When Finches Speak

"No place to perch there, kid!"

"Show off!"
"Incoming!"
"What you lookin' at, human?" 
"So who invited the tall chick?" 
"Just ignore them.  They're snobs." 

Comments

  1. Birds are an endless source of entertainment as yours are demonstrating. We have lots of babies around at the moment and love to watch their approaches to the feeders. Graceful it is not.

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    1. Watching fledgling hummingbirds fly is a big surprise. They learn very fast, but the first day or two out of the nest they run into things, flip over, get tired, and collapse, and generally look pretty funny.

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    2. The description here of how hummingbirds control their flight awed me, and makes it unsurprising that the learning curve is steep for the young ones: https://gardenriots.com/2019/05/29/hummingbirds-in-the-real-world-evolution-physiology-and-relationship/
      Pretty impressive that they master it so quickly.

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    3. When you flap your wings several dozen times a second, you get a lot of practice really fast!

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  2. Replies
    1. It's fun to watch them. You would think humans are the only creatures that do stupid stuff, and while our species is the obvious winner in that department, birds have their moments, too.

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  3. I miss the birds here! My fountain's been shut down since construction started - it's too close to the debris overflow area.

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    1. Yes, and the guys walking around, noise, general chaos and hubbub. I bet the birds miss it, too.

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  4. Tee hee... We have American Goldfinches here. They are finishing up their nesting. Lots of them around. In the fields they are drawn to sunflowers. They eat the seeds of Echechinacea purpurea and rudbeckia maxima in my garden. They are very shy about going to a water feature. I must not have the right type.

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    1. Generally the birds want the water source in an open area and tall enough so that cats won't get to them. They like some shrubs and taller trees nearby so they can perch here and there and look around for predators. Then they like a shallow (1/2" - 1") pool they can hop into, and an edge to perch on that will work with their feet. Bird's feet ability to grasp onto something to perch determines what they will land on.

      I went to a seminar on "attracting birds to your garden" and they went into stuff like that. I wish Echinecea and Rudbeckia did better here--the seed eaters love them. They seem to make do though on Lavender, Rosemary, Salvia clevelandii, and Gaillardia.

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