WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly
Connecting People
To Nature Through
Education April 23,
2007
Official Publication of
WindStar Wildlife
Institute
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Multiple
Broods Are Possible
MANY SONGBIRDS such as Northern Cardinals, American
Robins, Northern Mockingbirds and Eastern Bluebirds, all
can have two or even three broods in a season, especially if
they live in southern areas. The incubation time for a
Northern Cardinal is 12 to13 days and it takes 9 to 11 days
for the young to leave the nest. Cardinals have been know to
have up to four broods in
the Tom
Patrick
Deep South! So enjoy the birds around your home and
observe which ones
have second or more broods. Be sure and clean out your
nesting boxes after
the birds fledge (leave the
box).
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Replanting The Prairie For Wildlife
Prairie Wildlife Illustration by
Kandis Elliott, Defenders of
Wildlife
By Bill
Graham
KIRKSVILLE, MO--Pieces
sewn together make a quilt.
Steve Mowry is using that
approach to rekindle hope for endangered Prairie
Chickens and other grassland natives in a north Missouri
neighborhood better known for corporate hog
farms.
If he succeeds, Prairie
Chickens, rare butterflies and other wildlife will
receive a boost, and the public will get a new place to
see what Missouri looked like before European
settlement.
A 540-acre tract once
used by Premium Standard Farms to spread hog wastes on
nonnative grasses is being replanted to prairie near the
Adair and Sullivan county border, west of Kirksville.
Nearby sits a rare, virgin,
50-acre native-grass tract recently bought by... More
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Cottontails Get Close And
Cozy
 By
Tony Russomanno
SALINAS, CA--No
one had seen a wild Condor egg in a hundred years, until
one was discovered last month in a nest in the Ventana
Wilderness.
"The first wild egg to
us is the sign that the birds are being successful out
in the wild and that they're going to make it," said
biologist Joe Burnett.
Volunteer
climber Joseph Brandt rappelled down a cliff in a remote
part of Monterey County to visit the nest. He radioed to
others watching from a distant ridge that he had to
crawl on his belly to get to it. (Cottontail by
Q.T.Luong)
His
mission was to remove the... More
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Wildlife Photo of the
Week
Black Bear Cub by Joe
Kosack, Pennsylvania Game
Commission
Black Bear females
give birth to their cubs during the winter in late
January or early February. Average litter sizes are from
two to three young. The young bears stay with the mother
through the next winter and disperse the following
spring. The general coloration of the Black Bear is
bluish black but occasionally they may be brownish or
even cinnamon colored. The muzzle is brown and there may
be a white patch on the upper region of the chest. The
tail is short, the eyes small, and the ears are small
and rounded.
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Brook Trout Are Real
Naturals
Fishing for Brook
Trout
By Scott
Shalaway
WHEN throngs of
anglers gather along streams and swiftly flowing rivers
in the spring, it means only one thing. It's trout
season.
Three species of
trout fuel the quest on inland waters, though only one,
the Brook Trout, is native to the eastern
U.S.
The Brook Trout
story begins in the fall. Shorter days and colder water
temperatures trigger hormonal changes in the Brook Trout
that inhabit cold, clear waterways. Males' bellies and
lower fins turn crimson. The blue-haloed red spots that
dot the brookies' sides sparkle. Bright white bands line
the edges of the fins. And their lower jaws grow and
turn upward.
The outward
appearance of the females changes little. Internally,
however, females transform into egg-making machines.
Brook Trout spawn in the fall. Along the shores of
Beaver... More
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Loss Of Habitat Greatest
Threat
By Kathy
Reshetiloff
MOST OF US
associate the arrival of spring with robins. But did you
know that more than 200 species of birds that nest in
North America migrate to Mexico, Central America, South
America and the Caribbean to
overwinter?
 Birds do not
migrate to avoid cold temperatures. Many birds can
survive in harsh temperatures if they are able to find
enough food. Birds that rely on food that is not
available at certain times of the year must either
change their diet they can
find food.
When cold temperatures
cause insects to disappear, many insect-eating birds
migrate. Each spring, these same birds fly back to
breeding grounds in North America and the Arctic. Baltimore Orioles love
oranges.
Birds that feed on nectar, and even some seed-eating
birds, also migrate in search of food. Some of these
birds are common to us - the Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Baltimore Oriole, Gray Catbird, Purple Martin, Barn
Swallow and Chimney Swift.
Others, such as the Indigo Bunting, Scarlet
Tanager, Bobolink and Cape May Warbler, may only be
familiar to bird watchers... More
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Naturalist
Course More
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PLUS! WindStar
Wildlife Habitat Naturalist Course
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 That's it
for this week!
Be sure and sign up for the American Wildlife Blog for the latest
commentary and please feel free to add comments of your
own.
Have An EXCELLENT Day in your
WILDLIFE HABITAT!
Tom Patrick
President
American Goldfinch
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WindStar Wildlife
Institute
10072 Vista Ct.
Myersville, MD
21773
301-293-3351
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