Migratory Songbirds

Invite these Travellers and Wanderers into Your Xeric Garden

Many xeric garden birds stay in the garden and surrounding bush all winter, visiting the feeder stocked with black oil sunflower seeds and suet.

They are nomadic more than migratory, only straying far enough to find a good food source which keeps them close until the spring arrives.

Birds that migrate to the warmer climates for the winter have to switch directions for the long trek back every spring for breeding.

Hearing the songs of migratory songbirds as they arrive back from their warm sojourn is like a greeting from an old friend.

However, the songs - pretty as they sound to us - have a very serious function. Songbirds that depend on xeric garden insects for a food source have to claim a territory big enough to supply themselves, a mate and several hatchlings with nutrition.

The song serves as an indicator to other birds of the same species, or those in a similar niche that the territory is taken. Male birds primarily will do the claiming of a territory by their song, hoping to attract a female to mate with them.

They have a voracious appetite for many pests, worms and caterpillars that feast on the plants in the garden.

Here are some migratory songbirds that regularly come to Blue Fox Farm just north of Grand Forks, British Columbia to build nests and raise a family:

• Swainsons thrush – the earsplitting evensong with burbling trills and tremelos echoing in the forest outside my window long after dark is a spine tingling thrill. For such a noisy bird, they’re elusive, with a pale speckled breast and darker dun top coat blending into the surrounding shadows.

• Audubon warbler – slate grey and black, with accents of bright yellow flashing as they leap into the air and do acrobats after a flying insect.

• Yellow rumped warbler – similar in size and shape and niche, with a prominent yellow patch above the tail.

• Empidonax flycatcher – dun coloured, with a prominent eye ring, this little flycatcher eats it’s weight in insects when it’s feeding its voracious youngsters.

• Western tanager – the male is brightly coloured with a red dipped head over golden yellow, with smart black wings. Loudly proclaiming his territory with a long whistling trill and sharp chirps, the male does all the talking. He’ll stand guard while his pale olive coloured mate comes for a drink and a bath at the pond, after which he quickly hustles her off and back to the nest and safety.

• Ruby crowned kinglet – tiniest of birds with a prominent red cap when excited, the high pitched song high in the tree tops as they search each twig for insects and spiders will be either the ruby crowned or the golden crowned kinglet.

• Golden crowned kinglet – similar in size, shape and habit to the ruby crowned kinglet, but the cap is yellow. These little birds sometimes stay in the winter, and hang around in a guild with mountain chickadees, black-capped chickadees, red breasted nuthatches and other small birds.

• Chipping sparrow – small and elusive, the sparrow with the smart red hat on winters nearby, but comes here to nest every year.

• Varied thrush – earliest of all the songbirds, whistling with a two note song to claim his territory. As with many thrushes, the varied thrush is very shy, staying far away from clearings in deep bush.

  The song is loud and distinctive, and there is no mistaking the lovely ‘mayoral chain’ around this bird’s neck, black against the golden yellow breast.

The journey is only the beginning of a very busy season for birds – not only do they have to find a mate, they must choose a safe place to build a nest, either in a cavity in a wildlife tree or nest box and then find nesting materials.

Supplying them with dog hair and string in a wildlife palace can help them immensely.

They still have to raise their young successfully, fledge them and then begin the long journey back to their wintering grounds.

A water source, preferably running water or a pond with shallow edges will keep them around all summer.

Although they get the majority of the moisture they need in the insects they consume, they do love a good bath, and it’s hilarious to see them bringing their youngsters to learn about bird bath etiquette.

Migratory songbirds, once they’re onto a good thing will return every year to the same spot.

They will bring with them their pest management skills, lively activity and lovely coloured plumage, as well as their courting and territorial songs to liven up the xeric garden.

Shh...Tennessee Warblers nesting... Identified by the description of the song - louder and more repetitive than any other warbler, I was entranced by the antics of two Tennessee Warblers in my garden.

They seemed particularly interested in a clump of native maples, Acer douglassii, released from a long domination by the removal of a couple of huge Douglas fir trees a few years before.

Birds showed no interest in these fast growing shrubs until this year, when they reached a height of around two meters.

The Tennessee warblers built a tiny down covered nest, and dutifully sat on several eggs.

The male, although quieter while the female was brooding, would sit on top of her in the impossibly small nest and sing a few bars periodically.

Once the youngsters hatched, both adults flew frenetically, bringing tiny green caterpillars and other small insects to feed the brood.

In an incredibly short time, less than two weeks, I awoke to find the deafening silence of an empty nest. I hope for a repeat performance next year...

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