The rich and burbling song of the house wren is surprisingly loud for such a tiny (4 3/4 Inch) bird. House wrens are named for their preference for living in the close proximity to humans, often in tiny houses we provide. This mostly plain brown bird makes up for it’s small size and drab coloration by being a fierce competitor for nesting boxes. House wrens nest in a variety of cavities from woodpecker holes to natural cavities and nest boxes. They will also nest in flowerpots, drainpipes, and other such sites. They are very competitive about nesting sites, often filling all or most available cavities with sticks. The male builds these “dummy” nests, and the female selects one in which to nest. The twig structures are lined with soft materials, such as grass or hair and the female lays six to eight eggs. She performs the incubation duties, which lasts from 12-14 days. Fledglings leave the nest two or more weeks after hatching. House wrens are known to pierce the eggs of other cavity nesting birds in their territories. House wrens are notable for their lack of field marks. The warm-brown upper parts and tail are matched by a grayish breast. Looking closely, you will see a variety of small white and black spots, the only variation in the bird’s plumage. Males and females look alike and both have the wren like habit of cocking their tails up when perched. The thin, slightly curved bill is ideal for capturing and eating the house wren’s insect prey. They spend their summer in thickets and bushy edge habitat to woodlands. The house wren is a familiar bird in parks, backyards and gardens near human settlements. Their diet is insects; grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and moths, but they will also eat snails and caterpillars. Come to Songbird Prairie to see the small bird and hear them through the microphones with their powerful song.

Drink your TEA sings the towhee throughout the brushy woodlands here in Valparaiso, Indiana at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast Inn and Spa.

 
Formerly called the rufous sided towhee this 8 1/2 inch long sparrow is boldly patterned and spends nearly all it’s time on the ground scratching among the leaf litter, looking for food. The name towhee comes from the bird’s call, which has also been translated as chewink. Many people know this bird as the chewink instead of the towhee. This is one of the favorites here at Songbird Prairie. Clean, flashy colors have given the towhee the nickname “Hollywood robin” In flight, the bird’s white wing and tail spots are just beautiful. Female eastern towhees replace the male’s black plumage areas with chocolate brown. Towhees preference for thick cover and brushy habitat make them harder to see than other common species. But not here at Songbird Prairie, you will see them come right up to the feeders, a rare occurrence indeed!

The loud scratching of a foraging towhee sounds like a large animal walking through dry leaves; this is often your first clue to a towhee’s presence. Towhees eat just about anything found on the woodland floor, including insects, seeds, fruits, and even snails, spiders, and millipedes. They prefer to scratch the ground under feeding stations for mixed seeds, cracked corn and sunflower seeds. They nest near the ground in a well-concealed spot. The female weaves a cup-shaped nest out of rootlets, bark strips and grass. She also handles all the incubation duty, which typically lasts about 12 days. Normal clutch size is three to four eggs; young towhees fledge in about 10 days. Both towhee parents feed the youngsters, which allows the female to start a second and sometimes third brood. This is one of my very favorite summer birds. Some and see the towhees at our Inn. www.songbirdprairie.com

Romantic Bluebird Suite

Stay in the romantic Bluebird Suite for your next anniversary, birthday, or any celebration! Order a cheese and cracker tray to await you in your room while you prepare for your couples massage in our spa or in summer in our screened area, then fall into bed to relax or slip into the whirlpool before going to dinner. Or why not order dinner right here at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast? You may choose your own selections for a custom tasted dinner. Watch a movie from our extensive collection while enjoying complementary popcorn, Orville's of course. Awaken in the morning to fresh coffee brewing and enjoy your breakfast in the sunroom while you enjoy the antics and operas of our feathered friends. To reserve go to the rooms and rates page on the web site songbirdprairie.com or call 877-766-4273 877SONGBRD

Birders Delight at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast

Visit Songbird Prairie and have breakfast watching the orioles drink nectar from oranges and eat grape jelly!

