by Ryan Ponto | Jul 30, 2017 | Bird Netting
PARRY SOUND — Have you ever noticed a hole or two in the trunk of a tree? These holes, also known as cavities, are incredibly important. Over 50 species of birds and mammals in Ontario depend on cavities in trees for countless purposes. These holes are used for feeding, nesting, roosting, storing food, denning, escaping predators, providing shelter, raising young, and hibernating.
Although cavities occur naturally, many are also created by hardworking birds like woodpeckers, chickadees, and the red-breasted nuthatch. A common cavity created by a woodpecker is a feeding cavity. These cavities are 5-20 cm deep and often have a rectangular or irregular shape with rough edges. If you see at least two oval-shaped cavities in a large hollow tree, it may be a roost cavity for pileated woodpeckers. There are at least two holes so that the bird can escape if a predator comes. Cavities for nesting tend to have circular entrances as well but this time the woodpecker has hollowed out a chamber inside the tree. Rarely are two nest holes less than 1 m apart. Nest cavities can also form when a branch dies and leaves a more irregular hole.
Many excavating birds do not use the same nest cavity twice. This allows many other birds and mammals including the saw whet owl, kestrel, eastern bluebird, deer mouse, marten, and fisher to move in. Other wildlife can also use natural cavities called escape cavities as shelter or protection from predators. These are not suitable for roosting or denning because of their size or where they are found. Escape cavities could include natural openings at ground level or hollow trees with large seams.
Cavities are often found on less vigorous or declining trees. In managed forests, the least healthy trees are usually removed first so that the forest can improve and thrive. So how are local foresters ensuring that these important habitat features remain in our crown forests? Westwind Forest Stewardship Inc., that manages forested Crown land in the Muskoka-Parry Sound region, ensures that at least a prescribed minimum number of cavity trees are being maintained. Certified tree markers are selecting good cavity trees to stay. By putting a blue spray paint “W” or dot on a tree, they let operators know that this tree cannot be harvested.
All cavity trees, however, are not created equal. Trees with nest or roost cavities are more valuable for wildlife than feeding or escape cavities. More valuable cavity trees are prioritized when selecting wildlife trees to keep in a stand. Sometimes, like in the case of roost cavities, there is even a harvest-free reserve put around the tree to further protect it.
So why don’t dentists like foresters? Because we keep too many cavities.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Jul 29, 2017 | Bird Netting
If anyone is under the impression that only mammals possess the drive to fight for their young and create strong family bonds, this video will clearly prove them wrong. The footage shows just what an incredible risk a bird mother is willing to take to protect her future family, even though the danger is nothing less than lethal.
The woodpecker mother is seen fighting mercilessly with a large snake emerging from her nestin a trunk of a tree. Even though the snake attacks her time after time, the bird comes back repeatedly to make the animal get away from her eggs. The conflict goes so far that the snake ends up with a bunch of the woodpecker’s feathers in their mouth after getting hold of her. But the bird does not tire – and seems like abandoning the eggs to the predator is not even an option.
This unbelievable scene is a great proof of how vitally important their young are to bird mothers – so much so that the woodpecker confronts the predator with determination despite the obvious fact that doing it, she is also very much risking her own life.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Jul 28, 2017 | Bird Netting
While the approximately 200 species of woodpeckers can be found over much of the planet, there are seven species in Florida, several of which might be seen in wooded areas of Leon County.
Our most common woodpecker is the red-bellied, which readily comes to feeders for sunflower seeds or peanuts. Our largest is the pileated, and is familiar for its red crest and noisy hammering. The downy woodpecker is the smallest we generally see, and is not much larger than a sparrow. They, too, readily come to backyard feeders for seeds and suet cakes.
Almost identical to the downy, the hairy woodpecker is a bit larger and is not as common. Our only brown woodpecker is the northern flicker, often seen on the ground, flicking aside leaf debris in search of ants. In steady decline is the red-headed woodpecker due to loss of habitat and competition for nesting sites from starlings. And finally, our rarest, and federally protected woodpecker is the red-cockaded.
All of these woodpecker species excavate nesting sites in trees. Some have definite tree preferences. For example, the endangered red-cockaded excavates its nesting cavity only in older living pine trees that are infected with red heart rot and located in relatively open areas. Most woodpeckers, however, create nest cavities in dead or decaying wood. Removal of dead or dying trees from forests, parks, and yards results in declining habit for woodpeckers in search of nesting sites.
Standing dead and dying trees called “snags” are important for cavity nesters. Snags may occur as a result of disease, lightning, fire, animal damage, too much shade, drought, root competition, or just old age. All trees are potential snags, but many are cut down without thought to their value as nest sites. Many snags can safely be left in place.
Different kinds of trees develop cavities at different ages, and woodpeckers use both hardwood and cone-bearing trees. The best snags for cavity-nesting birds are those with hard sapwood and decayed heartwood, making them hard on the outside and softer in the middle.
Woodpeckers are considered “primary cavity nesters” as they generally create new nesting holes each year. “Secondary cavity nesters” such as bluebirds, chickadees, nuthatches, wood ducks, owls, and squirrels are highly dependent on abandoned woodpecker nesting sites.
Snags can be incorporated into your landscape. Try to keep old and damaged trees when possible and when safe to do so. In urban areas, tall snags are best located away from high activity areas so they will not pose a safety hazard if they fall.
Trees that lean away or are downhill from houses and other structures may present little or no risk. You can tell if a tree is a future snag if it has running sap, one or more splits in the trunk, dead main limbs, fungi on the bark, or current evidence of animal use such as woodpecker holes.
