# Wild birders?



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Just wondering how many wild birders we have here?

We have a plethora of them here in our back yard year round, and it's a very enjoyable hobby to us.

Tell us about the birds that frequent your back yard.

What are your favorites and least favorite?

I think for me my all time favorite would have to be the black capped chickadee. Even though they aren't the prettiest birds out there, they have such great little personalities.  Hummingbirds are another favorite, as are the different finches, the rose-breasted grosbeaks and various woodpeckers. If I tried to list them all, you guys would be falling out of your chair out of boredom... LOL! 

My least favorite is the Blue jay by far. Even though they are pretty, they are total hogs at the feeder and chase the other birds away. 

On a related note, I assembled a 12 room purple martin house over the weekend (about 1000 nuts and bolts, whew) and only 4 days later they're out there checking it out.


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## spdskr (Apr 24, 2006)

Congratulations on the Purple Martins, Jan. Growing up in the southeastern US we had a collection of houses and gourds for them. I miss them now that I live out west. In fact, most of the bird species are different here in the western plains/mtns. When I first moved here 16 yrs ago, I'd have to say I enjoyed black billed magpies. Now I am more fascinated by the various warbler species that nest in the mtns during our short summers.


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## Ibn (Oct 20, 2004)

No blue jays around these parts, but here are some birds that I managed to catch in the viewfinder.

http://www.pbase.com/ebn/birds


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

I have lots of birds in my backyard. My favorite regular right now is the house wren that's nesting in one of our boxes. Last year we had an indigo bunting which has to be the most beautiful bird I've ever seen. I know there's oriole's around here too but I hardly ever see them. My least favorite's are the starlings and pigeons. I have to confess to having a soft spot for blue jay's because they were about the only birds in the neighborhood I grew up in. I do use feeders though that limit the big birds and allow the little guys to have their share.

Bill


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## RoseHawke (Jan 4, 2005)

Your Blue Jays visit your feeders? We have jays but I've never seen them near the feeders. For some reason I thought they were insectivores, but I see from the Cornell site (http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/) that I was wrong about that.

We had a House Finch build a nest in the ivy on the front porch, but something pulled the nest down one night this past weekend  . And a pair of Thrushes has nested in one of my climbing roses (like to see something pull THAT nest down!)

The back yard feeders see chickadees, house finches, house wrens, nuthatches, several varieties of woodpecker (hairy, downy, red-cockaded) occasionally mourning doves (no one told them they were supposed to be ground feeders!) tufted titmouse, song sparrows of some sort, occasionally a catbird will visit the suet and grab a couple of bites. In the spring I have goldfinches on the finch sock although I've not been able to lure them into staying year 'round. Birds that hang around but usually don't visit the feeders include robins, towhees (rarely,) rose-breasted grosbeaks, the thrushes, blue jays, catbirds, mockingbirds and probably some others I've forgotten. Also for the past month or so we've had several yellow-crowned night herons, including a juvenile visiting the back yard hunting crawdads and frogs I guess. I had to look that one up!

The ones that are NOT welcome are starlings and grackles, which will be met with a .177 pellet although to be honest I've never actually _hit_ one of the b*ggers. Put the fear of the gods into 'em though  !

And how could I forget the cardinals!


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## nailalc (Mar 17, 2006)

Living some 250 miles south of JanS, we have many of the same birds. I completely agree with the black-capped chickadee as the all time favorite. Second would have to be the Northern Cardinal, especially in the winter when the bright red males are sitting on a snow covered pine tree, the contrast is something. Third is the summer visitor, the oriole, keep the grape jelly coming and they'll be there all summer. Jelly is also a big favorite with the house & purple finches. Don't mind the Blue Jays as much, must be the color.

All time worst and most hated bird, the rat with wings (see my hatred?), is definitely the Grackle. The flocks can decimate a feeder and scare all the other birds away. Wasn't much of an issue when I lived in the country, but living inside city limits now, the neighbors are too close for me to take care of the grackles.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

Do you just put the Grape Jelly on a platform feeder or is there some other way to dispense it??? I would love to have an oriole come to my feeder.

As for the grackles I use a caged feeder they can't get in and a feeder that has a perch that drops when the fat birds get on and closes off the food supply. It's not 100% fool proof but it keeps the starlings, grackles and blue jays under control.


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## nailalc (Mar 17, 2006)

First way I used Jelly was to take a plastic yogurt top and nail it to where ever I was going to put it and filled with jelly. Easy, worked great, birds loved them. Then I got fancy, I basically copied a commerical bird feeder with a roof and two plastic bowls that are sunk into the wood. Orioles and finches still love the jelly.

I've used the 'trap door' feeders, more for squirrels, they work okay but to me the're an eye sore, prefer something natural. The only way I beat the Grackles is to change seed, to something hard. Grackles enjoy an easy meal, no work, again, like rats........


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Wow, stunning photos Eric! Do you do it for a living, or are you just really good? 

I have a small album of some of the birds in our yard, but of course they're nothing like the quality of Eric's....
http://community.webshots.com/album/182175599ckjzDL

Robbins really like the jelly too, so it's nice to have it out in the spring when they're first coming back.
I also put out an orange sliced in half for the Orioles and they love it.

Oh yes, and red squirrels are my next biggest nemesis after the Blue jays....


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