Towheeblog

Al fresco. That’s how all birds dine. But some have particular tastes.
Kinglets and robins eschew our feeders. Nuthatches–like dinner wines–come in two shades, red and white, but both adore single sunflower seeds. Each seed is then eaten in private. So, too, with both chickadee species. Finches, regardless of species, plant themselves in the feeder tray, toes splayed in mounds of seeds and flakes of chaff, dining until they can barely fly. Bushtits go primarily for suet as do woodpeckers. The Bewick’s Wren is most flexible, any food anywhere he can find it. Sparrow family members (we have four species for the winter) all prefer to feed on the ground, as does the occasional dove. Anything edible is pleasing to the crows and both jay species. They also tend to be very loud when spying food or vying for dominance during a peanut frenzy on our driveway. Migrating warblers would eat sunflower seeds, helping them bulk up for long night flights.

My favorite diners are the chickadees. If a finch has been in the trsy it may be fuzzy with chaff frim eaten seeds. The chickadees will pluck out bits seed skin and toss it out of the tray. Fastidious. I;ve seen the nuthatches do the same time. Those slovenly finches…harumph.

None of our birds seem tio be able to frighten off the squirrels thiugh crows seem unafraid of the furry foragers.

954 Ratcliff Drive SE, Marion, Oregon, US
Nov 18, 2021
16 species

Downy Woodpecker  1
Steller’s Jay  2
California Scrub-Jay  6
American Crow  X
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Bewick’s Wren  1
American Robin  8
Pine Siskin  40
American Goldfinch  25
Dark-eyed Junco  40
Golden-crowned Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1