Abstract
I work at Amoco Oil's Whiting, Indiana refinery and we make over two hundred products from a barrel of oil. But oil is not the only product we produce here in Whiting. I thought I would share with you an unusual use for a "homegrown" product we produce - dried grasses!
About four years ago I noticed a tall grasslike plant topped with a fine plume growing on Amoco's Lost Marsh restoration project property. This was identified as Phragmites Pbragmites australis - an invasive species from
Europe. Phragmites is bad for the environment as it has a tendency to take over shutting out all the native species. This tall grasslike plant grows between 4 to 8 feet tall and has several very large grasslike leaves. Around late summer it shoots up a singe tall stalk that ends in a 4-8" plume.
This very soft plume is best collected in January, February and March. When the plume first appears in early fall it's covered with tiny "puffball" seeds. If you bring this into your home, soon your house has this fuzz everywhere. If you wait until the December winds have beaten some of the seeds off it's much less messy.
I collected a bag full of these plumes and sprayed them with an anti-mite spray that is safe for birds to kill any mites that may have been present. I intertwined them into the cage bars all throughout a cage containing a pair of Blue-capped Cordon Bleus. These small blue and brown finches originate from northern Kenya, southern Somalia and Tanzania. Also the plumes were used to completely cover up the nesting wicker basket. As soon as I removed my hands from the cage the male bird swooped down and picked up a beak full of the grass. He started jumping up and down and singing his courtship song to impress his mate.
Since then this pair has given me many clutches of baby birds. This is because the thick cover hid them from sight and allowed them the privacy that they need to feel secure enough to breed.
Another grass that I collect is called switchgrass Panicum vergatum. Switchgrass is a native American perennial that was planted years ago in out in Amoco's J & L tank field. There are literally acres and acres of this 2 -4 foot tall grass. This also grows on midwest prairies and in areas that have been previously disturbed such as alongside railroad tracks or underneath high tension
wires. This is sold as an ornamental grass in the seed catalogs. Of course as soon as it reaches the stage that it looks good as an ornamental - it's time to chop it off for your birds!
Towards late summer the plant sends out many fine tiny grass seeds on spindly threads. I chop off only the top half of the plant leaving the remainder for the native birds and to allow it to regrow the following season. After drying, it's tied up into small bundles and placed into the upper comers of my cages. My Black-cheeked Waxbills, Blue-capped Waxbills, and parrot finches (Red-headed and Forbes) go crazy for it. They eat the seeds, use the stems for courtship displays, and stuff it into nest boxes. Most of my finches burrow into it and weave their own nests. I consider this grass a terrific breeding stimulant for all my finches.