Popular Post HARO50 Posted November 9, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 We all have our favourite workbenches, some slapped together on a strict budget, some costing as much as a small car. This one, however, is a bit different! We feed the wild birds here, and I like to watch them go about their daily routines and occasionally take pictures. Over the past eight months or so, I've noticed some strange behaviour. It began with a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and recently a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches have started using the same tactics, Our main feeder is a wooden one, rather rustic, with split birch branches edging the tray. One corner has a tapered gap between the two branch ends, and this now serves as a crude 'vise'. A bird will swoop down, grab a sunflower seed, jump over to that corner and place the seed in the gap. He (or she) will then hammer away at the trapped seed until the husk splits, whereupon the husk is tossed aside, and the bird flies off with its prize. This is repeated countless times a day, yet there is never a squabble over who gets the 'workbench'. They wait their turn, almost as if they had a schedule planned out! Who are you calling a 'birdbrain'? John Cal, LarryS, Stick486 and 10 others 11 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted November 9, 2018 Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 That's pretty darned cool, John. HARO50 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted November 9, 2018 Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 Great picture and story John. Thanks for sharing it. Really enjoyed seeing this. I put out peanuts in the shell (along with seed in feeders too) mainly for our Winter Blue-Jay guests. Love watching them hold the peanut with their feet, crack the shell open, extract the nut(s) and off they go. By spring, the yard looks like the floor of an old time general store or feed & seed. Peanut shells everywhere. Woodpeckers & Cardinals enjoy the peanuts too as do the Mockingbirds in the Spring & Summer. p_toad, Larry Buskirk, HARO50 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARO50 Posted November 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 4 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said: I put out peanuts in the shell (along with seed in feeders too) We used to do that, Dave, but the squirrel population took over all the feeders and drove most of the birds away. This year my supplier started selling a sunflower/millet mix, and I thought the squirrels wouldn't want the smaller seeds and would leave the feeders alone. However, as you can see, the birds don't like the millet either so I'll be going back to a cracked corn, milo, sunflower and safflower mix. We also feed suet in the cooler weather. John Artie, Grandpadave52, p_toad and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted November 9, 2018 Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 28 minutes ago, HARO50 said: We used to do that, Dave, but the squirrel population took over all the feeders and drove most of the birds away. This year my supplier started selling a sunflower/millet mix, and I thought the squirrels wouldn't want the smaller seeds and would leave the feeders alone. However, as you can see, the birds don't like the millet either so I'll be going back to a cracked corn, milo, sunflower and safflower mix. We also feed suet in the cooler weather. John Our squirrel population comes & goes depending on the ages of the dog(s). Surprisingly, with the number of trees we have, we've never had a large population of them. Same here on the millet...I had tried it before with the same results as you. I mistakenly picked up a small (15 lb) bag of millet/sunflower mix. I've slowly been mixing it with regular wild bird seed blend and just plain 'ole cracked corn. I suspect the birds are just spitting out the millet. I do put out sunflower & cracked corn on the ground. It occasionally draws opossums spring/fall...between me and the new dog, they seem to disappear. Also draws rabbits during the winter, but I suspect the new kid on the block will keep that at a minimum too. I used to toss out peanuts on the ground in the evening as the blue-jays are early feeders...recently had to stop that practice too...seems the new Aussie has quite a craving for those as well as whole corn on the cob.She's drug home several ears knocked down when field behind us was combined. I also have a few Finch feeders filled with Nijer...Yellow, red and common are here year-a-round. Sounds like we have even more in common. HARO50, Cal, Artie and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted November 9, 2018 Report Share Posted November 9, 2018 We feed a mixture of what's called "Wild Bird Seed" (Cracked corn, millet and some Sun flower seeds). We add more Black Oil Sunflower seed. About 50/50. The millet litters the ground. The birds won't eat it. About time for the suet here, too. We get wrens, some little migratory black birds of some kind, orioles. Doves and Quail. None seem to need a vice. They just gulp the sun flower seeds right down. HARO50, p_toad, Grandpadave52 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 that's cool... why aren't you making them some more work benches???... Cal, HARO50, Artie and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpadave52 Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 17 minutes ago, Stick486 said: that's cool... why aren't you making them some more work benches???... or why isn't he taking the seed out of the shell so they don't have to work so hard? Gene Howe, p_toad, HARO50 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 9 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said: or why isn't he taking the seed out of the shell so they don't have to work so hard? or at least cracking them open.. or go this route.... Grandpadave52, Gene Howe, HARO50 and 2 others 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HARO50 Posted November 10, 2018 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 42 minutes ago, Stick486 said: why aren't you making them some more work benches???.. 