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Welcome to The Birdhouse Banter — brought to you by Meika's Birdhouse.
Join host Bryn Griffiths and co-founders Ian Sprague and Janine Couture as we talk birds! Our team brings over 100 years of combined experience and a whole lot of passion for our feathered friends — whether they're soaring wild or perched right at home with you.
We are Alberta's trusted destination for bird lovers. From quality products and expert advice to supporting bird rescue right here in our community — Meika's Birdhouse has you covered.
Welcome to The Birdhouse Banter brought to you by Mica's Birdhouse, Alberta's trusted destination for bird lovers. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Birdhouse Banter. I'm Bryn Griffiths. Ian and Janine are here.
Bryn:We're in Meika's Birdhouse today. How you guys doing? We're doing awesome. Everybody okay? Here here we go.
Bryn:I can't believe it's episode four already. Okay. So here on the chirp, which is our major topic driver, let's talk about bird brains. Let's talk about how smart birds are. Can they outsmart me if I'm the owner?
Bryn:Yeah. Okay. You two don't have to laugh quite so loud. Is that a comment on me or the birds?
Ian:No. That was that was a that was more a comment on on with the birds because yeah. No. They can definitely
Janine:We have a macaw named Tegan that constantly figures out how to open her cage. Really? Yeah. That's fun.
Ian:Yeah. You should see the the contraptions and the and and and, you know, all the all the, you know, Tegan proofing that that that goes on. I love bird. It is it's it's some pretty impressive, the stuff that bird can do.
Bryn:Yeah. Let's let's stop right there for just a second here. So so tell me exactly, like, what have you had to do to keep this bird under control? And then you come in what do you come in the next day and you go, oh my god.
Janine:Or even just during the day.
Ian:You know? It's mostly during the day.
Janine:Yeah. It's usually during the day. Yeah. If yeah. She's wanting to come out.
Janine:She will either unlatch the the lock mechanism.
Bryn:Right.
Janine:So then we started tying a string around it, then she undid the string, then we did chain and then she broke the chain and then we did the chain some more and she still broke the chain. So then, yeah, we did nuts, these bolts and these, you know, all kinds of random stuff.
Ian:Taping doors shut. Yeah. There was all kinds of different
Bryn:zip ties. So are you being watched carefully or is this a matter of the bird just gets it? The bird's understanding what you're doing.
Janine:We are watched every single minute of every single day.
Ian:Absolutely. And Yeah. You know, just the the the the cognitive abilities of of these animals, you know, it is
Janine:They learn.
Ian:Is their nature to take things Mhmm.
Bryn:So if you were to distract the bird one of you distracted the bird over here and the other was kind of securing the cage over here Yeah. Would that slow down the process or not at all?
Janine:It slows it down.
Ian:A little bit.
Janine:But, yeah, she's still she's still work on it.
Bryn:It also
Ian:it might slow it down, but it also brings the determination up. Yeah. Yeah. She now she's, you know, now she's invested. You think you you think you got me?
Ian:Yeah. Not a chance. Yeah. So
Bryn:so are different birds smarter or do they have different things that they are that they pick up on? Is every bird breed a little bit different or are they all basically the same?
Ian:Well, and that's that's that's the million dollar question. Right? I think my again, there's an here's an Ian thought. I think that they all have the ability or or the cognitive ability, I think, is all fairly similar. How they express it is very different.
Ian:Mhmm.
Janine:And it's all depending on like how they're raised too. If you're raised to like like learn helplessness that, you know, you're gonna learn to, okay, yeah, they're just gonna put my my food in there. I'm not even gonna bother looking because my food is in my dish, you know? Mhmm. But if you teach them how to forage, then they're busy throughout the day.
Janine:You can put a piece of food inside a toy and then they're gonna spend some time, you know, looking for that food instead of, you know, being bored sitting there doing nothing.
Ian:So
Bryn:Yep. Ultimately, are they training us as well? Mhmm. Oh, of course.
Ian:Always? Yeah. Always. Right? Always.
Ian:Always. Always. Mhmm. And that same that that works for your wild birds outside in the feeder too. Right.
Ian:You know, same same sort of things.
Bryn:Right? They they got me figured out.
