Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?

Introduction: Exactly the Same, Only Different............................ ix 1. Birds Everyone Should Know Why Do Bluebirds Hate Me?...................................................... 1 Woodpeckers Do Take Baths....................................................... 4 Hip Catbirds........................................................................... 7 What’s with All the Grackles?................................................... 10 Why Hummingbirds Hum....................................................... 12 Carolina Wrens Singin’ in the Fall........................................... 14 Titmice Love Peanuts but Hate Water....................................... 16 No-Bird Syndrome.................................................................. 19 Birds Can’t Afford Bottled Water.............................................. 21 Not All Cardinals Are Catholic................................................ 23 2. It’s Time to Look Past the Feathers Don’t Call Me “Pretty Boy”...................................................... 26 Swans Support Integration...................................................... 29 Sandhill Cranes Migrate (Mostly)............................................. 31 Quail Chicks Have Two Dads.................................................. 34 They’re Called Snowy Owls for a Reason.................................... 36 Doves Can Whistle without Moving Their Lips........................... 39 Cattle Egrets Fit Right In......................................................... 41 Fearless Red-breasted Nuthatches.............................................. 43 Chickens Get No Respect.......................................................... 45 Don’t Be a Bird Bigot.............................................................. 48 3. A Few Things Even You Can Do The Cost of Running a Heated Birdbath.................................... 51 Clean Your Birdhouses!........................................................... 54 Sugar Water Brings More Than Just Hummingbirds................... 57 Bluebird Housing................................................................... 59 Tree Swallows, the Bluebird Alternative..................................... 61 Homeless Baby Ospreys............................................................ 64 Vintage Birdseed Is Not the Best................................................ 66 Orioles Like It Sweet, Perhaps Too Sweet.................................... 67 Oh, Rats!.............................................................................. 68 Rotating Seed........................................................................ 70 4. There’s More to Life Than the Backyard Pyrrhuloxia Is a Real Bird (Not a Strange Disease)..................... 73 Avocets, the Birds to See When You Can’t Go Shopping................ 76 Spoonbills Don’t Eat Soup or Chowder....................................... 78 Kookaburras Always Get the Joke.............................................. 81 Lapland Longspurs, More Fun Than Going to the Dentist........... 84 Caracara, the Mexican Eagle................................................... 86 Not All Flycatchers Are Dull..................................................... 89 Nënë, Not Easy to Say and Impossible to Type............................. 91 5. Bet You Didn’t Know Birds Did This All Hatched Out and Ready to Go............................................ 94 Some Birds Fly in the Dark Better Than Owls............................. 97 Paint-Eating Jays................................................................... 99 Bee-Eating Birds.................................................................. 101 Puffins Aren’t That Fussy...................................................... 103 Kissing Cardinals................................................................ 106 Hummingbirds—They’re on Everyone’s Menu.......................... 108 Vinyl-Eating Vultures........................................................... 110 6. Don’t Forget Cities Have Birds, Too Big-City Lifestyle Suits Peregrine Falcons Just Fine.................... 113 Birding in Central Park........................................................ 116 The Legend of Pale Male....................................................... 118 City Turkey......................................................................... 121 City Bird Assortment............................................................. 123 7. Being Free as a Bird Isn’t Always That Great Birds and Power Lines—Sometimes It Works, Sometimes Not So Much........................................................ 126 Battling Hurricanes............................................................. 128 Birds Care about Which Coffee You Drink................................ 131 Pesticides Aren’t as Healthy as They Sound.............................. 134 The Disappearing Song of the Wood Thrush............................. 136 We’ll See Your Sparrow and Raise You a Squirrel...................... 138 Birds and Planes—and You Think YOU Have Trouble with the Airlines............................................... 141 The Loss of the Carolina Parakeet........................................... 144 8. Birds Are Superstars—and Publishers and Hollywood Know It Bond, James Bond, Ornithologist............................................ 147 African Eagles Can’t Compare to Ours.................................... 150 That Quail, Robert............................................................... 153 Turkeys Don’t Come in Flocks................................................. 155 A Good Movie No One Saw................................................... 158 9. A Bird Buffet And You Think YOUR Feet Are Cold...................................... 161 The Twelve Days of Christmas Explained, Finally..................... 164 How Could Anyone Be Afraid of a Chickadee?......................... 166 Even Scary Places Have Birds................................................ 168 Red Squirrels, the Overlooked Annoyance................................. 171 Stick with Who You Know..................................................... 174 Scary Owls.......................................................................... 176 Don’t Give Kids “Bird Stuff”................................................. 178 Turkeys Rule, Eagles Drool.................................................... 181 Start the Year with a Bird List . . . Instead of a Hangover.......... 183