Birds obviously like all other living animals need water. If you have a bird bath and you have regular visitors to your bird bath then these feathered friends might have come to depend on this water source. There are ways to keep a fresh water source for birds year round.  There are bird bath heaters, bird bath de-icers, and winter bird bath kits!

Let’s take a look at a winter bird bath kit.

Here is what is included.  A submersible bird bath heater or de-icer. This bird bath heater allows you to provide ice free water for your local birds all winter long and it is safe in ceramic bird baths, concrete bird baths and plastic bird baths.   This kit also includes bird bath protector. This product is non-toxic and is all natural bacteria free enzymes. Go green with you bird bath! All of this for a little over $50.00! Get one this winter before your bird bath freezes over and your little and large feathered friends are left out in the cold with no fresh water!

The baby House Sparrow that we found stopped taking food. We decided to call a bird rescue center and drop the little guy off. While we were there my son decided to volunteer. He is now training at the facility. You can view there website here : www.birdrescuecenter.com

He works there taking care of all of the injured birds. He also feeds all of the orphaned baby birds. It is really a great place. We will be providing pictures and stories from the rescue center here on Thebirdnerds.com.

Now back to that little sparrow. Once he was brought to the rescue center he was put into a habitat with other baby sparrows and began eating on his own. We had the pleasure of releasing him and the other baby sparrows back into the wild just the other day! Here is a very short video of the release.

Just the other day while I was walking, I noticed a very small bird in the middle of the road. I watched him hop as cars flew by.  I walked to the edge of the road and watched the baby sparrow. He hopped towards the middle of the road just as a car was coming. I closed my eyes not wanting to see the baby get hit by the car. I felt the wind of the car as it passed. I looked into the road and saw no bird. I looked down at my feet and there it was. It managed to hop across a busy highway and end up at my feet. I reached down and picked it up and brought it home.

UPDATE : We took this baby house sparrow to a bird rehabilitation center where we ended up working as volunteers for a while. I have received lots of questions on what to feed baby birds, we used this formula at the bird rehabilitation center.

Kaytee Handfeeding Formula – EXACT HAND FEEDING FORMULA 18 OZ.

My son loves birds and when he saw this little one he asked if we could keep it and I said I think we have to until it can feed on it’s own.  So we now have what I believe to be a baby house sparrow.

I searched the web for tips on feeding a baby sparrow and came up with this site that has loads of helpful tips and recipes. http://www.starlingtalk.com/babycare.htm

We have had the bird now for four days and my son feeds it whenever it asks. The baby sparrow has really taken to him and will only feed for him.  As soon as the baby sparrow sees my son it stands tall, chirps loudly and opens it mouth wide. My son is happy to oblige and feeds the little sparrow. He has named the bird ” Tweety.”

I will post updates as he grows and hopefully in the near future we can set the baby sparrow free!

The Young Naturalist Backyard Birder is a great book for young birders. The contents of this book are easily accessible making it possible to instill a lifelong love of birds and nature. This book features beautiful life-like illustrations by award winning Naturalist Roger Tory Peterson.

Notes on bird’s description, diet and habitats are included in an easy to read and understand format. Birds are categorized by color which makes it easy for young readers to learn how to identify birds in the field. Young birders will be able to identify 20 common backyard birds.

Pick up a copy for your young birders right here!

The great egret’s population was greatly diminished  in the early 1800’s due to plume hunters wanting the Egret’s lacy plumes that form on it’s back and tail during mating season. They are Monogamous and will nest with other wading birds such as The Great Blue Heron.

The Great Egret is a stealthy hunter and prefers to hunt in shallow marshes and wetlands. It will sit very still waiting patiently for it’s food to swim by and then in a flash it strikes it’s food source.  They are very beautiful birds.

This photo was taken at Merritt  Island Wildlife Refuge.

The Great Egret is accompanied by the smaller Little Egret.

We recently launched our bird store. I just added a new category of bird baths that I would like to share with you. They are solar powered! What could be better for your garden than a solar powered bird bath or fountain.

Bird baths are a great way to attract birds into your yard. They can provide them with water all year round. I have had more species of birds visit my bird baths than my feeders.

Solar powered bird baths are ECO friendly harnessing the power of natural sunlight and converting it into energy that is used to circulate the water in the fountain which can help maintain it’s cleanliness. This flow of water can also be a very soothing and stress relieving.

I really like these two solar powered bird baths.

TerraCotta Solar Powered Bird Bath

Add an air of serenity to your garden, patio, or balcony with the Terracotta Cascade Water Fountain. Water naturally cascades down this four-tiered terracotta fountain to inspire serenity and relaxation. A low-voltage, solar-powered pump sends water to the top vessel, where it trickles back down to the basin in a continuous cycle.

Read More!

Then we also have this nice solar powered bird bath.