© Gerhard Hofmann

The Baltimore oriole is perhaps the most famous neotropical migratory bird. Its brilliant orange and black plumage is reminiscent of the crest of Lord Baltimore, an important figure in Maryland's history, and the bird has become the mascot of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

Oroile's journey begins in the tropics, from Mexico to northern South America, where Baltimore orioles spend most of the year. Here they inhabit lush, tropical forests and feed on nectar, pollen, fruit, and insects. They especially favor coffee and cacao (the plant that chocolate comes from) plantations where these crops are grown in the traditional manner, the coffee and cacao shrubs flourishing under a shady canopy of natural forest trees.

Pairs of males and females form flocks of about 10 individuals, although sometimes as many as 30 or 40 are in a single flock.  Baltimore orioles are often the most common migratory bird in these agricultural forests except for maybe the warbler family. The birds favor the tops of trees, especially those in the genus Inga, where they forage among the numerous blossoms for nectar and pollen. Orioles have a special tongue, which resembles a brush, for lapping up nectar.

Shade grown coffee plantation, winter habitat of the Baltimore oriole.

By April, most Baltimore orioles have begun the journey north to their breeding grounds in North America, which span most of the eastern United States and into southern Canada. Here they eschew the dense forests that so many other migratory birds favor, instead preferring open forests such as those along rivers and even in city parks.

Their nests are unmistakeable in that females build an unusual grassy hanging nest that is suspended like a sack from the end of a branch. The shape of the nest may help deter predators from eating the eggs or young because the eggs and young are hidden from view and the entrance to the nest is difficult to access. The nest is often built in an elm, sycamore, or cottonwood tree. In the video clip below you can see a nest.

Because these orioles spend much of their time in the tops of trees, they are often heard before they are seen. The male has a lovely warbling song and both males and females utter a variety of chatters and short call notes.

• The female lays 4 to 5 eggs in late spring or early summer and incubates them alone. Then, both the male and the female feed the young. Pairs make only one nesting attempt per year. And by August or early September, most orioles are on their way back to the neotropics.

Sometimes orioles can be enticed to visit our backyards.

Oriole at hummingbird feeder (left), and halved banana (right)

Orioles sometimes visit feeders put out for hummingbirds, and are also attracted to fruit such as bananas and oranges. Visit Songbird Prairie to view these beauties!

http://www.qwiki.com/q/#!/Indigo_Bunting



How would you like to see a fireball of citrus orange and black, the Baltimore oriole next to the breathtaking tropical blue of the male Indigo Bunting? Look no further, come to northwest Indiana to Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast and as you enjoy your three course hot breakfast, you will see the colorful birds serenade and entertain you.

Appearing all black against the light, the male indigo bunting properly lit is an unforgettable sight. A persistent late-season singer, he sings a jingly song comprised of paired notes that are often described as: Fire! Fire! Where! Where! Here! Here! Put it out! Put it out! Much of what we know about celestial navigation in songbirds derives from work with captive buntings at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, but you don't have travel far from downtown Chicago to see the Indigo. Just 45 minutes southeast to the country of Valparaiso, IN home of Valparaiso University.

The male indigo bunting is so breathtaking with its tropical blue and silvery bill. The females and immatures are a warm cocoa brown overall. This bunting has a habit of twitching its tail to the side, and its spit note is characteristic. Males change their blue feathers for brown in autumn, which makes for some interestingly mottled specimens. They molt again on the wintering grounds in Central and northern South America and return in spring, blue once more. This species is common on roadsides and disturbed areas there "trashy" vegetation flourishes. Power lines cuts, old fields, landfills, railroads, and hedgerows ring with the songs of indigo buntings, especially as summer reaches its fullest. That is where you will find them right here at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast.

