Pictures From My Smart Bird Feeder

[Imogene]

@Medusa you have saved my sanity today, no kidding

I am in southern middle Tennessee so that means I am either getting ready for a horrendous ice storm, a snow storm, or parts of both. I’m fine with feet of snow, but I am not fine with the ice storm. So watching your birds is truly a comforting respite

I have Grackles &Cow birds. Who gets rid of them in a hurry and never bothers the songbirds are the woodpeckers. Nobody wants to mess with the woodpeckers, not even the Cardinals or the Blue Jays lol lol

Anyway, thank you so very much for the stills & videos, and also many thanks to your husband for putting things together and keeping “the wheels turning”

 

[Medusa]

Wow. Now you have grackles visiting your feeders. What a large variety of birds you have. Nice pictures. That food looks so good.
It’s no wonder you get such a variety of birds.
I like the fact that you can speak to the birds so if you get too many grackles you can scare them away.

Do you top up the food everyday?
Do you have a safe place to store the seed so the mice doesn’t get them?

Thank you, Patty.

Husband does top the feeder off every day and we keep the food in the house, sealed.

Yeah, the Grackles. I have a video of them coming up...

 

[Medusa]

@Medusa you have saved my sanity today, no kidding

I am in southern middle Tennessee so that means I am either getting ready for a horrendous ice storm, a snow storm, or parts of both. I’m fine with feet of snow, but I am not fine with the ice storm. So watching your birds is truly a comforting respite

I have Grackles &Cow birds. Who gets rid of them in a hurry and never bothers the songbirds are the woodpeckers. Nobody wants to mess with the woodpeckers, not even the Cardinals or the Blue Jays lol lol

Anyway, thank you so very much for the stills & videos, and also many thanks to your husband for putting things together and keeping “the wheels turning”

I'm so glad! It makes me happy to know that my new hobby is bringing others joy as well! I will pass your kind words along to my husband.

 

[Medusa]

So, first video this morning was a bit scary!

@Imogene, how do I attract a few woodpeckers? LOL

Thankfully, they didn't stay long and only came back once, just a couple of them. The rest of the day the feeder was safe for the little guys.

We saw both Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal today.

And the sweet little Junco which I think of as one bird, but actually isn't.

 

[Imogene]

@Medusa , I wish I knew how to attract the woodpeckers. Mine just showed up and never went away.

This morning there were at least a dozen or more cowbirds on the porch railing and one woodpecker. The cow birds didn’t last long because the woodpecker took a charge on all of them. Next thing I knew there were only two or three cowbirds left and they were far away from the woodpecker.

It is amazing to me that one woodpecker can be so forceful against such a large bunch of cowbirds

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Wow. Look at all those grackles. That’s a lot of grackles. Lol.

I wonder if the female cardinal watches her mate while eating? Do you ever see her in the bushes watching him? They sure make a beautiful pair.

That little junco is really sweet.

Thanks for showing all of us the birdie pictures

 

[Medusa]

@Medusa , I wish I knew how to attract the woodpeckers. Mine just showed up and never went away.

This morning there were at least a dozen or more cowbirds on the porch railing and one woodpecker. The cow birds didn’t last long because the woodpecker took a charge on all of them. Next thing I knew there were only two or three cowbirds left and they were far away from the woodpecker.

It is amazing to me that one woodpecker can be so forceful against such a large bunch of cowbirds

There are some videos on Youtube about attracting Woodpeckers so, maybe I'll get some tips.

Wow. Look at all those grackles. That’s a lot of grackles. Lol.

I wonder if the female cardinal watches her mate while eating? Do you ever see her in the bushes watching him? They sure make a beautiful pair.

That little junco is really sweet.

Thanks for showing all of us the birdie pictures

You know, I hadn't thought to look for her when he's on the feeder. I'll have to start because I'm curious now too.

 

[Medusa]

So, the usual friends (some of them questionable) and an unexpected visitor today.

Mr. Cardinal actually sharing the feeder with another bird. He's getting more comfortable, it seems.



Just a neat picture. The Finches seem to come in male/female pairs and groups.






And...


I was charmed by this pigeon at first, but then she wouldn't leave, no matter how much I yelled at her or which alarm sounds I used. Husband taking Lucius for an early pee did the trick, however.

 

[Medusa]

And this one - these are more of the questionable friends.



They aren't staying for long on their visits so I'm feeling more tolerant. They look like grouchy bullies though.

 

[Medusa]

The pigeon not leaving.

Lady Cardinal.

And a happy crowd.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Pigeons can be such stubborn birds.
A bit smarter than your average bird.
The male cardinal IS looking quite can’t confident in himself. I wonder why the 2 of them don’t eat together?

The grackles sure flock up together. Good thing they didn’t ALL try and sit at the feeder all at once.

It looks as though the squirrel has given up. I was pretty certain he’d be coming back to scoop that suet chunk each day . He proved me wrong.

Thanks for showing us your birdie pictures Medusa.

 

[Medusa]

Pigeons can be such stubborn birds.
A bit smarter than your average bird.
The male cardinal IS looking quite can’t confident in himself. I wonder why the 2 of them don’t eat together?

The grackles sure flock up together. Good thing they didn’t ALL try and sit at the feeder all at once.

