For the Birds by Ben Porchuk Birds. The more of them immediately around the place we live, the happier we are – and – it goes beyond happiness. Research shows that living with several bird species around, makes us feel happier, safer, and healthier. How so? The list of reasons is long. The highlights: bird song moves us into our parasympathetic nervous system (calming us) and makes us feel safer. Seeing birds feed on our plants and insects reminds us we live in abundance. In fact, 14 species seems to be the magic number where people start to benefit immensely. This level of bird species diversity has shown to help a person feel more confident in taking on a life path true to their individuality, independent of those influencers around them. Watching birds nest reassures us that the community in which we live is healthy and can provide for families. To reap these benefits, spending ample time outdoors or keeping windows open to hear bird songs is essential. Attracting 14 species to breed in, or near one’s yard in Wortley Village during the breeding season (May - September) isn’t easy, but possible. You need mostly native shrubs, trees, herbaceous plants and living closer to a natural area is helpful. We’re lucky to have the Village situated both by the Thames River and the Coves Environmentally Significant Area. My yard is one of a few that has all of this as I’ve actively added native plants (250 species!). Non native plant species, even if they feed the birds, most often prove detrimental to urban ecology, reducing the plant species diversity in our natural areas. Watching birds closely for 15+ years, I’ve noticed that in most years, I have about 12 species that breed on or near our property on Elmwood Ave. East, which is a stone’s throw from the Coves. Another 27 species can be heard or seen, in most years, flying on or near our yard. What are some of the common, less common, and rare resident species that use or fly by our yard? Common (3 of 12 species): Blue Jay, American Crow, Black- capped Chickadee. Less Common (3 of 15): White-breasted Nuthatch, Chimney Swift, Carolina Wren. Rare (3 of 12): Screech Owl, Hairy Woodpecker, Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Moving away from sheer numbers, a lot of joy can be generated by watching resident birds (one that nests in our area). That individual for my family is a female American Robin, we have called ‘White Robin’. She’s not all white, but her rare (all white
or ‘albino’ Robins are 1 in 30,000) white markings have allowed us to identify her each spring as she returns to nest literally ‘on’ our house. When I garden or water, she comes within two feet of me, sometimes nabbing the worms from under my shovel. We talk to her, her partner, their nestlings, and now it seems, her daughter from last year (Robin feeding babies in picture below) who seems to be nesting 10 feet away on an outside light by our side entrance.
The beauty of having such markings is that we know a family member has returned and in this case, for three years (most Robins only live for two years)! So far, in three years nesting at our house, White Robin has produced five nests of babies. Should she live through this spring, she’ll nest again in July. Together, she and her partner, her daughter and her partner have accepted us as we can respectfully come within a few feet of their nests. If someone not in our family approaches and we haven’t told them to enter another door, they receive different treatment in the form of ‘dive bombs’ and explain to us that we have a ‘problem.’ “Oh no...” we say, “...this is no problem!” and we tell the remarkably common story of White Robin and the rest of our feathered family members. Ben Porchuk – Living, working, and playing, with gratitude on the Traditional Territories of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Lunaapeew, the Wendat and the Mississauga. www.GiftoftheForest.com
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Wortley Villager June 2024 • Page 13
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