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June 8, 2009 at 8:09 pm #591165
DMParticipantThe birds I’m curious about are very small, with black heads and white stripes on the sides of their beaks.
I was in my garden, kneeling down and gently watering my snow peas, when a group of these wee little guys flew in and landed on the pea support, one foot away from me. One of them actually tried to land on my hose holding hand, and an extra brave one landed on the ground and took a shower under the seeping nozzle, inches from my hand. I couldn’t believe how close they came to great big me and how long they stayed! It was very cool!
I don’t know bird names. Anyone have an idea what they are?
June 8, 2009 at 8:13 pm #669229
DMParticipantClarification: I meant to write “white stripes on the sides of their heads” not “sides of their beaks”. Oops.
June 8, 2009 at 8:15 pm #669230
BayouMemberMy guess is that you are seeing Black-capped Chickadees. They visit our garden area quite frequently as well. :)
June 8, 2009 at 8:26 pm #669231
WSBKeymasterThat would be my guess too.
http://www.birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?value=search&id=328
includes a photo
June 8, 2009 at 8:29 pm #669232
B-squaredParticipanti would have to agree with bayou that they were chickadees. probably a parent and the latest brood all together. they typically are a little chatty all the while they are flitting about. i get the traditional black-capped at my feeder as well as ones that are brown with a slightly different sound to their call. i believe this one is a chestnut-backed chickadee.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/id
definitely one of my favorites! In Stanley Park (in BC) they will actually eat sunflower seeds out of your hand!
June 8, 2009 at 8:48 pm #669233
DMParticipantThanks for the info everybody! Those are my boids! They are seriously cute and fun to hang out with!
June 8, 2009 at 9:00 pm #669234
flowerpetalMemberChickadees are a delight. I believe they have become more socialized to humans in the past twenty years due largely to the number of bird feeders. It seems to me that they are less timid of us then they used to be.
What a nice treat for you DM!
June 9, 2009 at 12:52 am #669235
WSBKeymasterOK bird lovers – can anybody tell me which are the birds who sing first in the morning? I know the robins sing last. But the same birds start up at 4 am, every single day. Not too visible at that hour so hard to figure out who.
June 9, 2009 at 2:33 am #669236
DMParticipantI’m curious as well TR. The early a.m. bird song is a sound I associate with Spring.
And I hope the chickadees come back tomorrow morning. I’ll be there with my coffee and dribbling water hose!
June 9, 2009 at 8:13 pm #669237
B-squaredParticipantDM
The chickadees would really enjoy a seed feeder with black-oil sunflower seeds in it. then you can enjoy them all year. and a bird bath would be nice.
the birds i hear in the morning are usually robins, but i will have a listen tomorrow to determine who else might be up that early;) last weekend it was my stellar jay friends going on about how i let the peanut box get empty (this at 5am!).
June 9, 2009 at 8:53 pm #669238
flowerpetalMemberAt http://www.enature.com you can listen to bird songs and find the bird song you are hearing in the morning. I am guessing that it is a sparrow. Listen to the white throated, gold crowned and white crowned sparrows. I think you will find these songs similar, if not the same greeting you hear in the morning.
June 9, 2009 at 9:10 pm #669239
herongrrrlParticipantWhite crowned sparrows aren’t a bad bet for the first morning song. We had them nesting in our yard for a couple years and they did get going pretty early each morning.
That’s neat about your chickadees, DM! We had a nest in the front yard this year, and I also saw a nest in Me Kwa Mooks. I didn’t know they were cavity nesters before this year.
June 9, 2009 at 9:32 pm #669240
jwwsParticipantTR,
My guess would be house sparrows and/or house finches – we’ve got a ton of both at our house and all are active at 4:30 am.
June 9, 2009 at 10:25 pm #669241
DMParticipantHey B Squared,
I was thinking a bird bath might be in order. Do you know if it matters whether it’s in the sun or shade? And thanks for the tip about the specific seeds!
June 9, 2009 at 11:01 pm #669242
WSBKeymasterSounds like the house sparrows. We have a bunch of them in the back yard. Hard to look out the kitchen window without seeing them, um, going out on a date … and that’s why they rule the bird boxes we put up years ago … This morning, BTW, they started singing at THREE FORTY-FIVE. I tend to note such things on Twitter toward the end of the workday, er, night.
June 9, 2009 at 11:02 pm #669243
flowerpetalMemberI think it matters not if the bird bath is in the sun or shade. What does matter is that you flush it out every day or so to prevent yucky stuff from growing in it. Somewhere someone had the crazy idea of putting pennies in the bird bath to keep the water fresh. Cwazy idea!
Please put your bird bath near trees or shrubs so birds can quickly escape predators, both winged and fur bearing!
June 9, 2009 at 11:04 pm #669244
flowerpetalMemberThat early morning singing will begin to turn around in a few weeks. After the solstice, sunrise begins to occur later each day; and birds tend to keep their little birdy eyes closed a little bit longer.
June 9, 2009 at 11:11 pm #669245
JiggersMemberSo are those the ones that start chirping as soon as they see daybreak at 4 am? Short sleepers they are.
June 10, 2009 at 1:10 am #669246
pigeonmomParticipantIf the first bird you hear sounds like, “cheerup- cheerily- cheerup” it is a Robin for sure.
June 10, 2009 at 3:15 am #669247
B-squaredParticipantmy birdbath is in the shade, near some bushes. the birds like to be able to fly for cover if need be. in the sun, the water will evaporate pretty quickly but then the birdbath won’t get as mucky and you will be forced to replenish it with fresh water. i’ve read that sprigs of rosemary or lavender help keep the algae down, as well as pennies (pre-1982).
June 10, 2009 at 11:58 am #669248
KatherineLParticipantBirds do need somewhere safe to sit and check out the area both before and after a bath. However, the birdbath itself needs to be away from cover for predators.
June 11, 2009 at 1:07 am #669249
pigeonmomParticipantA good Robin link- http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/Dictionary.html
June 11, 2009 at 1:53 am #669250
graysongirlParticipantSo I placed a birdfeeder by my front door with no cover and not by any trees and a cat caught and killed a bird eating from it while my husband watched (with horror). Since cats are pretty clever, is there any safe place for a birdfeeder? Are trees the safest?
June 11, 2009 at 4:09 pm #669251
flowerpetalMemberI’m still with the school of thought that the bird feeder and bath need to be near cover; particularly higher cover that birds can fly up to for a quick get away.
Be careful too about putting feeders and baths too close to the house, particularly near large windows. Window strikes are responsible for a number of deaths for birds.
June 12, 2009 at 2:32 am #669252
graysongirlParticipantThank you flowerpetal. My birdfeeder has apparently broken all cardinal rules (ha!) and I need to get it away from the large window and in higher cover. Thanks so much!
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