Birds Of The Dooryard (3rd Ed, 1962)

[Music] there are many different kinds of birds attracted to our door yards one is the [Music] Robin in the spring and summer our yards May shelter families of robins this female robin comes to brood her young which are fast approaching the day when they will leave the nest The Robin's favorite food is earthworms which live in moist well-kept lawns [Music] here the male robin brings food while the female Broods both male and female feed their [Music] young the robin finds earthworms by watching and listening for movements at the surface of the ground watch this Robin find a worm [Music] the male gives the youngsters food they must be fed frequently the mouths of the young birds are large and they seem to be open most of the time here a parent feeds the young again we can tell it as the male because he is a little more brilliantly colored than the female young Robins can fly a little when they leave the nest the speckled breast on this youngster shows that Robins are members of the thrush [Music] family because Robins like to bathe you can often attract them to your door yard by providing a basin of water [Music] in our Gardens we often hear the yellow warbler the female Yellow Warbler is pale yellow beneath and olive color above she builds a compact nest of grasses lined with milkweed or thistle down both the female and the male feed the young he is brighter yellow with red streaks below when the Sun Shines on the nest the female keeps the young comfortable by shading them with her wings the male then does all the feeding so that she does not have to leave the nest and expose the Young to the hot sun yellow warblers depend entirely on insects for food thus they control some of the insect pests that attack our Gardens Orchards and shade trees the yellow warbler is the most widely distributed and best known of all our North American warblers some birds may be found in our dards in any season of the year this song identifies the Cardinal Cardinals will stay through even the most severe Winters if they can find sufficient food and shelter the gorgeous male cardinal is unmistakable with his juny Crest and striking colors set C off by black markings around the bill we can recognize the female cardinal by her Crest and pinkish Bill even though her color is less brilliant than the males a bird bath serves as a place to drink as well as to bathe the Phoebe appears early in the spring dull in color it is best identified by its habit of jerking its tail and by its call bbes will often Nest under Rocky Ledges as well as under the eaves of buildings phoebes usually return to the same nesting Place year after year a few dard Birds prefer to nest in cavities this young woodpecker a yellow shafted flicker looks out of a nest hole flickers may have as many as 8 to 10 young but there is room for only one or two at the nest entrance at a [Music] time when the parent comes to feed the young those nearest the nest hole are fed first [Music] each youngster is fed in [Music] turn a young flicker is a big bird by the time it leaves the nest like all woodpeckers flickers use their feet for climbing rather than seing this nesting box in a door yard is the home of a pair of tree swallows tree swallows may also nest in trees and Hollow fence posts the male metallic blue above and clear white below is easy to recognize like other swallows tree swallows have long slender Wings which make them Swift Flyers able to catch insects in the air the house Ren is easily attracted to Door yards by nest boxes the male sings merrily most of the day the female busies herself building a nest using feathers to line it before she is through the box will be chalk full of nesting material the male leaves the nest building to his mate this feather is almost too big while the female works the male's job is singing and warning Intruders away one of the commonest dard birds is the chipping sparrow with a rusty colored cap black line through the eye and grayish white breast it gets its name from its chipping song the chip Sparrow nests in dard Hedges and Shrubbery the young are fed insects chipping sparrows are among the tamest of our dard Birds when the right kind of house is supplied Purple Martin will sometimes nest in our yards year after year Martins are social birds and many pairs will Nest Under One Roof each pair however has its own compartment and will object to any neighbor entering these birds are busy bringing food to their young Martin live entirely on insects which they catch while flying Martin are the largest members of the swallow family the males have uniformly dark glossy plumage of purplish blue the females are less brilliant in color four to six young are in each compartment when well grown they wait at the nest entrance as the parents come to feed them each parent feeds hundreds of insects to its young every day so during the daylight hours there is constant coming and going at the Martin house [Music] the young Martins stay in their nest until fully grown when they leave the nest they usually remain with their parents until migrating South the Martin are among our most friendly birds birds that live close to us in our Gardens and door yards [Music]