Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I live close to mountain foothills where there are a lot of trees. Every night just before sunset I see thousands of crows flocking together coming from all directions throughout the valley and all heading north for their night time roosts in the foothills forests.
There is a huge Pacific Coast Maple tree next to my building and every night there are hundreds of little finches and chickadees that roost together in the maple tree. They create a racket and lots of twittering at each other until it becomes completely dark and then they all shut up and go to sleep.
On the banks of the Alouette river not far from me there is one spot with a group of about 20 to 30 really big cottonwood trees where Great Blue Herons flock together to sleep in the branches of the cottonwoods at night. They aren't so quiet, they do a lot of croaking and complaining throughout the nights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by roodd279
But overall - sheesh - birds have nests.
Birds and their chicks only stay in nests for a few weeks until the chicks have fledged and left the nests. Once the baby birds have left the nests then the nests are abandoned for the rest of the year. Most types of birds flock together into large same-species groups to roost in the same trees every night.
As they should. Every time I ask someone WTF they're talking about, I get "I saw it on the internet..." as if that's a factual validation. Like 'the internet' is one solid, concrete entity.
But back to birds. I was once attacked in the middle of the day by an angry bat! It continued to circle and dive right at me, ignoring my screams, until a friend smacked it with a hat and it fell to the ground, stunned. Pretty sure that was a night bird gone bad, trapped within two separate realms.
As they should. Every time I ask someone WTF they're talking about, I get "I saw it on the internet..." as if that's a factual validation. Like 'the internet' is one solid, concrete entity.
But back to birds. I was once attacked in the middle of the day by an angry bat! It continued to circle and dive right at me, ignoring my screams, until a friend smacked it with a hat and it fell to the ground, stunned. Pretty sure that was a night bird gone bad, trapped within two separate realms.
Or it had rabies. Glad you weren't bitten.
Or maybe you were...do you have occasional urges to bite the necks of people? And is your name Barnabas?
There is a small pond behind my house, a lot of ducks use it. I can go outside at 2am, the ducks are non-stop making noise.
I live in a very small townhouse development where there are 6 buildings. The street is very light as there are lights all over. If I go out my front door during the night, all you hear is birds chirping to each other.
Does anyone here have indoor caged birds? I stayed with a friend recently and the guest bed was close to the bird cage. I was awakened every morning right around the same time by chirping and tweeting, I enjoyed the consistency of their behavior.
I live in a northern climate and wonder how the reduced daylight hours affects the birds that live here year round. It gets dark here by 4pm in the winter months so they must nest for the night earlier and longer.
Does anyone here have indoor caged birds? I stayed with a friend recently and the guest bed was close to the bird cage. I was awakened every morning right around the same time by chirping and tweeting, I enjoyed the consistency of their behavior.
I live in a northern climate and wonder how the reduced daylight hours affects the birds that live here year round. It gets dark here by 4pm in the winter months so they must nest for the night earlier and longer.
Roost for the night. Yes, they have little choice but roost earlier.
Does anyone here have indoor caged birds? I stayed with a friend recently and the guest bed was close to the bird cage. I was awakened every morning right around the same time by chirping and tweeting, I enjoyed the consistency of their behavior.
I live in a northern climate and wonder how the reduced daylight hours affects the birds that live here year round. It gets dark here by 4pm in the winter months so they must nest for the night earlier and longer.
Many wild birds have better low light sensitivity than we realize. If they're year round residents in a northern clime they need to in order to forage enough during short winter days. When you think about it, staying roosted in a sheltered spot for more time during the winter also saves energy and probably keeps them warmer and drier, which reduces calories burned. Of course, winter is the major reason why many species migrate, but there are certainly risks to that strategy too. Insectivorous, many frugivorous, and obvoiusly nectivorous birds don't have much choice even if they do modify their diet by season.
I've lived all over the US and have kept quite a few different aviary birds most of my adult life. They always had a variety of perch types and locations to choose from and all of them tended to roost in one or two favored spots. IMHO, if you're going to confine a bird, giving them the largest cage space possible (it isn't a matter of convenience for me) as well as the freedom of choice how to make use of it is very important. My birds usually roosted as high as they could get. Either instinctive for protection or to sleep somewhere a bit warmer. A room normally stays a few degrees warmer near the ceiling. If the bird isn't one that enjoys shredding things, I usually arrange sprays of silk foliage in the aviary to provide visual cover or a retreat from spying eyes if they want it. Easy to wash when needed.
Since living in the PNW and AK I've always provided supplemental full spectrum light for my birds. Obviously, none of them were native species so they couldn't be expected to be adapted to such climates/seasons. Metabolically, birds are very dependent on specific wavelengths and intensity of light, particularly UV. I also attach curtains around the frame of the aviary to give them more darkness during our 18+ hour summer days. The curtains and supplemental light help me regulate daylength during the year. I always position the aviary so it gets some full sun from a window for some period of time too. Even if they aren't getting the same UV exposure, they often make a point of basking in the sunniest spot, posturing to expose all parts of themselves, spreading wings/tail, lofting out all their feathers, etc.
One of the more important criteria I've used to choose a house is how well the living room will accommodate my 8'x4'x8' aviary and the birds. I've rejected quite a few just because of that. The last realtor I worked with picked up the drill pretty fast. A few times she rejected a potential listing knowing it wouldn't work for the birds even if it might work for me .
Last edited by Parnassia; 10-29-2023 at 05:14 PM..
Shoot a gun at night and the birds in the trees in my forest make a lot of noise.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
