Spring Is Here, So I Hung a Birdhouse

[fireground_piper]

Good luck with the bird house! My parents have a few on their back deck and it took a few years but eventually at least one of them took up a resident. It’s fun to watch them when we are over there. Unfortunately on the other side of town, I have a lot of black bear activity any type of bird feeding is Ill-advised.

On the topic of blue jays, my dad has built up a relationship with a population over the past 10 years or so. He absolutely loathes crows and after finding out blue jays fight off crows, he began his offerings of peanuts. At this point, they come to the deck proactively for their peanuts and in return he hasn’t seen a crow in the area for years. The payoff has worked. Iv seen them chase off crows and even go at a hawk who took interest in the yard. They leave all the little birds alone though.

 

[MRW]

I have no bird houses, but a large offering of food is provided. With spring upon us here in N Texas, bird activity is gaining momentum. Frequenting my feeders are Wrens, Common House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Chickadee and Titmouse. Feeding on the ground are Dark-Eye Junco and Blue Jay. Racoon and Possums come nightly and mornings to feed on the dry cat food. My GF calls my porch Wild Kingdom.

 

[MRW]

I have no bird houses, but a large offering of food is provided. With spring upon us here in N Texas, bird activity is gaining momentum. Frequenting my feeders are Wrens, Common House Finch, Downy Woodpecker, Chickadee and Titmouse. Feeding on the ground are Dark-Eye Junco and Blue Jay. Racoon and Possums come nightly and mornings to feed on the dry cat food. My GF calls my porch Wild Kingdom.

The Squirrels, Doves and Cardinals felt slighted with my recent post. Gotta give a shout out to them as well!

 

[mso489]

Interesting point, that blue jays are corvid (not to be confused with covid) in the same family with crows, and a lot of the same smarts. Crows live in big family groups. Sometimes the young adults stay around for several seasons to help with feeding, raising, and guarding the chicks. If you feed crows, they will sometimes bring you "presents," small shiny objects that they seem to think you might like. Crows use twigs and such as tools.

Nearly all birds are territorial, though crows defend their territory communally. Bird houses are best spread out quite a bit if there is more than one in the area, to give each mated couple some elbow room.