Bringing birding identification to your ipod.

Many people now own an iPhone or alternatively own an iPod Touch. I took the time recently to play with a couple of birding applications available for these devices and thought that you might be interested in hearing about these. The two applications I reviewed are "Chirp USA" and "Audobon Guides". These applications are available to purchase from the ITunes store.

Chirp USA ($2.99 to purchase): This app familiarizes you with the birds in your area and their songs. The first thing to note on this application is the "USA" in the title. This means that the birds are based on the states and regions of the US. So in order to use "location" as a selection criteria you will need to select a state that is similar or close to your province.

That aside, you can choose "all birds" as well which selects all the birds in the database. After you have selected a location or all birds then you can go the "Listen" or "Challenge" section of the application. In the listen section, you can sort birds by the most common types of birds, by bird song style or by alphabetical order. Then you can listen to the songs of the birds you are interested in. Also, you can link from the bird song to the Cornell website which provides you with more information on the selected bird.

The "challenge" section of the website is great. There you can select the birds that you are most interested in, and quiz yourself on their calls. A bird song is played and you have to pick the picture of the bird it belongs to.

I think this application would be good for a beginning birder. If you are out in the wilderness with your iPhone or iPod touch, you would be able to use this application to help you identify birds and their calls.

Audobon guides ($19.99 to purchase): This app is like the Audobon field guide but on your handheld device. The guide has multiple pictures and also multiple song examples for each type of bird. It also has textual descriptive information on each bird. It also allows you to do some data recording: for example documenting bird sitings and organizing your own birding photographs in albums.

The field guide provides the functionality for sorting birds by families and provides the option of finding similar birds - again this is great for trying to identify an unknown bird.

Audobon guides is not USA specific so it is a bit better from a Canadian perspective. However, it doesn't have nice features like sorting by common birds or sorting birds by location. It is a bit less user friendly and it doesn't have the fun aspect of the challenge exersises that you find in Chirp USA. However, I would say that for serious birders, this application is probably the better of the two.

Birding applications on handheld devices are neat tools for anyone who enjoys identifying birds while hiking or camping. These are two applications to choose from - you be the judge.

Nests are coming soon to a tree near you!

I was looking out the coffee room window at work recently and noticed a bunch of House Sparrows hopping around on the ground. At first I thought that they were just looking for food but then I realized that they were actually foraging for nesting materials.

It was fascinating to watch these little birds busily pick away at the grass and twigs and evaluate the material they were gathering. One little bird picked up a fairly large twig and tried a number of times to fly off with it. However, it was either to unwieldly or too heavy to be managed in flight so finally the bird gave up and went off looking for something else. Each bird that was there flew off in different directions so I expect we will have a number of different nests around the seed plant this summer. However, all this activity got me thinking about bird nest building and how interesting it is.

Nests vary by bird species: When I got looking into nest building I found it quite interesting to discover that the nests vary greatly between bird species.

For example, an American Goldfinch nest can be found just above ground level to several meters above ground level in the shady dense canopy of a bush or tree. The nest itself starts out with twigs connected by spider silk. Then small roots and plant materials are added to the nest cup and finally the nest is lined with plant material that is "downy" in texture.

On the other hand, a Robin's nest is usually 3 - 7 meters from the ground in deciduous or conifer trees. It is an open cup of grass or twigs that are glued together with a thick layer of mud and lined with grass. So it appears that nests are as individual as the birds who build them.

A great resource site for information on different types of nest is NestWatch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. There you can find information on the nests of many of the more common backyard birds and also join up and provide data on your own nest observations.

SUMMER BIRD FEEDING TIPS

Just got back from vacation in Sandpoint Idaho - beautiful spot by the way. I was pleased to see that my feeders still had some food left in them and that my goldfinches, pine siskins and doves were still frequenting the yard.

Speaking of summer, alot of folks forget to feed birds during the summer and think that birds do not need human help to get through the summer months. However, remember that summer is nesting and breeding time for many birds and your bird food can help the parents find food close to their young ones. There are many other reasons to feed birds during summer months including just being outside in the backyard enjoying sunshine and watching the birds at your feeder in person instead of through a window. However, there are some things about summer bird feeding that you need to keep on top of:

Feeder cleanliness: Summer temperatures provide the ideal climate for bacteria growth. It is important to ensure your feeders remain clean by scrubbing out your feeders with hot soapy water about once a month and letting the feeder air dry. More frequently, it is a good idea to wipe perches and feeding portals with a cloth dipped in weak bleach solution to prevent the spread of salmonella. In terms of filling feeders, do so frequently with small amounts of seed so that food in the feeder does not spoil or rot, again posing a risk to bird health. If the feeder is an open tray feeder, remove feed that has been soaked due to rain and try to remove bird droppings that can contribute to the spread of disease.

Sugar water solution feeders will attract hummingbirds, orioles, sapsuckers, purple finches, tanagers, warblers and others. However, you will need to to replace the sugar water solution every couple of days in hot weather so it does not get mouldy.

Bird baths: Birds love water and while open water is more available in summer months than winter, a bird bath will attract more birds to your yard at any time of year. Bird baths, however, can become a breeding ground for mosquitos and with West Nile Virus transmitted through mosquitos you need to be careful to ensure the water is changed daily and that bird baths are scrubbed out periodically too.

Summer bird feeding is very rewarding and can attract a great variety of birds to your yard, just don't forget to monitor feeder cleanliness and seed quality to ensure your birds are kept healthy and happy.