February is for the birds
Stopping to smell the flowers
Arlene Marturano marturanoa@ yahoo.com

The birds have been chirping as if it were spring. Maybe they're disputing the ground hog's predictions? Their melodies called me outdoors to accomplish winter chores awaiting in February.

First on the list was to clean the bluebird nesting boxes. Bluebirds select nesting sites by Valentine's Day. Usually, the male finds the cavity or box and escorts his prospective mate to inspect the love nest. Her song and wing and tail maneuvers communicate approval.

This morning, a pair of Carolina chickadees examined one of the vacant properties. Often these cavity nesters or their cousins, the tufted titmice, settle in before bluebirds get a chance. After brushing out the cedar nesting boxes, they are ready for the year's avian tenants. My boxes are pole mounted and have metal hole guards to thwart predators.

The eastern bluebird's preferred diet of insects is less available in winter. So they increase consumption of berries from plantings of eastern red cedar, crepe myrtle, hawthorn, dogwood, and holly.

The best seed and weed plants to salvage, swap, or purchase to provide fresh on- the- spot seed from summer to fall are millet, buckwheat, sunflower, peanuts, mullein, teasel, and zinnia.

The eastern bluebird can be seen in Columbia throughout the winter.

Coneflowers will satisfy seed eaters like house finches, goldfinches, cardinals, towhee, and nuthatches. Nectar- rich flowers such as bee balm, four o'clock, scarlet sage, and trumpet creeper will lure hummingbirds.

Scrub bird baths with a polyester pot scrubber and dish soap year- round. A bottle brush, dish detergent, and hot water cleans hummingbird feeders.

Since deciduous trees are still bare in February, exposed bird nests from the previous year ornament the trees.

Over time patterns emerge. For example, towhees select the same or similar hollies each year, grey catbirds hide in the pittosporum, and house finches colonize the red cedars. Nests are still in good condition and some even hold eggshell clues.

A trusted reference for identifying bird nests

and eggs is A Field Guide

to Birds' Nests (east of the Mississippi) by Hal H. Harrison.

It is not unusual to have bluebirds, cardinals, house finches, mockingbirds, towhees, titmice, chickadees, ruby crowned kinglets, nuthatches, grey catbirds, and great- crested flycatcher pass through the backyard nursery in one season.

The last task is to prepare for the Great Backyard Bird Count from February 15- 18. Feeders should be stocked with seed and suet, and bird baths should be filled with fresh water.

For more information on the Great Backyard Bird Count, visit www.birdcount.org.