Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Nest: The Rest of the Story

On May 28 this year, I wrote about finding an easily visible Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest in Eliza Howell Park and concluded my comments this way:

“One of my goals each year for the June Detroit Audubon-sponsored field trip to Eliza Howell Park is to be able to point out an active Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest, even if I cannot expect others to be quite as enthusiastic as I am about this tiny bird and its fascinating nest.”

The field trip took place on June 8, which, according to my estimate based on observed behavior, was about day 10 of incubation (of a normal 11 – 15 day incubation period). When the our whole group stopped to look, the bird remained on the nest, watching us but not threatened enough by our presence to leave. Melissa Francese took this picture at that time.

A few days later the eggs hatched. By June 18, when Kevin Murphy took the next two photos, the young were nearing the end of their in-nest development.

It is difficult to tell because they were constantly moving, but my various efforts to count heads led me to conclude that there were probably 4 nestlings. While the female does most of the incubating, both female and male feed the young.

They are now gone from the nest, successfully fledged as far as I can tell. While Blue-gray Gnatcatchers occasionally brood twice in a year, my nest watching of this species is likely over for the year.

They are nearly halfway through their stay of 4 + months in Detroit (arrive in late April and depart in September), spending the majority of their year far to the south. (Range map from Cornel Lab of Ornithology).

I will continue to see them foraging in the park for a couple months (photo by Margaret Weber).

And each time I see one, I will feel a sense of appreciation for weeks of enjoyable nest watching this year and for a highlight of the 2019 June Audubon field trip.

Cottonwood Trees: The Fan Club

As I was thinking about the cottonwood trees in Eliza Howell Park recently, I recalled the old song, “Don’t Fence me In,” sung by “cowboys” like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. It includes these lyrics:

     “Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze; Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees”

I don’t know if the cottonwood leaves actually murmur, but they definitely get my attention at this time of the year.

There are dozens of large Eastern Cottonwoods in the park, many of them quite close to the park road. One that stands alone next to the road is a favorite.

The Baltimore Orioles that spend three months of the year in the park are also fans of the cottonwoods. Of the 44 Baltimore Oriole nests that I have found in the park in the last 8 years, 24 have been in cottonwoods. The others have been scattered among 5 other tree species, with no other species having more than 7.

In 2019 the preference for cottonwoods is even more evident: 8 nests found; 7 in cottonwoods.

Photo by Kevin Murphy

Cottonwoods are dioecious, separate female and male trees. This is the first year I have made note of the sex of the cottonwoods selected by the Baltimore Orioles for nests. 5 of the 7 are female trees. Without additional records, of course, I don’t know if this is typical.

The sex difference is easiest to notice in the spring, when the male trees have reddish flowers (catkins), which appear earlier than female catkins.

The catkins on the female trees are green and the seed capsules are, at the beginning of June, getting ready to split open to release the seeds attached to the “cotton.” The cotton will soon be flying.

The orioles are fans of the hanging branches in which to build and hide their hanging nests. I have become a cottonwood fan partly because of the orioles, but I also simply admire the trees:

– the shaking leaves with the sky as background

– standing tall and leafless in January.

I am proud to be a member of the Eliza Howell Cottonwoods fan club.

 

Inconspicuous Bark Specialist: The Brown Creeper

Occasionally between October and April I notice a small bird dropping down to the base of a large tree trunk during my walks in Eliza Howell Park. It is a Brown Creeper, a bird that can be easily missed, camouflaged as it is for its role as a bark specialist.

Photo by Kevin Murphy

The Brown Creeper is the only member of the treecreeper family of birds that is found in North America. It feeds mostly on the insects (and their eggs and larvae) and on the spiders that it gleans from cracks in the bark, creeping up the trunk of trees from the bottom to near the top, probing in cracks in the bark as it goes. It then usually flies down to the bottom of a nearby tree and starts up that one.

Even the Brown Creeper’s nest is typically in/under loose tree bark. Detroit is at the southern edge of the Brown Creeper’s breeding range, but so far I have not seen any in the park during breeding season. They show up here in migration in the fall and spring and are sometimes found in the winter. Their presence is unpredictable and they are always in very small numbers; I see only one or two on the few days that I see any at all. (This range map is from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.)

While it usually climbs the trunks of larger trees, it can be found at times on smaller trees as well. Here, a side view shows the light-colored underside.

Photo by Sharon Korte

This picture and the one below show how the Brown Creeper’s anatomy is suited to its creeping-up-the-tree and gleaning-insects-from-bark role. Note the long curved claws, the long stiff tail, and the decurved (downward curved) beak.

Photo by Kevin Murphy

The Brown Creeper is a bird that is well named. Once seen and its behavior watched, it is not likely to be confused with other North American birds. Though inconspicuous, it is sometimes the highlight of a winter walk in the woods.