Feeding the Birds

Some of my earliest memories of growing up in suburban New Jersey revolve around feeding the birds.  My mother would regularly send my sister, brother or me out into the backyard to discard stale slices of bread, usually torn and crumbled into small pieces.  I can mostly remember doing this in the winter, when food wasn't as readily available for the chickadees and blue jays that didn't migrate to warmer climates.  When we moved from our second floor apartment to a house, we continued this practice.  But we also had a seed feeder, whose refilling was a frequent parental command.

Frankly, I didn't pay much attention to the animals that visited our yards.  Feeding the birds was a chore, like washing the dishes, mowing the lawn, and - I'm afraid to say - walking our dog Booboo.   But over forty years later, as a middle-aged man in Arizona, I've taken a much keener interest in the avian world around me. 

When my partner and I bought our first house in Phoenix, it seemed natural to install a hummingbird feeder.  The bird of paradise, bougainvillea and hibiscus plants in the garden all needed sustenance - why wouldn't the just as exotic hummingbird need it too?   After a number of years of working, we bought a second home in Prescott, where I eventually installed a seed feeder.  I quickly learned about the nuthatch, titmouse, junco and grosbeak varieties that frequented it.  When I got annoyed by the more common birds like house finches and mourning doves crowding out the 'real' mountain birds, I finally broke down and got a suet feeder for the high altitude birds. 

However I was missing the Steller's and scrub jays that never seemed to visit our wooded lot, but that frequented areas up the street.  The local bird shop - doesn't every community have one? - suggested I put out raw in-the-shell peanuts to attract them.   It turned out that acorn woodpeckers eat any nut, and were the first takers.  After several weeks, I was finally giving up any hope of attracting jays, when just this past weekend a Woodhouse's scrub jay started collecting the peanuts.   Ever the optimist, I'm convinced it's just a matter of time before Steller's jays start hunting on my deck for their meals.

When my mother died quite suddenly, over ten years ago, my stepfather made a point to mention in the eulogy that she never ignored someone or something in distress, 'including the smallest, injured bird.'   I wasn't yet a birder at that sad rupture in my life.  But now, today, I'd like to think that with every photo I take, with every new bird I see, and with every feeder I replenish, my Mom is still with me, sharing in the love of birds she nurtured and that she somehow knew would grow to sustain me.

An Anna's hummingbird at the feeder in Phoenix. 

A Costa's hummingbird at the feeder in Phoenix.

Female Anna's hummingbird at the same feeder.

Hooded orioles like this male will also drink sugar water.  He took advantage of a leak in the plastic feeder to slurp up large beak-fulls. 

A bridled titmouse in Prescott eyes the tray feeder warily.  He's not a regular visitor.  

A mountain chickadee doesn't have any fear diving into the seeds.

A less-frequent black-headed grosbeak shares the feeder with a quite common male house finch in Prescott.

Dark-eyed junco chomping away in Prescott.

Juniper titmouse retrieving a seed from the tray feeder in Prescott.

Spotted towhee in Prescott.

Pair of pygmy nuthatches at the new suet feeder in Prescott.  It holds a type of flavored animal fat that acts as a substitute for the insects in their diet.

White-breasted nuthatch eyeing the suet feeder in Prescott.

The acorn woodpecker is the largest bird - so far - to eat from the suet feeder in Prescott.

The acorn woodpecker also likes the peanuts I put out for the jays.

This Woodhouse's scrub jays finally found the peanuts in Prescott.  This shot was taken through the glass door at the cabin.  I hope the Steller's jays visit also.

A neighbor in Prescott puts peanuts in a spiral-type feeder, which this scrub jay seems to know how to use.  I put this new feeder on my shopping list.

It turns out that chipmunks like birdseed, and that they can climb and jump almost as well as birds can fly.