May 2016 thread for all things birdy

kicked off with a photo of a northern cardinal




hopefully followed by Mika's sparrow hawk

Amazing, Kurt! Are they very tame, or did you train it to sit on your handlebars?

Female sparrowhawk, came and sat on a path in the garden this evening:

Great shots Kurt and Mika!

That would be a no , not tame just got a good shot off right before he left
very pretty sparrow hawk , looks like our cooper's hawks , I hope it does it's job better then our hawks , I could definitely use a few less sparrows around here.
although if you stop feeding the sparrows (like I have while the bluebirds are nesting) most do go away

Of course the chickadees have their own private feeder that only they can fit in

Neat gadget!
Here's another visitor (had quite a variety today):

Blue tit


And a young squirrel (likes bird food even if neither bird nor bat)

Stunning photos both of you!!! Cool, cool shot of that Cardinal. I agree with Kurt, that Sparrow Hawk looks like our Cooper's Hawks and a neat shot of it you got Mika!
Thanks you two for getting us started for May.

I still swear the birds are more colorful, as a whole, across the pond. The whole family of tits are so neat looking!

Thanks, Ann. But don't agree on the 'more colorful' thing!

What an artistic post that cardinal took. Bird yoga.

That Blue tit is such an elegant bird. That hawk looks serious.

Kurt, where did you find that feeder? It looks like squirrels couldn't get into that one, which is a plus in my book

Mika, I love the blue titmouse. I might have to agree with Ann, that the birds across the pond are more colorful than the ones in the US.

But we have nothing as blue as your bluebirds, nothing as red as your cardinals, and don't get me started on your buntings...

Lovely birds to start the month off right!

Just love the cardinal shot there, Kurt. Mika the sparrow hawk is beautiful too.

I suppose they are named that because they prey on sparrows? Good thing there are lots of sparrows.

IbisFla said:Kurt, where did you find that feeder? It looks like squirrels couldn't get into that one, which is a plus in my book

Mika, I love the blue titmouse. I might have to agree with Ann, that the birds across the pond are more colorful than the ones in the US.

Mom bought that at an Ocean City , Md craft show one year , and it took a year or two figure out the best location and lure them in.
But it has definitely increased the visits and chickadee traffic , even added a bigger mason jar to it , so I didn't have to fill it so much.

oddly enough I have never seen the squirrels mess with it as far as I can remember , although I have laughed at many of other birds trying to
figure out how to get in it.

Great shots Kurt & Mika! Love the colors on the blue tit

dyzzypyxxy said:Just love the cardinal shot there, Kurt. Mika the sparrow hawk is beautiful too.

I suppose they are named that because they prey on sparrows? Good thing there are lots of sparrows.

They eat all sorts of prey and the females (which are bigger than the males) will take birds as big as pigeons. As for sparrows, they are a favourite here (why is it that you all hate them?) Sadly numbers have declined dramatically, the RSPB reports a 71% decline in house sparrows between 1977 and 2008. So if you want to get rid of yours, tell them to come to England!

did someone say bunting , stopped by one year for a few days





as did this cedar waxwing

Fantastic, both the birds and the photos!

The sparrows , starlings and blackbirds tend to gobble up most of the food like locust.

and have been reported to kill and bully native bluebirds and their offspring.

I usually open the window or clap to scare the bad birds off if there are too many or they are fighting

but that all ended when the bluebirds started nesting , so we just stopped feeding the feeder birds for now

speaking of bullying ,
I was at the (dirty) kitchen window , when mrs bluebird went in her house
and the robin landed on a perch beside it trying to scare her off ,
but she stayed inside so the robin jumped on top of her roof

and I got this dirty window cell phone picture