Songbirds

Northern Mockingbird

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NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Northern Mockingbird

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Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Mockingbird on your next visit

Blue Jay

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BLUE JAY : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Blue Jay

This common large songbird is familiar to many people with its perky crest, blue, white and black plumage and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with light family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.
Cool Facts:
Thousands of Blue Jays migrate in flocks along the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts but much about their migration remains a mystery. Some are present throughout winter in all parts of their range. Young Jays may be more likely to migrate than adults but many adults also migrate. Some individual Jays migrate south one year, stay north the next winter and migrate south again the next year. No one has worked out why they migrate when they do. Blue Jays are known to take and eat eggs and nestlings of other birds but we don't know how common this is. In an extensive study of Blue Jay feeding habits, only 1% of Jays had evidence of eggsor birds in their stomachs. Most of their diet was composed of insects and nuts. The Blue Jay frequently mimics the calls of hawks, especially the Red Shouldered Hawk. These calls may provide information to other Jays that a Hawk is around or may be used to deceive other species into believing a Hawk is present. Tool use has never been reported for wild Blue Jays, but captive Blue Jays used strips of newspaper to rake in food pellets from outside their cages. Blue Jays lower their crests when they are feeding peacefully with family and flock members or tending to nestlings. At feeders in Florida, Red Headed Woodpeckers, Florida Scrub Jays, Common Grackles and Gray Squirrels strongly dominate Blue Jays often preventing them from obtaining food. The pigment in Blue Jay feathers is melanin, which is brown. The blue color is caused by scattering light through modified cells on the surface of the feathers barbs. The black bridle across the face, nape and throat varies extensively and may help Blue Jays recognize one another. The oldest known wild banded Blue Jay lived to be at least 17 years and 6 months old.

Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see "Blue" on your next visit.

Brown Thrasher

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BROWN THRASHER : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Brown Thrasher

A large, skulking bird of thickets and hedgerows, the Brown Thrasher has one of the largest song repertoires of any North American bird. Boldly patterned, it is conspicuous when singing on the territory, but is hardly noticed during the rest of the year.
Cool Facts:
The Brown Thrasher is considered a short distance migrant, but two individuals have been recorded in Europe. One in England and another in Germany. An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood. Brown Thrashers leave the nest at only 9-13 days old, earlier than either of its smaller relatives, the Northern Mocking Bird and Gray Catbird.
Habitat:
Breeds in brushy open country, thickets, shelter belts, riparian areas and suburbs. Winters in hedgegrows, gardens, thickets, and brushy woodland edges.
Food:
Insects (especially beetles), other arthopods, fruits and gnats.
Nesting:
A bulky cup made of twigs, lined with leaves, then with an inner lining of rootlets. Nests in dense shrubs, especially with thorns, up to 14 feet above ground (average 2-7 feet). Often placed on the ground.
Behavior:
Feeds in leaf litter by using bill to sweep litter and soil away. Occaisionally pecks and probes in litter.
Conservation:
Population declining slowly throughout range, perhaps because of the maturation of shrublands in the East and the elimination of fencerows and shelter belts in the Great Plains.

Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Brown Thrasher on your next visit

Northern Cardinal

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NORTHERN CARDINAL : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Northern Cardinal

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Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Cardinal on your next visit

Northern Flicker

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NORTHERN FLICKER : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Northern Flicker

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Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Northern Flicker on your next visit

Mourning Dove

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MOURNING DOVE : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Mourning Dove

A graceful, slender tailed small headed dove that's common across the continent. Mourning Doves perch on telephone wires and forage for seeds on the ground, their flight is fast and bullet straight. Their soft drawn out calls sound like laments. When taking off, their wings make a sharp whistling or whinnying sound. Mourning Doves are the most frequently hunted species in North America.
Cool Facts:
During the breeding season, you might see three Mourning Doves flying in tight formation, one after another. This is a form of social display. Typically the bird in th lead is the male of a mated pair. The second bird is an unmated male chasing his rival from the area where he hopes to nest. The third is a female of the mated pair, which seems to go along for the ride. Mourning Doves tend to feed busily on the ground, swallowing seeds and storing them in an enlargement of the esophagus called the crop. Once they have filled it (the record is 17,200 bluegrass seeds in a single crop!), they can fly to a safe perch to digest the meal. Mourning Doves eat roughly 12 to 20 percent of their body weight per day, or 71 calories on average. Perhaps one reason why Mourning Doves survive in the desert, they can drink brackish spring water (up to almost half the salinity of sea water) without becoming dehydrated the way humans would. The Mourning Dove is the most widespread and abundant game bird in North America. Every year hunters harvest more than 20 million, but the Mourning Dove remains one of our most abundant birds with a U.S population estimated at 350 million. The oldest known Mourning Dove was 31 years and 4 months old.
Nesting:
The nest is a flimsy assembly of pine needles, twigs and grass stems unlined and with little insulation for the young. Over 2 to 4 days, the male carries twigs to the female passing them to her while standing on her back, the female weaves them into a nest about 8 inches across. Mourning Doves sometimes reuse their own or other species nests.

Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Morning Doves on your next visit

Ground Dove

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GROUND DOVE : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Ground Dove

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Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Ground Dove on your next visit

Eurasian Collared Dove

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EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Eurasian Collared Dove

Introduced into the Bahamas in the mid 1970's, the Eurasian Collared Dove is now established throughout the southeastern United States and has been seen across the continent. Its spread across North America is still an evolving story, and the extent of its final range and the impact it will have on other bird species remains to be seen.
Cool Facts:
The Eurasian Collared Dove has spread rapidly across much of North America. It made a similar expansion across Europe in the 1900's. It is thought that the species occured historically only in and around India, and that a massive expansion in the 1600's brought it into Turkey and the Balkans. The Eurasian Collared Dove is often kept as a pet. The occurrence of the species in some areas of the United States can be traced not to the dispersal of wild breeders, but to escaped or released cage birds. The domesticated Ring Turtle Dove is similar to the Eurasian Collared Dove and it frequently escapes or is released from captivity. The occurrence of the first Eurasian Collared Doves in the United States went unnoticed for quite a while because of confusion with feral Ringed Turtle Doves. The two species occasionally hybridize in wild populations.
Habitat:
Found in urban, suburban and agricultural areas where grain is available.
Food:
Seeds and cereal grain, some insects.
Nesting:
Nest made of twigs, stems, roots and grasses placed in trees.
Behavior:
Feeds mostly on the ground
Conservation:
Populations increasing and spreading. May become an agricultural pest where it eats and fouls grain.

Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Eurasian Collared Dove on your next visit

Rock Dove

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ROCK DOVE : $100.00USD - yearly FEED THEM : $10.00USD - monthly

Rock Dove

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Be sure to stop by the Songbird Habitat and see our Rock Pigeon on your next visit