Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with birding

Is there an alternative to harmful herbicides that will kill weeds but not harm backyard wildlife?

feeshbitZ — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 11:47:28 -0800

Is there an alternative to harmful herbicides that will kill weeds but not harm backyard wildlife? My yard is full of weeds. It looks awful. We're having an awful time getting rid of the weeds because there are just too many to manually pull each out. So my husband wants to use a "Weed and Feed" or some similar weed killer on our entire lawn to kill the weeds, then start seeding grass. Here is the problem - I'm an avid backyard birder. With all the bird feeders, birdbaths and bird houses in our backyard, I'd say we have at least 40 birds in our backyard at any given time. Many of these birds are ground feeders - meaning they eat the bugs, worms and dropped seeds from the ground. My husband's proposition to kill the weeds in our yard worries me. I'm concerned that these herbicides will hurt our birds and/or the bugs and worms that they eat off the ground.

So, metafilter community, can you offer any suggestions of methods we can use to get rid of the prolific weeds in our yard without harming the diversity of wildlife we enjoy? Do you know if "Weed and Feed" options will harm the wild birds, insects and worms? So far my research has turned up few alternatives to the "scorched earth" method my husband wants to employ.

Thanks!

Bird Filter - What kind of raptor was that?

coollibrarian — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 08:34:21 -0800

While on a walk in the dunes yesterday, I saw what was clearly a raptor, but not one I had seen before. It had a rust-colored breast with dark wings and a dark tail. It was smaller-bodied than a red-tailed hawk and the tail was on the long, slender side. I did not see any bar markings, and it did not appear to be a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and that's the extent of my area hawk knowledge. Some sort of falcon, perhaps? I am located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, it was mid-day in the beach dunes, and the area is heavily populated by rabbits (if that helps).

Naturally I tried Google, but did not come up with a picture that looked close.

Any ideas?

Birders, bring a novice into the fold!

palindromic — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:46:56 -0800

Birders: I need your help! Yes, I have a guide. Yes, binoculars. Yes, I wander around heavily wooded areas with my fingers twisted in knots, hoping to see a measly robin so I can feel like mine is a life not wasted. Now help me be better! Please, dear hive mind, tell me it's not all hard work and practice. Tell me that there are shortcuts and awesome tips to finding the sweet birds in the high branches.

I've been to the top googled sites, and man. I want something more personal.

I went birdwatching in earnest for the first time this weekend up in the Sleeping Bear Sand Dune area, and I came away with 20 or so positively identified birds, but frankly most of them sucked. Chipping sparrows? House wrens? Bah. I want scarlet tanagers and the like.

Tell me. How do I find them? What guides, equipment and so on do you recommend? I live in a townhouse in Detroit with no yard, so feeders are kind of tough, but if you know of feeders that work well in very urban locales then tell me all.

No advice too arcane to consider! When I find something elusive, you can accept my giddy and distant yelp as your cosmic reward.

Birding Gurus: Was that really a Carolina Wren?

longdaysjourney — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:56:46 -0800

A wren or not a wren, that is the question.... Hi MetaBirders! I'm trying to determine if a bird I heard today, whose song matches the mp3 for the Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) found on this page, was a Carolina wren (or not). All the other sound recordings I can find for this wren online don't sound anything like the Patuxent clip. Is the Patuxent recording actually a Caroline wren? Or is it another bird? (It's just weird that I can't find another Carolina wren that sounds similar to the Patuxent one.)

Good camera equipment for nature photography?

L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:57:41 -0800

What sort of setup do I need for decent nature photography? I might be attending a meetup to take pictures of birds and nature. I've been considering getting a digital SLR anyway, so what are good choices, both in terms of specs and brands, for a body and lenses to take decent photos of birds and the like for a reasonable price?

What bird is making this song?

trey — Sun, 16 Apr 2006 05:06:22 -0800

I hear a bird from my apartment all morning and well in to the evening. Its call is three notes, in a minor key, descending in pitch. In fact, those three notes sound almost EXACTLY like the first three guitar notes of the Black Crowes' song "Remedy." I can't see the bird. Any help?

What are some good books about birds?

miniape — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 09:46:05 -0800

What are some good books about birds? I’m looking for more of a natural history / folklore / behavior and habits type book, rather than a field guide. Things like "The American Crow and the Common Raven" by Lawrence Kilham.

Preferably somewhat technical or at least not dumbed down, but also accessible to an outsider of the bird world. They should go into more detail about habits, etc. than something like "Hope is a Thing With Feathers," but if they have some sort of narrative sense, that's fine, even preferred. They needn't be dry text books.

The best would be books that let me get a sense of what an ornithologist does and also teaches me about birds, either at a particular level (the habits and curiosities of a species) or a general level (all about, for instance, migration).

All suggestions are appreciated, the more the better. I'll wade through them all.

What kind of (swimming) bird is this?

everichon — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 08:51:10 -0800

So my wife and I are walking in the park in SW Oregon, and there in the creek is a little starling-lookin' bird on a rock. Brown-black, no markings. The bird jumps in the water, and swims upstream under the water, looking perfectly natural. It came up with a little twig or something, then did it again, and again. It was swimming for distances of 3 to 6 feet. What kind of bird was this?