Birds serve to maintain balance in nature by keeping in check insects, rodents, reptiles, and amphibia, the overpopulation of any one of which could drive a man from great areas of the earth.
Birds also reduce the competition of weeds with cultivated plants by consuming millions of weed seeds.
Warbler
The warbler is probably our most economically valuable native bird. He feeds upon the insects which destroy leaves and blossoms and is the special protector of plants.
Arriving in early spring when leaf and blossom buds are just opening, these industrious little birds are to be found everywhere among plants, searching out and devouring chiefly the larvae of insects while they thus are in the first stages of existence before they can begin serious depredations upon plants.
Singers are regarded as among our best aids in preserving trees, shrubs, and vines—hence of forests, orchards, and gardens.
The warblers constitute our second-largest bird family and are confined to the Western Hemisphere. However, they are among the smallest of our native birds.
They are also the most brilliantly colored, the most variously plumaged, the most restless and active, and the least known to the general public.
With few exceptions, their song is thin, high-pitched, and not at all arresting. Moreover, the name warbler is inappropriate. Not one of our native species warbles.
Redstart Birds
The redstart, the most animated of our singers, is rarely still. They have a characteristic habit. By drooping their wings, they fan their tails and jump into the air after insects.
Deciduous woodlands or open second growths on moist lowlands are common habitats for this bird, which is abundantly and widely distributed.
Were this active, brilliant bird as rare as he is beautiful, would we consider a meeting with him an event to be recorded?
Mariposas
In Cuba, most singers are known simply as mariposas (butterflies), but the redstart’s bright plumage has won him the name candelilla—the little torch that flashes in the gloomy depths of tropical forests.
Like several other singers, the redstart exhibits a superficial affinity to the fly-catcher. It has prominent bristles about its mouth and is an expert in capturing insects in the air.
But the redstart could never sit calmly and wait for some obliging gnat to pass! No, he is restless and can hardly keep his wings folded for 20 seconds.
Although the redstart prefers low sapling growths to nest, it is just as much at home in more or less wooded areas, chiefly deciduous. During the height of the spring migration, it shows a decided fondness for the varieties of insects found in the birch family.
Birches
Birches are essentially northern trees; most are well suited for planting on poor sandy or boggy soil. Their delicate, flexible branches and conspicuous bark, ranging from white through shades of orange to black, give them distinctive charm in the dormant season.
The canoe, paper, or white birch, Betula papyrifera, is one of our best ornamental trees, attaining a height of more than 100’ feet. The early Indians frequently used waterproof white bark for making wigwams and canoes.
In early spring, the tree is conspicuous with slender, drooping flowers or catkins. These are followed by cylindrical strobiles, tiny cones filled -with seeds relished by wintering birds and mammals. Finally, the attractive summer foliage turns golden yellow for the autumn effect.
The generally pyramidal habit, large catkins, beautiful fall coloring, splendid white bark, and avian food supply in both summer and winter combine to make the canoe birch one of our most desirable lawn specimens.
44659 by Alfred E. Runk