Saw this bird this afternoon in my back yard, hopping around the Leyland cypress that took a tumble in yesterday’s wind storm. I sure hope the poor thing didn’t have a nest in the Leyland!!
Anyway - at first glance, I assumed it was a generic robin, based on what appeared to be the standard red front. As it hopped around though, I realised it
[ul]
[li]was a bit smaller than the robins we see all the time[/li][li]the back and head were much darker than a robin, nearly black[/li][li]there was a hint of white bars on its wings[/li][li]its front appeared to be white or cream-colored - the red/orange was just on the sides. [/li][/ul] Unfortunately it flew away when I opened the window to get a better snap.
Anyway - any ideas on what it is? We’re in Northern Virginia, if that helps. It seemed to be interested in foraging on the ground for food, rather than checking out any of the bird feeders (suet, thistle, birdseed). It’s conceivable it was drawn by the freeze-dried mealworms at the kitchen window, or one of the other feeders when I wasn’t looking, of course.
Cool - thanks Beaucarnea and capybara, I think that’s exactly what it was. I looked it up on USGS and we’re definitely in their range. He (she? the sexes look similar) was definitely scratching around on the ground.
It is a towhee. Try to encourage it- they have this great soft shoe routine where they hide under a bush, run out, scratch and kick around, then run back under cover again. It has to be all about food, but it looks like they are humming showtunes to themselves and trying to get through 3 acts in one afternoon
How would I go about encouraging him to return? If it’s the fallen Leyland that attracted him, unfortunately that’s only temporary… pesky homeowners’ association will want me to get rid of that ASAP Looks like he’ll eat some of what we’ve got set out (suet/seed, thistle/sunflower mix, seed mix, dried mealworms), anything else I can do?
Millet I know (we actually avoid the seed mixtures that include that, most of the birds at the feeder just kick it onto the ground and we’ve found it’s actually cheaper to buy the pricier, millet-free mixes because they have less waste). What’s cane?
Oh - and a funny anecdote from this morning. We have two suet feeders - one standard cage feeder, and one double “woodpecker tail-prop” directly below that. I saw a mockingbird at the double feeder, which was almost empty; the cage feeder was totally empty. So I grabbed 2 cakes and went out the back door. The mockingbird, strangely, did not flee. I froze, and he kept chowing down, just 8 feet from me. I tried whistling, and he ignored me (maybe he found it soothing?). He finally hopped up a few branches, and stood there eyeing me suspiciously as I replenished the feeders. He was back on the suet feeder the minute I went back inside. I’ve never been that close to a wild bird before
Cool! Robert the downy woodpecker I thought was gone showed up again the other day. I was planning on leaving food out all summer but my landlord thinks that would keep the birds from ridding the area of mosquitos and bugs. Maybe I will put up a birdbath at least; I’ve gotten used to having the birdie friends around!
Looking at that map, it’s possible that towhee could show up in my neck of the woods in the summer. I must keep an eye out for the performance!
Looks like he’ll eat some of what we’ve got set out (suet/seed, thistle/sunflower mix, seed mix, dried mealworms), anything else I can do?
