Q: Is it crazy to think I was hearing an owl hooting one night right after Halloween?
A: Not crazy at all. The most common owl in Minnesota is the great horned owl, and males begin hooting in the fall, to reassert their ownership of a territory. Also, a male and female will begin duet hooting as part of courtship about two months before nesting begins in January or February. These large birds nest early, timing it so their youngsters are learning to hunt about the time that other species' youngsters (mice, voles, rabbits, squirrels) become available as prey. Keep your eyes peeled: If you're hearing owls hooting, there's a chance they might be setting up a nest nearby. Owl aren't builders; instead they adopt an old nest abandoned by a squirrel, hawk or crows, or use a snag in a large tree.
What's up with goldfinches?
Q: We've fed birds for more than 30 years and have always had a good mix of birds. But this fall there are very few goldfinches around. Are they in decline?
A: I haven't read about any drop in the goldfinch population, here or elsewhere. These are very successful little birds and they tend to do well in our region. What may be happening is that goldfinches migrate in the fall, although it's more like a population shift: Our backyard birds move southward and are replaced by finches moving in from the north. There can be a delay between the time one group leaves and the other arrives, and I'd bet that's what was happening in your neighborhood.
Are feeders OK?
Q: Is it OK to feed birds in the winter, or does this make them dependent on our feeders?
A: This is a frequently asked question and I always recommend feeding birds in every season of the year, but especially in winter. Birds don't become dependent on our feeders, instead regarding them as one of many stops along their daily feeding routes. However, in winter's cold, when there's less food in nature and less daylight for finding it, feeders are very welcome. Birds need at least 25% more calories in cold weather to maintain their body temperature, and they especially need to eat at sunup and just before sundown, to make it through the long night.
You might see up to 15 species of birds around your feeding station in winter, such as cardinals, chickadees, woodpeckers, nuthatches, house finches, goldfinches, blue jays, crows, juncos, starlings, house sparrows, kinglets and brown creepers. Most of these birds travel in small flocks on a circuit between favorite feeding sites each day.
Tail flickers
Q: I've always wondered why some birds, like Eastern phoebes, for instance, flick their tails up and down all the time?
