The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-05-21
GIRL MAKES STUDY
OF LOCAL BIRDS

making cllug OF Auc NiAN0 "a N"N
district. TIE following paper was It
Gently written by Miss Gala Berry.
daughter Of Mr.. and Mrs. !. W. Berry,
who spent the past year Observing the
habits Of the birds Of the valley:
There is not a place more favorable
to the bird student than Hood River
valley. There is not a day IN the year
that these feathered friends cannot be
found in abundance. They should be
carefully protected, as they are not
only of great financial benefit. hut
think what nature would be without
/ these little songstoTs. Since taking up
I the study Of birds last fall ! have found
I it very interesting. ENJOY nothing
better than taking my field glass and
starting off in search Of my little
friends: for friends they have surely
| become TO me. In classifying some Of
/ the most important birds Of the valley
/ by families ! will endeavor 70 show the
| benefits derived from them.
! The Thrush family:
In the thrush family the robin, per
| haps, is the most beneficial. Il lives
mostly on insects, but will change
from insects to fruits, grains or nuts
when insects fail. Ii is estimated that
/ so per cent of a robins food consists
| of animal food. such as caterplllars,
bugs, grasshoppers and cut worms. A
pair of robins has been known to eat
over 100 cut worms in single day.
! Farmers say they eau their cherries
and ripe fruits. Statistics show that
of fruit destroyed by robins 45 per cent
consists of uncultivated fruits, while
| five per cent consists Of cultivated
fruit. Do not harmful insects de-
stroyed amount to more than the little
fruit destroyed? 1t would be very lit
tie time and work spent to plant a tree
of some wild fruit, as the mulberry,
which robins prefer to anything else,
! in the orchard to attract the birds and
would help the farmer immensely.
The western bluebird is also Of great
Importance. Its food is largely of cat
erpillars. They eat also crlckets,
weevils, ants, moths and locusts. The
other binds Of this family We have here
are the numerous thrushes, whose food
is similar to that of the robin and
bluebird.
| The Woodpecker:
The woodpeckers all feed on much
the same food, consisting Of insects Of
various kinds and wild fruits. Some
believe the flicker is a harmful bird,
but it is not. They feed mostly on
ants, which protect aphis. They also
destroy codling moth larvae. Professor
Beal, of the department. agriculture,
reports having found 500 ants in the
stomach of one flicker, this represent.
ing one days eating. The woodpeckeI
aids the farmer very much, as he ear
nick bugs from under the bark, which
the farmer cannot reach by spraying.
The Sparrow:
This valley is full of sparrows and
they are of great economic value to the
farmer. Sparrows are great weed seeC
eating birds. Many harmful weed Il
destroyed each year by these little un.
obtrusive birds. Although they are
mostly seed eating birds their food als'
consists of injurious insects. A "chip
by s" meal consists largely of caterpil
lars, cutworms and other insects. Th'
government estimates the saving to tht
, farmer in the United States by tn,
| sparrow at SS9, $50, 900.
: The blackbird family;
The meadow lark of this family is o
great Importance. Its food consist
mainly of grasshoppers and their eggs
. beetles, the destructive large blacI
! cricket and other insects. On examin
ing the stomach of meadowlark owe
, half the contents consisted of insects
! Being of great Importance economical
ly they are of equal importance aes
thetically. How glad we are to hea
J their greeting in the spring, and hoy
) sorry to see them leave in the fall.
Besides the meadow lark we have tn
e redWing and brewers blaekbirds.
= blackbird's S food varies with the season
! and the locality. On ranches they do
= great deal of good by following tn
2 plow and destroying grubs. They de
, stroy many injurious insects and wee
g seeds. 1t is true that the black bir
= does some harm to the grain, but in tn
t long run they do more good than harm
e Nuthatch family:
: OF this family the chickadee is pei
g haps the of greatest Importance. The
: live almost wholly upon insects. Pre-
d fessor Forbus reports finding $500 egg
G of plant lice in the crop Of one chicks
dee. this number representing what tn
e bird had eaten for one breakfast. TT
f other insects destroyed by chickadee
f are caterpillars, cankerworms, spider
It grasshoppers, moths, flies and the
Q eggs. They also feed on seeds ar
r small fruit when insects fail.
o The bush tits, of this family, al
e very like the chickadees. They al
e continually looking for insects, egg
1. and worms after the fashion of the
g larger cousins, the chickadees. FIJI
3 ting from branch to branch they ligl
u upside down on the under side of lin
and then, without taking the trouble
le turn right side up, they drop down
0, the next branch where they look ju
e. as earnestly for insects.
t. Birds of prey:
g The owls, as a family, are the mo
y helpful birds of prey to the farme
,e The food of an owl is largely mice al
gophers. They also eat many harmf
insects. An OWLS eyes and ears a
very acute and as they can see bett
in the night time, they go searching #
food at that time. At nightfall tn
begin their search, visiting every o
barn and granary in search of mice a
insects. The amount Of mice an o.
can eat is wonderful. A case is
record where a half grown owl W
We given all the mice it could eat. Fig
ig followed one after the other, and t
e ninth, all but the tail, which hung o
Us of the owls mouth for some time.
ei three hours. however, the owl W
ready for more, and this time he a
at four. If this can be done by one ov
y think of the good nestful can do.
eef e. an owl flies over a grain field he cate
II, es sight of mice and gophers viii
x otherwise would not be seen. The o
needs very close protection, but man
often its worst enemy, simply becau
it is thought to get away with chic
en- or two.
T.. Il.