Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
By Cindy Murray, Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
Mountain bluebirds are such a flashy sky blue color, you do not need to be a birding expert to recognize the male in his Spring brilliance! A true favorite and will readily use a proper nest box in your back yard. Our bluebirds sometimes stay in Central Oregon during the winter and will forage for insects and berries all winter long. Juniper berries are an important supplement. You can often watch bluebirds hover while hunting insects, but they also perch and pounce when spotting something juicy! The male will lose his blue color until Spring returns.
Mates will find each other when time to find a nest site and they often use previous favored nests again. The female busily builds her nest by carrying grasses to line the nest and adding soft grasses, shredded juniper bark, feathers or even wool. The middle of the nest will be formed into a 2 inch cup. She will then lay her eggs, one per day until a total of 4 to 6 have been laid and incubate them for about 12 to 14 days. The eggs are also a beautiful sky blue color. After hatching, both parents participate in feeding the tiny, helpless chicks for about 20 days. The chicks are “altricial” which means they hatch with no feathers and completely dependent upon their parents until learning to fly. Bluebirds have an average lifespan of about 6 years but can live to 10 years.
You may wish to build a Mountain bluebird nest box and instructions can be found on the internet. The box entrance and height from the ground are important for attracting the birds. Be sure to protect the base of the stand from predators. Snakes can easily climb a wood post.
By Cindy Murray, Friends and Neighbors of the Deschutes Canyon Area
Mountain bluebirds are such a flashy sky blue color, you do not need to be a birding expert to recognize the male in his Spring brilliance! A true favorite and will readily use a proper nest box in your back yard. Our bluebirds sometimes stay in Central Oregon during the winter and will forage for insects and berries all winter long. Juniper berries are an important supplement. You can often watch bluebirds hover while hunting insects, but they also perch and pounce when spotting something juicy! The male will lose his blue color until Spring returns.
Mates will find each other when time to find a nest site and they often use previous favored nests again. The female busily builds her nest by carrying grasses to line the nest and adding soft grasses, shredded juniper bark, feathers or even wool. The middle of the nest will be formed into a 2 inch cup. She will then lay her eggs, one per day until a total of 4 to 6 have been laid and incubate them for about 12 to 14 days. The eggs are also a beautiful sky blue color. After hatching, both parents participate in feeding the tiny, helpless chicks for about 20 days. The chicks are “altricial” which means they hatch with no feathers and completely dependent upon their parents until learning to fly. Bluebirds have an average lifespan of about 6 years but can live to 10 years.
You may wish to build a Mountain bluebird nest box and instructions can be found on the internet. The box entrance and height from the ground are important for attracting the birds. Be sure to protect the base of the stand from predators. Snakes can easily climb a wood post.
Meet the Yellow-Bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris)
by Trish Nevan
In Central Oregon, one of the surest signs of spring’s arrival is hearing the sharp warning whistle of the yellow-bellied marmot. Emerging from hibernation in late February and early March, marmots, also called rockchucks or whistle-pigs, leave their underground dens and start nibbling away at succulent vegetation, insects and bird eggs.
Yellow-bellied marmots are are the largest member of the squirrel family in Oregon, and can weigh up to 11 pounds. They are also fairly long-lived, averaging a lifespan of 13-15 years.
With their stubby legs, furry, plump bodies with golden-yellow underside, and short, bushy tails these ground squirrels are easy to identify. Colonies of up to 20 marmots are often found in burrows near piles of rocks and boulders. They spend about 80 percent of their lives underground, and over half of the time hibernating. When they emerge in early spring, male marmots seek out two or three females to mate with, each producing up to five pups. They also become eating machines because they need to double their mass in preparation for their upcoming winter hibernation.
Marmots are well-equipped to dig. During summer months they will construct multiple burrows about three feet deep for daily use. Winter hibernation burrows, however, can be over 20 feet underground.
Marmots are hyper-alert to predators, such as coyotes and raptors, and communicate danger to other marmots with their warning whistle alarm calls. While they may look sluggish when munching on vegetation, they can move surprisingly quickly and disappear into a hole or pile of rocks when danger is perceived.
One of the best places locally to observe rockchucks is around Canyon Village at Crooked River Ranch. In spring and summer, dozens can easily be spotted eating grass and standing guard near rocky areas. But then one day, around the beginning of August, they suddenly disappear. The yellow-bellied marmots are back in their underground burrows, hibernating through the long winter.
by Trish Nevan
In Central Oregon, one of the surest signs of spring’s arrival is hearing the sharp warning whistle of the yellow-bellied marmot. Emerging from hibernation in late February and early March, marmots, also called rockchucks or whistle-pigs, leave their underground dens and start nibbling away at succulent vegetation, insects and bird eggs.
Yellow-bellied marmots are are the largest member of the squirrel family in Oregon, and can weigh up to 11 pounds. They are also fairly long-lived, averaging a lifespan of 13-15 years.
With their stubby legs, furry, plump bodies with golden-yellow underside, and short, bushy tails these ground squirrels are easy to identify. Colonies of up to 20 marmots are often found in burrows near piles of rocks and boulders. They spend about 80 percent of their lives underground, and over half of the time hibernating. When they emerge in early spring, male marmots seek out two or three females to mate with, each producing up to five pups. They also become eating machines because they need to double their mass in preparation for their upcoming winter hibernation.
Marmots are well-equipped to dig. During summer months they will construct multiple burrows about three feet deep for daily use. Winter hibernation burrows, however, can be over 20 feet underground.
Marmots are hyper-alert to predators, such as coyotes and raptors, and communicate danger to other marmots with their warning whistle alarm calls. While they may look sluggish when munching on vegetation, they can move surprisingly quickly and disappear into a hole or pile of rocks when danger is perceived.
One of the best places locally to observe rockchucks is around Canyon Village at Crooked River Ranch. In spring and summer, dozens can easily be spotted eating grass and standing guard near rocky areas. But then one day, around the beginning of August, they suddenly disappear. The yellow-bellied marmots are back in their underground burrows, hibernating through the long winter.
Library of previous Wildlife Articles:
Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) | Cindy Murray
Northern Scorpion (Paruroctonus boreus) | Cindy Murray
Cougar (Puma concolor) | Cindy Murray
Bobcat (Lynx rufus) | Cindy Murray
Common Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) | Cindy Murray
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) | Cindy Murray
North American Beaver | Cindy Murray
Northern River Otter | Cindy Murray
Owls of Central Oregon | Cindy Murray
Rattlesnakes: Fact and Fiction | Ilene Smith
Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) | Cindy Murray
Northern Scorpion (Paruroctonus boreus) | Cindy Murray
Cougar (Puma concolor) | Cindy Murray
Bobcat (Lynx rufus) | Cindy Murray
Common Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) | Cindy Murray
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) | Cindy Murray
North American Beaver | Cindy Murray
Northern River Otter | Cindy Murray
Owls of Central Oregon | Cindy Murray
Rattlesnakes: Fact and Fiction | Ilene Smith