The limitations of our little digital camera are becoming apparent. We need more megapixels, more telephoto, more cowbell!
But I did catch two of our more elusive visitors today.
The two small birds on the left are house sparrows. Whenever I fill the bird feeder pigeons, house finches, and quail come to visit, but every now and then a sparrow joins the crowd. The sparrows seem to prefer seed on the ground to seed in the feeder. Also in the photo: a quail, two mourning doves, and several house finches.
Above the feeder, on the branch to the left, is a cardinal. I couldn’t get close enough with my little camera to pick up the colors, but this one has only a little red, on its head and wings, which would make it a female (the males are almost entirely red). You can see more house finches on the branches and in the feeder.
A male Gila Woodpecker and a thrasher were also here today, but wouldn’t hold still long enough for photos.
About those mourning doves. Doves are pigeons. I know this because I recently read Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird. I gained a new level of respect for pigeons in general, but still don’t much like them in person. If I didn’t have a pigeon-proof bird feeder, there wouldn’t be a single seed left for anyone else. So they sit on top of the feeder and shit on it. Ditto up under the eaves of my roof, where they occasionally also build nests (which they also shit in). Granted, they’re fascinating, remarkable birds, and they’ve been carrying messages for mankind since caveman days, but they’re still rats with wings.
So how does a pigeon-proof bird feeder work? If you look at the photo, it’s a globe. The access holes are on the bottom of the globe. Little birds can fly right inside and eat. Larger birds, like woodpeckers and thrashers, can cling to the bottom rim of an access hole with their feet and lean forward to eat. Pigeons can’t bend that way. All they can do is sit on top of the globe and look at the food down at the bottom. And shit in pure frustration.