Yvonne

I enjoy watching the birds at my feeder. Mostly I see house finches and house sparrows. The finches daintily pick out the seeds and quietly eat, although there can be some squabbles. The house sparrows, on the other hand, make a big mess, scattering seed everywhere. About a year ago I watched a male house sparrow teach his youngster how to use the feeder. They first landed on the roof and dad would fly down to the feeder and take seed up to junior and feed him. After a few minutes dad left junior alone on the roof. Pretty soon the youngster flew down onto the grass , so dad started taking seed down to him. After a few minutes of this dad returned to the feeder and junior got up the courage to join him at the feeder. The adult gave him a few more seeds and finally the youngster started pecking at the seeds himself. The funniest behavior I’ve seen are the Eurasian Collared Doves. They’re too big for the feeder, but they have learned how to balance on the swinging feeder and turn sideways so they can reach the seed. It works especially well if there’s a pair of them. They perch on either side of the feeder each with one wing extended, balancing the feeder. It really is quite a feat.