In This Issue from Wild Wings Nature Store, Newport News, VA 23606

In This Issue
Norther Flickers
Questions For Jim
Sunday Store Hours
New Items in the Store
Sale Items This Month
Made in America
Happy Holidays

Wild Wings Nature Store
27 Hidenwood Shopping Center, Newport News, VA 23606
Monday - Friday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm

Your friendly birding store since 1991

757-595-3060

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greet customers,
especially those
bearing treats!

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We do not sell, lease, rent, or otherwise distribute any customer information to any third-party agencies, companies or individuals.

Bird of the Month: Northern Flickers

One of our good customers came in to the store asking what bird this is on his camera. It was a Northern Flicker or what some people call a Yellow-shafted Flicker. When people think of woodpeckers, most think of birds that are black and white in color that spend most of their time running up and down trees. The Northern Flicker is pretty much the opposite and is like the black sheep of the woodpecker family. The Northern Flickers are a large woodpecker and feature various shades of brown around the body and tan around the face with a distinctive black breast band and black spots on the belly. Both sexes have the red crescent shape on the nape. The male has a black mustache when they fly you can see a flash of yellow color under the wings and tail, and a bright white rump. This is a year-round bird for us. We see more of them in the fall and winter.

Northern Flickers typically are found in woodlands and forest edges and has been known to be seen in city parks and backyards scavenging for insects especially ants and beetles. This bird is a woodpecker that spends most of its time on the ground looking for food. Flickers, like other woodpeckers, make seed, suet and nuts part of their diet during the winter months. Flickers also eat berries including poison oak and ivy berries, dogwood berries, sumac, wild cherry, bayberries and elderberries, sunflower and thistle seed.

Unfortunately for some homeowners the flicker uses a drumming technique to attract mates or for territory defense. This can become a problem for some as they often like to practice on metal flues of fireplaces. Flickers usually excavate nest holes in dead or diseased tree trunks.

The nest is generally placed 10-15 feet off the ground but can be as high as 100 feet. Northern Flickers have been known to nest in old burrows of belted kingfishers or bank swallows.

Keep an eye out for these birds. Each season brings new birds to your yard. I had a redstart and a few fall warblers in the trees. A white breasted nut hatcher is the fellow that often goes down the tree head first. He loves my feeder with Lyric Delite mix, a seed high in nuts.

The brown thrasher, like the robin, is hopping along the ground but is larger and has a longer stiff tail, with a white and brown mottled breast. I call him foxy brown. He cleans all the peanuts off the ground under my peanut feeder. I got more tufted tit mice back in the yard. This bird spends the summer in the woods and in the fall and winter in my back yard. It seems like all my birds are coming back to the yard to see if the food supply is going to be there this winter. So make sure you fill your feeder with fresh seed now to let your birds know you plan to feed them this winter.

Questions For Jim

Q: It seems to me that I get more flocks of cardinals in the fall and winter. Why is this?

A: Cardinals will flock together in the fall and winter in search of food and when the leaves fall. It is definitely safety in numbers as mentioned in my last newsletter. This birds’ major predator is the hawk and they are looking out for them. You will see more chickadees, titmice, cedar waxwings, and nut hatchers travelling in flocks too.

Q: It seems like squirrels are everywhere in my yard. I need help. How do I keep them out of my birdseed?

A: You can switch to a squirrel-proof feeder like the Brome Squirrel Buster, the Droll Yankee Flipper, the Absolute Feeder, or others in the store. You can utilize baffles on your poles to squirrel proof your feeder. Make sure you consider the squirrels’ jumping ability when placing your poles and baffles. Use Cole Hot Meats or Cole Hot Sauce mixed in your feeders. Come in and we will help you Defeat the Squirrels.

Q: What is the fastest flying bird?

A: The fastest bird is the Peregrine Falcon. These birds can dive at speeds of 200 miles per hour. Other birds seem slow in comparison. A robin flies 32 miles per hour, and a mallard duck can fly 60 miles per hour.

Q: Jim, why are my birds not eating as much this time of year? All my gold finches are gone from my feeders and I don’t see as many birds right now.

A: In the fall of the year Mother Nature produces a bounty of food for our back-yard birds in the Tidewater Virginia area. The birds will return to your feeders as it gets colder and the natural food has dried up. I get more gold finches in the winter than any other time of the year. Look in January to see a return of flocks of gold finches at your feeders.

New in the Store This Month

A new selection of wind chimes

New designs from Tervis Tumblers

Bird Houses by the Amish, wonderfully priced at $24.99, which makes a great Christmas gift for you or your friends.

Made in America

Many of the products in our store are American made, including manufacturers such as Droll Yankee, Tervis, Aspects, Nature Choice birdhouses, Woodlink birdhouses, Looker Products, Erva and others. All our backyard hooks and poles are American made. Even better, our wind chimes are made right here in Virginia. Some of our seed is locally produced, as well.

Sale Items This Month

Wild Wings is changing suppliers and has a lot of items on clearance this month.

The dog products are reduced 50%, including dog bobble-heads, towels, leashes and collars, and other items in the dog section.

We are discontinuing all large banner flags, which are priced at 50% off. We will continue to stock the smaller garden flags and poles.

T-shirts are 30% off.

All Co-Edikit merchandise is marked down 20%.

Sleeping Dogs are 30% off.

Pupper weights are 30% off.

Jumbo garden thermometers are 50% off.

Happy Holidays

All of us here at Wild Wings Nature Store wish you a very happy holiday season. Also, we will be open Saturday, December 24, 2011 from 9:00am to 6:00pm for your convenience. Plus, we are open Sundays through December 18, 2011, 12:30pm to 5:00pm. We look forward to seeing you in the store soon.