It’s like clockwork. At 6:45 p.m. the crows glide in and land on the upper branches of the mostly dead, huge maple tree in the front yard.
It’s not a massive murder of crows like you’d see in the winter at dusk, but rather it’s a small family. First two adults land, then two youngsters follow. They sound a few seemingly innocent caws, but their disagreeable reputation as egg eaters precedes them.
The crows’ arrival puts the other birds in the neighborhood on alarm. Robins sound off from the surrounding trees, but remain out of view. Cardinals, also unseen, use their high chip alert calls to keep in contact with each other. Orioles join in, but keep their distance.
Blue jays and grackles are more aggressive in their attempts to drive the crows away from the neighborhood. The blue jays squawk and dive-bomb. More jays materialize from the trees and join the effort.
Usually it’s the grackles that get the crows off their perch, starting a battle of large black birds against medium-sized black birds.
For an instant, I almost feel badly for the crows. They appear to be merely looking for a place to rest, but the other birds want nothing to do with them. Then I come to the realization that I would do the same thing if I were a robin, cardinal, blue jay or some other type of songbird with a nest in the vicinity. Protecting your family comes before anything else. It’s Nature 101.
Crows have a well-deserved reputation for finding the nests of other birds and eating their eggs or even their babies. Their presence, whether they are actively hunting or not, is cause for alarm for other birds. Even if the crows are merely resting, the could be scanning the area for nests and future meals. As another bird species with young near, why take the chance?
I’m not saying I dislike crows. I have a certain affinity for the smart birds, especially since they remind me of the Great North Woods, where they are also abundant. But the fact is, they eat eggs and baby birds, and I wouldn’t trust them if I were a songbird.
The action doesn’t stop there in the neighborhood. The evening chorus — even though these birds might not be the sweetest singers — also includes various woodpeckers. Northern flickers and red-bellied woodpeckers — both of which have loud, unique  calls — are common visitors to the dead maple, as well. It must be loaded with grubs, insects and other goodies for the woodpeckers.
It’s time well spent, sitting on the porch listening to the birds go about their business of raising young. In another few weeks the summer insect chorus will join the fray. Then it will really get loud.
What I still haven’t heard in the yard is hummingbirds buzzing by. But, after last week’s column, I received some good advice from readers. I appreciate all of the input.
Heidi Gibb of Surry attracts hummingbirds with a combination of flowers and feeders. The flowers, she writes, are all around the house and not confined to a few flower baskets. The feeders are tucked away into a tree where the birds are protected and safe to drink and preen. The hummingbirds are so fun to watch, she said, that even her husband enjoys the antics.
Grace Lilly uses a glass feeder near her front porch to attract a pair of hummingbirds. The glass feeder, she said, is easy to clean, which she does every time she refills. She has flowers, but has always had more luck with a time-tested recipe handed down from her mother: “I mix 1/4 cup of sugar to one cup of water. Bring to boil, usually one to two minutes. Cool. I usually double the recipe and keep the extra in the refrigerator.”
She adds the warning: “I refresh the feeder every two to three days because the mixture easily ferments.”
Stephanie Seacord of the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development has an interesting set up: “We have a hummingbird feeder on the clothesline in the side yard. You don’t need the fancy nectar mix, just a 2:1 mix of plain sugar dissolved in boiling is all you need. “
She also adds a warning and bit of encouragement: “Check the stuff for mold and ants regularly as they stay away if the feeder is contaminated. It takes a while for them to find it, but then they look for it. This spring, the day I thought ‘it’s time to put the feeder out’ and did so, I had a ruby-throated hummingbird at it within 15 minutes.”
 Mariann Harvey of Swanzey bought into the marketing claim of the “best hummingbird feeder in the world,” and it has paid high dividends.  
“It consists of a small glass bottle and a red base that has little holes in it,” she wrote. “Well, I was skeptical that it would attract hummingbirds, but it does every year! For the last three years … they come to feed at the same times every day.”