The indigo bunting takes insects when they are available, especially to feed its nestlings. Weed seeds are its mainstay, and thistle from the feeders, supplemented by berries and small fruits. It forages on or near the ground, as well as in low shrubs and trees. Watch for them in autumn, bending grass stems and flickering their tails side to side as they forage in weedy patches here at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast. Indigo buntings have a rather loose definition of monogamy, with extra pair copulations being frequent. Males visit females in neighboring territories, and females visit males. Males vary in their tendency to feed young. Some are attentive parents where as other leave most of the chick rearing to their mates. The nest is bulky but compact, cup-shaped and constructed of bark strips, grasses and weed stems and skeletonized leaves, all bound with spider webs. It's often low in blackberry, sumac or other brushy vegetation. These birds nest quite late in the season, reflecting their dependence on late maturing weed seeds. Three to four eggs are incubated by the female for about 12 days, and the young leave the nest 8-14 days later. Early in the spring you may see them feasting on dandelion seeds. Later, black oil sunflower seeds and millet mixed prove attractive. They love coneflower, Mexican hat, cosmos, coreopsis and especially foxtail grasses. Come and enjoy the beauty of the indigo bunting here at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast.

www.songbirdprairie.com 877-766-4273 219-759-4274

Songbird Prairie received two awards yesterday at the R.O.S.E. Awards Banquet held at the Allure Banquet Center in Laporte. The first was "Hotel of the Year", which is recognition of service excellence. Songbird Prairie has won this prestigious award 3 times in the last 12 years since they first started the yearly R.O.S.E. Awards. We at Songbird Prairie strive to give every guest the personal service they deserve, while respecting their privacy during their stay as guests in our home. Fireplaces, Whirlpools, fine linen, and our three course hot breakfast are sure to please even the most discriminating guest. As on site Innkeepers we offer personal concierge service by providing maps and local information to restaurants and attractions. Our 6 1/2 acres backs up to 450 acres of woodland, meadow and farmland. You can hear the moo of an occasional cow through our microphones in the sunroom. One guest wrote in the journal, I think I heard a cow bird? No that was a real cow!

Porter County offers travelers many unique attractions. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is on the coast of the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world! Beyond the Beach you will discover sites where the rare Karner blue butterflies floats among wild lupine blossoms to ten thousand sandhill cranes gathered during fall migration. From quaint chef owned restaurants to Arboretums and wildlife sanctuaries, Beyond the beach trail is designed for several days of adventure. Come to visit Nature's Masterpiece at the Indiana Dunes and stay at Songbird Prairie where you will "fall in love with nature"

www.songbirdpraire.com 877-766-4273

Sandhill Cranes migration and stay at Songbird Prairie

Explore the Jasper Pulaski sandhill preserve where you will see and hear thousands of sandhill cranes. Then return from your adventure to a Whirlpool/Fireplace guestroom where you can review your pictures and videos and upload to your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare! Then awaken to your plated three course hot breakfast in the sunroom where you will hear and see songbirds as they entertain and serenade through our outdoor microphones.. Stay two days and visit the nature center at the Dunes National Lakeshore.

 Beyond the Beach Discovery Trail Now is the time! The first official count for the fall sandhill crane migration from DNR is 5,846! Cranes began arriving in September. They will continue to arrive and build to a peak population in late November of 20,000 or more. http://www.beyondthebeachdiscoverytrail.com/BeyondBeach_searchdetail.asp?SiteNumber=50

 

Beyond The Beach

www.beyondthebeachdiscoverytrail.com

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Songbird Prairie says if the early-bird gets the worm, then the guest who plans ahead enjoys the hot deal!

Mother DaughterSpecial

Moms are special
Whether she’s a “Red Hatter” or a “Tool Belt Diva”, Plan a night reminiscing with Mom at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast. Remember those breakfasts in bed where you served her burnt toast and cold tea? Let us serve you both our Three Course Hot Breakfast in our sunroom where songbirds serenade and entertain.

