Purple Grackles and Blue Jays are not going to share the bird seed - period! The arrival of the iridescent Purple Grackles - a subspecies of common Grackle has seriously cramped the Blue Jay's style. A Purple Grackle announces he's the new songbird king of the Backyard - that's not going to go over to well with the resident Blue Jays! If you have never seen a Purple Grackle up close - they are quite beautiful and striking birds with their sharp yellow/black eyes and black, purple, green, brown, and blue iridescent feathers depending on how the light strikes them.
Male Downy Woodpecker gets first dibs on fresh block of suet. This handsome fellow may be one of the fledglings from earlier in the summer. Downy Woodpeckers will come to suet feeders all summer - just have to put them away at night if you live in bear country or the Raccoons zero in on the suet..
American Robin Weaning Fledgling - Tough Love. The fledgling Robin is now as big as its mother who has introduced it to the joys of suet. But now the fledgling is still following mom around and eating suet like a champ. The expression in the eyes of the mother Robin says it all - its time to be on your own. This video captures the moments when the Mother Robin chases off the fledgling and lets it know its on its own. The suet feeder is not big enough for both of us!
Female Downy Woodpecker and Gray Catbird - can they live in peace and harmony sharing a small suet feeder? Inquiring minds want to know - and will someone get the little Downy Woodpecker a napkin!
A big Black Bear standing just over 6 feet tall captured with a Bushnell Trophy Cam pays a visit to the bird feeder at 217 AM in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina. The suet feeders, hummingbird feeders and finch feeders had been put away for the night. The remaining wood feeder was essentially empty, but the bear found a small amount of seed in the corners. Bear could have easily ripped the feeder down as it's only hanging from a tree by some twine, but chose instead to stand and gently lick out any seeds and move quickly on. It is important to bring in bird feeders at night especially nectar and suet so that bears, as in this case, are not rewarded with a free meal. This bear has a large territory and stops by about every week to ten days and as long as it doesn't find anything good to eat it makes a quick survey of the area and moves on. If it were to find suet or such treats replaced every night and left out it would likely begin to hang around more often and then bad things could happen. The feeder is six feet off the ground which was nose level on tip toes so this is a pretty good size bear. Couldn't tell for sure, but this is probably Papa Bear - Moma Bear and the three cubs which keep apart from him are at:
An American Robin hovers like a hummingbird? OK - maybe not "hummingbird-like", but this rather rotund Robin has developed a taste for suet and is determined to defy gravity to get it. First trying to hover its not-so-aerodynamic bird frame at great expense of energy and then gradually learning it is to better imitate a woodpecker by using its tail for a brace and flapping wings while holding on and then ultimately learning to properly grasp the suet feeder and consume massive amounts of greasy food almost like a professional woodpecker - which by the way - it has a habit of scaring off now! Rare for Robins to display such personality and pluck among the other birds that rule the trees!
You wont believe the moves this American Robin comes up with to get a free suet meal. Highly original and clever, but a little lacking in grace, it finds just the right way to "shake it" to reach a meal. But soon that meal will be out of reach and it will need a new "move". In the next video it learns to hover "sort of like a hummingbird" !
This American Robin is eating voraciously at a suet feeder. Something I have not seen before. They are typically too big, long legged, and uncoordinated to hang onto the feeder basket, but this one found a convenient foothold to belly up to the rich banquet of suet that it had never tasted before! They have a nest in a nearby tree.
Mourning Doves love simple white millet thrown on the ground. This one was particularly friendly and cleaned up on the seed after the rest of the flock took off in typical panicky fashion.
The Great Backyard Bird Count takes place February 14th - 17th and February is National Bird Feeding Month...
February is a good time to celebrate backyard birds as they are usually quite active in the late winter months and often hungry and thirsty A celebration of Backyard Birding takes place over the long President's Day Holiday weekend - The Great Backyard Bird Count.
Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.Since then, more than 100,000 people of all ages and walks of life have joined the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.
Here are Seven reasons to get excited for the great Backyard BirdCount (from last year, but still valid). You can submit your lists and pictures - see results from around the world and win prizes. You never know what you'll find in your own "backyard" and most of all you will help better understand and protect the birds that bring so much joy.
February is also National Bird Feeding Month. Here is a guide on Backyard Bird Feeding from the Fish and Wildlife Service. It all boils down to food, water and shelter - even custom built homes like this woodpecker nest box. While your at it - feed the squirrels too! These three videos demonstrate - Shelter -- Water and Food - what we all need to flourish!
The narrative on the video tells the story. I trained a Blue Jay to eat peanuts from my hand - not just any peanuts, but healthy roasted and unsalted ones that I should be eating myself. Of course it's always nice to gain the trust of a wild animal, it is good for their survival that they have a natural wariness. But then it occurred to me that I was the one that had been "trained" to give the Jay a tasty peanut - and on its conditions. I'm not falling for that anymore, it has to come to me! We'll see who wins this battle of willpower? These are huge Blue Jays, it just may be that the Jay is too big to land on my hand and bend and easily get a peanut.
Extreme close-up of a Tufted Titmouse and Black Capped Chickadee taking turns at a bird seed bonanza provided high in the forest of the Great Smoky Mountains when a Dark Eyed Junco arrives and decides to stake its claim to the whole seed pile. A game of "King of the Mountain" ensues and in the process the greedy Junco spills more seeds than it can eat. Of course it will clean them up on the ground later.
Yellow Rumped Warbler hovering up close and loud! A little chirp each time it arrives and takes off and the whirl of its rapidly flapping wings. While not able to sustain hovering like a hummingbird, the effort this warbler puts into eating with a certain style is truly admirable. This video is of just one lovely bird that found the suet feeder and would spend the entire day in the tree taking quick hover flights for a bite to eat. A slow motion video of the same bird set to the Blue Danube Waltz is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkpgP1WxaE8
Brown Thrasher "thrashing" around for bugs next to a tree trunk
The Brown Thrasher is a very rare, attractive and exciting visitor to the open backyard. Living up to its name, this one has found a prime spot next to a small tree trunk full of insects to thrash about with its long curved beak. These birds are heard making some wild calls that rival a Mockingbird, but rarely seen in the open as they stick to the heavy brush nearby. Preferring nature's own table, these industrious birds never come to the feeder.
The Great Backyard Bird Count takes place February 15th - 18th
February is National Bird Feeding Month
Video of Female Downy Woodpecker
Ruby Throated Hummingbird
Florida Red Shouldered Hawk
Painted Bunting in Florida
February is a good time to celebrate backyard birds as they are usually quite active in the late winter months and often hungry and thirsty A celebration of Backyard Birding takes place over the long President's Day Holiday weekend - The Great Backyard Bird Count. Here are Seven reasons to get excited for the great Backyard BirdCount this weekends. You can submit your lists and pictures - see results from around the world and win prizes. You never know what you'll find in your own "backyard". February is also National Bird Feeding Month. Here is a guide on Backyard Bird Feeding from the Fish and Wildlife Service. It all boils down to food, water and shelter - even custom built homes like this woodpecker nest box.
Video of Red Bellied Woodpecker Checking out his new home!
