Feeder Birds

Hi All,

The new year has come, and most of us are as busy as usual.  Here in Western Oregon we have been hampered by snow, and I have not gotten in as much birding as I’d like.  It seems that when I finally have some time off from work is when it snows.  We had not been feeding the birds for a few years now as seed prices got so high.  But when I understood I’d be stuck inside because of the snow, I bought some bird-seed to keep me from getting too bored.   Plus, we often need to remember to bring in our hummer feeders at night or else they might be frozen come morning.

The pics here are of birds that have been coming to eat our seed since the start of the new year.  It does not take them long to figure out where the good eating is, and when birds see other birds gathering in once place, they come to check it out and so find where the food is.

California Scrub Jay

 This species can empty out our feeder in no time!  With their bill they sweep what seed they don't want off the feeder onto the ground, and, of course, eat the what they prefer.

Northern Flicker (female)

 We have both a male and female flicker which come to our suet.  They are so pretty.

Stellar's Jay

 The Stellar's Jays tend to stay on the ground, eating seed which was swept off the feeder by their cousin, the California Scrub Jays

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate Colored Form)

 Juncos are very common in winter here in Oregon, but these dark "Slate-Colored" ones are from the east and rather sparse.

Eurasian Collared Dove

 The Eurasian Collared Dove is a new comer to Oregon, only arriving about 15 years ago or so.  Now they are encountered all over the place.

Fox Sparrow

 This Fox Sparrow usually prefers to be under the cover of thick bushes, but with food hard to come by, he gets brave enough to join the others below our feeder.

Varied Thrush (Male) with a dark-eye Junco in the forground

The Varied Thrushes are now being seen in the valley, the snow forcing them down from the Coast Range and Cascade Mts.  This is a male, and quite skiddish in the open below our feeder.  Every time I went to take his pic, he'd spook and fly off.  Finally he stayed put long enough for me to snap a few pics.  Quite pretty, don't you think?