Ian:Oh, absolutely. Long before
Bryn:I'll figure them out.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah.
Bryn:Right? So so working with your birds, I'm guessing is a big thing, Janine?
Janine:Mhmm. Yes.
Bryn:Gotta be consistent.
Janine:It's very important to to work with your birds, you know, like it it builds trust, number one. It gives them something to do, and it's just enrichment, you know. If if they're just sitting there in the cage all day, like how fun is that? Yeah. You gotta give them something to do and interacting with you in a training environment is perfect.
Bryn:Yeah. To get bored easy? Oh, absolutely.
Ian:Absolutely. You know, I I always think, you know, when you see companion birds or birds in cages, you know, they have to have stuff to do, like, you know, especially with the amount of muscle, brain muscle power that they have up there. Right. You know, they, if you don't give them something to do, they're gonna find something to do. And, it's better that you have a little bit of a handle on it.
Bryn:So so are you guys learning con consistently and continually Mhmm. That this particular bird loves to do this. This particular bird has got a knack for that. Yeah. It's gotta be like, every member of a family is different.
Bryn:Right? So why would it be any different with birds?
Ian:Exactly. Exact and it's exactly that. They they all have their talents. Yes. Some of them have some deficits.
Ian:Yeah. Okay.
Bryn:We all do.
Ian:Yeah. Absolutely. And but yeah. So it's it's learning that, you know, the the individual's personality, where what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are. And that's that's where Janine Janine and and and the team over at Safe House said that's that's what they do.
Bryn:So Janine, never a dull moment, I gotta think.
Janine:No. Right? No. There's always something to do.
Bryn:And there's always you're you've gotta be every day there's gotta be a surprise from one bird or another. There's gotta be something in where you went, I never saw that coming.
Janine:Yeah. Well, yeah, just the other day when we moved all the birds in into the new space, we have the little hospital room and it turns out that one of the little cockatoos is able to open the door. So as we were closing it up, there's a cockatoo walking on the floor and it's like, you're not supposed to be there. You're supposed to be in your little hospital cage right Okay.
Bryn:So how does that happen? Like, how do they figure that out?
Janine:He just twisted the knob from the inside and then the door fell open and there he is.
Ian:And and the problem is is now that bird That knows exactly how to do it. It's not that he did he didn't do that by accident. The accident it might have been an accident at first, but then he went, hey. Look at that. Anytime he wants out, he's out.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah.
Janine:So duct tape on the knob.
Bryn:Yeah. And but but you know he's gonna figure that he or she is gonna figure that
Ian:out. Right?
Bryn:Yep. So is it a continual game?
Janine:Time. Yep.
Bryn:Continual game between you you and and the birds.
Janine:Yep. He's gonna have to go into a different hospital cage, I think.
Ian:Yeah. Or or or there's gonna have to be a lot of enrichment within the hospital cage in order for him to think, I'm gonna do this instead of that.
Bryn:Mhmm. A level of unpredictability. Yeah. You you mentioned, you know, the fact that not every bird is as smart as the next one, but there's gotta be some birds sometimes you go, I can't understand why he wouldn't figure that out.
Ian:Mhmm. Oh.
Bryn:Or is it just so you just if you give them enough time, they will figure it out?
Ian:Sometimes, you know, and and I've I've done this myself a bunch of times. This is where I think, why don't you get this? You know, just like you're saying.
Bryn:I hear that at home all the time. Right? So there's that.
Ian:You and me both.
Bryn:Yeah. Let's not go there. Let's not open this. She's sitting right here. Know.
Bryn:Good for you. That takes a lot of guts.
Janine:You gotta understand though with a bird, it's they they speak a different language than you. So you're trying to explain something just like talking to a foreign person, you know, when a language that you don't understand and you're trying to communicate in the language they don't understand. And, you know, you're the same species, you know, like, now you're talking to a completely different species with a bird. So it's
Ian:yeah. And then there's the the other factor is the I don't give a s factor. Sure.
Janine:Right. What's in it for me?
Ian:That's a that's a nice toy you got there, Bryn. Yeah. No.
Bryn:I I I totally I know exactly what you're saying.
