 An American robin drops from a bough while feeding on crabapples earlier this month in Manchester. (DAVID LANE/Union Leader file photo) |
"Two mornings in a row (Jan. 9 and 10) five very fat, healthy looking robins visited our bird feeding area. They ate on the ground below the feeder and in the crab-apple trees. On each of these days the weather was mostly sunny and the temperature was 22 and 7 degrees respectively. We have had an occasional robin visit us during the winter months here in the Hermit Cove/Harbourside area, but never a gathering of five!"
When a good supply of wild fruit and berries is available the American Robin can take good care of itself during the dead of winter. Robins also enjoy raisins and apples when available in feeding areas.
The well known ornithologist, Edward Howe Forbush, in his Volume III, "Birds of Massachusetts and Other New England States," wrote: "In some years when persistent berries are abundant in the north hundreds of Robins pass the winter in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as they did in the winter of 1924 -25, but this is unusual. Most of our Robins, however, go south in the winter and probably all those that winter in New England are hardy birds that nest in Ungava, Labrador, and other northern regions and even some of these perish of privation and cold in severe New England winters."
Blue Jays like paint
Former state representative Hon. Richard Brewster of Andover, NH recently wrote: "I put on new clapboards on my house a little over 20 years ago. They have been painted with latex paint about every six years. This year for the first time the blue jays are pecking all the paint off the bottom four clapboards in a twenty foot strip. Why?"
In past years, several of our readers have voiced similar complaints with respect to Blue Jays eating paint.
When the question was first posed I asked our readers if they had found a solution to this vexing problem. A gentleman from Newport, N.H., wrote: "Blue jays are not only noisy but destructive as well. This is a layman’s answer, not a professional’s or a chemical engineer’s, to solve the problem of jays eating paint.
"Blue jays eat Texture No. 11 siding as well as trim if Latex paint is used. My problem started several years ago on my white trim. The local Aubuchon manager tipped me off as to what to do. Change from Latex to good old-fashioned oil paint. Slather on white primer right down to the wood and then add white top coat. Don’t worry about getting down to the wood. If you do, OK, and if you don’t, OK, too. That stopped my Spring blue jay problem."
Rep. Brewster added: "I feed the birds: 4 crows, 20 blue jays, and many smaller birds by simply putting piles of seeds on top of the snow in view of my kitchen windows. My two 8-year-old black cats don’t bother them. They must realize a black cat on white snow defeats stealth. Will these birds be around next summer or will they move farther north?"
Crows, blue jays, robins, and certain hawks and owls, as well as several species of birds referred to as "winter finches" that visit our New Hampshire feeding areas in winter, return to their northern nesting grounds as their native food supply becomes available.
Crow vs. hawk: Who's the aggressor?
A Londonderry reader wrote: "I’ve enjoyed 25 years of Saturday mornings watching the birds at my feeders and reading your column. While driving through the north part of Londonderry this week I saw four large crows and what appeared to be a red-tailed hawk engaged in some amazing aerial maneuvers. In about a minute they disappeared over Bartley Hill. Through most of the event it appeared that the hawk was chasing one of the crows, while the other three crows followed the hawk with some of their own menacing dives. Do you suppose the hawk was, in fact, chasing a crow with the other three crows attempting to drive him off? Or is it more likely that the four crows were all in pursuit of the hawk for some reason? Thank you for making our bird watching an ongoing adventure."
Whether our Londonderry reader witnessed four crows chasing a hawk or a hawk chasing a crow could be decided either way. John Burroughs, noted naturalist, in his book "Wake Robin" published in 1892, wrote: "The crow has an old grudge against the hawk, because the hawk robs the crow’s nest and carries off his young... ." On the other hand, remains of crows have been found in stomach contents of some species of hawks including the red-tailed. If I had to choose, I’d quicker think the crows were chasing the hawk.
Stacey Cole’s address is 529 W. Swanzey Road, Swanzey, 03446.
