gthang
Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....
Yesterday, after doing some work in the backyard, I went onto our deck where our feeders are, and noticed a female Downy Woodpecker laying on the deck underneath the kitchen window. It was dead, unfortunately. Seems like it slammed into the kitchen window real hard like, and caused massive head injuries, possibly breaking its neck as well. It hit hard enough to leave on the window feather residue and some sort of smear. It was found facing away from the window, which would be consistent with a window collision. When something hits a window, it stumbles backward. With birds, they fall backward. Momentum causes this backwards fall. Examining the dead Downy up close, I noticed it still had suet from our feeders in its mouth.
So I donned a latex glove, got a container to keep it away from cats and the like, and put in near our wheelbarrow.
No sooner had I left the wheelbarrow when I noticed what appeared to be a pile of down in the grass. Kneeling down, I realized it was a baby bird, also dead. Poor thing. Looks like it may have fallen out of its nest, which I cannot seem to locate. The tree under which it was found is a relatively tall tree, about 40-60 feet tall. The poor thing still had it egg tooth on it beak. The eyes were completely closed.
These are not my first dead birds. Over a year ago, I found a dead robin outside my place of business, just feet from a brick wall. The injuries it sustained were similar, if not exactly the same as, the dead Downy mentioned earlier.
We have had two American Goldfinches since (one in early 2004; the other in early 2007) collide with our dining room sliding glass door, which is the closest glass panes to the kitchen window. Although they collided hard enough to attract attention, they were only stunned, sat for a while on the deck under the watchful eyes of our cats. They both flew away after a half-hour's calm-down.
Woodpecker skulls are strong enough to withstand the forces generated by their drumming, so I was surprised by this Downy. It's all physics. Force equals mass times acceleration. The goldfinches survived because they are less mass than the downy, and were probably going near the same speed.
BTW, one question. How do I indentify a baby bird, from hatching to fledging? Is there a website with a photographic guide to the "Baby Birds of the USA", perhaps?
So I donned a latex glove, got a container to keep it away from cats and the like, and put in near our wheelbarrow.
No sooner had I left the wheelbarrow when I noticed what appeared to be a pile of down in the grass. Kneeling down, I realized it was a baby bird, also dead. Poor thing. Looks like it may have fallen out of its nest, which I cannot seem to locate. The tree under which it was found is a relatively tall tree, about 40-60 feet tall. The poor thing still had it egg tooth on it beak. The eyes were completely closed.
These are not my first dead birds. Over a year ago, I found a dead robin outside my place of business, just feet from a brick wall. The injuries it sustained were similar, if not exactly the same as, the dead Downy mentioned earlier.
We have had two American Goldfinches since (one in early 2004; the other in early 2007) collide with our dining room sliding glass door, which is the closest glass panes to the kitchen window. Although they collided hard enough to attract attention, they were only stunned, sat for a while on the deck under the watchful eyes of our cats. They both flew away after a half-hour's calm-down.
Woodpecker skulls are strong enough to withstand the forces generated by their drumming, so I was surprised by this Downy. It's all physics. Force equals mass times acceleration. The goldfinches survived because they are less mass than the downy, and were probably going near the same speed.
BTW, one question. How do I indentify a baby bird, from hatching to fledging? Is there a website with a photographic guide to the "Baby Birds of the USA", perhaps?
