Bird Feeder

Almost since we moved into our house we’ve been fascinated by the birds we have seen in our front and back yards.  Both the wife and I love birding in general and I love photographing birds.  So, after a bit of discussion we decided to get a bird feeder.  We ended up getting two of them to accommodate different birds and different seed types.  Then I dug a hole and attached the bird feeders to a stick we had in the garage.  I read a few books on birds and expected it might take a while for the birds to discover the feeder.  I was extremely delighted the following day to find birds at the feeder when I got home from work!  These little guys would flit out of the woods, peck a bite, and fly right back out.  So it was very hard to get a photo, especially with the sun beginning to set.  At the end of this post is the best shot I got.

I’m curious as to how the birds found the feeders and determined food was inside.  Do they smell the seeds?  Did they notice this new “tree” in the yard and investigate and then find the seeds?  And, finally, would they try and keep it a secret to maximize the food they can eat or would they share this knowledge with other birds of the same species?  It was fun to watch them because they appeared to compete both inter- and intra- species.  I’m looking forward to fun times with the bird feeder, but today I noticed a squirrel had found it.  Is he scaring the birds away?  We’ll soon see.

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