[pbs] More About Birds, Bulbs, and etc.
Joe Shaw
jshaw at opuntiads.com
Sun Oct 1 15:04:02 EDT 2006
Hi Gang,
Living in the USA, I sometimes forget about the wonderful natural history in
other parts of the world. Myke wrote to me about sunbirds in his country in
response to my note about hummingbirds. And I went online and found that
many birds around the world (e.g., lorikeets) enjoy nectar and fruit. I
used to "know" this but seem to have misplaced the knowledge along with some
other information over they years. Perhaps bulb-rich areas of the world
provide more food for birds (through bulbs) than is the case here in Texas.
I know that aloes are not bird flowers in this part of the world (the birds
don't seem to know how to use them), but Jim M. pointed out that Kniphophia,
lilies, and tuberoses can be good nectar sources for birds. I get a lot of
"action" with Callistemon and some rainlilies. The local native rainlily
has a white, upright flower and a long nectar tube; I think it might be a
moth flower rather than a bird flower; I think that hummingbirds like
flowers that point sideways or a bit downwards, rather than directly up.
I do recall that the red-flowered Bessera elegans got some hummingbird
attention this summer, but the blooms hang downwards and I don't know if the
birds really got nectar from the flowers.
One thing I do for birds is to limit my use of pesticides. I'm not averse
to pesticides use them when needed (eastern lubber grasshoppers beware).
However, I do try to spot treat rather than kill all the insects in my yard.
It is a trade-off-I get some damage and I also enjoy more small lizards and
birds coming and going.
Pesticides are a big topic, and not really the subject of this email.
However, one resource that I use to study pesticides (danger to birds, pets,
ground water, aquatic organisms, or persistence in the environment, etc.) is
EXTOXNET. You can research almost any pesticide by brand name or chemical
component, and find lots of data. I like to compare oral toxicity with
caffeine toxicity. If a compound is not more toxic (to humans) than is
caffeine, I am more likely to consider using it.
LINK: EXTOXNET
http://extoxnet.orst.edu/
LINK: Caffeine Toxicity Data
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/CA/caffeine.html
Cordially,
Joe
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