Not hardly. I took photos the other day of a small flycatcher type bird that I have never positively identified. There are so many of them that are so similar to each other that I have no idea which it is.
Feeding Wild Birds
- Thread starter sourland
- Start date
Well, I'm a city girl who retired into the country later in life, so it is all new to me. I love every single bird that I see here....except maybe the pigeons.
Sitting on the deck tonight, I realized we have 3 bald eagles on our bend of the river this year. There has never been more than two in this area. They are very territorial here. Go a few miles up the river and you'll find a completely different pair. But, I'm quite sure the original pair that we first saw about 12 years ago is not the one we see today, and this is the first year it is not so. But the behavior in the whole mating season changed. Not sure I could describe what I saw, but it was so fascinating to watch. Maybe one is one of the originals. It's hard to tell with Bald Eagles.
We had so many different and colorful birds here the first few years, but Stellar Jays, squirrels, doves and pigeons took over. I'm just now trying to get some of the smaller birds back.
We've always had wrens on the river banks, but they rarely come to the bird feeders. I just see them in the river trees.
I pulled out the bird book of North American birds, and found a print out of one bird I printed out when I was thinking I should document what I saw. It was a painted bunting of some sort, sorry I tossed the page, but I remembered how truly colorful that bird was. I thought it had escaped the tropics. That project was abandoned in favor of getting chicken coops built, gardens put in, and a house rehabilitated.
Well, I'm rambling, mostly because it is late and I'm tired, but I think bird watching will be more a part of my activities going forward.
(Thanks for listening, Dr. Kraemer.)
Finchbreeder
Crowing
To attract small birds, plant bushy plants with fruit/flowers that they can eat.
This feeds and houses them, and if bushy enough the bigger birds can't get to them either.
This feeds and houses them, and if bushy enough the bigger birds can't get to them either.
Warblers are worse than sparrows...when trying to identify one! One birdwatching group I joined referred to sparrows as LBJs: Little Brown Jobs.
Type of feeder helps when trying to attract smaller birds, but also the type and quality of seed. Most mixes you can purchase have fillers like red millet, which most birds don't eat. I've had issues with grackles taking over my one "house" feeder, so I fill it with safflower seeds. The grackles, blackbirds, others don't eat safflower seeds, but Cardinals, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Titmice love them. I hang peanut feeders separately, which draws the Bluejays away from the tube feeders.Well, I'm a city girl who retired into the country later in life, so it is all new to me. I love every single bird that I see here....except maybe the pigeons.
Sitting on the deck tonight, I realized we have 3 bald eagles on our bend of the river this year. There has never been more than two in this area. They are very territorial here. Go a few miles up the river and you'll find a completely different pair. But, I'm quite sure the original pair that we first saw about 12 years ago is not the one we see today, and this is the first year it is not so. But the behavior in the whole mating season changed. Not sure I could describe what I saw, but it was so fascinating to watch. Maybe one is one of the originals. It's hard to tell with Bald Eagles.
We had so many different and colorful birds here the first few years, but Stellar Jays, squirrels, doves and pigeons took over. I'm just now trying to get some of the smaller birds back.
We've always had wrens on the river banks, but they rarely come to the bird feeders. I just see them in the river trees.
I pulled out the bird book of North American birds, and found a print out of one bird I printed out when I was thinking I should document what I saw. It was a painted bunting of some sort, sorry I tossed the page, but I remembered how truly colorful that bird was. I thought it had escaped the tropics. That project was abandoned in favor of getting chicken coops built, gardens put in, and a house rehabilitated.
Well, I'm rambling, mostly because it is late and I'm tired, but I think bird watching will be more a part of my activities going forward.
(Thanks for listening, Dr. Kraemer.)
Not the best photo (they look closer than they are), but despite the perspective issues it should give you an idea of what I was trying to convey. That's a female Bluebird on the left, male Cardinal on the right, and what appears to be a Tufted Titmouse on the peanut feeder, you can see its tail. The "house" feeder holds safflower seeds. I also have two birdbaths as a source of water.
The log feeder is a favorite of woodpeckers and nuthatches. I break suet blocks into small pieces, then stuff them in the holes.
Winter view.
- Thread starter
- #1,876
Pretty much I think.And now I know your secret. I thought you just knew every bird on the planet.
They outgrew their nest so fast! I love how grumpy baby birds look
We have a lot of that here. We really would prefer they don't eat the strawberries and cherries though. I want the little birds to come to feeders so I can actually see them.
Bird netting is what I use to prevent sharing the cherries and strawberries.
Robins seem to think anything red is for them.
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