23 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said: or why isn't he taking the seed out of the shell so they don't have to work so hard? 5 minutes ago, Stick486 said: or at least cracking them open.. or go this route.... First of all, I'm working on my own workbench, so theirs will have to wait. Second, Arthur Ritis is a permanent resident in my left thumb, which makes it hard to hold onto the little seeds to shell them, and thirdly, do you know what they WANT for those shelled seeds? HIGHWAY ROBBERY!! Besides, I kinda LIKE watching my feathered friends work for a living. John John Morris, Cal, Al B and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Al B Posted November 10, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 Birds don't get to be teenagers. The're used to working for what they get. Artie, Stick486, Grandpadave52 and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 8 hours ago, HARO50 said: do you know what they WANT for those shelled seeds? yup... about a buck twenty a pound... Grandpadave52 and HARO50 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, HARO50 said: which makes it hard to hold onto the little seeds to shell them follow the bird's lead... no holding required... switch hands to hold them little seeds... Edited November 10, 2018 by Stick486 Cal and HARO50 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gene Howe Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 Shelling sun flower seeds is a job for teeth. Doesn't do anything for the birds, though. Grandpadave52, Cal, p_toad and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Cal Posted November 10, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 Yep, sounds like there will be a good crop of millet around next spring... I enjoy feeding & watching the birds too. When I started woodworking, I sold enough birdhouses, feeders and outdoor stuff to buy my equipment and build my shop. And Stick, I tried the shelled sunflower seeds - the birds here did not clean them up like they do the ones in the hulls. Don't know why, but it was back to regular seeds after that one bag. A couple years ago I had an interesting dynamic going on in the front yard. A yellow bellied sapsucker came and would drill it's holes around the trunks of some shrubs. It then flies away, presumably to drill holes in shrubs down the street. It comes back in about 30 minutes to lap up the sap and with some luck, some insects that might have found the sap and got stuck. The dynamic that played out involved a Baltimore Oriole that was wintering with us. After the sapsucker left, about 15-20 minutes later the oriole would come in and "rob" the worksite. Not sure what the sapsucker thought about that! At first I thought it was a symbiotic relationship, then I realized that the oriole was not contributing anything so I am not sure what that is called. Anyhow, we get one "welfare king" oriole visit each winter, the worker sapsucker hasn't been back. I found this same relationship described in a bird book. One might be tempted to draw some parallels here, but then I might have to also see that parallel with the worker just doing what they do without regard to the environment as enough of those holes would kill the shrubs... p_toad, Stick486, Grandpadave52 and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARO50 Posted November 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 5 minutes ago, Cal said: I realized that the oriole was not contributing anything so I am not sure what that is called. Freeloader? Love your story, Cal! I've never seen a sapsucker around here, but orioles visit occasionally to rob the hummingbird feeders. John Cal and Grandpadave52 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HARO50 Posted November 10, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 4 hours ago, Stick486 said: yup... about a buck twenty a pound... So.... what's that?.... about $20 Canadian? John Cal, p_toad, Stick486 and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 17 minutes ago, Cal said: I found this same relationship described in a bird book. like woodpeckers and humming birds... Grandpadave52, p_toad and Cal 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Stick486 Posted November 10, 2018 Popular Post Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 21 minutes ago, Cal said: "welfare king" gotta love the analogy... Artie, HARO50, p_toad and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted November 10, 2018 Report Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) Thanks John. The book shown above seems to be right on the mark, and very interesting. Macon, Ga., represented by the pink dot in the center of the state is where Central City Park is. I am located about 15-20 miles as the crow flies (or oriole) from there. For about the last 4-5 years we have had just one oriole spend the winter with us. He is very shy and difficult to get a good picture of. He will not come around if anyone is outside. He has been spending the Jan. - Mar months with us. Hope he's back this year. I put an orange and grape jelly out for him. My mother loved bird watching. She knew hundreds of bird varieties by sight, and probably dozens by their songs and calls. Reckon that's where I picked it up from. I enjoy most seeing their flight patterns while they migrate. Flying in a large mass, yet all flying in the same choreographed dance as they swoop, turn, dive together is spectacular. I liken it to watching an MC Escher drawing come to life! Edited November 10, 2018 by Cal HARO50 and Grandpadave52 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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