FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] fwd of notes on pre-hurricane bird behavior

[Dnldhlt@xxxxxxx]

Hey folks,
     I hope nobody minds my sharing these interesting observations from the 
carolina birds listserve. I am fascinated by animals' ability to anticipate 
weather events.
Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 15:17:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nathan Dias 
Subject: Pre-hurricane bird behavior

About 3:30pm today, my yard & feeders were suddenly
inundated with a few hundred Common & Boat-tailed
Grackles + Red-winged Blackbirds and the Juvenile
Shiny Cowbird I have seen a few times over the past
fortnight.  It was like someone threw a switch.  To
try and satisfy the horde and get food to the regular
customers, I scattered more seed than usual, put out
an extra seed feeder and some feed boards.  I have
never had this many customers before, even
before/during winter storms.  The Woodpeckers, Wrens &
Chickadees are currently working on their third
hand-sized suet patty of the day.

In addition to the above birds, the RT Hummingbirds
have been feeding constantly since late morning, as
have Downy & RB Woodpeckers, Brown Thrashers,
Chickadees, Titmouse, Carolina Wrens, Cardinals, Blue
Jays, Mourning Doves, etc.  Some Warblers also "fell
out" this afternoon - Prairie, Am. Redstart,
Black-and-White and at least a pair of Gnatcatchers.

The birds did not act this way yesterday prior to TS
Bonnie, so they seem to know Hurricane Charley is on
the way.  I have had lower barometric pressure
readings than now on many occasions (without this
crazy feed-fest), so apparently the birds somehow know
what is coming.  Wild creatures never cease to amaze
me.  

Is anyone else in the SC Lowcountry noticing this
phenomenon?  I presume their instinct is to feed
heavily now, since they might not be able to do much
foraging tomorrow.  Plus insect pickings might be slim
for awhile...

I had already evacuated this close to Hurricane Hugo,
so I wasn't around to note this phenomenon if it
happened then...

Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC.

PS I am really worried about seabirds with late chicks
like Black Skimmers; I hope there is not too much
storm surge on the islands where they nest.

-----------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 18:48:51 -0400
From: "KC Foggin" 
Subject: Pre-storm bird activity

My feeders are much the same as Nathan's.  Left work early today to find all
feeders that had been filled to the brim this morning, completely empty.  

All are feeding frantically and pushing their sidekicks away.  Even my one
lone hummer was sipping from a feeder that a house finch was resting on to
wait a turn at the other feeders.  Very strange.

KC Foggin
Myrtle Beach SC

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2004 17:21:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nathan Dias 
Subject: Pre-hurricane bird behavior addendum

I forgot to mention another interesting bit of bird
behavior I noticed today.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds apparently called a
truce; the adult males have not been chasing the
females and immature males away from feeders and prime
flower spots like they usually do.

One almost never sees more than one hummer at a time
at a feeder in this neighborhood, but today I saw two
feeding at once several times and once saw 3 birds
guzzling at the same feeder simultaneously.  Also saw
a pair of hummers working the same shrimp plant
together and two working a Coral Woodbine (native
honeysuckle) at once.

It isn't because the females & immatures have become
more assertive - they all just seem to have buried the
hatchet.

Nathan Dias - Charleston, SC

*************************************************
       BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST
Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5

This is a regional birding list sponsored by the
Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications 
between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia
and Northeast Tennessee.  
--------------------------------------------------
You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds.
To post to this mailing list, simply send an email
to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send
an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
--------------------------------------------------
       Wallace Coffey, Moderator
         wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
           (423)764-****