Ian:You know? But the the bird doesn't care. So you're, you know, you're you're asking them to, oh, jeez. You know? Twist the twist the the plastic, you know, screw or something like that, and it's gonna be so cool.
Ian:There's something there for me. I know how to twist a screw in it. Well, like, what the? You know? I'm not I'm not I'm not ready for this.
Bryn:So so let me ask. So we've been talking about birds inside. Yeah. But what about the birds outside at the feeder? Like, all the I think that I'm training them by with this little whistle I've had.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:They've trained me to blow a whistle.
Ian:Yeah. Exactly.
Bryn:That's really what it is. Absolutely.
Ian:Absolutely. And then and and that that that works. Right? And and but that's the relationship that you're building with these guys. Yeah.
Ian:You know? And when and they've done studies, mainly with with crows and and and and ravens and things like that, where they're doing facial recognition and and and and the bird knows you and the bird is teaching its young. Bryn's cool. Right?
Bryn:Yeah. He's got
Ian:a he's got a whistle. Yeah. And
Bryn:and he blows it every time he's providing us with something
Ian:to eat. Absolutely. Absolutely. So and and so they're gonna teach that to their to their offspring, and and, you know, and then then there's also the fact that, like I was saying in in another episode, the other birds are watching other birds. Right.
Ian:So, you know, eventually, it might come all the way down to the chickadees like, oh, jeez. When the crow says that Brynn's gonna blow a whistle on him, you know.
Bryn:So hang on for it. Wait for it. Just wait for it. Yeah. Well, what's the smartest outdoor bird, do you think?
Bryn:Is the bigger the bird, the smarter the bird or no? Not at all.
Ian:I don't think that's necessarily it. I you know, I'm it's hard to say who's the smartest. I they've done a lot of studies with with crows and ravens things
Janine:Blue like jays.
Ian:Yeah, scrub jays, like blue jays and the birds in that group, off the charts with their intelligence. Off the charts, just like, wow. Just now, are people starting to understand or or or or talk about the culture behind it all? Where they're where they're teaching their young, they're teaching their their family groups, that, you know, there's a whole language and a dialect and all that. So I don't know if you can say, you know, the blue jay is smarter than a chickadee.
Ian:I think how they're expressing it is different. And and, yeah. So it's it's Well, I they're alive. They're pretty smart.
Bryn:I do understand in our backyard that the one bird that will announce its arrival before it gets there is the blue jay. Yeah. We know the blue jay is coming probably about ten seconds before he gets there all
Ian:the time.
Bryn:So and once again, what's the blue jay done? He has trained me. It's not the other way around. So bird brains is is an amazing thing.
Ian:Yeah. So it might be that you can hear the blue jay coming and then you blow your whistle.
Bryn:And then we go from there. So There you go. It's it's it's crazy. Are there good sites out there as well? Because people like to, you know, take a look at what's on the Internet.
Bryn:And I know there's all sorts of studies being done, so we can get into that on further episodes too. If you guys think of any sites that you guys love to take a look at that you wanna pass along to somebody, we can do that.
Ian:Anything from Cornell, really, the Cornell Lab, they have all kinds of really interesting articles on their website.
Bryn:That's in Montreal? Yeah. Okay, got it. All right, super. Well, that's we've been talking about BirdBrain.
Bryn:So once again, they got us more than, than we got them, I think, is probably the best way to put it. Time to check-in with Janine and find out what's happening at Mika's safe house. Today, we're talking about the most common reasons for bird surrender. So, Janine, this is kinda this is kinda your area. So what's the number one reason why people are surrendering birds?
Bryn:Surrendering birds?
Janine:On the sheets, the most common reason is just lifestyle change k. Followed by noise and mess. So people don't realize how how noisy and messy they can be.
Ian:Or what kind of commitment they're getting
Janine:attention they need.
Bryn:Yeah. So so I know that you guys like to talk to everybody to make sure that a bird is going to a great home and that kind of thing. Is it obviously, it's important to get somebody who's taking on this responsibility and that's what it is. And you're also gaining a new family member. Why aren't people listening closely enough?
Bryn:Is it just they didn't think it was gonna be that much?
