Hi Tweets,

Following Dennis Paulson?s native vegetation thread and specifically
the Pacific Madrone, it has been our observation that birds use the
trees in many ways as a natural habitat. In addition to foraging on
berries they also feed on the flowers in the spring, and consume
insects attracted to the flowers.?The peeling bark is attractive to
insects and we see many species of birds foraging in crevices or hiding
seeds in these convenient places.?Many of the branches and trunks are
hollow and provide perfect nesting sites for birds and rodents.?Dead
branches have many species of lichens and mosses that also attract
insects and birds. Madrone trees shed their bark and leaves during the
summer, berries in the fall and winter, leaving a thick litter that
also attracts insects and ground foraging birds. These evergreen trees
are microhabitats for birds providing food, shelter, nesting, perching
and roosting sites.

Here is a list from the last several years of birds that we have
observed using these trees for varied purposes in our backyard Madrone
on Queen Anne (QA) in Seattle and Madrone trees on Orcas Island (O).

?Great Blue Herons (QA & O), Turkey Vultures (O), Sharp-shinned Hawks
(QA), Cooper?s Hawks (QA), Red-tailed Hawks (QA), Bald Eagles (O),
Merlins (QA & O), Glaucous-winged Gulls (O), Band?tailed Pigeons (QA &
O), Western Screech-Owls (O), Rufous (QA & O) and Anna?s (QA) Humming
birds, Red-breasted Sapsuckers (QA), Hairy and Downy Wood Peckers (QA &
O), Northern Flickers (QA & O), Pileated Woodpeckers (O), Olive-sided
Flycatchers (QA), Pacific-slope Flycatchers (QA & O), Warbling Vireos
(QA), Stellar?s Jays (QA & O), Western Scrub-Jays (QA), Common Raven
(O), American Crow (QA & O), Northern Rough-winged (O). Violet-green,
Tree and Barn Swallows (QA & O), Black-capped and Chestnut-backed
Chickadees (QA & O), Bushtits (QA & O), Red-breasted Nuthatches (QA &
O), Brown Creepers (O), Bewicks and Winter Wrens (QA & O), Ruby and
Golden-crowned Kinglets (QA & O), Townsend?s Solitaires (O). Varied
Thrushes (QA & O), American Robins (QA & O), Hermit Thrushes (QA & O),
European Starlings (QA), Cedar Waxwings (QA & O), Orange-crowned,
Yellow-rumped, Wilson?s, and Townsend?s Warblers (QA & O), Western
Tanagers (QA & O), Black-headed Grosbeaks (QA & O), Spotted Towhees (QA
& O), Golden-crowned Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows
(QA & O), Dark-eyed Juncos (QA & O), Brown-headed Cowbirds (QA),
Evening Grosbeaks (QA), Purple Finches (QA & O), House Finches (QA &
O), Red Crossbills (O). Pine Siskins (O), American Goldfinches (QA &
O), and House Sparrows (QA).

?Don and Sandi McVay
Queen Anne Hill and Deer Harbor
dmcvay at cmc.net