"I ahve to say you ladies are REALLY good, maybe we should skip to the first fall warblers???? " Ladies, we are in trouble. Check your Peterson guide on confusing fall warblers to bone up for the challenge! Actually the guide is pretty good by putting them in sub-sections by field marks and color. You can then proceed by process of elimination until you get down to the correct bird. Then check the Cornell's site for other photographs for further positive ID markers. Local variations and light in the photos make if tougher too but if you find most of key ID points it is probably that bird. According to my SMAS group the Blue Jay is considered partially leucistic, not albino, and is exhibiting other feather abnormalities related to genetics. In another communication, Arlene Ripley commented that she has seen many albino birds but none have exhibited the fur-like structures of this Jay's feathers. I did some of my own research on fur-like feathers and every site pointed to something called proto-feathers which were exhibited by some early dinosaurs before true feathers emerged. It's exciting to imagine this bird may be exhibiting an ancient genetic throwback to prehistoric times which upholds the common belief that birds evolved from dinosaurs as they first took flight. There has been a call to ask everyone on the local site if there is a scientic name for this feather anomaly and this call comes from a man that works for the Smithsonian Institute and really knows birds. So far, no reponse, so the local bird community here may be stumped. There was sentiment regarding hope the bird survives. Jean, has this bird been a regular at your feeder for any length of time in which one could make the assumption it has survived nature with this variance? Arlene suggested the photo be posted on websites dedicated to leucistic and albino birds and see if more information could be obtained from readers. PapaSmurf is a rare Blue Jay indeed. CT

This is a really old post but I’m going to chime in for future readers. Be careful what cultivar you choose - I suggest researching not only disease resistance (they are rated in four categories; fire blight, apple scab, powdery mildew and cedar apple rust), but also their appeal in terms of food for birds. Birds don‘t like the berries of every cultivar out there. I am planting a McIntosh appletree here in zone 5 wisconsin (the tree is sterile) and I need a pollinator tree nearby (McIntosh has white flowers so I will also want a white flowering crabapple as a pollinator tree). My neighbor can’t figure out why his appletree produces no fruit. Now that I’ve planted crabapple he will probably see some apples on his tree! Not all crabapples will be pollinators for my apple tree, but Firebird is one that will be a pollinator. Unfortunately, the birds leave the fruit of the Firebird alone - I did not know this at the time of purchase so I was disappointed after doing more research, however, it was an impulse clearance purchase so I’m ok with it. It‘s a very pretty ornamental tree that the Robins love to nest in as the foliage gives them lots of cover. 2 years in a row now they’ve successfully brooded there. So for disease resistance, Adirondack crabapple rates highly in all 4 categories. But I don’t think it’s a pollinator for my apple tree. ? I wanted it more for its tidy growth habit for a narrow space alongside my house. But the birds will feast on the fruit after it turns mushy after a freeze and thaw, I think. Your local reputable nurseries will will most likely sell the cultivars that are successful in your zone. My favorite nursery in Milwaukee is Minors Garden Center. I’ve been going there for years. Sargent crabapple also has excellent disease resistance and will also act as a pollinator for my apple tree, AND the Birds enjoy its fruit. If I had room I would plant a Golden Raindrops cultivar (susceptible to fireblight however). Birds love the berries. This is not a dwarf variety. Another dwarf variety I will be planting for ornamental purposes, with two flanking my front porch is Cinderella aka Cinzam cultivar. White flowering, and birds love the berries! Adams, Donald Wyman and Red Jewel are three cultivars I’ve read that birds do not eat the fruit, in addition to Firebird as mentioned earlier. Cultivars that fruit and flower only on alternate years are “Bob White," "Evelyn" and "David”. “Spring Snow" and "Prairie Rose“ flower but produce no fruit. Whitnall Park near Franklin / Hales Corners has an abundance of Crabapple varieties and the park has so many wonderful nooks and crannies to explore between the botanical gardens and the Wehr Nature Center (I grew up nearby and explored every part of that park as a kid and fell in love with it).... it’s great for hiking on prairie trails, woodland trails, marshlands, etc., and is spectacular for bird watching with stations in various areas of the marshland trails ... there are streams and waterfalls and I know where to find wild Concord grapes ...it’s just a lovely park overall. If you wanted to see some mature crabapples to get an idea of their overall form and size and growth habit, I would suggest planning a weekend visit there. You wont be disappointed.

jillmcm: ...We have a very nice woods bordering the east side of our yard that we cleared to ground level, about 15 or so feet back, 8 years ago (accept for the trees and larger saplings and burdock ~ which I enjoy and respect too much to cut back). We leveled the area because the previous owners had used it as a dumping site for waste construction material, & it became a haven for poison ivy and the like. In fighting that nasty plant back off the ground and trees, we all went through a bad time with poison ivy. Worth it. There is now a flourishing old giant umbrella shaped maple [my favorite] & a beautiful holly tree in the back yard, that we transplanted in a prominent place after digging it out of nearly being smothered by poison ivy, as a reminder of that painful/itchy season of endeavor. We, then, just let nature reseed itself in any indigenous way it would, ...while tossing a seed or two in from time to time. Now itÂs thick, beautiful & willful of more space, ...& we are prepared to enhance it with fruiting vines and such...once we get a good list of the MOST effective plants. IÂm thinking wineberry, blackberry, blueberry, sunflowers, buckwheat, Jack-in-the-pulpit, bluebells, goldenrod & some kind of aster ...for starters. There are some cleome, lavender, alyssum, echinacea, coneflower and morning glories there already; I seeded them, ...but probably NONE are indigenous [chuckle] plants. ~You said, "Also, adding a water feature, even something as simple as a glazed saucer with water dripping into it from a suspended milk jug with a pinhole (what I have three of), will bring even more birds in."~ Our water feature is a large concrete bird bath with hanging plants suspended above & to the side; their long branches dangling into the water along the sides of the basin. Sufficient?...or should I install some sort of moving-water device? ~You said, "The only time we've had a mocker in our yard was during a hot spell when they came to drink and bathe."~ Not sure why that notion has gone over my head, ...unless you are speaking of the Northern mockingbird Mimus polyglottos...or the likes of the Blue Mockingbird spoken of in the following poem: http://www.lukecole.com/Birds/Smew.htm Sorry for the wordiness of this post, ...but you have inspired my imagination.

How nice this thread got bumped! I enjoyed re-reading it and thinking about how much the yard has changed in a year. My bird-friendly yard is evolving. Have made great progress removing invasives, particularly Bittersweet, Buckthorn, and Norway Maples (treework cost me $2000 last year and there's still one GINORMOUS Norway maple left). There was a lot of brush created by all this tree/shrub work. Some was burned this Spring, right smack in the middle of the Oriental bittersweet patch, but the rest is in piles. The brush piles attract a lot of birds, particularly Sparrows, Cardinals, Juncos, and Wrens. The birds also love the back half-acre, which is wild and full of Crabapples, Choke Cherries, White Pine, and still some invasives like Honeysuckle and Autumn olive. Also making great progress on growing bird-friendly natives. Purchased another 50 native tree/shrub seedlings from the NH Nursery. That makes 130 total between this year and last - all of which ultimately make berries/nuts for the birds and wildlife. Most of them are in holding beds and haven't flowered yet, too little, but I've given away some and started to plant out a few. I winter-sowed many native species of perennials, annuals, and vines. Exactly where all this stuff is going, is not completely clear at this point, but I'm creating lasagne beds like crazy! The birds are always flitting around the yard and it's only going to get more interesting and fruitful for them (hopefully). It's great!