Janine:In some cases, yes. But in some cases, things just happen in their life that they can't control. And, yeah, they they're they're you know, they have to look after an elderly parent or, you know, they have to there something happens and they have to look after themselves, an illness, an injury.
Ian:So Yeah. So sometimes it's just life happens. Right? And that's Right. And then then that's that's that happens to all of us.
Bryn:Now if it gets to a situation like that, it it doesn't it it doesn't appear to me to make any sense to try people to talk them out of it because they obviously recognize that they're up against it. Right?
Ian:Yep. Mhmm. Yeah. And and and sometimes you can, and I've talked to people where
Janine:You just give them different options.
Ian:You give them different options. Sure. Just say, hey, you know what? You know, because you you do really hear some anguishing stories where they really don't see another way out, but they're it's kind of
Janine:they don't wanna do it.
Ian:And they feel like they're buried, you know, and they have and so sometimes you can talk to them and say, hey, you know what, maybe this isn't a situation where you need to surrender your bird, maybe you just need a couple days off, you know? And we could we can, you know, okay, we'll look after the bird for you for a couple weeks, you know, we'll just charge you for bird sitting or whatever. Yeah. You know, take a break, get your
Janine:Bearings.
Ian:Thought get your thoughts together, you know, and and sometimes that's all it takes, you know, and and they're able to keep the bird in their in their in their home. Sometimes, like you say, it's it's already the decision's made. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and and and you just go with that.
Bryn:One of the things we always talk about is one of our residents. And today, we're focusing in on Lou is it Lucy Lou?
Janine:Lucy Lou.
Ian:Lucy Lou the cockatoo.
Bryn:Yep. Of course. Yeah. It rhymes. Love it.
Bryn:Yeah. So what's the story on Lucy Liu?
Janine:I love that bird. She is one of the nicest birds that we had. She, again, is she was a foster bird. She came into care quite a few years ago from a lady who used to run a dog boarding facility. And Lucy Liu had I don't know what why, how, or what, but she ended up mutilating herself.
Janine:So instead of just plucking her feathers, she would actually go after her skin and make big holes in herself. Wow. Which was really difficult for that owner to cope with at the time. So Lucy Liu came to us and Lucy Liu just learned to like we did all the testing with her. We did all the blood work, all the x rays, all the scans and stuff to make sure that it wasn't an illness.
Janine:And it turns out it is a behavior. Like it's just a behavioral issue.
Bryn:Is this a boredom thing?
Janine:It could very well be. Yeah. It could or nerves, you know, like I'm not sure if she's scared of dogs. Yeah.
Ian:Well, when it comes to mutilating or feather destructive behavior and all that good stuff, it starts off as a medical thing, right? And then it becomes A habit. A habit or like people with OCD, you know, it becomes it just It's gotta like, do it. It just grows and it You grows and know, from from in their brain, they're getting something out of it, you know? This is a captive animal, right?
Ian:You know? So this is just like a person in a prison cell, really. You know, if if if all the other options aren't there.
Bryn:Sometimes it could happen, right?
Ian:Started itching, you know, I, you know, and I've rubbed a hole in my, you know, so it can be that. There's a it's a really complicated kind of subject, but I, for us, when it comes to feather mutilation or or or any of that kind of stuff, the the first step is getting them to the vet. You know? Right. Make sure it's get the get that cut cut it, nip it in the bud.
Ian:Get it early.
Bryn:Mhmm. Can we talk about vet help? Because I know that you guys have got somebody who works very, very well with you. We might as well give a plug right now because it fits.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah. So that would be Doctor. Darren, sometimes known as Murray. Right.
Janine:Yes. Harvest Point Animal Hospital. Yeah. They got a great team at that clinic. So they look after all our birds.
Bryn:So Lucy Liu's status, where we at here?
Janine:So Lucy Liu, after she came into care, she did get adopted and she got adopted to a really wonderful family. It was a young family, they had no kids, they just had their pets and they did so much with her. They taught her all kinds of tricks, they taught her how to fly, they were really wonderful with her. Unfortunately, there was a marital breakdown and causing, you know, change in lifestyles on both sides. So Lucy Liu came back into care once again.