Litchfield Solar Bird BathOur lovely EXCLUSIVE Litchfield Solar Bird Bath and Fountain is designed for long-lasting enjoyment via a solar panel that powers the water without any electricity or messy wires. Place your bird bath in direct sunlight and a fountain of water will flow effortlessly attracting birds of all species. Made from durable all-weather resin you’ll enjoy this bird bath fountain season after season.

Read More!

Nature has a great way of protecting animals. It is called camouflage. Some animals blend in so well with their environment that you might have a difficult time finding them. This could possibly save them from predation or hunting.

This photo was taken at Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. I am not sure of the species of bird as I did not get a good enough look for a positive Identification. If you know what species this is, please by all means leave a comment on this post.

So let’s play that game where you have to find the items hidden in the picture. I will give you one clue, there are two birds in this photo, one is very obvious the other is not. So look over the photo and see if you can find them both.

Well I bet you found one right away didn’t you? The object on the right is not a bird by the way, it is a stump. Here is the first bird revealed.

You got that one right? I hope so, but where is the other one hidden? Don’t scroll down just yet. Keep looking and see if you can spot the other bird. ____________________________________________________________________
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Keep Looking up top!

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Are you ready now? Did you find the other bird? Well Here it is!

Were you able to find that little guy perfectly camouflaged? Here is a close up of the baby.

Isn’t it amazing how they blend in? Now scroll back to the first picture and find the little guy!

www.TheBirdNerdsStore.com

 

We have included quite a few items and will be adding more as we grow. Our store has Bird feeders, Bird Baths, Bird Books, Binoculars, Spotting Scopes and much much more. We hope you enjoy it!

The Brown Pelican or Pelecanus occidentalis is quite common in Florida but faced extinction due to pesticides that caused the egg shells to be thin. They are still considered threatened.

The Brown pelican is an excellent flier. I love to watch them fly over the waves at the beach. They fly in straight line formations just a few inches above the water dodging the waves in surf. They seem to just barely miss the waves as the swells crash and turn into white water. It is an amazing sight and can be very acrobatic as they dodge wave after wave.

The Brown Pelican is also an excellent fish catcher. They will fly high above the water looking for fish and when a meal is spotted, they fall from the sky at great speed, plunging into the water below, scooping up their prize fish in their pouch. You can often see the fish struggling in the bird’s pouch as the Pelican lifts it’s head and shakes it’s catch down.

The Brown Pelican is also an opportunist, and will try and steal food from just about anywhere. This has led to trouble with the Brown Pelican and Fisherman. The Brown Pelican will often take the fisherman’s bait as it hits the water and swallow the hook, line and sinker. I have seen quite a few Brown Pelican’s with hooks protruding from their brown pouches and sometimes from their brown webbed feet. The pelicans will also follow commercial fisherman’s boats by the dozen. They know that the commercial fisherman will often throw unwanted catches back into the water and they are right on top of it, often catching the food before it hits the water.

They will also follow dolphin as they round up a meal. I love to watch these two, it is one of the best shows you could see and it beats anything that Seaworld has to offer. The Dolphin of course are very intelligent and watching them hunt down a fish is just amazing. Someone else has learned that this can be a great time to maybe try and steal a meal. Can you guess who? The Brown Pelican of course.

The dolphin will surface, blow air from it’s blow hole and then disappear under the surface of the water as they try and coral their prey. Once the prey is cornered the show begins. The Dolphin uses a burst of speed to surprise the fish. This is often done is shallow water, so quite suddenly you will see a huge wake as the dolphin speeds towards it’s prey. The dolphin will often hit the fish into the air with it’s nose, and then leap out of the water and catch the fish before it can fall back into the water. All of this takes place in less than 5 seconds. The Brown Pelican is often right on top of the dolphin waiting to steal that fish as it flies into the air. The Pelican is a good indicator of exactly where the dolphin will surface and catch it’s food. They can see all of the action happening beneath them. I was lucky enough to catch the whole act with my digital camera. Here are some Pictures. Enjoy!

The Dolphin surfaces next to the pelican.

The Dolphin explodes out of the water as the Pelican moves in closer!

The Dolphin’s head breaks the surface of the water and if you look close you can see the fish in it’s mouth as the pelican tries to fly in and steal it!

Everytime I get to go to Lyonia preserve, it is a treat. The wildlife at Lyonia preserve is always ready to entertain the visitors that hike the trails. My favorite inhabitant is the Florida Scrub Jay. These birds are always so curious and fearless. They will often appear from out of nowhere. There might suddenly be a bird sitting in a tree right next to you and he wasn’t there just a moment ago. The Florida Scrub Jay is very stealthy when they want to be. They are now listed as endangered due to habitat loss. They always pose seem to be questioning you just with their looks. Enjoy these photos that I took with my digital camera.