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bathing in icy water ....

15 years ago

Can't believe it... the grackles come to the pond waiting for the water to thaw in the morning & the they take a bath in that frigid water!!!! Are they 'Finnish' grackles that dive into the icy water but here no sauna to fly to later!

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Comments (4)

rachel_frome_ky
15 years ago
Many birds head south in winter but the ones that stay make use of a "counter current heat exchanger" blood system that keeps them from freezing.

Of course if you put up a heated birdbath you will eventually have a flock of grateful winter birds that don't have to use precious calories to heat the water
vieja_gw
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks rachel! I have neighbors with horrible huge mulberry trees with roots that invade our lawn & flower beds for water as they never water any thing or clean their yard. Yet they say I have an 'unsanitary yard' as I feed the birds from a 'thistle sock' near a birdbath in my flowerbed! They say the birds come to feed & then go to roost in their mulberry trees & 'dump' on their cars parked there! The birds roost there at night all year anyway whether I feed them or not & I feel the solution (!! ha) would be to cut down those neglected trees! Those trees are no longer legal to plant in the city so hope these have a short life expectancy!
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rachel_frome_ky
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Mulberry trees are a wonderful boon and food source for birds as well as an overgrown yard that is not prayed with toxic pesticides and has plenty of new growth plant food and poison-free insects for the birds.

Nature lovers now often know to leave their branch and brush cutting piles in the yard to provide protection for the birds where they can keep warm in winter and hide from hawks during the day. My branch cutting piles used to be filled with fledgling Carolina Wrens and those of other species in the spring. It is often advised to even add your old Christmas trees to the pile. Neat, sprayed, groomed yards only look good to Western, English manor style people as non-western countries have different customs.
rachel_frome_ky
15 years ago
Here's a link to a cool article on having a "green" lawn for birds that was on my twitter feed. I follow many avid birders on twitters so get alot of bird information. Of course, many now say it's better to abandon the "lawn" concept altogether but this gives great ideas if you prefer an English style mowed lawn.

http://www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com/the-wildlife-friendly-eco-lawn.html

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