Janine:And at the time that she came into care, few few weeks later, one of our customers who had adopted a cockatoo very similar to Lucy Mhmm. Had her cockatoo pass away. And it just the stars aligned and they met each other and it was good fit.
Ian:Really good fit and Lucy's doing well. She still periodically needs to wear A collar. A collar to protect herself Yeah. From
Janine:Yeah. But, yeah, she's great.
Ian:For the most part, she doesn't need it all the time.
Janine:So Yeah.
Bryn:Yeah. Now we've talked in the past about the fact that not all stories are great stories. There are some sad stories here. But Mhmm. How important is it for you to hear the good positive stuff?
Bryn:Because it just I'm sure it just kinda keeps driving you harder and faster to to make things as good as you possibly can of the safe house. Right?
Janine:Mhmm. Absolutely. We see so much sadness all the time. So hearing the good stories and having the good stories pop up all the time, it's it's so important to us.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah. And that's what keeps you going. Right? If it was always doom and gloom, you you know, it wouldn't take long before you didn't wanna do it anymore.
Ian:Yeah. Right? So, yeah. No. We're we're we're we really need to hear really the the the good parts.
Bryn:Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. So we we talked on the last episode about the fact that you had moved from one side of your building to the other. Yeah.
Bryn:So how's that progressing? We're just about done, I gotta think, by now. Yeah.
Ian:It's gonna be, yeah. We
Janine:We're getting close. We are on phase two of the rentals. They're happening this week and laundry room, two new bird rooms, and holes in the wall.
Bryn:Hey. On the next episode, will you take me in there and show me around a little bit? We can do our we can do this one segment from inside there.
Janine:Oh, yeah.
Bryn:You think I'll let will they let me do it?
Janine:Oh, yes.
Ian:You it It'll be loud. Not be able to hear anything.
Bryn:Well, let's give it a shot.
Ian:Well, yeah.
Bryn:We'll give it a try because I I wanna go in because I was so impressed and blown away by, you know, the the other, the other situation that I'm really excited to see what you've done Yeah. With, with the the place to the well, that'd be my broadcast right.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah.
Bryn:Is what it would be.
Ian:To the north.
Bryn:Alright. So that's it on the safe house. Glad to hear Lucy Liu is doing great. Okay. It's now time for the seed and time to wrap things up.
Bryn:Now that we see the weather's improved, let's take a look at how things are coming along with your backyard. And on the last episode, we talked about setting things up, but it's to me, from what I've noticed, and I've been doing this for a few years now, it's never it's never ever fully done. I'm always tinkering around trying something new. But what like, what it's one thing to set up the first feeder
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:But it's it's a whole backyard circus for me.
Ian:Well, yeah, exactly. It's a whole it's a whole environment. And, you know, if you've set up for a few weeks and you you wanna try, you know, trying a couple new things, I would suggest you go small. Like, don't don't make any great big catastrophic changes because you'll Right. Everybody will go back to being suspicious of what's going on.
Ian:But yeah. So
Bryn:I see where you're going with that.
Ian:Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, small changes small changes. I would say, if you if once when, you know, we're not freezing at night Right. You know, we wanna look at that at that maybe a birdbath.
Ian:K?
Bryn:Oh, hey. Let's talk about that. Yeah. Let's talk about the fact that I'm convinced that having a fountain in your backyard, and we have one. Yep.
Bryn:They love that. Absolutely. And they hear the water clearly because Mhmm. My one of my favorite things to do is watch them take a bath in the bird bath. That's that's what it's all about, baby.
Bryn:Yeah. Right?
Janine:It's so cute.
Ian:Yeah. I
Bryn:love it. So so having a water feature, that's another important factor, isn't it?
Ian:It's it is it how's the way put this right? It it can be.
Bryn:Okay.
Ian:It can be. Definitely, the sound of water, is is interesting to everybody. You know, birds love bathing.
Janine:And crows love putting stuff in it to make stew.
