Feeding Wild Birds

[sourland]

Turkey hens eating at the feeder now without poults. I wonder what could have killed 5 third grown poults in one fell swoop?

 

[CapricornFarm]

Turkey hens eating at the feeder now without poults. I wonder what could have killed 5 third grown poults in one fell swoop?

Dogs or coyotes.

 

[sourland]

Dogs or coyotes.

That's my guess, but for all 5 to have been taken at the same time confuses me. The mother and her flock mates were always on high alert, and the poults were very capable of flying.

 

[R2elk]

That's my guess, but for all 5 to have been taken at the same time confuses me. The mother and her flock mates were always on high alert, and the poults were very capable of flying.

Turkeys can get stupid if they get stuck on the wrong side of a fence.

Both coyotes and dogs will kill everything they can catch and move on to the next victim immediately. It is about killing, not eating.

 

[sourland]

Well, the 5 poults returned just now along with their mother and her two cohorts. I haven't seen them for the past 48 hours. They have me truly confused. Perhaps it was another hen with the two usual flock members and the mother and five poults were somewhere else for 2 days?

 

[sourland]

Mystery of the missing poults solved (possibly). Yesterday there were 4 hens along with the poults feeding in my back yard. The newcomer was as large as the mother - I think that perhaps the mother and poults went walkabout for a couple of days.

Now there is a newcomer to my backyard feeder. It's a jet black 'gray' squirrel. First that I have seen here in several years. Princeton, NJ has always had a large black squirrel population, but they are uncommon here.

 

[sourland]

For the past couple of weeks there have been some small/medium nondescript birds eating at the home feeder. A couple of days ago I noticed that some were molting and becoming black. I was fairly certain they were cowbirds. The flock has gradually been increasing, and today was very large with some evidently male cowbirds in it. They are making a mess of the water I put out - bathing in it as well as drinking. I am not a great fan of cowbirds; although, watching two males in a dominance battle was very interesting.

 

[R2elk]

For the past couple of weeks there have been some small/medium nondescript birds eating at the home feeder. A couple of days ago I noticed that some were molting and becoming black. I was fairly certain they were cowbirds. The flock has gradually been increasing, and today was very large with some evidently male cowbirds in it. They are making a mess of the water I put out - bathing in it as well as drinking. I am not a great fan of cowbirds; although, watching two males in a dominance battle was very interesting.

Can't be any worse than starlings.

 

[sourland]

Can't be any worse than starlings.

Very similar.

 

[sourland]

The black squirrel has become a constant visitor to the backyard feeder. Initially he was at the bottom of the hierarchy , but now is becoming more dominant. Turkey poults are growing rapidly and come to feed several times daily.