My husband told me to come look at the critter at the feeder. First time I've ever seen a cat up on the feeders!



Needless to say there were no birds around!

Rose....I have nothing in any of my bird books that even comes close to this variety. Very rare
I wonder what he was after? Looks well-fed.

Lizzie,

That tray that he's sitting on catches the suet from the feeder. I think he's enjoying that. He does look well fed. Hope he hasn't fattened up on my birds!

I used to have a neighbor who had a very large Manx cat who hid behind the front yard nandinas close to the feeders. When the birds came to the feeders she would run out and try to catch them by leaping in the air, and she could leap very high, but she never caught any. Once when she leaped up, she caught the edge of the feeder and the momentum flipped her upside down! Funniest thing I have ever seen a cat do! ( for cat lovers and I am one, she wasn't hurt, just her pride!).

I'd feed that beautiful feline! That kitty does appear to be well fed, or perhaps it just has thicker fur for the winter.

As well fed as that cat appears to be, I'm sure she belongs to someone!

These are the critters on my feeder and the birds dive bomb them when they're up there, fun to watch, they pretty much have to fly from a close by tree to get up there. So much for the squirrel baffle.

Squirrels can clean out a feeder pretty fast! We're surrounded by hickory trees and oak trees, but they seem to like the easy pickings in the feeders!

Cheating often causes issues, and yesterday provided another example of that. Yesterday, I went out for another of my Lehigh Parkway walks/patrols, and, after covering over three miles, the image results were meager. So, while I was taking a snack break by the Fly Shop, I succumbed to taking pics of birds at the adjacent bird feeders. Several of the usual suspects were present. However, there were three birds which left me clueless (not an unusual occurrence for me):
Bird 1

Bird 2


Bird 3



HELP! (please).

Bird one is a Starling.
Images two and three are White breasted Nuthatches.
Images four and five are Black capped Chickadees.
Great job!!

1 looks like a starling, forgot all about that bird.

2 is a white-breasted nuthatch.

3 is a black-capped chickadee.

All of them are very common, surprised you haven't seen them before.

Glad to help! Bird number one, juvenile starling. Bird number two, white breasted nuthatch. Bird number three, black capped chickadee. Great pics of all, especially the last two, these are fast little birds that can dart around quickly. Nuthatches are often seen on the trunks of trees, moving up and down the trunk.

Bill and Murky, we all posted at the same time. Bingo!

Lol, we did! And obviously Bill types faster than both of us!

I really dislike Starlings!! I won't say hate because I don't hate any living creature but I wish that Starlings stayed in Europe where they belong!

I actually have called them "Delta-winged Blackbirds" so that I did not have to say STARLING.

I used to have a lot of starlings at certain times at my feeders when up in Wisconsin. But here in a Chicago suburb, I haven't seen any at all.

BigBill, Murky and and Gardenfish,



This was the first time I have seen a Starling with all of those white spots. I don't recall encountering the other two birds before.

There is a reason I refer to myself as just a guy with cameras, not a birder.



Thanks again folks.

The Starling with the white spots is their winter plumage. Youngsters are a plain gray color. They can often be seen following the adults around squawking to be fed.

I think of them as "Winged Vermin"!

marsrover said: ...just a guy with cameras...

Me to a tee.

I'd say you're in good company, but that might be a lie.