Birds of the same Glenfeeder

This summer, “staycation” assumed a whole new meaning. Our backyard, with the newly installed Glenfeeder, opened our world to the exciting activity of a variety of New England birds. Within a couple of days of putting the bird feed out, there had been enough communication for the birds to start trickling in. We observed their patterns and slowly learned the best visitation times. We parked ourselves by the window when they visited and as time went by some birds were bold enough to visit even as we sat, not too far away, on the deck. I had never imagined birds would have so much personality, and even attitudes! We even ended up naming a few.

Goldfinch

Black & White Chickadee

House finch

First we got the sparrows, and the warblers and the finches.

Then one day we observed an unusual phenomenon. A big, fat, fluffy, grey bird sat plopped on the edge of our deck, away from the bird feeder; and a much smaller sparrow flew back and forth feeding this bird. The sparrow did not look like a parent, but it was obviously a guardian. When I looked it up, I learned that this was a brood parasite chick of a cowbird, being cared for by a sparrow. As a child I had heard the story of the Koyal and the Crow - how the cuckoo laid her eggs in a crow’s nest. It was amusing to see it in action. We followed this pair for a few days. Slowly, the chick learned to reach the feeder, continued to be fed by the sparrow, eventually visiting on its own, before flying away. We also noticed a cowbird visiting around the same time. It seems cowbirds keep an eye out for their chicks even if they are not raising their young ones.

One day as we were having breakfast on the deck, a noisy, bold pair joined us. They weren’t bothered that we were sitting just a few feet away. Their piercing, dark eyes standing out against the shiny black, almost bluish coat, blending into the brown feathers. They held our gaze, unflinching, cackling away merrily! We mistook them for the brown-headed cowbird, which followed its young at times. On additional research  we learned that this pair was the Common Grackle. 

At about 3 pm most days, the “Bully” visited. We had named a red-bellied woodpecker the Bully due to his personality. We had noticed the calm mannered Goldfinch wait its turn, or the American Tree Sparrow hovering around until the feeder freed up, or the Robin swooping down from her nest in our roof every so often, or the Tufted Titmouse frolicked around. But when the Bully arrived, all the other birds flew away from the feeder. The Bully even chased some birds from tree to tree. At first we thought it was a male woodpecker courting a female. Considering it was June, well past their nesting season, on observing more closely, we noticed the Bully was chasing away birds of other species!

After waiting for days, finally my favorite, the Northern Cardinal arrived. This was a shy bird which stayed on the periphery for a few days, I guess, scouting the safety of the feeder. Anytime it attempted a trip, it would vanish after quickly taking a peck. Towards the end of the summer, it was probably older and bolder, and actually hung around the feeder long enough for me to take a picture. 

The Glenfeeder was designed to be squirrel-proof, being suspended using a light weight hanger. Just as we thought we had outwitted the squirrels, we noticed the bird feed vanishing much quicker than expected. This one found its way to the seeds. We are guessing it is able to jump across. Something to think about for v2.0!

The one bird which had eluded us all summer was the Bluejay. We had been told that they would arrive in our area around Fall, and sure enough, we had one visitor at the beginning of Fall.  I had been curious about Blue Jays since the Mark Twain short story “What Stumped the Bluejays”, in which he personified the bird to form a strong connection with the reader. I had read that Blue Jays are boisterous, loud birds, who could bully other birds, and had been curious about their relationship with our red bellied woodpecker. As luck would have it, their timing did not coincide, and my wait continues.

This summer, social distancing with people opened up a new door, and an opportunity to close a bit of the distance with nature. We are grateful to our friends who shared their experience, knowledge and pictures of the birds at their bird feeder, which inspired us to try out this new fulfilling hobby, right from the comfort of our homes. Beyond the nature exploration that I had chronicled earlier on this blog, it was fascinating to welcome these beautiful visitors to our home!