[Tweeters] Starlings learn

[Teresa Michelsen]

OK, if I had been more organized, pictures of this would have been really funny…

I got a little wreath made of seeds from WildBirds to put out, and I laid it flat on a platform feeder in my backyard a week or two ago… it IMMEDIATELY snowed a foot. So it was under there, but nobody could see it.

A squirrel figured it out and ran up the post and made a little tunnel under the snow into the wreath – then another squirrel made a different tunnel to it from the other side 😃  they were both fiercely guarding their entrances and fighting a flurry of other squirrels trying to get in. Then the jays and flickers and towhees got wise and started poking around. Pretty soon the red ribbon tying it up was discarded and bright red on the snow below and the larger birds were succeeding in supplanting the little Douglas squirrels to get at the still snow-covered wreath (the little guys would still run up the back entrance and pilfer some). Very entertaining 😃

Teresa Michelsen
Hoodsport, WA

From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of David Kreft
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2022 12:30 PM
To: Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net>
Cc: TWEETERS tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Starlings learn

Be thankful you don’t have wild turkeys. They’re gluttons and run in gangs, pillaging feeders and generally laying waste to the ground beneath.

Dave
Kettle Falls, WA

On Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 12:20 PM Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net<mailto:benedict.t at comcast.net>> wrote:
On Dec 20, 2022, at 11:29, Dennis Paulson <dennispaulson at comcast.net<mailto:dennispaulson at comcast.net>> wrote:

As usual, the snow has brought so many birds in to the feeders that it’s hard to look away.

Just the opposite here. I restocked the suet feeder yesterday, but as soon as the heavy snow started about 2 hours all the birds vacated. Must have found a better resource.


I should add the six Eastern Gray Squirrels that are regular visitors. We told them we wouldn’t give them any peanuts if they didn’t get along with the birds. And oh yes, they also wait under the suet feeder for a flicker to dislodge some.

We have two Eastern Gray Squirrels which "kind of" get along with the birds. I say “kind of” because late last winter the squirrels were up in the vine maple outside our kitchen window gleaning the few remaining maple seeds when a pair of Stellar’s Jays arrived and started to squawk. Then one of the jays flew over and bonked a squirrel on the head! Then the other did the same! The squirrels quickly departed and we didn’t see them again for months.

Tom Benedict
Seahurst, WA

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