Monday, February 20, 2017

Birds in the Kitchen Window


 Someone used this Lowe's feeder for a great squirrel pose.
When hanging, the feeder is relatively safe from squirrel predation.
Cleaning the kitchen window led to installing a new feeder and six-foot Jackson EZ Bird Swing. Directions are linked here.

Some advantages are:

  • No Venetian blinds to block the view.
  • A window so clean it is almost invisible.
  • A place where we are often busy and now have a constantly changing view of birds feeding.

I did not expect an immediate response, since birds are so wary of anything new. However, the Lowe's feeder is the third one hanging and the Jackson EZ Bird Swing has been enjoyed for several years.

Today, several days after the installation, the new swing and feeder were accommodating a stream of birds. As I watched, a male Cardinal, a goldfinch, and a house finch took up their stations to eat some sunflower seeds.

The design lets the birds have their own station. The shy Cardinals often take the side away from the window, but the feeder rotates slowly around to let us see all the birds.

I began photographing them today. That led to a boycott after some good photos. I will try more tomorrow and post some.

 The male Goldfinches do not have their spring livery yet,
and all bird lovers wait to spot their change
to an impossibly bright hue.


Landing and Feeding
The kitchen window does not yet afford a good landing zone, except for the swing. Some birds land directly on the feeder, but others land on the swing, which is very close to the window.

The birds peer inside at the humans and wait to get a place to feed.

When the Crepe Myrtle grows up, the birds will also land there, with room for plenty to rest, preen, and enjoy their seeds. Small birds will take a seed and land where they can open it with their beaks. Chickadees are most likely to do this.

Cardinals have large, powerful beaks, so they sit at the feeder with a droll look on their faces, and process one seed after another, ejecting the hulls.

Doves are ground feeders, but they are happy to land
on a hanging feeder.
Among the birds we see,
doves are the ones that love to bathe and eat the longest.