Craig

Well it's pretty slim-pickin's here in northern MI at this time of year. But my feeders are alive with our winter residents. The usual suspects: Black-capped chickadee, white and red-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, mourning dove, tufted titmouse, and downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers and the occasional dark-eyed junco-for now. (I should have done this lesson in the spring/summer) Activity 1: SIZE Blue jay=robin-sized, one of the few birds at this time of year that has "color". BCC=sparrow-sized, and using several calls to announce that "their human" just filled the feeders or baited the front porch railing. Activity 2: COLOR WB Nuthatch, BCC and Tufted Titmouse. All of them may not be easily identifiable by a beginning birder but the caps and size of the three, as well as the crest of the titmouse helps to tell them apart. Activity 3: FOOD FINDING The best part of birding in my opinion. Bird behavior. The BCC and Titmouse grab a seed from the feeder and take off to consume it. I've timed the chickadees and it takes them about 15-20 seconds to eat the meat out of the seed. The Titmice fly into heavy cover so I have not seen them eat. The blue jay on the other hand, "swallows" 5-6 seeds and flies off to eat them. I'm curious to know how many they can actually stuff in their gullet. They usually get spooked before they can grab more than 5. Activity 4: FAVORITE BIRD DESCRIPTION It has to be the black-capped chickadee, all year 'round. Besides eating out of my hand, they are fun to watch. There is a pecking order in "my" winter flock. A few may share a feeder before grabbing a seed and then one of the more dominant ones flies in and scares the others away. They also will judge the size if the seed with their beaks and if it isn't large enough for them, them find another until they find one worthy of eating. The nuthatches on the other hand, flick out the small seeds so they can facilitate their seed-finding process the next time they come to the feeder. Chickadees here in Gaylord, MI all look the same and there are no other species. The black cap and bib with the drab colored wings make them easy to ID. In the UP, boreal chickadees can be found but down here, it's just the BCCs. When foraging for insects, they will check every nook and cranny for over-wintering spiders and insects. That's great to watch. Since they are in their winter feeding flocks, they don't sing the "cheeeeeese burger, cheeeese burger" song, but all of those other calls to announce food is here or show their curiosity or displeasure make winter enjoyable.