Ian:Yeah. So that well, that's that's where things go sideways. Right? So you'll have birds like like crows and and maybe magpies that will find, you know, stale bread or stales, you know
Bryn:Just drop it in
Ian:there. Somebody sandwich, you know, it's a little it's a little crusty. It'll be easy to eat if after after I soak this and they dump it into your into your bird bath. That's that's where that's where we gotta come in, but we have to kinda keep it clean. Yeah.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:There are some people also who and I'm one of these ones where I had to do a lot of research Yeah. Because I didn't have people like you Yeah. That could help me with this. Yeah. And and and the the biggest thing for me is keeping the fountain clean Yeah.
Bryn:And putting stuff into it that will keep the algae away, but is perfect for birds if they wanna have something to drink.
Ian:Yeah. For sure. And it and it's gonna depend on how, fancy of a bird bath you have. Right? If you have just an open dish, you can buy a a copper slug.
Ian:It's a it's a copper disc.
Bryn:Right.
Ian:You just plunk it in there, you're done. Right? And that that that'll inhibit, algae growth. You can also buy enzymes that you can you can put in the water that that that'll keep the the the water healthy, especially if you have
Bryn:And keep the mosquitoes away.
Ian:Keeping the mosquitoes away. That's the other part.
Janine:No stagnant water.
Ian:Yeah. You want it moving.
Bryn:The other thing too is having destinations for different types of birds. The bird feeder I have Mhmm. Every they they all come to it. Right. But now I've kinda got a little different one over in the far corner Yeah.
Bryn:That the bigger birds seem to like. So now they're not coming to the other feeder. Mhmm. So now the little ones have got another space. So having different destinations, I'm guessing, is important.
Ian:Absolutely. Absolutely. And and let them choose. Sure. You know?
Ian:Yeah. That's that's that's where I think we get ourselves in trouble. At least I that's where I get myself in trouble is that I'm bound and determined that that's where you're gonna eat. And, the birds are like,
Bryn:I don't know about that. We're we're back to the training thing again here.
Ian:Exactly. That's what we're doing. Exactly.
Bryn:What if somebody's thinking about putting in more trees in their backyard? Yeah. You gotta think about you gotta think about the kind of trees that are gonna bring different types of birds. Right?
Ian:For sure. For sure.
Bryn:And Like, gotta think a spruce tree is gonna bring a different type of bird than a a regular type of tree.
Ian:Yeah. Absolutely.
Janine:Get a rowing tree, you'll get all the wax wings in the spring and fall.
Ian:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. The mountain ashes are the rowing trees, and then there's, you know, cedars. Cedars are cedars to me are are awesome trees for birds because they're they're bushy and they're They can hide in there.
Ian:And they just, you know, they barrel in there if they feel unsafe, and then they'll pop back out again. No problem.
Bryn:Exactly. So trees is one of the things you gotta think about. The other one too for me is keeping the yard clean. Yeah. How important is that?
Ian:It it it's it's always important, you know, you know, but I think we need to slow down a little bit.
Bryn:K.
Ian:In the spring, when the snow's gone and all this other kind of stuff, don't rush out there to rake up all that debris. Let things kind of warm up a little bit because there's insect larvae and stuff like that that are in the grass.
Janine:That the robins are wanting.
Ian:That the robins need to eat. Yes. Absolutely. And if you clean it all up The robins are gonna go eat at at some unkempt yard. They're gonna eat I don't want that.
Ian:Yeah. Exactly. Whatever in your yard.
Bryn:But but I'm a I'm a little too finicky about how great I want my lawn to look. I I want the bark chips over by the bird feeder to be immaculate. Yeah. And I've come to realize that you can't always worry about that.
Ian:No. You need to you need to give give the give it a chance. Just take a breath. It'll be fine.
Bryn:Exactly. So somebody came in here and said to the location Mhmm. In Shorewood Park, Alberta.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:And we have to say Alberta because people will be tuning us in. It's the best part about the World Wide Web.
Ian:Hell, yeah.
Bryn:People can find if somebody walks in here
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:And they said, wanna start, is it a real easy process for you guys to say this is probably what you should start with?
Ian:Yep. Uh-huh. Absolutely. Yep. It's super simple process.
Bryn:What would be the first thing somebody would wanna buy if they wanna get into this?
Ian:If they this time of year, I would suggest a feeder.
Bryn:Okay. So like a big feeder, a central point.
