Tag: Urbannaturestore
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Jane’s Deck Of Birds – CatBird
Who’s eating your grape jelly? Our Pickering location is keeping track of which birds have been seen eating grape jelly from oriole feeders. So far our customers have reported Orioles, Robins, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Starlings… and the latest, Catbirds. Last week I had a customer come in to tell me about a Catbird at…
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Jane’s Deck Of Birds – Cedar Waxwings
Cedar Waxwings are birds you will usually hear before you see. They fly in flocks serenading us with high pitched whistling sounds that resemble a kettle boiling, ‘tseeee’. I must say it’s not the most beautiful song, but it’s certainly easy to recognize. Waxwings are striking birds with a silky fawn plumage. They have a…
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Jane’s Deck Of Birds – Eastern Towhee
Imagine working in your garden and you hear a bird inviting you to ‘drink your teeeeee’. This is the song of the Eastern Towhee. This striking member of the sparrow family is more often heard than seen. It can be found in forest edges and brushy habitats in the eastern US and southeast Canada. The…
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Jane’s Deck Of Birds – Pine Warbler
While enjoying my morning tea on the deck I have been hearing a soft musical trill in the field behind my house. I have come to discover this to be the song of the Pine Warbler. Their song is similar to the Chipping Sparrow but not as long and slightly richer. I have also been…
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Jane’s Deck of Birds – White Throated Sparrow
This handsome sparrow has been called the ‘Whistler of the North’. It’s very easy to recognize their song as it sounds like they’re singing Oh Sweet Canada Canada Canada. The White- throated is a large sparrow measuring up to 7.5 inches. They have a rust-brown back, grey bellies, stripes on their head and a vibrant…
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Jane’s Deck Of Birds- Song Sparrow
This songbird adds yet another voice to the chorus. The Song Sparrow derived its name from its repertoire of songs. The melody will normally begin with four clear notes, a two-eee and end with a trill. Song Sparrows will repeat this numerous times and then switch to another variation of the song. It has been…
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Jane’s Deck of Birds- Rose Breasted Grosbeak
This beautiful songbird will be returning to its breeding grounds by the beginning of May. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks winter in Mexico through central South America and the Caribbean to Peru and Venezuela. In Canada they can be found from British Columbia to the Maritimes and as far north as the Yukon and Northwest Territories. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks…
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Hummingbirds and Orioles
It’s that time of year again, time to clean your Hummingbird and Oriole Feeders. Migration is well under way and they’ll both be back within the next few weeks! RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD These brilliant little jewels are on their way back from their wintering grounds in Costa Rica. The male looks very handsome in the sun…
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‘How Do I Keep Squirrels Away From My Feeders?’
This is a question commonly asked by our customers. Squirrels can be known to clean out a bird feeder in a day, if not hours. The culprit in our region is the Eastern Gray Squirrel. This squirrel has two colour phases: gray and black. The gray and black are found in Ontario, Quebec, southern New…
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Understanding Bats
There are over 1200 species of bats worldwide. Bats are found in every country of the world except the Antarctic. Seventeen of these are found in Canada each year. Bats are the only mammal that can fly. Their wings resemble a human hand with four elongated fingers and a thumb. Scientists have used the Greek…