Let's talk about our backyard birds (Part 1)

If you live in Surrey Park, you cannot avoid bearing witness to birds. That is, in large park, because of the bounty of our trees. I need to emphasize this latter point because mature trees and bird density are intrinsically connected. It is for this reason that I urge you to reconsider the impact of every large tree you plan to remove. I will talk more about our trees in future post, but for now, just know that the birds need trees.

We have quite a diversity of birds here in Surrey Park, more than you'd probably realize. Over time, in my own backyard alone, I have identified somewhere around 35 unique bird species, and I'm aware of a handful of birds here in our neighborhood that I've not been fortunate enough to sight in my own backyard...yet.

This first photo above features a very common bird, the House Sparrow. It is actually considered an "invasive" bird, since it's native to Europe and not North America. It is, however, highly prolific and resilient, which is probably why we see so many of them. To be honest, to say that House Sparrows are not my favorite bird is an understatement. Their song isn't very musical, they're hogs at the bird feeders, they can swarm a feeder and push out or scare away other, more timid birds, and let's face it, they're not very pretty birds. The nesting box (a.k.a. bird house) you see in the photo hangs up about nine months of the year, and this pair of House Sparrows claims it very early on in the season. Like, it's still officially winter when they start making moves on it.

Another common bird most people know and recognize is the Northern Cardinal. The male displays a gorgeous red -- which actually brightens and gets more lustrous as we get deeper into winter! His beak looks red as well, and he "wears" a mask of black feathers above and below it. He also has a crest of head feathers that can stand tall or be protracted on his head. (I haven't studied up on when or under what conditions his crest raises. Female cardinals are similar in shape and size, but their feathers are an orange-tinged brown and she has a more orangey beak. Cardinals skew towards monogamy and each pair produces about two broods of eggs per year, with two or three eggs per brood.

This brings me to breeding. For a few years before the pandemic, I volunteered for baby bird rescue at Tri-State Bird Rescue (a nationally-recognized bird rescue and sanctuary not far away in Newark). Through that experience, I learned a lot about birds' breeding behavior. Here in Delaware, most birds start breeding in the springtime. That is why we hear such a cacophony of bird song in the very early spring morning! Some people complain about this bird song, as it is very loud and raucous, but I like to remind people that this is a bird mating ritual. It's kind of like complaining about human foreplay. 🧐 The mating season for most of our birds continues through early summer, i.e. March until July, though there are outliers. For example, the American Goldfinch is the latest breeding bird, producing its egg clutches in August. So, once again, please be mindful of any tree removal you might be considering in the spring! If you must, must, must remove a tree on your property, it is so much better to do so after August and before March. Imagine if a tornado came by and destroyed your home while you or your wife was pregnant -- that is what it's like to cut down a tree during nesting season!

There is SO MUCH MORE I want to share about the wonderful birds of Surrey Park that it most definitely will not fit into just one post, so I'm going to wrap this one up. More to come soon!