What Are Your Other Interests?

[dcSaute]

I enjoy our bird population - so I set up feeders every year . . .
typically I start after the first frost, with the safflower lovers -

which I did yesterday - and the two suction cup window mounted feeders have been absolutely&immediately swarmed!
nutchhatches, titmouses, a finch or two... no cardinals, yet - we had two nesting pairs earlier...

no Carolina Wrens - they are less liked. with their short tail they climb into the seed box and proceed to throw most of the safflower 'out into left field' - curious as to why - but they do tend to empty the feed(ers) in a very rapid fashion.

regrets, we lost "Miss Kittens" to renal failure - she was always fascinated by the birds at the suction-cup feeders. we had one finch who apparently could see her on the other side of the glass, and knew - with the glass - she presented no danger. the finch would peck/tap at the window glass and revel in Miss Kittens paw print . . . a "yeah cat, I dare you!" kind of thing . . .

 

[taxlady]

Maybe the Carolina wrens are looking for insects. Woodpeckers do that to bird feeders and they don't usually eat seeds.

From Wikipedia,

Carolina wrens spend the majority of their time on or near the ground searching for food, or in tangles of vegetation and vines. They also probe bark crevices on lower tree levels, or pick up leaf-litter in order to search for prey. Their diet consists of invertebrates, such as beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, katydids, spiders, ants, bees, and wasps. Small lizards and tree frogs also make up the carnivorous portion of their diet. Vegetable matter, such as fruit pulp and various seeds, makes up a small percentage of their diet. In the northern portion of their range, they frequent bird feeders.

 

[dragnlaw]

In the northern portion of their range, they frequent bird feeders.

Yup, absolutely right.