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Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, December 21, 2022
Crawlies with Cri: by Christy Solo
Weather
Watch
Cave Junction
Thursday, December 22
37% Chance of Rain
High -- 47 Low -- 41
Friday, December 23
53% Chance of Rain
High -- 53 Low -- 44
Saturday, December 24
57% Chance of Rain
High -- 56 Low -- 44
Sunday, December 25
33% Chance of Rain
High -- 58 Low -- 44
Monday, December 26
58% Chance of Rain
High -- 56 Low -- 45
Tuesday, December 27
58% Chance of Rain
High -- 53 Low -- 45
Wednesday, December 28
58% Chance of Rain
High -- 51 Low -- 43
Following are the high & low tempera-
tures, and rainfall recorded in Selma
by Chris Granville
Dec.
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
High
44
43
40
38
39
40
37
Low
40
37
34
31
36
31
29
rain
2.33
.23
.06
0
0
0
0
Year To Date rain: 10.82
drought meter lowered to unusually dry
Friday - Monday
(Photos by Christy Solo for the Illinois Valley News)
Tuesday - Thursday
Black-headed grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus)
On Dec. 7 the
Intermountain Bird
Observatory at Boise State
introduced a world record
-breaking black-headed
grosbeak (Pheucticus
melanocephalus). So this
week seems like the perfect
time to learn more about
these beautiful Southern
Oregon birds.
First, what record did
IBO’s bird (pictured left)
break? At 15 years old, he’s
the oldest known black-
headed grosbeak ever. He
broke the previous record of
11 years and 11 months, set
by another banded male in
Montana, by several years.
How do they know?
He was first banded at IBO
as a one-year-old in 2008
and that little metal leg band
held up well enough that
bird banders could read his
unique number in 2022 to
verify he is, well, him, and
quite the old fellow.
Based on black-headed
grosbeaks’ wintering range,
the 15-year-old grosbeak
traveled a minimum of 2,000
miles each year going to and
from his winter and summer
ranges. Over 15 years it’s
estimated he traveled at
least 30,000 miles and could
have easily reached 45,000
miles depending on where he
spends the winter. One tough
bird.
Black-headed
grosbeaks live throughout
western North America, with
the heaviest populations
along the Cascades and
the Sierras. There’s a good
chance you’ve seen one,
with their bold orange and
yellow coloring they’re hard
to miss as they flock to the
treetops in our area in spring
and summer.
Females and juveniles
of both sexes have less bold
coloring, but make up for
that by being adorable (see
photos).
Females do most of
the nest building, including
picking the nest site, which
is generally about 25 feet up
a deciduous tree in a well-
camouflaged spot. After the
nest is done, both females
and males share equally
in sitting on eggs and then
feeding/raising the young.
While you might
assume grosbeaks’ beaks are
made for seed cracking, most
of their spring and summer
diet consists of various
arthropods including beetles,
spiders and even monarch
butterflies. They also are
adept at cracking open snail
shells and dining on some
escargot. Black-headed
grosbeaks are apparently
immune to the milkweed
toxins concentrated in
monarch bodies and are
among the only birds who
can eat the pretty flitters.
They are excellent at
shucking sunflower seeds
also, so you can woo them to
your yard with seed feeders.
They love all types of seed
and eat lots of seeds and suet
during mating season.
Their young fledge
around the time blackberries
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ripen and both adults and
juveniles love a good berry.
Along with blackberries
they favor chokecherries,
elderberries and Oregon
grape.
Black-headed
grosbeaks breed in areas
with a lot of plant diversity
and ready access to water.
They don’t like monotonous
stretches of unbroken dry
chaparral, desert, grassland
or dense coniferous forests.
Their ideal habitat is a nice
mix of large trees and dense
understory.
Black-headed grosbeak
will start arriving back in our
area around the first of May
and will be around through
August and sometimes even
into September. If your
yard isn’t in one of their
favored habitats, head out
to any riparian area in one
of our many local parks or
forests and listen for their
distinct call - heard here:
https://www.allaboutbirds.
org/guide/Black-headed_
Grosbeak/sounds - and then
check the trees for that flash
of bright orange.