It's a bird attack!

[SteveSS]

We've had snow covering the ground for about three weeks. Last night I tried an experiment and put out a cookie sheet full of dry dog food in the backyard. It's about 2/3rd gone now. There is a constant influx of birds. I mean one right after the other. It's the big birds, not the tweety birds. Magpies, Blue Jays, Grackles and some I don't recognize. I don't think the crows have found us but they will.

 

[Sam69sat]

Had the same snow covering the ground for at least 3 months now and maybe closer to 4. Everytime i feed the cats the magpies eat what's left over and the little seed eating birds eat the crumbs. Had a starving feral cat show up all skin and bones from lack of food i had to start feeding. I'm afraid a lot of deer and animals perished this winter and it's not over.

 

[WileERobby]

 

[AR67GTX]

There is a definite pecking order in the bird world. The Mocking Birds rule over most everything here except large woodpeckers, crows, and occasional blue jays. Some days they will just declare the feeder off limits to all birds and sit nearby and run anyone off that comes near it. They will stick with it for hours.
The cardinals and blue jays are pretty non-confrontational and live and let live types but occasionally a cardinal will nip at a sparrow crowding in on him. We named the cardinal couple Doug and Carrie after King of Queens as she spent her first summer here attacking her image in the reflection from our windows, pickup outside mirrors, the black Weber grill, etc. Drove us nuts.
The larger woodpeckers are paranoid as heck and if we even glance in their direction they are gone. The littler ones have more staying power.
We have a couple Carolina wrens that remind me of chipmunks. They are curious and investigate everything, tail licking too and fro.
And then there are the hoards of sparrows and juncos that normally cover the feeder like ants on honey. The are only distinguished by some make of sparrow that has distinct stripes over its head and back and down its chest. I’ve named him Rambo as he doesn’t tolerate anyone getting closer than 6 or 7 inches from him. Closer than that he charges after them with feathers flared and beak snapping. Only if the intruder is about double his size will he give up and leave.
Kind of entertaining in the winter watching all their antics.

 

[Lefty71]

Much like the Chihuahua, who does'nt know he's a little dog, that Grackle has a hardcore look on his face, like he's an Eagle or a Hawk.

 

[Duckmanreno]

View attachment 1245712 View attachment 1245713

A Classic

 

[SteveSS]

They're on their second pan of food now. The Blue Jays took over. There are about 20 of them but I see some groups in the corner of the yard burying some food under a tree. Birds are so smart!

 

[Agent1979]

Our woodpeckers are brassy. If the suet feeder goes empty they fly onto the deck and squawk at us. The Blue jays eat a lot of suet when they visit, but the Pileated woodpecker chases them off. There are three types here in SE PA: Downy, Red headed and Pileated.

Interestingly, the bluebirds are suet eaters as well. Everyone else eats the safflower seed, squirrels don't attack the seed feeder with that seed in there compared to sunflower. Another thing I've noticed is 20-30 Robins show up, they are ground feeders, didn't know they traveled in groups.

Of course everybody defers to the red-tailed hawk and the Cooper's Hawk when they show up. And there's the occasional Bald Eagle overhead...

 

[joe smith]

There is a definite pecking order in the bird world. The Mocking Birds rule over most everything here except large woodpeckers, crows, and occasional blue jays. Some days they will just declare the feeder off limits to all birds and sit nearby and run anyone off that comes near it. They will stick with it for hours.
The cardinals and blue jays are pretty non-confrontational and live and let live types but occasionally a cardinal will nip at a sparrow crowding in on him. We named the cardinal couple Doug and Carrie after King of Queens as she spent her first summer here attacking her image in the reflection from our windows, pickup outside mirrors, the black Weber grill, etc. Drove us nuts.
The larger woodpeckers are paranoid as heck and if we even glance in their direction they are gone. The littler ones have more staying power.
We have a couple Carolina wrens that remind me of chipmunks. They are curious and investigate everything, tail licking too and fro.
And then there are the hoards of sparrows and juncos that normally cover the feeder like ants on honey. The are only distinguished by some make of sparrow that has distinct stripes over its head and back and down its chest. I’ve named him Rambo as he doesn’t tolerate anyone getting closer than 6 or 7 inches from him. Closer than that he charges after them with feathers flared and beak snapping. Only if the intruder is about double his size will he give up and leave.
Kind of entertaining in the winter watching all their antics.

I set up a fairly large bird feeder and saw the same pecking order.. Doves or Pigeons just roosted there and ran all others off..
I fixed that and took down the large feeder and put up a smaller feeder that the larger birds can't perch on....

 

[bandit67]

I got two big female wild turkeys I have been feeding cracked corn thru the hard cold days here and I mostly have little birds fly in and share in with the corn. The turkeys have gotten use to me as yesterday I got as close as ten feet and they just lifted their heads but did not run off. I think they liking the classic rock I got going most days.....

 

[GTXDAN]

The wife has a feeder hanging in the front yard and it is covered all winter with cardinals and robins. The chickadees have shown back up too now and there were some red wing black birds last week just passing through, but the king of the feeder is the woodpecker. When he shows up all the other birds hightail it. The doves are to big to eat at the feeder so they and the squirrels clean up under it. Those Carolina wrens are the best to watch as they will climb all over anything. They run up and down the brick on the house and the screens on the windows.

 

[joe smith]

Read somewhere that in snowy weather birds have no feed and it helps if you throw some wild bird seed out for them

 

[Mike67]

Never seen a black head Blue Jay before. That's pretty neat!

 

[SteveSS]

I furthered my experiment and took some of the dog food to the supermarket parking lot where all the crows and ravens hang out. They spotted it quickly and surrounded it but they are smart and knew something wasn't normal. About 7 of them kept hanging around but wouldn't approach it. I'll look tomorrow to see if the food is still there. These crows are smart. I've seen them emptying the little trash cans by the gas pumps at the 7-11, just looking for stuff. They are always talking to each other. I know people go to the supermarket, the nearby gas station, and McDonald's and buy them food. I have to admit I've shared my McDonald's fries. There are usually about 20 hanging around. These are in the steep hills about 3 miles before the Rockies and they love riding the air currents. This is the road right in front of the supermarket. You can see McDonald's. Of course, it's all covered in snow right now.

 

[SteveSS]

The magpies hang out at the ski resorts. The skiers eat their lunch out on the sunny decks of the lodges. The people hold up fries or other food items and the magpies swoop in and grab it out of their hands.