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Bill said:
Thanks, i'll check it out.... Yea, I wish he would bring his entire family over & eat those damn english sparrows........
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Maybe you could ask some peregrines over for supper? lol

This spring was great for birds here. Maybe because we had such a long drawn-out winter, the feeders were humming with locals and passers-through in April and May. Then in just 2-3 days *boom* they were all gone. Even the locals scattered into the forest and rarely came to the feeders. It coincided with the mosquito, fly, and other bug hatching. Seeing this guy was a treat! Had always admired him in bird guides, but never saw one in real life till this spring. He's still around, but spends his days in the treetops where he's invisible.

edaz6eg.jpg
 
Beautiful bird.. I wish the birds here would eat that, they just want seeds, even in the winter they wont eat suet...
 
Bill said:
Beautiful bird.. I wish the birds here would eat that, they just want seeds, even in the winter they wont eat suet...
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Do you have woodpeckers there? Chickadees and woodpeckers love suet -- and so did that tanager. I put the oranges out because one day a female Baltimore oriole was out there eating the suet. She never did try the fruit, but Mr. Tanager did. Most of the spring birds we see are illegal migrants passing through from S. America on their way to Canada for the summer.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Do you have woodpeckers there? Chickadees and woodpeckers love suet -- and so did that tanager. I put the oranges out because one day a female Baltimore oriole was out there eating the suet. She never did try the fruit, but Mr. Tanager did. Most of the spring birds we see are illegal migrants passing through from S. America on their way to Canada for the summer.
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NO Chickadees or woodpecker around here-up in the mountains.

I took my grandkids & daughters out to feed the Chickadees last fall, they loved it, eat right out of your hand..IMG_20180917_103811.jpg
 
Bill said:
NO Chickadees or woodpecker around here-up in the mountains.

I took my grandkids & daughters out to feed the Chickadees last fall, they loved it, eat right out of your hand..View attachment 10936
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How awesome is that?!

Mr. Owl says I'm like a Disney movie. Some of the birds eat out of my hands. The hummingbirds come up to my face to say hi when I'm out by their feeder. Chipmunks follow me through the gardens and woods -- because I have sunflower seeds in my pockets. I told him no, it's more like a Mafia movie. Everyone's fighting each other to be #1, and they only like me because I got something they want. :laugh:
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
How awesome is that?!

Mr. Owl says I'm like a Disney movie. Some of the birds eat out of my hands. The hummingbirds come up to my face to say hi when I'm out by their feeder. Chipmunks follow me through the gardens and woods -- because I have sunflower seeds in my pockets. I told him no, it's more like a Mafia movie. Everyone's fighting each other to be #1, and they only like me because I got something they want. :laugh:
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LOL, yep.. In that pict my two friends both had the same seed mix, & they like it but this one thought the seeds were a lil better in the other hand... Can you feed them out of your hand there??IMG_20180930_114239_3.jpg
 
Bill said:
LOL, yep.. In that pict my two friends both had the same seed mix, & they like it but this one thought the seeds were a lil better in the other hand... Can you feed them out of your hand there??View attachment 10954
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Yes, they will sit in the branch right over the feeder while I fill it, waiting impatiently. If I hold my hand out with seed they will come down and get it. The chickadees and nuthatches are the bold birds!

That's a great pic!
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Yes, they will sit in the branch right over the feeder while I fill it, waiting impatiently. If I hold my hand out with seed they will come down and get it. The chickadees and nuthatches are the bold birds!

That's a great pic!
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Do they look like that?? kinda greyish w/ the black band over their eyes??
 
We have some that look like yours down here in the valley but they are called Junco, or Oregon Junco, about the same size, although many come from Wash & BC..

They must like it cold.lol

They stay up here all winter, (8,500ft-9,000+) sometimes below zero & I wonder what they could be staying up there for w/ nothing to eat......
 
Bill said:
We have some that look like yours down here in the valley but they are called Junco, or Oregon Junco, about the same size, although many come from Wash & BC..

They must like it cold.lol

They stay up here all winter, (8,500ft-9,000+) sometimes below zero & I wonder what they could be staying up there for w/ nothing to eat......
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We have juncos ("slate-colored") here too, but only in spring and fall. In STL they were there all winter. They spend summers in Canada and Alaska where their breeding areas are. They're ground feeders, so need to move south in the winter.

I wonder if yours eat the pinecone seeds and that's how they survive winter?

About juncos:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/id

I did not know that they are classified as sparrows, did you?
 
No, they are about the same size......

There isn't much else up there but pine, cedar & cypress & some of the cones are smaller, but they are under six feet of snow & any in the trees I would think would be green still??

I'll look it up
 
Bill said:
No, they are about the same size......

There isn't much else up there but pine, cedar & cypress & some of the cones are smaller, but they are under six feet of snow & any in the trees I would think would be green still??

I'll look it up
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I'm curious to find out too... pls let us know.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
I'm curious to find out too... pls let us know.
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I could not find anything definitive.. I looked @ several sites & it was pretty general, not much on the winter diet, other than the weaker & younger usually fly to lower elevations to survive.

They do eat the conifer cones of various types but one thing was interesting was that they will cache food in trees, in the bark etc & can recall up to a month were they put it..

They must have some pretty tough beaks to get the nuts out of them.. Even when cured a few years they can be tough to get @..
 
Bill said:
I could not find anything definitive.. I looked @ several sites & it was pretty general, not much on the winter diet, other than the weaker & younger usually fly to lower elevations to survive.

They do eat the conifer cones of various types but one thing was interesting was that they will cache food in trees, in the bark etc & can recall up to a month were they put it..

They must have some pretty tough beaks to get the nuts out of them.. Even when cured a few years they can be tough to get @..
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Well, that's pretty cool -- they stash food! Thanks for the info.

The food-caching reminds me of a kind of sad parrot rescue story. One lady on a bird group I belong to adopted a macaw who had come from a neglectful home. Apparently being fed was optional to the original owner. She was happy that he wasn't picky and ate everything she offered him. Then she discovered that he was hiding some of his food under his wings.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Yes, they will sit in the branch right over the feeder while I fill it, waiting impatiently. If I hold my hand out with seed they will come down and get it. The chickadees and nuthatches are the bold birds!

That's a great pic!
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Chickadees are bold! They don’t fly away when I approach my feeder. I want them to eat out of my hand!!! I must try this, thanks. My jays are use to me as well, they continue feeding when I approach.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Well, that's pretty cool -- they stash food! Thanks for the info.

The food-caching reminds me of a kind of sad parrot rescue story. One lady on a bird group I belong to adopted a macaw who had come from a neglectful home. Apparently being fed was optional to the original owner. She was happy that he wasn't picky and ate everything she offered him. Then she discovered that he was hiding some of his food under his wings.
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OMG that is sad. The poor bird was hoarding some of it because he was food-insecure from his previous home. I'm not a violent person, but people who mistreat animals... it's better left unsaid. :mad:
 
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