Stay at Songbird Prairie with your mom during the month of May and make her a bracelet of hand-blown glass beads and silver-plated metal beads which are topped off with a touch of rhinestone bling. Bracelet is included ($17.50 value) in package with beads of your choice up to $50.00 retail value

Starts @ $219.00. Children 12 and over welcome. Can’t make an overnight? Come just for Breakfast or Afternoon tea (4 person minimum) Call for reservations.  Special for the Month of May.

www.songbirdprairie.com 877/766/4273 

 

 

Memorial Day Special

Make an early-bird reservation for Memorial Day Weekend and get a hot deal!! At Songbird Prairie the early-bird gets the worm !

Stay 2 nights in a luxurious whirlpool/fireplace suite and get the 3rd night 1/2 price or a certificate for a future free night's stay call 877.766.4273 www.songbirdprairie.com

Birdlife: Spring hummingbird happenings at Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast in Valparaiso, IN

Birdlife: Spring hummingbird happenings

By Marcia Davis
Sunday, March 29, 2009

If you're an April fool for hummingbirds, it's easy to remember April 1 as a humdinger of a day - the day to hang the hummingbird feeders every year.

Ruby-throated hummingbirds keep to their schedules. Spring's first migrant hummers usually arrive in East Tennessee in early April. Be ready.

The same individual hummers that visited your yard last year may come back this year. They'll be looking for the feeder in the same place where it hung last year. Don't let them find an empty space.

Nectar-bearing flowers can be in short supply this early in spring.

Hummers need high-energy sugar-rich fuel for migration.

The formula for homemade nectar is 1 cup white cane sugar dissolved in 4 cups of water. Boil gently two or three minutes to retard spoilage and to fully dissolve sugar. Store in refrigerator up to a week. Don't use honey or artificial sweeteners. It is not necessary to use red food coloring.

After the feeders are up a few days, most of you will probably start wondering why you haven't seen any hummingbirds yet. Check the hummingbird migration map at www.hummingbirds.net to see just how far along the ruby-throats are on their journey to nesting sites as far north as Canada.

Ruby-throat enthusiasts across eastern North America report their earliest hummer sightings. Different-colored dots on this year's 2009 migration map show early arrival dates so far. Look at prior years' maps for the complete picture. Over 5,000 people reported their first hummer sightings in 2008. Report yours in 2009. This year ruby-throats were sighted in Middle and West Tennessee by March 20. They usually arrive later in East Tennessee.

Between now and late April - when courtship and nesting activities begin - plant some flowering perennial hummingbird plants. Select some plants that bloom in April, when large numbers of hummers pass through on migration every year. Next April your yard will be even more attractive to migrating hummers.

April-blooming, nectar-rich hummer plants include wildflowers like wild columbine (with drooping pendants of orange-red and yellow tubular flowers) and blue woodland phlox. Dwarf red buckeye is a small native tree with red tubular flowers. Early-blooming crossvines, coral honeysuckle and yellow Carolina jessamine are April-blooming vines.

Flowering quince shrubs with red flowers start blooming in late March.

Piedmont and flame azaleas are native shrubs that attract hummers.

Offer water in a way that helps migrating hummers take a bath. Hummers wet and preen their feathers to keep them in top shape for flying. They don't bathe by splashing around in bird baths. They shower.

Hummingbirds prefer to hover as they shower in a fine mist. Special leaf-misters for hummingbirds and other small birds connect to outdoor faucets. About 50 feet of small plastic tubing connects to a low-flow nozzle that creates a mist. Attach the nozzle to a tree branch to provide mist for hummers and to wet leaves for small birds that bathe in water held on leaves. Hummers will fly through the mist. You can also use a garden hose with the nozzle set to make a fine mist. Attach the nozzle to a tree limb or a stake in the ground.

Many people position a mister or garden hose nozzle to wet foliage above a ground-level bird bath. The sound of water dripping into the bird bath attracts more birds.

If you find baby wildlife, go to www.vbspcawildlife.com.Click on "The first thing to do...if you've found a baby bird" or "if you've found a baby mammal or duckling."

Make your reservation today call 877-766-4273 877 SONG_BRD

www.songbirdprairie.com