# What's exciting at your birdfeeders? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 11, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587 "2020-05-11T16:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/61 "2020-05-17T14:31:36Z")
Maybe a female Red-winged Blackbird? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/62 "2020-05-17T15:12:15Z")
I think we have to relocate our birdfeeder. It’s getting hit by the sprinklers and wetting the seeds, enough that WEEDS are growing in the feeder. Ew. Seed has been dumped and feeder is currently soaking in bleach water. We have our bird bath in the middle of our “butterfly garden” and we’d like to find a new place for the feeder so that 1) Ivylad can see from his wheelchair on the screened in patio 2) Is far enough away from trees that marauding squirrels can’t attack 3) Is close enough to the bird bath but 4) Doesn’t get hit by sprinklers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/63 "2020-05-17T16:11:31Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I can’t identify a bird I saw at my mother’s feeder. It looks like a very large sparrow. I don’t think it’s a Harris sparrow, about the largest, but in shape and pattering that’s what it reminds me of. The top of the head is black, with a faint white stripe bisecting the skull. Above the eyes two very distinct white stripes run horizontally along the face, above the eye, not around it. The cheeks below the stripes are grayish bown, and the rest of the body is flecked in various browns and grays, like many sparrows. It was the size that first caught my eye, bigger that your average sparrow but not say as big as a robin. Perhaps the size of a cardinal? [Female rose breasted grosbeak](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-breasted_grosbeak#/media/File%3APheucticus_ludovicianus_CT2.jpg) look like big sparrows. The [Merlin App](https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/) can help you. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/64 "2020-05-17T18:45:42Z")
Squirrel update. I now have some short lengths of 1/2" pvc pipe that spins freely and some baffles to keep them from crawling along the cable. Seems to be working so far. The suet lasts more than one night. However, the second batch of bird seed I picked up is not anywhere near as popular with the bigger guys like Jays and Cards. Only getting little finches etc now. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/65 "2020-05-17T19:34:59Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Not at my feeder, but today I started hearing a wood thrush a couple of yards away. Such a beautiful song. He’s been here all day - hope he sticks around! The next day, he was gone. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/66 "2020-05-17T22:56:33Z")
I got a hermit thrush in the yard earlier this year. I’ve also got a curve billed thrasher who likes hanging around in the cholla cactus and singing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/67 "2020-05-17T23:03:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Female rose breasted grosbeak](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-breasted_grosbeak#/media/File%3APheucticus_ludovicianus_CT2.jpg) look like big sparrows. If there are Harris’s Sparrows around, it’s more likely to be a [female Black-headed Grosbeak](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/assets/photo/67447501-480px.jpg) (but the two are very similar). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/68 "2020-05-18T01:06:18Z")
I don’t mind the squirrels. The main point of the birdfeeder is just to entertain the cats (it’s hanging right outside “their” window) and they’re just as interested in the squirrels as the birds. There is at least one clever squirrel who leaps onto the thing and precariously lays on the tray at the bottom of the thing and fills up. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/69 "2020-05-18T02:09:55Z")
No feeder, but we do some native planting and usually attract Anna’s hummingbirds to the currant. Best birds this weekend are a northern flicker and a spotted towhee. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/70 "2020-05-18T09:28:03Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Female rose breasted grosbeak](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-breasted_grosbeak#/media/File%3APheucticus_ludovicianus_CT2.jpg) look like big sparrows. > > The [Merlin App](https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/download/) can help you. That may be it! The region is right as well. I’m going to keep looking at my mom’s feeder, and consult with my sister, who’s a wheel in the local Audubond Society chapter. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/71 "2020-05-18T18:23:20Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I don’t mind the squirrels. My problem with squirrels is that squirrels are greedy. If a squirrel gets to the feeder they’ll empty it out, and then there’s nothing left for the birds until I get there to refill it. Even with the Squirrel Buster feeder they come and eat the seeds that fall on the ground, which is fine with me and just as entertaining for the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/72 "2020-05-18T18:23:21Z")
This weekend I had an indigo bunting visit my feeders - he looks very striking with the bright blue plumage. Also what appears to be white-crowned sparrows, which I’ve never seen before. Also, there were house and Carolina wrens picking around the pebbles in the area - I haven’t gotten good looks at those before so it was interesting to see how the two species look very unique compared to each other. We also had some wild turkeys nearby, though not at the feeder. [[Album] Birds, SW Michigan ![](https://i.imgur.com/Iw6DXPI.jpeg?fb "Birds, SW Michigan") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/ULc7z6K) Also not at the feeders but in the nearby woods, here are the pileated woodpeckers that I’ve seen: [[Album] Pileated woodpeckers, SW Michigan ![](https://i.imgur.com/I1x1nKO.jpeg?fb "Pileated woodpeckers, SW Michigan") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/Y5omL8m) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/73 "2020-05-18T21:51:07Z")
**kayaker** , my sister and I agree that your ID of the bird must be the correct one, a female rose-breasted grosbeak. They are migrating through this area right now, she says. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/74 "2020-05-19T01:54:20Z")
Last few days I’ve had a hen turkey eating the black oil sunflower seeds piled from my hanging feeders. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/75 "2020-05-19T15:12:16Z")
Just got my first Baltimore Oriole feeder yesterday; an orange cut in half and a little cup of grape jelly. It works great and I have a constant stream of orioles outside my window. I had no idea it was so easy to attract them. [https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/bird-and-wildlife-supplies/bird-feeders/8404402](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/bird-and-wildlife-supplies/bird-feeders/8404402) I chose this one rather than the hummingbird-like nectar feeder so I don’t have to deal with cleaning the mess of sugar water. I have an upside-down suet feeder that helps keep the grackles and starlings off it. I get seven kinds of woodpeckers in Pennsylvania. My Squirrel Busters took too much damage from bears so I switched to cheap plastic feeders in a pole with squirrel baffles. I found the sparrows (HOSP) around here don’t like safflower seed so I feed only that with an occasional small handful of sunflower seeds. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/76 "2020-05-19T16:53:17Z")
I saw a couple of eastern bluebirds in my backyard yesterday. It looked like an adult and a juvenile and I even saw the adult feeding something to the little one. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/77 "2020-05-21T00:07:51Z")
Finally got some birds showing up. Today I think it was a finch. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/78 "2020-05-21T02:22:52Z")
It’s been raining here since Monday. We have a large covered wraparound porch on the front of the house and the little birds here - mostly wrens and some finches - have taken to using it to shelter from the rain. They’re cute, but damn, do they poop a lot. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587/79 "2020-05-21T02:37:50Z")
For 3 years, I’ve been feeding breacrumbs to my little colony of about ten Eurasian Tree Sparrows in my veranda. Suddenly, most disappeared,overnight, with only 3 left. Haven’t noticed any stray cats, and a couple of Shrikes can’t eat that many. Etsies are non-migratory, so yhat’s not it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-exciting-at-your-birdfeeders/853587.md?page=3)