She adds: “I have quite a few that will buzz right past my head! It is a bit scary at first since I think they are bees. But once I get used to them it is as if they are saying ‘hi’ and ‘thank you for the food.’ If the feeder happens to be empty they will buzz to the tree in front of my house and back again until I notice them and realize the feeder needs refilling!”
Her secret? “I use is 1/2 cup of sugar and one cup of water and simmer until it begins to boil. Then I let it cool down and fill the feeder bottle. I recently began to add a little maple syrup and they love it! I can’t imagine living here without them.”
Lynn Smith of Troy said the commercial feed was not a big draw for her hummingbirds, but rather a sugar water mixture works best. Like many birdwatchers, she can watch the antics for hours.
“They are so amazing to watch, these feisty little guys. Last week there were five buzzing around and they took so much time chasing each other off, I’m not sure if anyone got to drink. When the hollyhocks are in bloom, they seem to enjoy sipping direct from the flowers. When the rose of sharon blossoms, it’s like a drunken frenzy, tumbling from one blossom to the next.”
She also shared the story about her grandson’s visit when the feeder ran dry and she refilled it. She told her grandson to tell the birds that dinner was ready.
“’Birdies!’ he shouted. ‘Dinner time!’ I’m sure it was coincidental, but it wasn’t more than two minutes before a brilliant male stopped by. It’s nice when mother nature cooperates for the kids!”
Carol Poole takes the opposite route from the aforementioned readers: “I have lived in three different houses in this area in the past 40 years. I have always had hummingbirds and have never used a feeder. I hang brightly colored pots of fuscia or impatients from my porches and the birds always find them. This year when the spring phlox were in bloom, every time I paused to watch the butterflies enjoying them there was also a humming bird darting about.”
We live in a wooded city area in Keene and have lots of shade.  Our first summer here [1997] we bought four hanging baskets:  two impatiens and 2 fuschias.  For whatever reason, we hung the impatiens in the front of our home and the fuschias in the back, under a second floor deck, just outside the room we use as an office.
Gail Malitas of Keene lives on a shady property and uses baskets of fuschias to bring them in. In fact, a female hummingbird usually discovers the flowers within 12 hours.
Amy Makson in North Wilton attracts hummingbirds with hummingbird feeders and says the birds are plentiful in her backyard. She added that the glass bottle feeders work best for her and one hangs next the grill. The birds are relatively fearless, she said, and visit the feeder even when people are sitting on the deck. The numbers grow as summer progresses and they consume as much as half a cup every two days.
Eileen Ferro, another Wiltonite, wrote to say that hummingbirds live in a tree near her property and she attracts them with both feeders and flowers. “One feeder is attached to my french door (the one we don’t open).  They love it. They perch and take a long drink,” she wrote. “They even look in the door at me.  We get them every year and this year we have seen three at once.”
Jan Morency of Weston offered a detailed description of her method of attracting hummingbirds. She said her property is like a bird sanctuary, but her favorite birds every spring are the hummingbirds. She also uses both flowers and feeders, and has found that the inexpensive plastic feeders work just fine. A red geranium in a hanging basket is attracting four hummingbirds this summer, two parents and two youngsters.
She uses fine sugar, available at Wild Bird Center in Westport Avenue in Norwalk or at a supermarket, using the following recipe: “It’s basically four scoops of sugar (1/4 cup per scoop) mixed with 2 cups of water. Six scoops/3 cups water, 8 scoops/4 cups of water or 10 scoops/5 cups of water. No need to boil the water, just make sure the sugar water is well blended,” she wrote. “You can keep the ‘syrup’ in the refrigerator for refills.”
Also, Rich Conklin sent along the following Web link that shows some fantastic photos of a hummingbird nest: http://community.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM. According to the counter at the bottom of the Web page (if you believe those counters) the site is closing in on 10 million views.
Thanks again for the input and enjoy your summer birds!

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