Category Archives: Yard Birds

2 new yardies

We’ve seen European Starlings in the trees around our house almost since we moved in, but I didn’t really want to count them as a yard bird until I had a photo. I didn’t think that would be too hard, but how wrong I was. Last week was the first time we spotted one on our feeders. I’ve always known Starlings to be bold and gregarious, but the ones in our neighborhood seem to be skittish and wary. This Starling visited our feeders very early one morning when it was still nearly dark out. The photo was taken by our birding robot, the Wingscapes Birdcam. I had to brighten up the image a lot so you could tell what kind of bird it is – yard bird #14, the exotic, endangered European Starling! 😉

European Starling

The Birdcam found yard bird #15, too. It would be several days before we saw this one for ourselves – the American Tree Sparrow.

American Tree Sparrow

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Chattanooga Cowbirds

Last November we took a short road trip down to Tennessee and the Carolinas. While in Chattanooga we saw this huge flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds feeding along the road.

Cowbirds in Chattanooga

Cowbirds in Chattanooga

Cowbirds have recently returned to our area. We’ve even seen them in our yard!

Brown-headed Cowbirds

I wonder if any of our Cowbirds are the same ones we saw in Chattanooga…?

Cowbirds in Chattanooga/span>

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New to the yard list

We’re up to 12 birds on the yard list. I’ve seen American Robins playing in the yard for the last week or so. They mostly hang around the fences – I don’t see them scurrying on the grass too often.

American Robin

I was really surprised to see a Downy Woodpecker in the tree behind the yard the other day. He had a look at our suet feeder but didn’t stay on it. He did, however, go to town pecking at the tree. Check out the video below.

Downy Woodpecker

I almost had a heart attack when I looked out the window last week to see three American Goldfinches on the nyger sock. That sock has been out there – untouched! – since we moved in. They stayed on the sock for about 10 minutes before taking off.

Goldfinches on Nyger Sock

Any guesses what lucky #13 will be?

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So sleepy…

Mourning Doves are visiting our feeders on a regular basis now. I’ve set out our Wingscapes Birdcam a few times and it seems that every time it takes a picture of a Mourning Dove eating, it has its eyes closed. The other day I had the cam set to video and it seems that the doves take a long, pronounced blink every time they take a bite.

dovessosleepy2

Often when I watch them sitting at the feeder, they seem to be in a trance or even sleeping; they will sit beside or on the food for minutes at a time, not moving. Why are Mourning Doves so sleepy? I guess mourning is an exhausting business.

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Reminder: keep your feeders clean

Following the recent recall of a type of Wild Birds Unlimited bird food due to possible salmonella contamination, there has been some talk on the Wisconsin Birding Network regarding feeder sanitation in general. Here are some of the tips that were posted.

  • Keep two sets of feeders. While one is being cleaned or drying, the other set can remain in use.
  • Leave empty, drying feeders in direct sunlight (and away from birds) to help destroy microbes.
  • Vaccuum up unused seed hulls and husks with your leaf blower.
  • Birds that feed on the ground may not be able to keep up with spilled seed from hanging feeders. Don’t put out more seed than your birds will be able to eat without leaving a mess.
  • Choose the right mixes for the birds that are visiting your feeders to avoid waste. Here is some great advice Birdchick posted a while back on the subject.
  • Keep an eye on the general health of the birds visiting your feeding station so you will notice if something is amiss (ie your birds are ill and/or spreading disease).

    It’s important to remember that for the sake of your birds, feeders should be cleaned on a regular basis.

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    Hot Geese on a Tin Roof

    Geese (4)

    Last night we saw a scuffle between four Canada Geese on top of the warehouse behind our house. Two of the geese were acting aggressive towards the other two, who eventually flew off. I managed to get a video of the incident.

    The remaining birds stayed there for about 20 minutes before flying off. One of them appeared to lay down while the other stood erect and looked around the whole time. We wondered if they could be staking out a possible nesting spot. The roof is at a slight angle, so I don’t think it would be a good spot for them to nest, even though Canada Geese have been known to nest on rooftops (caution: that last one links to a cam. You have been warned).

    Geese (2)

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    Skywatch Friday: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!

    Here’s where the birds hang out before descending on our feeders.

    Can you see the birds?

    What, you can’t see the birds? There are three House Finches. Here, let me help you:

    Tiny birds

    They joined a few of their “friends” down at the feeders, but there was a lot of aggravation. Bullying ensued:

    For more images of the sky, from all over the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

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    It all started with a House Sparrow

    We’ve been getting Juncos and House Finches to our feeders every day. A pair of Chickadees comes by every couple of days (that we’ve seen) and so does our squirrel. That’s right, we get one squirrel here every couple of days. When’s the last time you had just one squirrel coming around?!

    Anyway, this morning we actually counted three pairs of House Finches. I love the bright males. Plus these guys seem to be the only ones that understand the feeders. Unfortunately I didn’t get the camera in time to catch all of them, but it would have been a lousy photo anyway – we really need to clean the windows. Later on, we had our sixth back yard bird species visit – the omnipresent House Sparrow. Another species I won’t have to miss from Europe (like the Starling – love ’em! 😉 )

    House Sparrow

    Backyard House Sparrow

    To make up for those, here are some great shots of House Sparrows I found on Flickr:

    Aerial Ballet / Ballet Aérien

    The Sparrow Family

    Precariously Perched Male House Sparrow

    Moineau domestique / House Sparrow

    This reminds me that this blog got started because of a House Sparrow. Arthur and I had just started our own personal blog and I was writing a lot about the House Sparrow who was killed for dominoes. I was finding other interesting bird stories in the news so we decided I should have my own bird blog, and so MagnificentFrigatebird.com was born.

    Last thing: our neighbors seem to have a problem keeping their dogs in their yard. Twice this week we’ve had a big scary brown monster in our yard (that’s our cat’s opinion, anyway). So in addition to the birds and the squirrel, we need to add Chow Chow to our yard list. 🙂

    Dog1

    Dog2

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    What the Junco can learn from the Finch

    A small gang of Dark-eyed Juncos seem to be visiting our yard every day. They prefer to feed on the ground. The other day I observed one perched on the fence at the back of our yard, and he seemed to be looking at our hanging feeders. He made two sorties around them, appearing to pause by two of the feeders as if to land, but he continued flying and returned to his spot on the fence. I don’t know what was really going on, but when I told Arthur about this behavior I joked that our Juncos don’t know how to ‘use’ bird feeders and that’s why they are always eating on the ground. Yesterday when we were looking at the House Finches we saw this Junco perched on the fence behind them:

    House Finches & Junco

    My first thought was that the Junco was amazed to see how other birds actually eat right there on the feeder. What a concept! Check out how he’s straddling two fence posts just to keep upright in what must be an extreme state of shock – too cute!

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