Bird Feeder

This morning I had just finished mowing the lawn and was watching the birds at my feeders. I get a variety. Today i had grackles, blue jays, cardinals, a number of different dove species and a bunch of male, red wing blackbirds. All of a sudden there was a panic as a hawk came through and took one of the red wings. The hawk flew a short distance into the woods to have his breakfast, Carla thinks it might have been a coopers hawk, but the attack was so quick it is hard to say. After all it is a bird feeder and hawks are birds.

Too bad it didn't get one of the grackles!

Yes, the grackles are a pain, this one was sitting on the bird feeder throwing out the seed he didn't want all over the lawn, this is what the Red Wings were after.

Hawk update: Just came up the driveway and spooked a tan colored hawk. Carla now thinks we have a pair of Marsh Hawks, aka Northern Harriers. The male is bluish (what I saw this morning) and the female is tan.
Neat

Those are great birds. You can hope they'll stick around. But the big migration is about to start, so they may be passing thrugh.

We get goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, wrens (maybe), nuthatches, cardinals, and assorted sparrows. The other day, when the bird feeder was empty, they came up on the porch clamoring at the back door to refill it.
Now that my garden is maturing, we got a couple new butterflies. None of my neighbors are real gardeners, so it takes a long time for the word to get around.
Iris

What are grackles? It sounds like something you should rub ointment on.

I'm jealous that you get cardinals though, one of the most beautiful birds, imo. We get greasy starlings and bloody wood pigeons.

Grackles are NOISY black birds with long tails. Not as nasty as starlings, but close.

Hi Billy, what a treat getting raptors in your garden, we get birds which are vastly different to yours. Lots of parrots, eastern rosellas, king parrots,rainbow lorikeets,sulphur crested cockatoos,yellow tail black cockatoos,gang gang cockatoos and more. The parrots can be quite destructive in the garden if they congregate in large numbers but are very decorative.
I hope your hawks stick around for a while.
Regards from Craig

Male Boat Tail Grackles are really neat birds. They have iridescent feathers.
South Florida has some parrots and other tropical birds. A few are native, most are decendents of escaped pets

We have grackles, too. They are supposed to be good guys, albeit they sound like they need oiling. They rarely land on the bird feeder. Cardinals are quite common in the Northeast. These days they may stay all winter. We have mourning doves. Rather than land on the bird feeder, they peck around on the ground for dropped seeds, unless the squirrels chase them.

I just googled the grackles, they look a bit like our carrawongs, very cheeky and naughty birds. I have decided I like them, they look like the sort of bird that would give cats a hard time. We get lots of kookaburras here, they are the worlds largest kingfisher and very tame, one flew in the kitchen window once and pinched a chicken fillet off the bench.I love the cardinals such beautiful creatures. I wonder if you get woodpeckers, they have always appealed to me also.
Craig

Greasy Starlings Steve?

We do get woodpeckers. A red bellied woodpecker will come to the feeder and we have palliated woodpeckers from time to time.
We also get what Carla calls the "bird tornado" from time to time over the marsh west of our property, but I don't think they are grackles.

Howzit Will,

That was fantastic. I never saw anything like that before!! I seen fishes do that in our oceans but never birds in the sky. Much Mahalo for sharing.

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Yes, Will, greasy starlings. Admittedley, we are treated to a nightly display in Manchester town center similar to the one you posted, but the downside of that is we have to contend with all their droppings and noise the following morning.

Now, where's my bloody gun?

Poor Starlings get a bad press. I have had them nesting in my roof for the last 15 years. I love their birdsong as they mimic other birds and sounds and have heard them doing mobile phones before. Ok, not quite as impressive as the lyre bird but I like them. Cool Oily colours too

As I mentioned the Lyre bird.

will baddeley wrote: Greasy Starlings Steve?

Here in Denmark we call it "Black sun" and you can watch it in the south of Jutland - in the tidal area - and about this time of year. You can it at RØMØ - Will.

I know we are a Bonsai group, and I am not a "Bird Watcher," but we do live only a few miles from the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which is really part of the buffer zone for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. They have a lot of native and winter birds. Every Year we have a Wildlife Festival, a really neat ecotourism event. Can you say Rosette Spoonbills and Manatees?

I have Lyre birds living nearby in the tree fern gullies, they are amazing. Apart from mimicking all the local birds they can do chainsaws, car alarms, mobile phones and camera shutters.
Craig

Now you are making me jealous. I am told that there is talk of having a BCI Convention in OZ in a few years. Maybe??

Hi Billy, one thing about birds is that no matter which country you go to there is always beautiful species, just like trees. I would love to come and see your woodpeckers some time. It would be good to see you down here.
Craig

Incredible Will! I have have seen flocks of black birds on this side of the pond, but nothing on that scale. Beautiful!
My two cents worth - Grackles are beautiful with their irredescense and yellow eyes. They are beautiful when they court each other. Starlings are very pretty in their Winter feathers!
Salut, Todd