Ian:Central point, that's where you wanna start. Then we you can get into satellite feeders. If you're if you're wanting specific birds, there's birds that are, you know, you want a finch feeder, you want you know, you don't want this, you want you won't just want finches, get a finch feeder.
Bryn:I've got one of those coil ones where I could put the peanuts into, which means that the it's not an easy thing, but the bigger birds can figure it up pretty fast.
Ian:Bigger birds can figure out, but nuthatches love that kind of thing. You know, that that's a that's that's a nuthatch. Challenge. Yeah. Well, and it's a magnet to them.
Ian:They say,
Bryn:oh, yeah. That's good stuff. Yeah. Well, that's kind of amazing stuff. Okay.
Bryn:So that's it for the seed. Hey. Also, on a on a future episode, I wanna talk about the fact that our yard's complete with squirrels and voles. Mhmm. And I don't know how to get rid of them.
Bryn:Although the squirrels are fine, the voles, I'm not a big fan of, but they're part of the spillover factor.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:And it's just the way it is. But to me, that's that's all part of the I guess, all part of the fun of having a backyard with birds and everybody like that. So maybe we'll deal with that on another episode.
Ian:For sure.
Bryn:Right now, though, we have to take time out because we gotta talk about fun facts. What do we got for today?
Janine:Fun facts. It's parasitic birds. Yeah.
Bryn:Okay. Break that one down for me. Parasitic birds.
Janine:Parasitic birds. Birds that lay their eggs in other birds nests so that the other parents will well, other bird species will
Ian:Raise their young.
Bryn:Yeah. Really? Like, what would be a parasitic bird?
Janine:A cowbird.
Ian:Yeah. A what? A cowbird in Alberta. That's that's, probably the the most yeah.
Janine:They're the worst parents.
Ian:Yep. They're the absolute worst parents.
Bryn:Really?
Ian:I wish I knew about them before I had
Bryn:I don't even know what they look like, but this is you guys are now gonna have to do a little bit of homework on this one. Yep. They they're the worst ones?
Janine:Yep.
Ian:Yep. So they're that's they'll go to say a a bird of similar size.
Bryn:Okay.
Ian:Right? So Red blackbird. Red winged blackbird.
Janine:Yeah.
Ian:Alright. So when birds are laying eggs, the the mother isn't sitting there all the time Right. Until she's finished laying her clutch, and then they sit. Right? K.
Ian:But while she's still making her clutch, she'll go off and feed and do whatever. That's when the cowbird comes in, sees one egg, I'm gonna put an egg right next to that one and then moves on.
Bryn:Right? And the other bird doesn't care?
Ian:No. She does she
Bryn:She'll raise it
Janine:just like her own.
Ian:Yeah. She'll she'll sit on it. She'll incubate it. The little hatch.
Janine:She'll feed it.
Ian:The cowbird Mhmm. Baby. Yeah. Grows faster, grows stronger. It's the first to leave the nest.
Ian:Of course, it is. Yeah. And and off he goes. Right? And and and yeah.
Ian:But the that's probably the worst parents out
Bryn:I've never heard of this bird before, but I bet you I've seen it.
Ian:Right? Absolutely. Mhmm. Absolutely. They're, mainly a a dark bird, so almost a a almost a black body, dark brown body with a light slightly lighter brown head.
Ian:Okay. But, yeah. They're they're they're fairly common.
Bryn:Gotcha. Listen. Oh, yeah. Okay.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:Yes. Absolutely. Check it out online. You'll be able to figure that out.
Ian:Yeah.
Bryn:There's your fun fact for this episode. Love it. Did not realize that that was even an episode right there. It was gonna be on the episode.
Ian:There you go.
Bryn:Hey. Thanks for joining us today. If you're a bird brain like me and you don't wanna miss our next podcast, then check us out on any of your favorite ear candy sites like Apple, Spotify, Google. There's lots of them out there. Make sure you tell your friends and make sure you follow or subscribe to our podcast.
Bryn:That way when a new one drops, you'll get the new one right to your home perch. And, also, if you're known as the crow flies and you can't drop into our location, check us out online at mika'sbirdhouse.com. That's it for the Birdhouse Banter. Have yourself a great day. Let's get chirping.