Bird Behavior
Today, we are going to watch birds at my window feeder. There are a couple of ways that people “watch” birds. Different strokes for different folks. There are those whose main goal is simply to see as many birds as possible and check them off their year, or life, or county or whatever list and move on. My preference is to not just look at the bird, but to carefully examine its behavior. The video today is an excellent example of what I’m talking about. Some folks may click on the play button and after 30 seconds feel like rhey are watching the famous TV Yule Log that plays on certain channels during the holiday season for 24/7. It just seems to go on and on with a quick “feel good” vibe and the experience ends there.
When we take a little time, however, to examine the birds’ behaviors, bird “watching” becomes a bit more rewarding. Yes, they are beautiful creations of nature but their behavior can make watching them a deeper sensory endeavor. The following clip is 4 minutes long and was captured over a period of about a half hour through our kitchen window. The feed being offered is Safflower seed which has a hard white shell and a bitter taste which the squirrels do not like (YES!) Watching how different species attack this tasty morsel is pretty entertaining and enlightening. As you watch the video, look for the following….. Watch how the cardinals with their heavy powerful beaks just pick up the safflower one seed at a time and crunch the shell open…kind of like we do with a pistachio nut. Then, watch some of the other birds as they look for the easy way out….like looking for that pistachio which has been cracked open during packaging and is just laying in the bag waiting for you to seize it. Both the Carolina wren and the White-throated sparrow seem to be searching for that free lunch. The wren probes through the seeds in the tray presumably looking for a seed already cracked or actually without the shell. The White-throated sparrow uses his little toes to shuffle through the seeds looking for the easy pickings. Unfortunately, the Tufted titmouse which often visits this feeder didn’t show up because he uses a totally different mode of attack. He picks out an individual seed and then pounds it on the edge of the feeder until it cracks. It’s so loud, we often jump up to see who is knocking on our door!
Finally, watch how the hierarchy develops at the feeder. Some, like the finch pair (male and female) are quite tolerant of one another and have a nice quiet dinner together. Several other clips show how smaller birds like the wren and the sparrow are tolerated to a degree by the larger more dominant cardinal until he reaches a point where enough is enough and he shoos the other bird away. Hopefully, you’ll see how interesting behavior of birds can be make “bird watching” a more enjoyable and fulfilling pastime. Watch, study, and learn,