You can also create snags on your property by removing the top third of the tree and half of the remaining side branches, or leave the top the way it is and remove a majority of the tree’s side branches. Consider doing this with trees that currently create a hazard due to weak wood or disease, trees that are creating too much shade where you want sun, trees with invasive roots threating a drain field or septic tank, a tree in a group that needs thinning out, or a tree in an area where there are currently no snags.
Always hire an expert tree service to handle this work. Many certified arborists with the International Society of Arboriculture specialize in snag creation and maintenance.
It is highly probable that any snag you provide for birds and other wildlife will be used. Even a tree that is partially dead can provide habitat, as long as the tree is large enough in diameter. In addition to providing nesting sites in snags, backyard birders can provide properly built birdhouses or nest boxes that mimic natural cavities and help to increase the availability of nesting habitat.
Check out the online UF/IFAS EDIS publication, “Helping Cavity-Nesters in Florida,” for specifications for woodpecker (and other bird) nest boxes.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Jul 27, 2017 | Bird Netting
Nuthatches are the only North American birds that search for food much of the time by going head-first down a tree branch or trunk. It is thought that they do this to find food woodpeckers miss on their way up the trunk.
They’re looking for insects, their eggs and larvae hiding in bark crevices. In winter, they often hide seeds in these crevices, to be eaten later.
While the white-breasted nuthatch is widely distributed in all 48 contiguous states, Mexico and Canada, the brown-headed nuthatch lives only in the southeastern US.
This bird favors pine forests, often nesting in pine snags, foraging for insects on pine trees, eating seeds of pine trees, even using parts of these seeds to line its nest.
In winter, brown-headeds often roost for the night in former nest cavities, and it’s usually more than just the breeding pair that spends the night together. As many as ten have been observed crowding into one cavity — a virtual bird slumber party! It may seem cramped for space, but it enables the birds to share each other’s body heat. They all stay a lot warmer that way on cold winter nights.
Sharing a roost cavity isn’t the only way these birds cooperate. Unlike other nuthatch species, brown-headeds frequently get some help with the child-rearing, as well. Breeding pairs are aided by others, probably relatives, with territorial defense, nest excavation, nest sanitation, and feeding of the female at the nest, nestlings, and fledglings. This behavior makes nuthatch baby rearing a family affair.
Eastern bluebird populations have benefited tremendously by nest box programs begun in the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, there may be more bluebirds now than ever before.
The brown-headed nuthatch could use your help in the same way.
If you live in an area with pine trees, put up a bluebird nest box with a smaller entrance hole — 1 1/8 inches in diameter is just right — and brown-headed nuthatches may nest in it. Or, maybe chickadees will, and that’s okay, too.
These two nuthatches are easily distinguished by appearance. Both have white breasts, but while the white-breasted nuthatch has a black cap, the brown-headed’s cap is … your guessed it, brown. The white-breasted is twice the size of the tiny brown-headed nuthatch.
They can also be recognized by their voices. White-breasted nuthatches have a persistent, nasal call, yank-yank-yank, while the brown-headed nuthatch sounds like a squeaky toy, saying dee-dee-dee, dee-dee-dee.
Both nuthatches are readily attracted to feeders stocked with sunflower seeds and suet. For a small investment in the purchase of these bird foods and a couple of feeders, you can draw them up close and enjoy their company year-round.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Ryan Ponto | Jul 26, 2017 | Bird Netting
One of about 50 endangered animals whose habitat includes Virginia just got a new lease on life. Late in June, the Center for Conservation Biology (CCB), a joint program of the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, announced the first successful breeding of the red-cockaded woodpecker in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The Great Dismal Swamp meanders through southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, between Norfolk and Elizabeth City, N.C.
Previously the only habitat in Virginia for the bird was the Piney Grove Nature Preserve in Sussex County. The preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy, has the northernmost population of this woodpecker. “In 1999, The Nature Conservancy and its partners began restoring the pine savanna habitat to pull the woodpeckers back from the edge of extinction in Virginia,” said Brian Van Eerden, director of TNC’s Virginia Pinelands Program. “Growing the population from a starting point of 12 birds to 70 today started the track record of success for the species’ recovery at its northern limit.”
CCB Director Brian Watts said in a news release that the Great Dismal Swamp breeding program is “a milestone in an ongoing effort to establish a breeding population within the refuge.” Conservationists were concerned because of the risks of having a habitat in an area prone to hurricanes and other natural disasters, so the breeding program in the Great Dismal Swamp was started in 2015. At first the effort seemed like a long shot. “During the run up to the breeding season, only five of the 18 birds that had been moved from other populations remained within the refuge, including two males and three females,” Dr. Watts said.
“By early May, the birds had formed two breeding pairs and soon each had laid three eggs.” The eggs hatched on May 13. Twenty days later, the young birds were “flying and foraging,” Watts reported.
Near-extinct species that have habitats in Virginia include such creatures as the bog turtle, the smallest turtle in North America, and the Shenandoah salamander found only in the Shenandoah National Park. Another example of a Virginia endangered species is the spruce-fir moss spider, one of the smallest tarantulas. It lives in the highest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains.
Efforts to save these and other species, including the red-cockaded woodpecker, are just a few of many such projects around the world. Other examples are described in a visually stunning three-part PBS documentary titled “RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark,” to air on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on WCVE PBS beginning July 18. “RARE” follows National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore as he photographs animals at risk of extinction. The series also focuses on factors causing extinction, such as deforestation, rising sea levels, pollution and human encroachment. Sartore said at least 100 species become extinct every day. “It’s a race against time. Fifty percent of all animals are now threatened with extinction,” he said. “It’s folly to think that we can drive half of everything else to extinction but that people will be just fine.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
