Feeding the Birds

Our bird feeders have become quite the popular hangout spot. We are visited daily by many birds. They are too wary to let me take their pictures, but here they are as captured by others:

The Most Frequent Visitor: The House Finch


The Bossiest Visitor: The House Sparrow


The Flashiest Visitor: The Northern Cardinal


The Youngest Visitor (as far as we can tell): The Juvenile Northern Cardinal


The Laziest Visitor: The Brown-headed Cowbird
(He gets the award for the laziest bird because the cowbird is the only bird in our area that lays his eggs in other birds nest, leaving his chicks to be raised by other birds.)


The Largest Visitor: The Blue Jay
(We haven't seen too many of these guys at the feeder. They look awfully awkward when they try to perch up there with the little birds.)


The Smallest Visitor: The Gold Finch


The Strangest Visitor: The Downy Woodpecker
(We weren't expecting to see any woodpeckers at our feeder, but our bird book says these tiny woodpeckers are fans.)

The Shyest Visitor: The Tufted Titmouse
(It's a real coup when I actually get a chance to gaze at these timid birds for any length of time at all.)


The Cutest Visitor: The Black-capped Chickadee
(I don't know why I am so partial to these birds, but I just think it's so cute how they put the seeds in between their toes and then pry them open. They are also really small birds too, about the same size as the goldfinch. And they were the first birds to find our bird feeder. Plus, I think their cuteness is greatly enhanced by their precious-sounding name.)


The Most Unwelcome Visitor: The Squirrel
(So having our bird feeder up three flights deterred the squirrels for a long time, but they finally figured out that we had food up here. Every time I see one I bang on the window and then they jump off the feeder. They seem kind of suicidal to me. I keep wondering if they fall all the way to the ground. Zephyr sure thinks the squirrels are interesting. And, this is a picture of our bird feeder. I actually got a picture because the squirrels never see me as quickly as the birds do. Many mammals don't have eyes that are as sharps as a bird's.)