It looks as though the squirrel has given up. I was pretty certain he’d be coming back to scoop that suet chunk each day . He proved me wrong.

Thanks for showing us your birdie pictures Medusa.

Yeah, she was certainly smart enough to know the alarm or my yelling weren't really threats.

I've been wondering that too, why the Cardinals don't eat together. Maybe one has to be a lookout?

Happily, I haven't seen the squirrels in quite a while! One problem solved, anyway.

I'm so glad you guys are enjoying them too!

 

[Medusa]

Holy Crows, the feeder is busy on this snowy day!

 

[Medusa]

I haven't seen Lady Cardinal today, but Mr. Cardinal was there early (before husband had dusted off the snow and refilled) having some discussion, it looks like.







Birdies digging under the snow for the seeds early this morning.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Oh my goodness. Look how many finches you have. The birds are really getting comfortable getting seed at your feeder. Even the male cardinal is joining in. What a pretty sight that is. I wonder what they do to protect themselves during a storm? Clearly they eat as much as they can beforehand.

I always get the house finches and purple finches mixed up but apparently that’s common

What is the difference between a Purple Finch and a House Finch?

Among males, purple finches are cranberry or raspberry colored, while house finches appear more reddish or orangish, according to Birds & Blooms(Opens in a new window). The color on house finches also tends to be more concentrated on their head and breast, while the deep red color is more widespread on purple finches.

 

[Medusa]

Oh my goodness. Look how many house finches you have. The birds are really getting comfortable getting seed at your feeder. Even the male cardinal is joining in. What a pretty sight that is. I wonder what they do to protect themselves during a storm? Clearly they eat as much as they can beforehand.

I always get the house finches and purple finches mixed up but apparently that’s common

What is the difference between a Purple Finch and a House Finch?

Among males, purple finches are cranberry or raspberry colored, while house finches appear more reddish or orangish, according to Birds & Blooms(Opens in a new window). The color on house finches also tends to be more concentrated on their head and breast, while the deep red color is more widespread on purple finches.

Oh, wow. You know, I get a lot of house finches, but now I'm thinking a few of them may have been purple finches. I've checked and this is the season for them in my area.

Thanks, Patty.

 

[QuietByNature]

Thank you, Patty. We do have hawks in this neighborhood and I find them beautiful. I'm just going to assume they will not need to bother my little birdies.

Do not be surprised if the hawk will chase after the sparrows or Cardinals at your feeder. I have a feeder out front and we have Coopers Hawks and they do chase the smaller birds and sit around keeping an eye on my feeder.
Here he is perched on my railing, eying the feeder just waiting.

 

[Medusa]

Do not be surprised if the hawk will chase after the sparrows or Cardinals at yiur feeder. I have a feeder out front and we have Coopers Hawks and they do chase the smaller birds and sit around keeping an eye on my feeder.
Here he is perched on my railing, eying the feeder just waiting.

View attachment 482325

Wow, he is beautiful!

We have hawks very close-by as well, red-tailed, and I've been worried about that. But I know it's a nature thing.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Wow, he is beautiful!

We have hawks very close-by as well, red-tailed, and I've been worried about that. But I know it's a nature thing.

That’s a good attitude to have cause there’s really nothing you can do anyway. Years ago when we first moved up north to the country I discovered a hawk eating the chickadees that were drawn to my feeder so I called The Ministry of Natural Resources to complain. The man at the other end of the line said “You just moved to the country from the city didn’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question and I couldn’t believe this guy knew.
He then chuckled and asked what I had expected them to do.

I hadn’t really thought it all the way through. lol. I truly felt like a chickadee murderer. I felt like I was luring in chickadees to get attacked by these hawks and buddy assured me that they eat birds whether I feed them or not. It took a lot of growing up for me to accept this as is. Hawks eat little birds but so do BlueJays and no amount of worrying was going to change this.

 

[HoneyNut]

The pigeon not leaving.

Looks like a Mourning Dove type of pigeon to me, I like those.

We used to get a lot of woodpeckers when we would hang suet feeders out.

 

[PeppermintPatty]

Looks like a Mourning Dove type of pigeon to me, I like those.

We used to get a lot of woodpeckers when we would hang suet feeders out.

Yes you’re right. It IS a mourning dove.
We got lots of woodpeckers too. Downy , Hairy and Pilated woodpeckers used to be attracted to our suet, especially the homemade suet we used to make.

 

[SeaBreeze]

So, first video this morning was a bit scary!

@Imogene, how do I attract a few woodpeckers? LOL

Thankfully, they didn't stay long and only came back once, just a couple of them. The rest of the day the feeder was safe for the little guys.

We saw both Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal today.

And the sweet little Junco which I think of as one bird, but actually isn't.

This thread is wonderful, thank you for sharing.

 

[Medusa]

Looks like a Mourning Dove type of pigeon to me, I like those.

We used to get a lot of woodpeckers when we would hang suet feeders out.

I am hoping to attract some woodpeckers as well.

 

[Medusa]

This thread is wonderful, thank you for sharing.

Nice of you to say, SeaBreeze. I'm having fun sharing it with you guys.

 

[RadishRose]

So, first video this morning was a bit scary!

These look like starlings, those bullies.