My folks in Santa Fe, NM put out bird seed and unsalted peanuts for the birds and it is quite the show to see how many birds show up and the interaction - quite entertaining - more so than the financial talking heads my dad will have on all day.
So, I decided to institute the same 'tradition' back home.
After the birds discovered the free food, I have several species show up in the morning that hop around pecking for the wild bird seed I scatter on the ground.
So far:
White crowned sparrows
Morning doves
California towhees
Spotted towhees
California quail
Western Scrub Jays
There are other species I can see in the trees or the open space preserve behind my house but only those above actually drop in to eat the bird seed.
The white crowned sparrows are usually the first to arrive pre-dawn pecking at the left overs from yesterday before I throw out the day's fresh seed.
Then the Morning doves show up - sometimes in large numbers of 12 or more.
I then tear up some old bread and throw the crumbs out - which is when the real show begins as the Scrub Jays pop up on the fence.
Some will immediately drop down to shovel as many bread pieces in their beak before flying away in an attempt to 'squirrel' them away someplace.
But - other jays will perch in the tree and watch the others and as soon as one flies away to hide their take, the other spy him out and steal the pieces!
Sometimes a jay will try to put more pieces in its beak than possible and it will attempt to pick up one piece while dropping the other.
Meanwhile the male doves will be unrelenting in chasing the female doves around in attempt to get a 'date' - poor gals....
Eventually everyone has had their fill and the birds flit away. But they occasionally come back to nibble at the left overs.
And the tv stays off!
So, I decided to institute the same 'tradition' back home.
After the birds discovered the free food, I have several species show up in the morning that hop around pecking for the wild bird seed I scatter on the ground.
So far:
White crowned sparrows
Morning doves
California towhees
Spotted towhees
California quail
Western Scrub Jays
There are other species I can see in the trees or the open space preserve behind my house but only those above actually drop in to eat the bird seed.
The white crowned sparrows are usually the first to arrive pre-dawn pecking at the left overs from yesterday before I throw out the day's fresh seed.
Then the Morning doves show up - sometimes in large numbers of 12 or more.
I then tear up some old bread and throw the crumbs out - which is when the real show begins as the Scrub Jays pop up on the fence.
Some will immediately drop down to shovel as many bread pieces in their beak before flying away in an attempt to 'squirrel' them away someplace.
But - other jays will perch in the tree and watch the others and as soon as one flies away to hide their take, the other spy him out and steal the pieces!
Sometimes a jay will try to put more pieces in its beak than possible and it will attempt to pick up one piece while dropping the other.
Meanwhile the male doves will be unrelenting in chasing the female doves around in attempt to get a 'date' - poor gals....
Eventually everyone has had their fill and the birds flit away. But they occasionally come back to nibble at the left overs.
And the tv stays off!