once they know that these tiny birds have arrived, but then are puzzled and disappointed when the hummers disappear by May. Most people then assume that the first hummingbirds of spring are migrants with no intention of staying in Virginia and so they have left to continue their journey northward. But that assumption is incorrect. Although the ruby-throats appear to be gone, I can assure you that they do not leave the area. Every spring when the tulip poplar trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) start to bloom, hummers desert feeders to obtain their nourishment from tulip poplar blossoms. I’ve been taking notes about the natural world for many years and the hummer “disappearance” each year correlates exactly with the blooming of the tulip poplar trees in my area. And thanks to a microphone on my porch where the feeder is located, I know these birds are still in the vicinity because I continue to hear a hummingbird around the porch. The hum of its wings is quite audible. It doesn’t make use of the feeder, but it comes by once a day as if it just wants to make sure that the feeder is still there! Tulip poplars produce huge flowers that provide an abundance of nectar to many kinds of insects as well as our hummingbirds. Consequently, the hummers do not need to depend upon human handouts because they can just spend
each day up high in the tree canopy, visiting the tulip poplar blossoms that dwarf them. By looking up at the tall tulip poplar trees with binoculars, anyone can ascertain that is, indeed, where the hummingbirds are “hanging out.” You might not always spy one up there (the trees are fully leafed out at this time), but with due diligence, you’ll get an opportunity to see that the hummingbirds are definitely still around. And once those trees have stopped blooming, the hummers will immediately be back at the feeder! Sometimes people have expressed doubts when I’ve put forth this information. But what’s wonderful about the natural world is that it’s truly an open book that anyone can read and from which anyone can discern the truth. All you need to do is to observe what takes place when there is no manipulation of nature by man. Of course, you must also have an open mind that harbors no prejudices as a result of what you’ve previously heard or read. It also helps to document your observations. Having a microphone outside and keeping detailed notes helped me to discover the truth not only about hummingbird behavior in spring, but also about goldfinch behavior in fall in Virginia. The American Goldfinch is a gregarious bird, so if you keep a feeder of sunflower seeds and/or a water pan filled with fresh, clean water in your yard, numerous goldfinches will visit for food and drink every day without fail. But by the end of September, just a few weeks after the young-of-theyear goldfinches have left the nest (these finches are our latest-nesting birds), the goldfinch chatter and the “crying” of the juvenile goldfinches begging to be fed will be absent. The feeder and the water pan will be far less busy because the goldfinches—young and all—have left. The word from the Cornell Lab
finches again appear, then, they must be migrants flying into the area from farther north. The fact is that each and every one of us can freely take note of the natural world that surrounds us and we can often do this without special equipment and often without needing to leave home. Yet an incredible amount of misinformation is put out to the public, some by “experts.” For example, entomologist Doug Tallamy writes in his well-known book, Bringing Nature Home, that the tulip poplar “is one of the least productive forest species in terms of its ability to support wildlife— insects and vertebrates alike.” Yet nothing could be further from the truth, as you should expect for a native plant! This stately tree provides nectar for an array of insects as well as obviously being an important food source for hummingbirds. Although American Goldfinches can be seen almost the yearThe numerous around in Virginia, the birds you see in summer are not the seeds that result same individuals you see in winter, despite what you may read from the fertilization to the contrary. Photo: Marlene A. Condon. of the blooms by the will see. Look up the definition of great variety of nectar-feeders pro“resident bird” and you’ll find that vide a crucial supply of food for it’s synonymous with “non-migra- birds (such as titmice and cardinals) tory.” as well as mammals (such as squirBut the experts are wrong. rels and mice) from late fall into Although the disappearance of winter. goldfinches goes unnoticed by most The leaves are fed upon by many bird watchers (and, apparently, sci- kinds of caterpillars (such as those entists) who don’t have an expecta- of the tiger swallowtail butterfly and tion that these birds will leave, I the tuliptree silkmoth) and when have been paying such close atten- the tree is young, deer feed upon tion to what’s going on in the natu- the leaves that they can reach. ral world for such a long time that I I can’t explain why so much know for a fact that our goldfinches information published about our disappear for about a month or so natural world is incorrect. I suspect every autumn. a lot of it has to do with people One fall morning in 2011, I was writing about subject matter that outside well before the sun was due they have little, if any, personal to come up when I suddenly heard experience with. And then this misgoldfinches chattering from high information gets perpetuated by above me in the pitch-black sky. I others who repeat it as if it must be could tell they were going over from true and soon no one questions it. north to south in the darkness, as But if you pay close attention to many of our migratory songbirds the natural world, you can’t help do. I couldn’t see the birds, but their but find out for yourself what inforabundant chattering for a minute or mation is correct and what isn’t. You so suggested that there were quite a might even discover something that few of them on the move. no one else has noticed before. Birds don’t move northwards as According to a poster in my office the weather gets colder so our sum- given to me by my husband, mer goldfinches have undoubtedly “Discovery” results from “venturing moved a bit farther south come fall beyond the obvious to see what othwhen they disappear. When gold- ers don’t see!” of Ornithology is that goldfinches migrate, but only a short distance south and only from the coldest areas of the United States and southern Canada where they nest in summer. They move to more southerly regions where the minimum January temperature is no colder than zero degrees Fahrenheit on average. Therefore experts consider our Virginia goldfinches to be “permanent residents,” which suggests that all of them will hatch, live out their lives, and die here in our state. Look in any guidebook or bird checklist and that is the description that you