We looked out this morning and the ground was covered with these large black birds. They all flew into the trees or even farther away when they saw us. black birds, ( photo / image / picture from dooley's Garden ) More black birds ( photo / image / picture from dooley's Garden ) They didn't stay around for me to take more pictures. dooley
Do you know what kind of birds were they were? We have a large number of crows that migrate and spend the winter here. Some stay the year round. This time of year we see large family flocks of almost a hundred sometimes. They disperse soon and go to their nesting regions/areas. We had one pair that nested in the tall fir trees on the neighbors lot for more than twenty years. They are really smart birds.
I think they are grackles. We have food out there all of the year. They must have just discovered it. They didn't stay long. When I move they take flight and they didn't come back when I came inside. dooley
I think I recognize a few of our Grackles. I wonder if they are moving south or north? Any Starlings? They usually fly south at the same time as the Grackles. Maybe I can find their travel agent. Jerry
Sometimes there are so many birds that the feeders get filled twice a day. Each feeder holds about 5 or 6 cups of food. There are always birds out there. dooley
Grackles and squirrels are the reasons I don't put out sunflower seeds any more, just Safflower seeds. I couldn't afford to keep the feeders filled otherwise. Grackles are here year round, I didn't realize they migrated to and from other places. Starlings are here year round too.
Wow! We haven't got those here. The closest we get is the black thrush, Turdus merula. It has a lovely song that it adds to every year. When I see one singing its little heart out in the top of a tree I know it's spring. We've also got starlings, but they don't winter here.
I have had a lot of black birds, crows and the coopers hawks...I was surprised to see a coopers hawk sitting on top of my pergola with 2 crows on it and a couple in the trees. I guess the crows are not worried seeing they were larger than the hawk. But this sure cuts down on the number of birds I have eating here with the larger birds around.It is Way too cold here to have the dogs chase them away.
Are these birds still coming, Dooley? Were they attracted to your feeders or were they just visiting?
They still come every day. There are a lot more of them but they are learning to share with the other birds. We buy a lot of bird seed. dooley
I get them here also. They come by the hundreds. You can barely hear yourself think when the are all squawking. They fill the trees and powerlines. And eat up all the food in no time. I usually just pop a firecracker and they leave (temporarily). Once last year, I had to stop putting out the food for a few days so they would find another place to eat. Once they left for good, I could fill the feeders again. If there are just a few, they can stay and eat with the others.
The Grackles and squirrels are the reason I stopped buying black-oil sunflower seeds and only put out Safflower seeds. The Red-winged Blackbirds, Dove, Cardinals, Bluejays, Sparrows of all kinds will eat Safflower seeds but the Grackles, Starlings and squirrels will not. I like getting the typical birdseed mix and combining it with peanut butter for extra winter energy but even then the Grackles will not visit the feeders.
